On This Day in 2013, Country Music Said Gooodbye to Its “Jolly Greene Giant”—Best Known for His 1960s Standard About a Mysterious Breakup

Jack Greene, whose four-decade career in country music included a successful stretch as Jeannie Seely’s duet partner, died from complications of Alzheimer’s disease on this day (March 14) in 2013. He was 83 years old. Today, we’re delving into the life and career of the man known as the “Jolly Greene Giant” due to his 6’4″ stature and deep voice.

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Jack Henry Greene was born on Jan. 7, 1930, in Maryville, Tennessee. He learned to play guitar by age 10 and scored a job at a local radio station as a teenager. By age 18, he was a regular on the Tennessee Barn Dance show on WNOX in Knoxville.

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In the early 1950s, Greene moved to Atlanta, where he formed his first music group, the Peach Tree Boys. Spending eight years as the band’s lead vocalist, drummer, and guitarist, he returned to Nashville in 1959. There, he formed another group, the Tennessee Mountain Boys. It was with this group that he landed the opportunity to open for country music superstar Ernest Tubb in 1961. An impressed Tubb invited Greene to join his backing band, the Texas Troubadours.

[RELATED: Born on This Day in 1930, the Singing “Jolly Green Giant” and Jeannie Seely Duet Partner Who Got His Big Break Thanks to Ernest Tubb]

Jack Greene Holds This CMA Distinction

After a few years performing with Tubb, Jack Greene struck out on his own at the “Walking the Floor Over You” singer’s urging. “Ernest told me, ‘Son, I believe it’s time to go,’” Green said in an interview. “But also said, ‘If you can’t make it, you can always come back and be a Troubador’.”

That would prove unnecessary. In 1966, Greene released “There Goes My Everything”, which spent seven weeks atop the country chart and rose to No. 65 on the all-genre Hot 100. His next two songs, “All the Time” and “What Locks the Door”, reached No. 1 and No. 2, respectively.

In 1967, Greene won the first-ever Male Vocalist of the Year trophy from the Country Music Association. He also picked up awards for Single of the Year (“There Goes My Everything”) and Album of the Year (for the record of the same name).

Additionally, Greene’s other No. 1 hits included “You Are My Treasure” (1968), “Statue of a Fool” (1969), and “Until My Dreams Come True” (1991).

In 1970, he joined forces with “Miss Country Soul” herself, Jeannie Seely. Together, they became one of the decade’s hottest touring acts in country music. Their hits included the top 10 single “Wish I Didn’t Have to Miss You”.

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