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Biography
Infobox musical artist | name = George Hamilton IV| caption =| image_size = | background = solo_singer| birth_name = George Hamilton IV| alias =| birth_date = Birth date and age|1937|7|19|mf=y| death_date =| origin = Winston-Salem, North Carolina| instrument = Vocals , guitar | genre = Country music|Country | occupation = Singer | years_active = 1956& ndash;present| label = ABC Records|ABC , Colonial Records|Colonial , RCA Victor Records|RCA Victor , Lamon Records|Lamon | associated_acts =| website =| notable_instruments = George Hege Hamilton IV (born July 19, 1937) is an United States|American country music ian. He began performing in the late 1950s as a teen idol , later switching to country music in the early 1960s.
Biography
Hamilton was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina . On June 18, 1956, while a 19-year-old student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , Hamilton recorded " A Rose and a Baby Ruth " for Chapel Hill, North Carolina|Chapel Hill record label , Colonial Records . The song, songwriter|written by John D. Loudermilk , climbed to No. 6 on the United States Billboard Hot 100 record chart|chart . By 1960, "A Rose and a Baby Ruth" had attained music recording sales certification|gold record status for ABC Records|ABC-Paramount (which had acquired the song from Colonial Records|Colonial ). The self-penned A-side and B-side|B-side of the record, "If You Don't Know", revealed Hamilton's ambitions to be a rockabilly -country singer. In late 1959, Hamilton moved his family to Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville , Tennessee to further his work as a country musician. http://www.georgeiv.net/biog.html George Hamilton IV and Friends Biography Page On February 8, 1960, Hamilton officially became a member of the Grand Ole Opry . Later that same year, he began recording for RCA Records , having been signed by Chet Atkins .
Hamilton's breakthrough hit was the 1961 song "Before this Day Ends". His biggest hit came two years later with " Abilene (song)|Abilene ", another song penned by Loudermilk. The song spent four weeks at No. 1 on Billboard (magazine)|Billboard s country singles chart and reached the Top 20 of the Hot 100. The success of "Abilene" was followed with the song "Fort Worth, Dallas Or Houston" (a Top 40|Top 5 hit in late 1964).
By the mid-1960s, Hamilton's music began showing a decidedly folk music|folk influence. This was especially evident with 1966's "Steel Rail Blues" and " Early Morning Rain " (both by Gordon Lightfoot ), and 1967's "Urge for Going". Another 1967 hit was "Break My Mind" (by John D. Loudermilk). One more Hamilton song of this genre was a moderate hit in 1969& mdash;the Ray Griff penned "Canadian Pacific". His last Top 5 single came in 1970, with "She's a Little Bit Country".
After his American chart success declined in the early 1970s, Hamilton began touring the world, across the Soviet Union , Australia , the Middle East and East Asia . These widely-acclaimed international performances earned Hamilton the nickname The International Ambassador of Country Music. http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/h/Hamilton,George%5FIV.html Inventory of the George Hamilton IV Papers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill He also hosted several successful television program s in the United Kingdom|UK and Canada during the 1970s, and in the 1990s he played himself in the West End theatre|West End musical theatre|musical , Patsy , based on the life of Patsy Cline .
In 2004, he recorded an acoustic gospel album with producer Dave Moody entitled On a Blue Ridge Sunday which earned Hamilton a Dove Award nomination in the "Best Bluegrass Album of the Year" category by the members of the Gospel Music Association. A single from the album, "Little Mountain Church House", won nominee recognition in the "Best Bluegrass Recorded Song" category the following year.cite web |url= http://www.gospelmusic.org/newsmedia/pressRoom.aspx |title=GMA Press Room Online |work=Gospel Music Association
Hamilton is still a regular at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville and in country shows throughout the US and the UK. He mainly concentrates on gospel tours both at home and abroad. In 2007 he collaborated with Live Issue, http://www.liveissue.ik.com/ Official Live Issue Website a group from Northern Ireland , to record a live album based on the life of Joseph Scriven , who wrote the hymn " What a Friend We Have in Jesus ". The two also toured together again in 2009. That same year, Hamilton released a parody of his classic hit "Abilene" in the height of the soaring US gas prices called "Gasoline". He has also been a regular participant in the ''Country's Family Reunion video series.
In 2010, Lamon Records released the album Old Fashioned Hymns , recorded transatlantic with producers Dave Moody in Nashville and Colin Elliott in Ireland. Hamilton was joined on the 28-track collection by a number of musical guests, including Ricky Skaggs , Marty Stuart , Gail Davies , Pat Boone , Del McCoury , Bill Anderson (singer)|Bill Anderson , Connie Smith , Tommy Cash , Cliff Barrows , George Beverly Shea and many others.
Reflist Persondata | NAME = Hamilton, George, IV | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = Singer | DATE OF BIRTH = July 19, 1937 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, George, IV Category:1937 births Category:American country musicians Category:American country singers Category:Colonial Records Category:Grand Ole Opry members Category:Living people Category:People from Winston-Salem, North Carolina Category:Musicians from North Carolina Category:ABC Records artists Category:University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni
