Homefires: Southern Music XIII

This legendary and highly influential guitarist had a penchant for drinking and riding motorcyles - sometimes at the same time. Two other famed guitarists each named a child in his honor.

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Congrats to Mike for guessing Merle Travis. In one hint. Damn.

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Kentucky's Merle Travis, born 1917, was the son of a coal miner who had a habit of coming home from the mine and saying, "Another day older and deeper in debt." If you know that line, tip your hat to the long-suffering Rob Travis.
At age 12, on a homemade guitar, Merle began learning a three-finger style of guitar playing unique to Muhlenberg County. This later became the basis for "the Travis style" of picking.
Young Merle had a very good teacher in the form of Ike Everly, who later on had two boys of his own: Phil and Don, the Everly Brothers.
Merle got very good, very fast. A visit to his brother in Indiana jumpstarted his career when he joined some bands there and ended up on the radio. Several bands later, he had a national following for his records and guitar acolytes for his style, his chief disciple being Chet Atkins. Merle had half a dozen top-ten tunes himself, but it seems the songs he wrote for other people became the real smash hits. One of the first songs he recorded was one he wrote for his father, "Sixteen Tons." It became a multi-million seller crossover hit for Tennessee Ernie Ford. His "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)" was a million-seller for Tex Williams, going to number one on the pop charts.
Merle designed the first solid body-electric guitar with all the keys on one side, the model of which was later perfected by his friend Leo Fender. It became a key element in Rock and Roll. The Travis-designed guitar is on display at the Country Music Hall of Fame. Merle can also be seen (and heard) in the move From Here to Eternity playing the song "Re-enlistment Blues." In addition to this role, he acted in some 36 Westerns.
Although having the reputation of being an innovator, a trailblazer, and the top electric guitarist in Country music, his wild drunkeness became a hindrance to his musical output and success. At one point he was hospitalized for the abuse of narcotics.
He later got it together and recorded influential albums such as "Walkin' the Strings," and the Grammy-winning collaboration with Chet Atkins "The Atkins-Travis Traveling Show". He wrote many magazine articles about his life in music and penned a book on his style entitled "The Merle Travis Guitar Style." His 1981 album "Travis Pickin'" was nominated for a Grammy, and it was while enjoying his resurgence that he died of a heart attack at age 62. His ashes are buried under a monument to him in Ebeneezer, Kentucky, near the coal mine where his father worked.
Merle Travis is in the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Gibson Guitar Hall of Fame.
Doc Watson named his son in Merle's honor and Chet Atkins did the same with his daughter.

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Homefires: Southern Music XII
Homefires: Southern Music XI
Homefires: Southern Music X
Homefires: Southern Music IX
Homefires: Southern Music VIII
Homefires: Southern Music VII
Homefires: Southern Music VI
Homefires: Southern Music V
Homefires: Southern Music IV
Homefires: Southern Music III
Homefires: Southern Music II
Homefires: Southern Music