Country and western star to visit

Press, 17 June 1988, Page 27

Country and western star to visit

Slim Whitman, the American country and western star, has known the ups and downs of the music business. Whitman shared fame in the ’sos and ’6os along with such singing cowboys as Roy Rodgers, but the glitter faded in the ’7os as fans turned to artists such as Kenny Rodgers and Glen Campbell. However, if United States fans turned aside, Whitman found a whole new market in Britain. His song “Rose Marie”

held the No. 1 spot in the British charts for 11 consecutive weeks, a feat not matched even by The Beatles. Whitman was originally going to be a professional baseball player and went as far as signing a contract for a team, but he abandoned the game when Colonel Tom Parker, the man who discovered Elvis Presley, recommended the C. and W. singer to RCA Victor. He was one artist that slipped through Parker’s

fingers, Whitman signed a record deal in 1949. But it was not until 1952, when he joined the Imperial Records label, that his yodelling and singing career really began with songs such as “North Wind” and “Indian Love Call.” Whitman also discovered that his U.S. music career was not quite over, for in the early 1980 s, Suffolk Marketing released a compilation album, complete with TV spots. Whitman found he was “in.”

It was like the Second Coming, for suddenly Whitman’s songs were in demand, and he signed to Cleveland International Records (which also had Meat Loaf) to record an album, “Songs I Love To Sing,” which sold 200,000 copies. This was followed by a Christmas album, which sold 100,000. Whitman will play one show in Christchurch, at the Theatre Royal next Friday evening.