Bill Carlisle's Biography
The younger Carlisle became the more popular and successful of the brothers. A singer, a comedian, a superb guitarist, a gifted songwriter, Bill was a showman of the first order. His hit song in the mid-30s “Rattlesnake Daddy” and tireless radio work, vaulted him to stardom that Cliff never quite attained. In 2002 Bill was inducted into the Country Music Hall-Of-Fame an honor that eluded Cliff. One factor that helped his career is that Bill remained a fixture on The Grande Ole Opry from 1953 until 2002 where he made his last performance in a wheelchair!
Bill Carlisle’s Early Life
William Toliver Carlisle, four years younger than Cliff, was born December 19, 1908 Taylorsville, KY. Following his brother’s lead, he became an excellent guitarist and singer. By his early twenties he and his brother Cliff were working in their family’s band on radio station WLAP in Lexington, Kentucky. Beginning in the mid-1930s Bill and Cliff became two of country music’s most popular performers, working solo and in tandem on a number of southeastern radio stations, most notably WNOX in Knoxville.
WNOX Knoxville
In Knoxville Bill perfected his comic alter ego, Hot Shot Elmer, whose outlandish costumes and onstage antics kept audiences in stitches on the Mid-Day Merry-Go-Round and the Tennessee Barn Dance. Donning boxing gloves, Hot Shot Elmer would pretend to fight with cast members such as the diminutive Little Robert Van Winkle. “Bill was hilarious,” recalled Nashville studio guitarist Ray Edenton, who worked at WNOX in the late 1940s, “Little Robert would jump up, land on his hands, and then kick like a mule. Bill had his rough ‘Hot Shot’ voice, sort of like a frog, and he’d shout, ‘I don’t know which end he’s gonna fight with!’ Everybody loved it.”
In 1942 a young Chet Atkins landed his first job on Knoxville radio station WNOX playing fiddle with Bill Calisle and Archie Campbell. Chet’s stint on radio ended when Archie was drafted into the Navy and Bill cancelled the show. Chet remembered Bill’s Homer Hotshot routine, “one night on stage he ate a whole onion the size of a softball. Tears were streaming down his face as he told a sad story, pretending he thought he was eating an apple. The sadder the story got the more he cried, and the more the audience laughed.”
Atkins also remembers going on the road with Carlisle and Campbell. “Bill also added a pig named Mussoloomis to his act,” said Chet. “We hauled the pig in the trunk of the car until it got too big to take with us. Then he replaced it with a three tailed chicken!” Their road show took them across eastern Tennessee, Western Kentucky and part of North Carolina.
Kentucky mandolinist James Roberts, who met the Carlisles in New York, was interviewed by Angela Hammond in 2005:
Angela Hammonds: You were talking about meeting, ah, Cliff Carlisle in New York at ARC
Kentucky mandolinist James Roberts: We met him in Winchester and he got on a train
A: Oh, in Winchester and he got on the train with you
J: and they went there and stayed there with the time I was there… and we go in a restaurant and eat, and, I tell people this and it's kinda silly, ah, Bill, Bill was a big clown though. Cliff was a very serious man. But Bill Carlisle, Cliff, Bill Carlisle was a clown. And every time we go in the, leave the restaurant, go in the restaurant up there in New York City you'd have these toothpick holders… He'd, he'd, was he only empty that thing and stick it in his pocket
A: (laughter)
J: And so I, ah (laughter), I asked him…. I said, Bill… I said, "What in the world are you getting them toothpicks like that for?" He said, "My father in law own the sawmill. So I'm, ah, right trying to raise the price of lumber."
(laughter) That's how silly he was.
Bill’s Recordings
In 1933 the Carlisle Brothers, Bill and Cliff made their first records as a duo for the American Record Corporation. Many of their numbers featured Bill’s hot lead-guitar licks. The same year Bill started his solo recordings on the Vocalion label (an offshoot of the ARC group of labels, to which Cliff had been signed) and had his first big hit with “Rattlin’ Daddy” (which became the King label’s 1947 boogie hit “Rattlesnake Daddy”) recorded for Vocalion. ARC was soon promoting “Smilin’ Bill” as the next Jimmie Rodgers. Bill’s repertoire, much like his brother’s, copied Rodgers and Davis and specialized in off-color blue with songs like “String Bean Mama” and “Sally Let Your Bangs Hang Down.”
Bill (with Cliff) appeared on Bluebird, while the labels would also list Bill variously as "Smiling Billy Carlisle", "Bill Carlisle's Kentucky Boys", or "The Carlisle Brothers". Mainly these recording would fall into the Jimmie Rodgers genre, although Bill was as happy, if not happier to be recording both humorous and slightly risqué lyrics.
Other Carlisles hits of 1953 included “Knothole” (#3), “Is Zat You, Myrtle” (#2), and “Tain’t Nice (to Talk Like That)” (#5). These recordings took Bill and the group first to Shreveport, Louisiana’s KWKH Louisiana Hayride, and then, in November 1953, to WSM’s Grand Ole Opry.
Although Bill penned “Knothole,” “No Help Wanted,” and “Too Old to Cut the Mustard,” his songwriting talents weren’t limited to novelties. Inspired by the death of his grandfather, Bill’s gospel number “Gone Home” became one of his own regularly performed songs and later became the signature song of the Hee Haw Gospel Quartet.
Bill's Radio Stints
Bill Made his true living from radio, first at WLAP in Lexington, then stations in Charlotte, Greenville Atlanta, Winston-Salem Shreveport Memphis and Knoxville. While in Knoxville in 1944 The Carlisles began recording for King and along with the Delmores were one of the early groups to sign with the new label. They had a hit with their duet “Rainbow At Midnight” with Chet Atkins playing guitar behind them. After Cliff retired in 1947 and Bill continued recording with King and had a hit with “Tramp on the Street.”
Bill decided to form a new group named The Carlisles in the spring of 1951. It featured Martha Carson and Bill singing lead, then Cliff came out of retirement and joined the group and Dee Kilpatrick on a new label, Mercury Records, signed them. Red Foley’s bass player Benny Sims backed the group on fiddle and Chet Atkins on guitar.
“Too Old To Cut The Mustard” was coverd by Foley and Tubb’s version hit the charts and rose to number 5 on Billboard. They appeared on the Opry but there next two session produced no major hits and Cliff went back into semi-reitement, Bill worked for WDOD in Chatangooga and Mertha became a solo act on the Opry. They regrouped briefly to cut “No Help Wanted” in 1952, which rose to the number 2 spot on the charts.
Martha Carson, born Irene Amburgney on March 21, 1921, was a singer from rural Kentucky who sang in a gospel quartet with her two sisters and string bands. They appeared on The Renfro Valley Barn Dance and moved to WSB in Atlanta. The sisters recorded as Mattie Minnie and Marthie for King Records and as the Amber Sisters for Capitol. She married James Roberts (see quote above) and the two were contracted by Capitol Records. In 1950 they split up then in 1950 Martha went to Nashville to record “Too Old To Cut The Mustard” with Bill Carlisle.
Bill’s Later Life
In 1953 Bill became a fixture on the Grande Ole Opry where he performed until 2002. By 1960 Bill’s children were performing with him. They continued to record for Columbia, Hickory, Vanguard and Chart. The last hit was in 1965 with “What Kinda Deal Is This?” on the Hickory label.
Judging by these and other accomplishments, Bill Carlisle had a major impact on country music for seventy years. The ultimate measure of his success, however, may be the extent to which he fulfilled his own ambition—to be remembered as someone who inspired others. A compassionate family man, Bill endured the passing of Leona King Carlisle, his wife of sixty-two years, and his daughter, Shiela, and kept entertaining Opry fans almost until the end, which came on March 17, 2003, seven months after he was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Bill died March 17, 2003 Wakefield, Kentucky
Recording details from this period are sketchy, although a number of recordings were released on Vocalion, some with support from Cliff, and others that appeared on Bluebird, while the labels would also list Bill variously as "Smiling Billy Carlisle", "Bill Carlisle's Kentucky Boys", or "The Carlisle Brothers". Mainly these recording would fall into the Jimmie Rodgers genre, although Bill was as happy, if not happier to be recording both humourous and slightly risqué lyrics.
Moving to Decca in 1938, the brothers output slowed, but continued in a similar vein with much interplay between Billy and Cliff, with some tracks credited to Billy which were mainly Cliff, and vice versa! Just to make matters even more confusing, several tracks would also feature Cliff's son, Tommy.
With the outbreak of WW2, it wasn't until 1944 that both Cliff and Billy were signed to the fledgling King label, and hits followed in 1946 with Rainbow At Midnight, which peaked at number 5 (as The Carlisle Brothers), and in 1948 when 'Tramp On The Street' peaked at number 14.
A lean period then followed, which may have been coincidental with Cliff's retirement, and it was only when Bill tempted Cliff to return to the business in 1951, with the formation of The Carlisles, that the hits returned, this time on the Mercury label, where they now performed in a more energetic style and had hits with “Too Old To Cut The Mustard” in 1951, and had their most successful year in 1953 with the brilliant “No Help Wanted” (featuring Chet Atkins on guitar) which peaked at number 1. Other songs include “Knothole,” “T'aint Nice,” and “Is Zat You, Myrtle?”
Bill most surprising Mercury hit was his 1954 cover of the Drifters' R&B smoothie, "Honey Love," which came out the same year. His version reached No. 12 on the country charts. The lack of further chart success prompted the bands departure from Mercury in 1956. Continuing to record on various labels, The Carlisles saw only one more chart entry, when the innuendo filled 'What Kind Of Deal Is This' reached number 4 in 1965.
As far as stage performances were concerned, Bill kept The Carlisles format running, despite numerous personnel changes. During much of his half-century on the Grand Ole Opry, Carlisle sang with a group that featured his son, Billy, and daughter, Sheila. Always famed for his energetic stage act, which would see Billy doing the splits while singing, the nickname 'Bounding' or 'Jumping' Billy Carlisle were well earned. The act would continue thus through to the 90's when Billy slowed down on personal appearances, although he would occasionally appear on stage, complete with Zimmer frame, where he would perform a couple of songs holding on to the frame, before throwing it over his shoulder and marching off stage to rapturous applause.
Bill was inducted into the Country Hall Of Fame in November 2002 and was the oldest regular performer at The Grand Ol' Opry. - his final appearance there (in a wheelchair) coming in February 2002. Billy died, aged 94 on March 17th, 2003 following a stroke.
Complete Early Recordings Bill Carlisle:
Are You Going To Leave Me Lil; Bachelor Blues; Barnyard Tumble; Bell Clapper Mama; Beneath The Weeping Willow Tree; Big At The Little, Bottom at The Top; Blue Arizona Moon; Blue Eyes; Bye Bye My Love; Cowboy Jack; Ditty Wah Ditty; Don’t Be Ashamed Of Mother; Don’t Marry The Wrong Woman; Dreamy Eyes; Drifting; Drifting Together; Duvall County Blues; Cowboy Jack; Cowgirl Jen; Copper Head Mama; Feet Don’t Fail Me; Final Farewell; Girl I left So Blue; Gonna Kill Myself; He Will Be Your Savior Too; Heavenly Train; House Cat mama; I Done It Wrong; I Dreamed I Searched Heaven For You; I Know What It Means To Be Lonesome; I Want A Gal; If Jesus Should Come; I’ll Always Be Yours Little Darling; I’ll Be All Smiles Love; I’m Headed For Home Sweet Home; I’m On My Way To The Promised Land; I’m Wearin’ The Britches Now; Jumpin’ And Jerkin’ Blues; Life’s Troubled Pathway; Little Dobie Shack; Little Honey Bee; Little Pal; Little Wild Rose; Long Legged Daddy Blues; Lost On Life’s Sea; Midwest Dust Storm; Moonlight Blues; Mouse Been Messing Around; No Drunkard Ca n Enter That Beautiful Shore; No Letter In The Mail Today; Penitentiary Blues; Sin Has Caused So Many Tears; Still There’s A Spark Of Love; String Bean Mama; Rattlesnake Daddy; Rattlin’ Daddy; Roll On Old Troubles Roll On; Sally Let Your Bangs Hang Down; Shack By The Side Of the Road; She’s Gone But I’ll Meet Her In Heaven; Seeing my Gal; Shirkin’ Mama Blues; So Long Baby; Sparkin’ My Gal; Sugar Cane Mama; Ten Or Twelve Times Maybe More; There’s A Mouse Been Messin’ Around; Two Eyes Of Blues; Virginia Blues; Wabash Cannonball; When I Grow Too Old Too Dream; Why did The Blue Skies Turn Grey?; Will You Miss Your Lover?; Women Please Quit Knocking; You Said We’d Always Drift Together; You’re Just Like A Dollar Bill;
Complete Carlisle Brothers Early Recordings: Beneath The Old Pine Tree; Broken Heart; Dollar’s All I Crave, A; Don’t Let Me Worry Your Little Mind; Don’t Mention Me; End Of Memory Lane; Go And Leave Me If You Wish To; Going Down The Valley One By One; Gonna Raise A Ruckus Tonight; I Believe I’m Entitled To You; I Wonder Who’s Sorry Now; Flag That Train; I’d Like To Be Your Shadow In The Moonlight; I’m Sorry Now; I’m Sorry That’s All I Can Say; Jesus My All; Juanita; Little Dobie Shack; Looking For Tomorrow; Louisiana Blues; No Wedding Bells; Nobody Cares; Ramshackled Shack On The Hill; On The Lone Prairie; Rustler’s Fate; Sal’s Got A Meatskin; She Waits For Me There; Somewhere Somebody’s Waiting For You; Sugar Cane Mama; There Is No More That I Can Say; There’ll Come A Time; Traveling Home; Traveling Life Alone; Three Woman To Every Man; Valley Of Peace; When The Blue Bells Bloom; When The Old Cow Went Dry; Will You Always Love Me Darling; Will You Meet Me Just Inside; Won’t Somebody Pal With Me; You’ll Never Know;
King (Carlisle Brothers) 1944: Baby You Done Flubbed Your Dub With Me; Dreamy Eyes; I Paid With A Broken Heart; Rainbow At Midnight; Roll On Your Weary Way Baby; She Won’t Be My Baby No More;
King (Bill Carlisle) 1944-46: Dollar Bill Mama Blues No. 1; Dollar Bill Mama Blues No. 2; Don’t Be Ashamed; Don’t Tell Me Your Worries; Empty Arms; I Hope You See The Same Star That I Do; I Never See My Baby Alone; I Saw My Future In A Rainbow; I’m Crying Over You Tonight; Juke Box Blues; Old Joe Clark; Maggie Get The Hammer; Rockin’ Chair Money; Skip To My Lou; Sparkling Blues Eyes; Tramp on The Street; Wedding Bellls; What Does it Matter To You; You Wouldn’t Understand;
Mercury (The Carlisles) 1951: Bargain Day Half Off; Busy Body Boogie; Female Hercules; Happiness Belongs To Someone Else; Honey Love; I Need A little Help; I Would If I Could; If You Don’t Want It; I’ll Never Love Again; Knock Knock; Let Me Hold Your Little Hand; Li’l Liza Jane; Love, Love, Love; Mainest Thing; Middle Age Spread; Money Tree; Moody’s Goose; Nine Have Tried It; No Help Wanted; On My Way; Patch Up Your Old Love Affairs; Shake A Leg; Teletouch; Tennessee Memories; This Heart’s Not For Sale; Too Old To Cut The Mustard; True Love; Woman Driver;