Floyd Cramer ... Last Date

Floyd Cramer ... Last Date

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvfG9uFswis

Floyd Cramer
Background information
Birth name	Floyd Cramer
Born	October 27, 1933 Shreveport, Louisiana, United States
Origin	Huttig, Arkansas, United States
Died	December 31, 1997(1997-12-31) (aged 64)
Occupations	Pianist
Instruments	Piano
Associated acts	Elvis Presley, Chet Atkins, Patsy Cline

Floyd Cramer (October 27, 1933 – December 31, 1997) was an American Hall of Fame pianist who was one of the architects of the "Nashville sound". He was known for his "slip note" piano style, where an out-of-key note slides into the correct note.Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, Cramer grew up in the small town of Huttig, Arkansas, teaching himself to play the piano. After finishing high school, he returned to Shreveport, where he worked as a pianist for the Louisiana Hayride radio show.
In 1953, he cut his first single, "Dancin' Diane", backed with "Little Brown Jug", for the local Abbott label. He then toured with an emerging talent who would later figure significantly in his career, Elvis Presley.^[1]
Cramer moved to Nashville in 1955 where the use of piano accompanists in country music was growing in popularity. By the next year he was, in his words, "in day and night doing sessions.”^[2] Before long, he was one of the busiest studio musicians in the industry, playing piano for stars such as Elvis Presley, Brenda Lee, Patsy Cline, The Browns, Jim Reeves, Eddy Arnold, Roy Orbison, Don Gibson, and the Everly Brothers, among others. It was Cramer's piano playing, for instance, on Presley's first national hit, "Heartbreak Hotel". However, Cramer remained strictly a session player, a virtual unknown to anyone outside the music industry.
Cramer had released records under his own name since the early 1950s, and became well known following the release of "Last Date", a 45 rpm single, in 1960.^[3] The instrumental piece exhibited a relatively new concept for piano playing known as the "slip note" style. The record went to number two on the Billboard Hot 100 pop music chart, sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.^[4]
In 1961 Cramer had a hit with "On the Rebound," which went to number three, and number one in the UK chart. ("On the Rebound" was later featured during the opening credits of the 2009 Oscar-nominated film An Education, which was set in 1961 England). That same year Cramer also hit with "San Antonio Rose" (number eight).
By the mid-1960s, Cramer had become a respected performer, making numerous record albums and touring with guitar maestro Chet Atkins and saxophonist Boots Randolph; also performing with them as a member of the Million Dollar Band.
Over the years, Cramer continued to balance session work with his own albums. Many of these featured standards or popular hits of the era and from 1965 to 1974 he annually recorded a disc of the year's biggest hits prefaced "Class of . . ." Other long-players included I Remember Hank Williams (1962), Floyd Cramer Plays the Monkees (1967), Looking For Mr Goodbar (1968) and Sounds of Sunday (1971). In 1977 Floyd Cramer and the Keyboard Kick Band was released, on which he played eight different keyboard instruments.^[1]

Floyd Cramer died of lung cancer in 1997 at the age of 64 and was interred in the Spring Hill Cemetery in the Nashville suburb of Madison, Tennessee.
His grandson, Jason Coleman, inherited his grandfather's skill on the piano, performing with him on television and in concert at a young age. At age 17, he played "Please Help Me, I'm Falling", the first song to feature Cramer's signature slip notes, with Hank Locklin at the Grand Ole Opry, and two years later played piano for the Medallion ceremony at Cramer’s induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He is currently carrying on his grandfather's legacy with a series of recordings and a tribute concert, The Legacy of Floyd Cramer, sharing the piano arrangements and story of Cramer's contributions to American music while on tour throughout the country.
In 2003, Floyd Cramer was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
In 2008, Floyd Cramer was posthumously inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.
East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee, offers the Floyd Cramer Competitive Scholarship.

“

Trying to launch myself on a solo career, after being Elvis Presley's pianist for so long, placed me in an unenviable position. Some people thought I was trying to cash in. If I had wanted to cash in on my association with Elvis, I would have done it five years ago.

”

Year	Album	Chart Positions		Label
		US Country	US
1957	That Honky Tonk Piano	—	—	MGM
1960	Hello Blues	—	—	RCA
1961	Last Date	—	—
	On the Rebound	—	70
1962	America's Biggest Selling Pianist	—	—
	Floyd Cramer Gets Organ-ized	—	113
	I Remember Hank Williams	—	130
1963	Swing Along with Floyd Cramer	—	—
	Comin' On	—	—
	Three Great Pianos (with Peter Nero and Frankie Carle)	—	—
1964	Country Piano-City Strings	—	—
	Cramer at the Console	—	—
	The Best of Floyd Cramer	—	—
1965	Hits from the Country Hall of Fame	10	—
	Class of '65	—	107
	The Magic Touch of Floyd Cramer	—	—
1966	The Distinctive Piano Style of Floyd Cramer	—	—
	Only the Big Ones	—	—
	Class of '66	—	123
1967	Night Train	—	—
	Here's What's Happening!	20	166
	Floyd Cramer Plays the Monkeys	—	—
	Class of '67	21	—
	We Wish You a Merry Christmas	—	26
1968	Floyd Cramer Plays Country Classics	16	—
	Class of '68	—	—
	Floyd Cramer Plays MacArthur Park	36	—
	The Best of Floyd Cramer Volume 2	—	—
1969	Class of '69	31	—
	Floyd Cramer Plays More Country Classics	17	—
1970	The Big Ones, Vol. 2	—	183
	With the Music City Pops	—	—
	This Is Floyd Cramer	39	—
	Class of '70	43	—
1971	Almost Persuaded	—	—
	Chet Floyd & Boots (with Chet Atkins and Boots Randolph)	—	—
	Sounds of Sunday	44	—
	Class of '71	34	—
1972	Detours	—	—
	Class of '72	—	—
	The Best of Class of Floyd Cramer	—	—
	Date with Floyd Cramer	—	—
1973	Floyd Cramer Plays the Big Hits	—	—
	Super Country Hits	—	—
	Class of '73	34	—
1974	Young and Restless	—	—
	Spotlight On	—	—
	Floyd Cramer in Concert	25	—
1975	Piano Masterpieces 1900–1975	—	—
	Class of '74 and '75	—	—
1976	Floyd Cramer Country	46	—
1977	Floyd Cramer & the Keyboard Kick Band	50	—
	Chet Floyd & Danny (with Chet Atkins and Danny Davis)	46	—
1978	Looking for Mr. Goodbar	—	—
1979	Super Hits	—	—
1980	Dallas	29	170
1981	Great Country Hits	—	—
	The Best of the West	—	—
1982	20 of the Best	—	—
1985	Collector's Date	—	—
	Country Classics	—	—	Pair
1988	Special Songs of Love	—	—	Step One
	Country Gold	—	—
	Just Me and My Piano	—	—
1989	Forever Floyd Cramer	—	—
	We Wish You a Merry Christmas	—	—
	Originals	—	—
1991	Gospel Classics	—	—
1994	The Piano Magic of Floyd Cramer	—	—	Ranwood
1995	Favorite Country Hits 1	—	—
1996	The Piano Magic of Floyd Cramer 2	—	—
1997	Blue Skies	—	—
	Favorite Country Hits 2	—	—

[edit] Singles

Year	Single	Chart Positions					Album
		US [6]	US Country	US R&B	US AC	CAN Country
1958	"Flip Flop and Bop"	87	—	—	—	—	Last Date
1960	"Last Date"	2	11	3	—	—
1961	"On the Rebound"	4	—	16	—	—	On the Rebound
	"San Antonio Rose"	8	8	—	3	—
	"Your Last Goodbye"	63	—	—	—	—	America's Biggest Selling Pianist
	"Hang On"	95	—	—	—	—
1962	"Chattanooga Choo Choo"	36	—	—	—	—	single only
	"Let's Go"	90	—	—	—	—	Floyd Cramer Gets Organ-ized
	"Lovesick Blues"	87	—	—	—	—	I Remember Hank Williams
	"Hot Pepper"	63	—	—	—	—	singles only
	"Swing Low"	110	—	—	—	—
	"Losers Weepers"	127	—	—	—	—
1963	"Java"	49	—	—	—	—	Swing Along with Floyd Cramer
	"(These Are) The Young Years"	129	—	—	—	—	Comin' On
	"How High the Moon"	121	—	—	—	—	single only
	"Heartless Heart"	124	—	—	—	—	Country Piano-City Strings
1967	"Stood Up"	—	53	—	—	—	single only
1977	"Rhythm of the Rain"	—	67	—	—	—	Floyd Cramer & the Keyboard Kick Band
1980