":V FloydSIDE ME N Cramer By Robert K. Oermann

HEN FLOYD CRAMER PICKED UP HIS PHONE Charm” and “(You’re the) Devil in Disguise.” ■ In. Nashville in the spring of 1984, Cramer’s piano style evolved after Atkins heard there was an unmistakable voice on songwriter Don Robertson’s demo tape of “Please the "other end of the line. It was Help Me, I’m Falling” in 1959. For Hank Locklin’s MichaelW Jackson, inviting the famed pianist to per­ recording of the song, Atkins asked Cramer to imi­ form at an event honoring matriarch Katherine Jack- tate the distinctive “slurred” notes Robertson had son. “I’ve been listening to ‘Last Date’ all my life,” said played. The result was the piano star’s renowned Michael, referring to Cramer’s i960 signature instru­ “slip-note” technique. “You hit a note and slide mental. The keyboardist was Katherine’s favorite almost simultaneously to another,” Cramer ex­ recording artist, and that’s how he wound up tickling plained. “It’s sort of a near miss on the keyboard. the ivories behind Michael on “For the Good Times,” You don’t hit the note you intend to strike right off, backing Jermaine on “Moon River” and entertaining but you ‘recover’ instantly and then hit it. It is an the entire Jackson clan in Hollywood that spring. intentional error and actually involves two notes. “I was just overwhelmed, and very surprised,” The result is a lonesome, cowboy sound.” Cramer commented. He shouldn’t have been. As a His delicately ornamental style resulted in a trio key member of Nashville’s “A Team” of studio of Top Ten instmmental pop hits in i960 and ’61 - musicians, Floyd Cramer was one of the most influ­ Cramer’s own “Last Date” and “On the Rebound,” ential piano players in history, regardless of genre, plus his revival of Bob Wills’s “San Antonio Rose.” Although he’s associated with country music, his Cramer released more than fifty instrumental instrumental hits of the Sixties were albums between i960 and 1981. all far bigger on the pop charts than Cramer also stayed busy as a session they were on the country hit parade. player, notably on the biggest hits by “Music is emotion, mood, regardless Gibson (“Oh Lonesome Me”) and of what you name it,” he once said. “If Eddy Arnolf§ C“Make the World Go they want to call what I do pop of Away”). He plays on virtually all of country, that’s fine w ith me.” Brenda Lee’s pop sessions of 1956 Floyd Cramer was bom in 1933 and through 1966, from her rockabilly raised in the tiny Arkansas sawmill sides to her torch songs. Roy Orbison town of Huttig. Recognizing his gift hits from “Only the Lonely (Know for music, his parents bought him a spinet upright How I Feel)” to “Oh, Pretty Woman” are also on the when he was five. He was given piano lessons but pianist’s resume. He clanked a hammer on a metal hated them because he preferred to play by ear. The mike boom to create the “mining” sound in Jimmy teenager became skillful enough to land a job at the Dean’s “Big Bad John” (1961) and provided the key­ Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport in 1951. He toured board cushion for Skeeter Dayis on her 1963 pop with the legendary Hank Williams in 195 2. In 1954, crossover hit “The End of the World.” Think of the Elvis became a Hayride regular, and the following graceful piano notes that open Patsy Cline’s immor­ year Cramer joined Elvis’s band for shows in Texas. tal performance of “Crazy” (i96^and you’ll be By this time, Cramer was also an Established ses­ thinking of Floyd Cramer. sion player; he can be heard clearly on such hits as Quiet and humble by nature, the pianist seldom Jim Reeves’s “Mexican Joe” (1953) and Webb Pierce’s sought publicity. In later years, he sold millions of “Back Street Affair” (1952). At the urging of RCA’s instrumental albums via TV ads and lent his name Chet Atkins, Cramer moved to Nashville in||$55 to charity golf tournaments for arthritis and multi­ and was soon recording with Marty Robbins, John­ ple sclerosis before succumbing to cancer on New ny Horton, Hank Snow and other country notables. Year’s Eve in 1997/ He’s also on such Elvis hits as “Stuck on You,” “It’s Now, six years later, we welcome the great Now or Never,” “Are You Lonesome Tonight;” “Can’t pianist - along with his formidable legacy - into Help Falling in Love,” “Little Sister,” “Good Luck the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. - □