Showing posts with label Tennessee Ernie Ford. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tennessee Ernie Ford. Show all posts

Friday, December 16, 2011

Because it's the season




I never get tired of watching this video.  Most of my readers have probably seen it; I've shared it here on my blog, and also on Facebook, more than once.
Perhaps you didn't know that the little boy getting all the attention is Ernie's son, Brion, who died in 2008 at the age of fifty-six.
Ernie was much loved.  He had a great variety show on television; he ended every episode with a hymn.  Big shots at the TV station didn't want him to do this, but he insisted that was something people liked, and he stood his ground.  The closing hymn became one of the most popular features of the show. Ernie recorded several albums of hymns.
I'm sure I'm not the only person who thought Ernie was a wonderful Christian man, but his son Jeffrey Buckner Ford says in his book that they never darkened the door of a church when he was growing up; they didn't say grace at the table.  They were not a religious family in any sense of the word.
Jeffrey's book shattered several of my illusions about Ernie.  
However, when I watch this video or any others that feature Ernie Ford, I can't help but love him.  His TV persona was a great guy, no matter what he like in real life.  When I think about Ernie, I'm taken back to a simpler, happier time.





For a brief history of Ernie Ford, click HERE.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

About that Tennessee Ernie video

I've investigated and found out the little boy acting out in the video was Ernie's youngest son, Brian. He died last year at the very young age of fifty-six. I'd say he was a chip off the old block!