|
 |
|||||||||||||
|
About The Artist
George Washington McCormick had a lengthy musical career. A native of Smith County, Tennessee, young George moved to Nashville at age fourteen and soon landed work at WLAC. By 1949, he began a three-year stint as one of Big Jeff's Radio Playboys and even lived much of the time with Jeff and Tootsie. George made some his first recordings supporting Jeff's vocals on Dot including his version of "Step It Up and Go." Looking back in later years, McCormick said "I learned a lot from Big Jeff."
Taking on Earl Aycock (B: November 1, 1930 — D: October 18, 2001) as a duet partner, he moved to Mercury in 1955. The same thing repeated itself-a dozen numbers and no hits, although the songs included fine covers of Jimmy Martin and the Osborne Brothers' "Save It, Save It" and Ray Price's "Sweet Little Miss Blue Eyes." George's work with bigger names in the business seems to have begun with Martha Carson. But the best remembered ones seem to have been his work with Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper where he replaced Carolee Cooper in 1959 and 1960, singing the third part on their trio numbers such as "There's a Big Wheel," their biggest hit.
George also did some more recording under his own name in this era. About 1963, he recorded one side of an album on the budget label Somerset which consisted of covers of Hank Williams songs (the other side featured another vocalist doing covers of Ernest Tubb numbers). In the late sixties, while working with Wagoner, he cut three singles for the Nashville firm, Stop. At some point, McCormick also worked with other Nashville stars including the Louvin Brothers, Jim Reeves, and Dolly Parton (perhaps apart from the above mentioned Porter and Dolly recordings).
  In later years George worked a great deal with Grandpa Jones as virtually his only touring band member. Since George was a Scottish Rite member and Grandpa was having problems memorizing proficiency of the ritual, the younger man taught him what he needed to learn traveling on the road with him (this was about 1973). When Jones appeared at the Ohio State Fair in 1982, George was prominently featured in a photo my wife Deanna Tribe took that later appeared in my book Country: A Regional Exploration (2006) on page 7. While still working with Grandpa, McCormick had moved away from Nashville and bought a small farm near Cookeville, closer to his Smith County birthplace to which he eventually retired. While his days with Wagoner's Wagon Masters may have made him more famous, he probably worked longer with Grandpa Jones more than anyone else. He died in Cookeville at age 84. He was survived by wife Betty and four daughters. In all, his obituary credited him with working with Opry acts for 47 years. His burial took place in Crest Lawn Cemetery.
Credits & Sources
|
Recordings (78rpm/45rpm)
|
| ||||
| Rec. No. | Side | Song Title | ||
| 11598 | A | Fifty-Fifty Honky Tonkin? | ||
| 11598 | B | Don?t Add an Ex to Your Name | ||
| 11656 | A | I Guess You Don?t Care | ||
| 11656 | B | Hi There Sweet Thing | ||
| 11748 | A | Sundown Train | ||
| 11748 | B | Flutter Bug | ||
| 11877 | A | Gold Wedding Band | ||
| 11877 | B | Don't Fix Up the Dog House | ||
| 12504 | A | The Blues Moved in This Morning | ||
| 12504 | B | After All We?ve Been Through | ||
| 12592 | A | Doubt | ||
| 12592 | B | I'll Keep Your Name on File | ||
| ||||
| Rec. No. | Side | Song Title | ||
| 199 | A | The Room of the Unknown Shoulder | ||
| 199 | B | Too Busy to Hoe | ||
| 261 | A | Big Wind | ||
| 261 | B | What I?d Give to Hear a Baby Cry | ||
| 363 | A | Walk on Fool | ||
| 363 | B | It Might as Well be Me | ||
Hillbilly-Music.com
Yes, Hillbilly Music. You may perhaps wonder why. You may even snicker. But trust us, soon your feet will start tappin' and before you know it, you'll be comin' back for more...Hillbilly Music.
Hillbilly-music.com ...
It's about the people, the music, the history.
Copyright
Copyright © 2000—2025 Hillbilly-Music.com
Content is copyright
by Hillbilly-Music.com except where noted. Articles and photos attributed
to others are used by this site with the owner's permission and require
you to obtain permission to re-use or reprint. Except where noted, all
information is from the collection and archives of Hillbilly-Music.com.
Voting Member of:
From there he went on to a solo contract with MGM Records with his first
session in August 1953, subsequently recording a dozen numbers, none of
which became hits, but were good honky-tonk country.
However, he probably became
best known for his work as a long-time cast member on the syndicated television
Porter Wagoner Show through much of the 1960's. Exactly when McCormick
joined Wagoner is uncertain, but he appears on all (including those
of Porter and Dolly) of his RCA Victor record sessions from 1965 through 1971.
