By Katie Scarvey
kscarvey@salisburypost.com
Grand Ole Opry star George Hamilton IV will be performing in Salisbury Thursday, Nov. 12 at Trinity Wesleyan Church on Mooresville Highway.
Sponsored by Memories 1280 WSAT, the concert begins at 7 p.m.
There is no admission charge, and no ticket needed for admission.
WSAT general manager Buddy Poole has been friends with Hamilton for more than 30 years.
The two met around 1975 when Poole was working at a country radio station in Durham ó Country Lovin’ 105 FM, Poole recalls.
Hamilton performed a concert at South Square Mall, sponsored by the radio station, and he and Poole became friends. Hamilton would come to town to do guest appearances on the Arthur Smith Show.
“He’s just a warm, friendly guy,” Poole says.
Hamilton is a great storyteller, Poole adds, and when he sings old hymns, he likes to share stories about how they were written.
Hamilton, Poole says, has “a zillion stories,” from his Grand Ole Opry days with Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Minnie Pearl and Roy Acuff.
Hamilton still occasionally appears on the Grand Ole Opry.
Hamilton was born in Winston-Salem, where his father was an executive for Goody’s Headache Powders. He and his parents spent many Saturday nights gathered around the radio listening to his heroes on the Grand Ole Opry. On a bus trip to Nashville, Hamilton met Ernest Tubb, who later invited him to appear on the Ernest Tubb Midnight Jamboree.
Hamilton attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
It was there, in 1956, that he recorded “A Rose and A Baby Ruth” at the campus radio station. The song became a regional hit and was released on ABC-Paramount.
By early 1957, it was a certified million seller and Hamilton was a pop star.
Other hits followed, like “Why Don’t they Understand” and “The Teen Commandments of Love,” which featured Hamilton along with Paul Anka and Johnny Nash. For the next three years, Hamilton toured with the likes of Buddy Holly, Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochrane, Bobby Darin and the Everly Brothers. He also appeared on Broadway with Louis Armstrong.
In 1959, Hamilton joined the Grand Ole Opry and signed with Chet Atkins at RCA Records. A string of hits followed, including “Before This Day Ends,” “Three Steps to the Phone,” “Truck Drivin’ Man,” “Break My Mind,” “She’s a Little Bit Country” and the giant hit “Abilene.”
Hamilton has said that his eyes were opened when he visited eastern Europe in 1974. He has spoken of his realization that he was a “shallow Christian” who had taken his religion for granted.
Later, he was invited to be a guest singer with Dr. Billy Grahm’s crusades during the early 1980s.
Trinity Wesleyan Church is located at 2200 Mooresville Road in Salisbury, at the corner of Sherrills Ford Road.