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Sheb Wooley
Shelby Fredrick Wooley (April 10, 1921 – September 16, 2003) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He recorded a series of novelty songs, including the 1958 hit rock-and-roll comedy single "The Purple People Eater", and under the name Ben Colder, the country hit "Almost Persuaded No. 2". As an actor, he portrayed Cletus Summers, the principal of Hickory High School and assistant coach in the 1986 film Hoosiers; Ben Miller, brother of Frank Miller in the film High Noon; Travis Cobb in The Outlaw Josey Wales; and scout Pete Nolan in the television series Rawhide. Wooley is also credited as the voice actor who provided the Wilhelm scream and all of the other stock sound effects for Thomas J. Valentino's Major record label during the 1940s.
Wooley was born in 1921 in Erick, Oklahoma, the third son of William C. Wooley and Ora E. Wooley. Wooley claimed to be part Cherokee. He had two older brothers, Logan and Hubert, and a younger brother, William. Federal census records for 1930 and 1940 identify Sheb's father only as a "farmer", although the family's livestock holdings apparently included horses; Sheb had learned to ride at an early age and became a working cowboy and later an accomplished rodeo rider.
Wooley married for the first time in 1940, wedding 17-year-old Melva Miller, a cousin of Roger Miller's, who would later become a successful song writer and actor himself. Wooley became friends with Miller when he lived in Oklahoma. He taught the boy how to play guitar chords and bought his first fiddle for him.
When the United States entered World War II, Wooley tried to enlist in the military, but was unsuccessful due to his numerous rodeo injuries. Instead, in the early 1940s, he worked in the oil industry and as a welder. In 1946, he moved to Fort Worth, Texas, where he earned a living as a country-western musician, recording songs and traveling for three years with a band throughout the South and Southwest. In Fort Worth, he also married for the second time, to Edna Talbott Bunt, a young widow with an infant son named Gary. The three of them left Texas in 1950 and moved to Hollywood, where Wooley hoped to establish himself as an actor or singer in film or in the rapidly expanding medium of television.
At the age of 15, with a talent for music, Wooley formed a band called the "Plainview Melody Boys", that periodically performed on radio at station KASA in Elk City, Oklahoma. He started his recording career in 1945. His music encompassed Western swing, country, hillbilly, rock and roll, pop and novelty songs. At the start of the 1950s, Wooley began fusing Western swing with rhythm and blues, but later in his career, his music shifted to the more commercial Nashville sound.
In 1958, Wooley earned considerable fame with his hit rock-and-roll comedy single, "The Purple People Eater", using tape manipulation inspired by the David Seville single "Witch Doctor". In the United Kingdom, he enjoyed a minor hit with the comedy single "Luke the Spook" on the flip side of "My Only Treasure", a ballad in the country and western tradition. Wooley also had a string of country hits, with his "That's My Pa" reaching number one of Billboard's Hot C&W Sides chart in March 1962. That same year, Wooley intended to record the song "Don't Go Near the Indians", but he was delayed by an acting job. Meanwhile, Rex Allen recorded the song, and it was a hit. Wooley, however, did the sequel to the song, "Don't Go Near the Eskimos", about a boy in Alaska named Ben Colder (had never "been colder"). This sequel was so successful that Wooley continued using the name Ben Colder, with one of his later recordings being "Shaky Breaky Car" (which parodied the song "Achy Breaky Heart"). In December 1963, his single "Hootenanny Hoot" became a top-10 hit in Australia; in 1967 his song "The Love-in" (1967) was recognized as an acerbic commentary on the 1960s' counterculture.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Wooley became a regular on the television series Hee Haw and wrote the theme song for that long-running series. On Hee Haw, he often appeared as the character Ben Colder, playing him as a drunken country songwriter. Outside of Hee Haw, Wooley released music and performed as Ben Colder, although he still sang under his own name, as well. Wooley continued to tour internationally and make personal concert appearances until his death in 2003. Wooley recorded his last written song just four days before he died.
Wooley's reworking of "D.I.V.O.R.C.E." into a parody of the Tammy Wynette song of the same name became an international hit when Billy Connolly covered it in 1975.
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Sheb Wooley
Shelby Fredrick Wooley (April 10, 1921 – September 16, 2003) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He recorded a series of novelty songs, including the 1958 hit rock-and-roll comedy single "The Purple People Eater", and under the name Ben Colder, the country hit "Almost Persuaded No. 2". As an actor, he portrayed Cletus Summers, the principal of Hickory High School and assistant coach in the 1986 film Hoosiers; Ben Miller, brother of Frank Miller in the film High Noon; Travis Cobb in The Outlaw Josey Wales; and scout Pete Nolan in the television series Rawhide. Wooley is also credited as the voice actor who provided the Wilhelm scream and all of the other stock sound effects for Thomas J. Valentino's Major record label during the 1940s.
Wooley was born in 1921 in Erick, Oklahoma, the third son of William C. Wooley and Ora E. Wooley. Wooley claimed to be part Cherokee. He had two older brothers, Logan and Hubert, and a younger brother, William. Federal census records for 1930 and 1940 identify Sheb's father only as a "farmer", although the family's livestock holdings apparently included horses; Sheb had learned to ride at an early age and became a working cowboy and later an accomplished rodeo rider.
Wooley married for the first time in 1940, wedding 17-year-old Melva Miller, a cousin of Roger Miller's, who would later become a successful song writer and actor himself. Wooley became friends with Miller when he lived in Oklahoma. He taught the boy how to play guitar chords and bought his first fiddle for him.
When the United States entered World War II, Wooley tried to enlist in the military, but was unsuccessful due to his numerous rodeo injuries. Instead, in the early 1940s, he worked in the oil industry and as a welder. In 1946, he moved to Fort Worth, Texas, where he earned a living as a country-western musician, recording songs and traveling for three years with a band throughout the South and Southwest. In Fort Worth, he also married for the second time, to Edna Talbott Bunt, a young widow with an infant son named Gary. The three of them left Texas in 1950 and moved to Hollywood, where Wooley hoped to establish himself as an actor or singer in film or in the rapidly expanding medium of television.
At the age of 15, with a talent for music, Wooley formed a band called the "Plainview Melody Boys", that periodically performed on radio at station KASA in Elk City, Oklahoma. He started his recording career in 1945. His music encompassed Western swing, country, hillbilly, rock and roll, pop and novelty songs. At the start of the 1950s, Wooley began fusing Western swing with rhythm and blues, but later in his career, his music shifted to the more commercial Nashville sound.
In 1958, Wooley earned considerable fame with his hit rock-and-roll comedy single, "The Purple People Eater", using tape manipulation inspired by the David Seville single "Witch Doctor". In the United Kingdom, he enjoyed a minor hit with the comedy single "Luke the Spook" on the flip side of "My Only Treasure", a ballad in the country and western tradition. Wooley also had a string of country hits, with his "That's My Pa" reaching number one of Billboard's Hot C&W Sides chart in March 1962. That same year, Wooley intended to record the song "Don't Go Near the Indians", but he was delayed by an acting job. Meanwhile, Rex Allen recorded the song, and it was a hit. Wooley, however, did the sequel to the song, "Don't Go Near the Eskimos", about a boy in Alaska named Ben Colder (had never "been colder"). This sequel was so successful that Wooley continued using the name Ben Colder, with one of his later recordings being "Shaky Breaky Car" (which parodied the song "Achy Breaky Heart"). In December 1963, his single "Hootenanny Hoot" became a top-10 hit in Australia; in 1967 his song "The Love-in" (1967) was recognized as an acerbic commentary on the 1960s' counterculture.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Wooley became a regular on the television series Hee Haw and wrote the theme song for that long-running series. On Hee Haw, he often appeared as the character Ben Colder, playing him as a drunken country songwriter. Outside of Hee Haw, Wooley released music and performed as Ben Colder, although he still sang under his own name, as well. Wooley continued to tour internationally and make personal concert appearances until his death in 2003. Wooley recorded his last written song just four days before he died.
Wooley's reworking of "D.I.V.O.R.C.E." into a parody of the Tammy Wynette song of the same name became an international hit when Billy Connolly covered it in 1975.