Pat Boone
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Background information
Birth name Charles Eugene Patrick Boone
Also known as Pat Boone
Born June 1, 1934 (1934-06-01) (age 73) Jacksonville, Florida United States
Origin Nashville, Tennessee United States
Genre(s) R&B, Ballads, Blues
Occupation(s) musician, songwriter, actor, motivational speaker, spokesman
Instrument(s) Singing
Years active 1954 - present
Label(s) Republic Records, Hip-O Records, The Gold Label, Oak Records, Eclipse Music Group, MCA
Website
http://www.patboone.com
Charles Eugene Patrick Boone (born June 1, 1934) is a singer whose smooth style made him a popular performer of the 1950s. His cover versions of African-American rhythm and blues hits had a noticeable impact on the development of the broad popularity of rock and roll. He is also an actor, a motivational speaker, a television personality, and a conservative political commentator.
Biography and career
Born in Jacksonville, Florida, USA, Boone has said that he is a direct descendant of the American pioneer Daniel Boone.[1] He grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, attended David Lipscomb College and began recording in 1954 for Republic Records. His 1955 version of "Ain't That a Shame" was a huge hit, selling far better than Fats Domino's original version. This set the stage for the early part of Boone's career, which focused on covering R&B songs by black artists for a white market. Previously, rock 'n' roll had had only limited exposure outside of the African American community. The immense popularity of Pat Boone's covers also helped to bring attention to the original artists, such as Little Richard and Fats Domino and to rhythm and blues in general. In addition, the songwriters and copyright holders benefited even when individual artists did not.
In fact, only six of Boone's many hit singles were R&B covers, and only four of those were rockers. All were released in the first two years of his long career. These were "Ain't That a Shame" by Fats Domino and "Tutti Frutti" and "Long Tall Sally" by Little Richard, and "At My Front Door (Crazy Little Mama)" by the El Dorados. The other two R&B covers were well-chosen blues ballads, "I Almost Lost My Mind" by Ivory Joe Hunter and "Chains of Love," a hit for Big Joe Turner and later B.B. King that had been written by Ahmet Ertegun. By 1957, Boone was concentrating on the middle-of-the-road music that dominated his career. Although he would continue, on occasion, to record R&B songs (such as "Two Little Kisses," a non-alcoholic version of "One Mint Julep"), they were only rarely released on singles (his version of white R&B group The Capris's song "There's a Moon Out Tonight" being a notable exception) as cover versions.
Boone sported a clean-cut image that appealed to white teens and parents. His singing style, a rich baritone, followed in the tradition of his idol, Bing Crosby. Preferring to carry on in the Crosby tradition, he soon began turning more and more to ballads. Some of his biggest hits included "Love Letters in the Sand" (with the instrumental break featuring Boone's whistling), "April Love", "Friendly Persuasion (Thee I Love)", and "Don't Forbid Me".
His teen idol popularity in the late 1950s was second only to that of Elvis Presley, and, like Presley, he soon tried his hand at acting. Boone's pictures included 1959's Journey to the Center of the Earth alongside Hollywood notable James Mason.
His recording of the theme song from the 1957 film April Love topped the charts for six weeks and was nominated for an Academy Award. Pat also wrote the theme song for the movie Exodus.
A devout born-again Christian, he was raised in the conservative Church of Christ, but has been a member of a Pentecostal church since the late 1960s. Boone has refused both songs and movie roles that he felt might compromise his standards, including a role opposite the decade's reigning sex symbol, Marilyn Monroe. In his first film, April Love, he refused to give co-star/love interest Shirley Jones an onscreen kiss, because the actress was married in real life.
Among his other achievements, he hosted a TV series in the late 1950s and began writing in the early 1960s, a series of self-help books for adolescents, including Twixt Twelve and Twenty.
The British Invasion effectively ended Boone's career as a hitmaker, though he continued recording (and having Billboard-charted hits) throughout the 1960s. In the 1970s, he switched to gospel and country, and he continued performing in other media as well, most importantly radio. He is currently working as the disc jockey of a popular oldies radio show and runs his own record company which provides a much-welcomed outlet for new recordings by 1950s greats who can no longer find a place with the major labels.
Boone married Shirley Lee Foley, daughter of country music great Red Foley and singer Judy Martin, in 1953 and they had four daughters: Cherry, Lindy, Debby, and Laury. In the 1960s and 1970s the Boone family toured as gospel singers and made gospel albums, such as The Pat Boone Family and The Family Who Prays.
In the early 1990s, Boone joined Amway and spoke at many motivational seminars. He also became a distributor.
In 1997, Boone released In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy, a collection of heavy metal covers revamped to fit his style. To promote the album, he appeared at the American Music Awards in black leather, shocking audiences and losing his respectability among his largest constituency, conservative Christians. He was then fired from Gospel America, a TV show on the Trinity Broadcasting Network. About a year later, the controversy died down and many fans, including Jack Hayford, accepted his explanation of the leather outfit being a "parody of himself". He was re-hired by Trinity Broadcasting and Gospel America was brought back.
In 2003, the Gospel Music Association of Nashville, Tennessee recognized his gospel recording work by inducting him into its Gospel Music Hall of Fame.
In September 2006, Boone released Pat Boone R&B Classics - We Are Family, featuring cover versions of 11 R&B hits, including the title track, plus "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag," "Soul Man," "Get Down Tonight," "A Woman Needs Love," and six other classics.
Boone and his wife live in Los Angeles, California. They are members of The Church on the Way in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley. His one-time neighbor was Ozzy Osbourne and his family. Boone's cover of Osbourne's song "Crazy Train" became the theme song for The Osbournes. (It appears on The Osbournes Soundtrack.) Osbourne said that Boone "never complained once" about living next door to his less-than-traditional family.
Boone once claimed to use his own surname in lieu of curse words when upset.[2]
In 2006, Boone penned an article for WorldNetDaily in which he argued that Democrats and others who are against the Iraq War cannot, under any circumstances, be considered patriotic.[7] He was interviewed by Neil Cavuto on Fox News, where he expressed his outrage against the opponents of George W. Bush (namely the Dixie Chicks) that their criticisms of the President showed they did not "respect their elders".[8] Another article defended Mel Gibson after the actor was recorded making an anti-Semitic rant.[9] In early 2007, Boone, who has no formal scientific education, wrote two articles claiming that the scientific theory of evolution is an "absurd," "nonsensical" "bankrupt false religion." [10][11]
Despite their differing political views, Pat Boone is friends with the Reverend Jesse Jackson. [3] Little Richard, his 1950s musical rival and (like Jackson), a Christian believer, also counts Pat Boone as a friend.
As Chevrolet Spokesman
Pat Boone's well-groomed, clean-cut, boyish image won him a long-term product endorsement contract from General Motors during the late 1950's, lasting through the 60's.
Boone sung the praises of his product as "See the USA in your Chevrolet...drive your Chevrolet through the USA, America's the greatest land of all!" In the 1989 documentary Roger and Me, Boone stated that he first was given a Corvette from the Chevrolet product line, but after he and wife started having children, at one child a year, GM supplied him with a station wagon as well.
Boone, who has endorsed an indeterminate amount of products and services over the course of his career, said that more people identified him with Chevrolet than any other product.
Basketball interests
Boone was a basketball fan and had ownership interests in two teams. He owned a team in the Hollywood Studio League called the "Cooga Moogas." The Cooga Moogas included Bill Cosby, Rafer Johnson, Gardner McKay, Don Murray, and Denny "Tarzan" Miller.[4]
With the founding of the American Basketball Association Boone on February 2, 1967 became the majority owner of the league's team in Oakland, California.[5] The team was first named the Oakland Americans but was later renamed as the Oakland Oaks, the name under which it played from 1967 to 1969.[6] The Oaks won the 1969 ABA championship.[7]
Despite the Oaks' success on the court, the team had severe financial problems. One reason was that the Oaks were the only team in the ABA playing in a market with direct local competition from an NBA team, the Golden State Warriors. By August 1969 the Bank of America was threatening to foreclose on a $1.2 million loan to the Oaks,[8] and the team was sold to a group of businessmen in Washington, DC and became the Washington Caps.[9]
