BoxCar Willie was an American country music singer who sang “hobo” music. His hobo persona and songs of life on the road earned him a national following.
Born Lecil Martin in 1931, BoxCar Willie was the son of a railroad man, and always seemed to have a talent for music. By his teens he was playing in jamborees all over Texas, but he gave up show business to enlist in the Air Force, where he spent 22 years, where he served as a flight engineer for the B-29 Super Fortress during the Korean War in the early-1950s, logging around 10,000 hours as a pilot.
In 1976, he left the Air Force and became a full-time performer, and developed the singing hobo character, complete with overalls, a battered old hat, worn suit jacket and two days’ growth of beard. In San Jose, California, Martin attended a talent show as “BoxCar Willie” and won first place, a $150.00 prize. He went on to become a star in country music, selling more than 10 million records, tapes and CD’s world-wide.
Here is a video of BoxCar Willie performing “Waiting for a Train“:
In 1981 Roy Acuff invited him to join the Grand Ole Opry, and he became the sixtieth member to be inducted.
While Roy Clark became the first nationally known entertainer to put his name on a Branson theater in 1983, BoxCar Willie arrived three years later, and liked to brag that he was the first big name to live and work there all year long. Although he never had a hit single, his albums sold well and he built a loyal following that made him one of the most popular performers in Branson. In 1990 he opened the BoxCar Willie Railroad and Airplane Museum.
On April 12th, 1999, in Branson, Missouri, he died of leukemia at the age of 67.
Like many other people, I first became familiar with BoxCar Willie due to commercials for his recordings on television in the 1980’s, so in my mind he will forever be linked with the Ginzu knife, Inside the Shell Egg Scrambler, bamboo steamer, Veg-o-Matic, pocket fisherman and smokeless ashtrays.
“Santa Fe Sam and Hobo Bill” is a maudlin tale about two hungry hobos who dream of a wonderful Christmas dinner and their wish is granted by a benevolent Christmas angel.
LISTEN TO MP3:
DOWNLOAD:
Boxcar_Willie_-_Santa_Fe_Sam_And_Hobo_Bill.mp3
Tags: country music, boxcar willie, santa fe, hobo, mp3, download, listen, christmas
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put a link to your site on my noveltymusicgroup @ yahoo nice work here Best Paul.