Eddy Arnold, country music gentleman, dead at 89

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Eddy Arnold, the gentleman crooner who took country music uptown and sold more than 85 million recordings over seven decades, died Thursday. He was 89.

He died at a care facility near Nashville.

From his debonair attire to the savvy with which he adapted his sound to popular trends, Mr. Arnold personified the evolution of country music in the years after World War II, from a rural vernacular to an idiom with broad mainstream appeal.

"I've never thought of myself as a country-and-western singer," he told The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer newspaper in 1968. "With the type material I do, I'm really a pop-music artist."

He added, "I want my songs to be accepted by everyone."

Mr. Arnold was a harbinger of the lush, orchestral Nashville Sound, made popular by the likes of Jim Reeves and Patsy Cline in the late 1950s and '60s. His greatest success was on the country charts, where, taken together, his singles spent more time — including more time in the top position — than those of any other singer in the music's history.

Thirty-seven of his hits crossed over to the pop charts. The biggest of those, "Make the World Go Away," reached the pop Top 10 during fall 1965, when it was heard on the radio alongside the latest records by the Beatles, The Supremes and the Rolling Stones.

At the heart of Mr. Arnold's appeal was his lustrous singing voice. Unlike many of his Nashville peers, he sang not through his nose but from his diaphragm. Influenced by crooners such as Bing Crosby and Gene Autry, he favored ballads and novelties over songs about drinking and cheating.

Mr. Arnold's early peak of popularity was from 1945-54, during which he had 57 consecutive singles in the country Top 10. Nineteen of those reached No. 1. Two, "I'll Hold You in My Heart (Till I Can Hold You in My Arms)" and "I Wanna Play House with You," were later recorded by Elvis Presley.

Mr. Arnold was born May 15, 1918, on a farm near Henderson, Tenn., the son of a sharecropper. He sang on radio stations in Jackson and Memphis, Tenn., and St. Louis before becoming nationally known.

In 1943, Mr. Arnold hired Col. Tom Parker as his manager. A former carnival barker, Parker later directed the career of Presley.

Mr. Arnold effectively used radio and television as a platform for promoting his music. He was host of a series of network variety shows and appeared as a guest on the likes of Milton Berle's "Texaco Star Theater." He also starred in the Hollywood movies "Feudin' Rhythm" (1949) and "Hoedown" (1950).

Mr. Arnold also was among the first country singers to perform in a Las Vegas casino, appearing at the Sahara as early as 1953.

Over the years, he invested wisely, especially in real estate in the Nashville area, and was regarded as one of the wealthiest men in country music. He once had this advice for young singers: "Get a good lawyer, a good accountant and be on time."

Mr. Arnold was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1966 and won the Country Music Association's first Entertainer of the Year award in 1967.

His wife of 66 years, Sally Gayhart Arnold, died March 11 at age 87. He is survived by their children, Richard Edward Jr., of Nashville, and Jo Ann Pollard, of Brentwood, Tenn.; and two grandchildren.

Material from The Associated Press

is included in this report.