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Friends and fans remember country music great Eddy Arnold

By admin ⋅ May 16, 2008 ⋅  Email This Post ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

This week people gathered to honor the country legend Eddy Arnold. John Gerome of the Associated Press reports:

Country legend Eddy Arnold was remembered Wednesday by fans and friends as a man who brought sophistication and wider popular appeal to his genre by performing tunes like his biggest hit, “Make the World Go Away.”

Arnold died May 8 at a care facility near Nashville. He was 89.

“Eddie Arnold loved to laugh. He loved a joke, and when he laughed, it was loud,” his biographer, Don Cusic, said in a eulogy. “But he didn’t laugh at himself. He took himself seriously and he took his music career seriously.”

The Ryman Auditorium’s simple wood stage was adorned with flower arrangements as a medley of Arnold’s hits including “Cattle Call,”"Tennessee Stud” and “Bouquet of Roses” played. His casket was covered with a gray pall bearing a black-and-gold cross designed by his late wife, Sally, and was used at her funeral only a couple of months ago.

The service was marked with music: Vince Gill sang “Go Rest High on That Mountain” and Arnold’s “You Don’t Know Me,” the Jordanaires performed “Peace in the Valley” and Jeanine Walker sang “How Great Thou Art.” Sony/BMG chairman Joe Galante and Curb Records founder and chairman Mike Curb were among the pallbearers.

Gill recalled spending time with Arnold early in his career.

“Here’s the most successful artist in our history, and he taught you how to be kind and he taught you to be a gentleman. It was a great gift,” Gill said.

Its clear that Eddy was deeply loved and respected by those in country music.