Autry Inman

b. Robert Autry Inman, 6 January 1929, Florence, Alabama, USA, d. 6 September 1988. An early prodigy, Inman played guitar at the age of five and at 12, he formed his band, the Alabama Blue Boys. He played on various local radio stations and in the mid-40s, he began to appear on the WWVA Wheeling Jamboree. He appeared on the Grand Ole Opry in 1947, where he became friendly with Cowboy Copas. He played bass for Copas's Oklahoma Cowboys in 1949 and 1950, before spending the next two years playing with George Morgan. In 1953, recording for Decca Records, he enjoyed a number 4 country hit with "That's All Right", but failed to achieve a follow-up hit with the label. He made further recordings for RCA-Victor Records (1958-60), United Artists Records (1960) and Mercury Records (1962), without finding chart success (in 1961, he formed his own Lakeside label and released a live album). In 1963, his Sims recording of "The Volunteer" made the Top 25. He recorded two risqué live albums for Jubilee the following year and eventually returned to the charts in 1968, with "The Ballad Of Two Brothers", a patriotic narrative delivered over strains of the "Battle Hymn Of The Republic". It reached number 14 in the country charts and also crossed over to become a Top 50 pop hit. He appeared in two films, A Face In The Crowd (1957) and Music City USA (1966), and released further albums, but achieved no further chart success.