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addition to borrowing his uncle Clyde Wilson’s
name as a frequent songwriting pseudonym, he
also wrote under the monikers Billy Cole (a
cousin who died of cancer), and Bettie
Westergard (to whom he was married in the
1950s). Dallas Frazier wrote Ferlin’s hit
Timber
I’m Falling
after signing with Husky’s music
publishing company in the early 1960s. The song
was credited, however, to Dalton Timber.
“That
was Ferlin’s idea
,
”
Frazier recalled in 2014.
“He
said, ‘Dallas, you ought to change your name.’
He had this thing about using different names.
Ferlin was a character. He was one crazy man,
and I loved him.”
Slipping in and out of various personas
extended beyond Ferlin’s various stage names
and was a hallmark of his vocal abilities.
“He
was really good at impressions,”
recalled Billy
Tonnesen, who played steel guitar in Ole
Rasmussen’s band in the late 1940s when Ferlin
was the bass player and featured vocalist in the
group.
“He’d do Roy Acuff, then turn around
and do Tex Ritter. He could do Ernest Tubb. It
didn’t matter what range the guy he was
impersonating had. Ferlin could lower or raise
his voice however he needed to. He was an
absolute showman.”
By the time he became a
star on the ‘Grand Ole Opry’ Ferlin had mastered
note-perfect imitations of dozens of entertainers,
ranging from Johnny Cash to Bing Crosby to
flawless renditions of both parts of Kitty Wells’
duets with Red Foley.
Husky eventually earned two dozen Top 20
singles on the ‘Billboard’ country chart between
1953 and 1973, three of which –
A Dear John
Letter
,
Gone
, and
Wings Of A Dove
- hit the #1
spot, crossed over to become hits on the pop
chart, and have since become country music
standards. But they are three very different songs
performed by a man with multiple musical
personalities. It’s not surprising that an artist
whose biggest singles have little in common with
one another possessed a unique ability to wear
unlimited musical hats. While fellow Country
Music Hall of Famers such as Hank Williams,
Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson were singular
stylists, Husky was a multi-talented chameleon
who could clown his way through a novelty song,
croon his way through a lush pop orchestration,
or cry his way through a honky tonk weeper.
Husky’s abilities ultimately netted him a list
of isolated hits without ever defining a particular
Ferlin Husky sound. Though arguably far more
talented than many of his peers, he is rarely listed
today among country music’s icons. Ferlin was
a consummate entertainer who was exceedingly
likeable and magnetic. The diversity of his skills
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PREVIEW