Passed away on 5/5/08 from congestive heart failure. Thanks to Gene Kennedy of Door Knob Records for letting us know of the passing of Jerry Wallace. I spoke with Jerry Wallace Jr. and he said that his Dad has passed away on 5/5/08 from congestive heart failure. Considered a pop act during the late '50s with a pair of huge hits, Jerry Wallace successfully migrated to the country field during the '60s and '70s. Wallace began recording in 1951 and burst onto the pop charts in 1958 on the Challenge label with "How the Time Flies" and the even bigger "Primrose Lane" a year later. His focus became more country-oriented with "Shutters and Boards" and "In the Misty Moonlight" In 1963-64, and he made a full-fledged switch in 1965 after switching to the Mercury label. A move to Liberty in 1968 didn't pay off, but in 1972, soon after he began recording for Decca, "If You Leave Me Tonight I'll Cry" topped the country charts (as did the LP To Get to You). During the next year, "Do You Know What It's Like to Be Lonesome" and "Don't Give Up on Me" both reached the Top Five, but Wallace only managed one more Top Ten, 1974's "My Wife's House" (for MCA). He charted continually until the end of the decade, though, while recording for MGM, 4 Star, BMA, and Door Knob. Jerry Wallace and Eddie Arnold, two solo men who had their share of country format hits who've died in recent days, also made their marks on the Cash Box pop chart with nearly identical statistics. Wallace had six top 40 pop hits while Arnold had five. 
Wallace, who died Monday, May 5, 2008, of congestive heart failure,
had a half dozen Top 40 Cash Box pop hits. His biggest was 1959's
"Primrose Lane," which reached #5 and was the followup to his
breakthrough hit, the #19-peaking "How The Time Flies." He also
scored four top 40 hits in the 1960's with two #20-peaking songs--
"There She Goes" (1960) and "Shutters And Boards" (1962)--along with
the #19 "In The Misty Moonlight" (1964) and, finally, the #39 "If You
Leave Me Tonight I'll Cry" (1972).
"Shutters And Boards" was written by Audie Murphy, the World War II hero and movie star whose grave is the second most visited at Arlington Cemetary to this day. John F. Kennedy's grave is the most visited there. Wallace also had a #41 hit with 1959's "Little Coco Palm." Ironically, Eddie Arnold also had a #41 pop hit with "Somebody Like Me" in 1966, the year after he had his biggest pop song with the #12 "Make The World Go Away" in 1965. He broke through on the Cash Box pop chart with the #24 "Mutual Admiration Society" in 1956. Finally, on the heels of the success of "Make The World Go Away," Arnold had Top 40 crossover pop hits in 1966 with "I Want To Go With You" (#36), "The Last Word In Lonesome Is Me" (#37) and "The Tip Of My Fingers" (#38). |
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