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On this day, November 5, 1960, Johnny Horton died in an automobile accident.
Johnny Horton
Born: April 30, 1925; Los Angeles, California, United States
Died: November 5, 1960 (aged 35); Milano, Texas, U.S.
John LaGale Horton (April 30, 1925 – November 5, 1960) was an American country music, honky tonk and rockabilly singer and musician, during the 1950s and early 1960s, best known for his saga songs that became international hits beginning with the 1959 single "The Battle of New Orleans", which was awarded the 1960 Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Recording. The song was awarded the Grammy Hall of Fame Award and in 2001 ranked No. 333 of the Recording Industry Association of America's "Songs of the Century". His first No. 1 country song was in 1959, "When It's Springtime in Alaska (It's Forty Below)".
Horton's music usually encompassed folk ballads based on American historic themes and legend. He had two successes in 1960 with both "Sink the Bismarck" and "North to Alaska," the latter utilized over the opening credits to the John Wayne film of the same name. Horton died in November 1960 at the peak of his fame in a traffic collision, less than two years after his breakthrough. Horton is a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.
{snip}
Death
On the night of November 4–5, 1960, Horton and two other band members, Tommy Tomlinson and Tillman Franks, were travelling from the Skyline Club in Austin, Texas, to Shreveport when they collided with an oncoming truck on a bridge near Milano in Milam County, Texas. Horton died en route to the hospital, and Tomlinson (1930–1982) was seriously injured; his leg later had to be amputated. Franks (1920–2006) suffered head injuries, and James Davis, the driver of the truck, had a broken ankle and other minor injuries.
The funeral was held in Shreveport on November 8, 1960, officiated by Tillman Franks' younger brother, William Derrel "Billy" Franks, a Church of God minister. Johnny Cash did one of the readings, choosing Chapter 20 from the Book of John. Horton is interred, with a cemetery bench in his honor, at the Hillcrest Memorial Park and Mausoleum in Haughton, east of Bossier City in northwestern Louisiana.
{snip}
Born: April 30, 1925; Los Angeles, California, United States
Died: November 5, 1960 (aged 35); Milano, Texas, U.S.
John LaGale Horton (April 30, 1925 – November 5, 1960) was an American country music, honky tonk and rockabilly singer and musician, during the 1950s and early 1960s, best known for his saga songs that became international hits beginning with the 1959 single "The Battle of New Orleans", which was awarded the 1960 Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Recording. The song was awarded the Grammy Hall of Fame Award and in 2001 ranked No. 333 of the Recording Industry Association of America's "Songs of the Century". His first No. 1 country song was in 1959, "When It's Springtime in Alaska (It's Forty Below)".
Horton's music usually encompassed folk ballads based on American historic themes and legend. He had two successes in 1960 with both "Sink the Bismarck" and "North to Alaska," the latter utilized over the opening credits to the John Wayne film of the same name. Horton died in November 1960 at the peak of his fame in a traffic collision, less than two years after his breakthrough. Horton is a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.
{snip}
Death
On the night of November 4–5, 1960, Horton and two other band members, Tommy Tomlinson and Tillman Franks, were travelling from the Skyline Club in Austin, Texas, to Shreveport when they collided with an oncoming truck on a bridge near Milano in Milam County, Texas. Horton died en route to the hospital, and Tomlinson (1930–1982) was seriously injured; his leg later had to be amputated. Franks (1920–2006) suffered head injuries, and James Davis, the driver of the truck, had a broken ankle and other minor injuries.
The funeral was held in Shreveport on November 8, 1960, officiated by Tillman Franks' younger brother, William Derrel "Billy" Franks, a Church of God minister. Johnny Cash did one of the readings, choosing Chapter 20 from the Book of John. Horton is interred, with a cemetery bench in his honor, at the Hillcrest Memorial Park and Mausoleum in Haughton, east of Bossier City in northwestern Louisiana.
{snip}
Johnny Horton "Sink the Bismark"
627,145 views • Dec 22, 2012
NRRArchives
254K subscribers
Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show. April 02, 1960. Re-post of a previous upload.
627,145 views • Dec 22, 2012
NRRArchives
254K subscribers
Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show. April 02, 1960. Re-post of a previous upload.
Sun Nov 5, 2023: On this day, November 5, 1960, Johnny Horton died in an automobile accident.
Sat Nov 5, 2022: On this day, November 5, 1960, Johnny Horton died in an automobile accident.
Thu Nov 5, 2020: On this day, November 5, 1960, Johnny Horton died, in an automobile accident.