George Hamilton IV

by John Bush
Proclaimed the International Ambassador of Country Music thanks to his world tours in the 70s, George Hamilton IV began his career in the late 50s as a teen-oriented pop star. After his first hit, A Rose and a Baby Ruth, hit number six on the pop charts in 1956, he toured with Buddy Holly and the Everly Brothers. However, his later pop efforts stalled on the charts, and in 1959, Hamilton joined the Grand Ole Opry. Top ten country singles like Before This Day Ends, Three Steps to the Phone (Millions of Miles) and If You Dont Know I Aint Gonna Tell You paved the way for 1963s Abilene, which topped the country charts for four weeks and hit 15 on the pop charts. The following year, Hamilton charted three singles and returned to the Top Ten with Fort Worth, Dallas or Houston. Folk music inspired Hamiltons late-60s hits, including the Gordon Lightfoot-penned Steel Rail Blues and Joni Mitchells Urge For Going. Except for 1970s number-three hit Shes a Little Bit Country, chart success eluded him during the 70s, so George Hamilton IV took country music around the world. Besides more than ten tours of Great Britain and several BBC-TV productions, Hamilton became the first country artist to perform behind the Iron Curtain; he also toured Africa, the Orient, New Zealand, Australia, and even the Middle East. For the rest of his career, Hamilton concentrated on gospel recordings. His son, George Hamilton V, toured with his fathers backup band and charted a single in 1988.