Redd Stewart

Induction Year: 1970

Birth Name: Henry Ellis Stewart

Birth Date: 05-27-1921

Place of Birth: Ashland City, Tennessee

Death Date: 08-02-2003

Place of Death: Louisville, Kentucky

Henry "Redd" Stewart co-wrote four hugely successful songs in country and pop music in the late 1940s and early '50s: "Slow Poke," "You Belong to Me," "Bonaparte's Retreat" and "The Tennessee Waltz."

Raised by musical parents in Louisville, Stewart learned to play banjo, piano, fiddle and guitar as a child. All six of his brothers and sisters also became musicians. He dropped out of school after the seventh grade to perform in local bands. At age 14, he wrote his first commercial song, an ad jingle for a Louisville Ford automobile dealership. He also formed his own band at that time, the Kentucky Wildcats. He legally changed his name to Redd because of his russet-colored hair.

In 1939, Redd Stewart became a member of Pee Wee King's band, the Golden West Cowboys, and joined the cast of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. Stewart left King's band in 1941 to join the Army during World War II. While serving in the South Pacific, Stewart wrote the big World War II song "Soldier's Last Letter." It became a #1 country hit for Ernest Tubb in 1944 and has been recorded by many other artists.

After the war, Stewart rejoined the Golden West Cowboys, this time as the group's lead vocalist. Most of the band's biggest hits were sung by Stewart. When he and King became a songwriting team in the 1950s, they provided material to Eddy Arnold, Cowboy Copas and other country stars of the day.

Their "Tennessee Waltz" became a pop smash for Patti Page in 1951 (reportedly selling more than 6 million copies) and was named a state song of Tennessee in 1965. "Slow Poke" was # 1 on both the country and pop charts for King & the Golden West Cowboys. King and Stewart's romantic ballad "You Belong to Me," co-written with Chilton Price, topped the pop charts when recorded by Jo Stafford in 1952 and became a major doo-wop hit when revived by the Duprees a decade later.

Stewart and King left the Opry and moved to Louisville in 1947. From there, they became pioneers in country music TV, starring in both regional and national programs.

Without King, Stewart occasionally wrote songs recorded by Jim Reeves, Moon Mullican and other artists. During his lifetime, Redd Stewart estimated that he had written more than 400 songs.

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Song Catalog

 

"A Crazy Waltz"

(written with Roy Ayers, Pee Wee King)

Pee Wee King1952  
Helen O'Connell1952  
 

"Absolutely, Positively"

(written with Marger Rothget, Pee Wee King)

Pee Wee King1956  

"Bonaparte's Retreat"

(written with Pee Wee King)

Pee Wee King1950 #10 country
Spade Cooley1950 
Kay Starr1950 #4 pop
Gene Krupa1950 #9 pop
Roy Acuff1953 
Reno & Smiley1957 
Justin Tubb1958 
Billy Grammer1959 #50 pop
Kitty Wells1960 
Floyd Cramer1964 
Paul Anka1966 
Hank Locklin1967 
Don Gibson1969 
Carl Smith1970 
Michael Nesmith1972 
Glen Campbell1974  #3 country
Redd Stewart1974 
Willie Nelson1975 
Lenny Breau1982 
Doc Watson1990 
Holy Modal Rounders1999 
Hot Club of Cowtown1999 
Bryan Sutton2006 
The Time Jumpers2007  
 

"Darling Don't Cry"

(written with Pee Wee King)

Pee Wee King1952  
 

"Downstream"

(written with Sunny Dull)

Moon Mullican1954  
 

"Postage Due"

(written with Pee Wee King, John B. Marshall)

Pee Wee King1952  
 

"Prelude to a Broken Heart"

(written with Pee Wee King)

Pee Wee King1957  
 

"Ragtime Annie Lee"

(written with Pee Wee King)

Pee Wee King1952  
 

"River Road Two Step"

(written with Pee Wee King)

Pee Wee King1952  
Spade Cooley1952  
Margaret Whiting1952  
Hank Thompson1963  

"Slow Poke"

(written with Chilton Price, Pee Wee King)

Pee Wee King1951 #1 country, #1 pop
Hawkshaw Hawkins1951 #7 country, #26 pop
Ralph Flanagan1951 #6 pop
Helen O'Connell1951 #8 pop
Arthur Godfrey1951 #12 pop
Roberta Lee1951 #13 pop
Doris Day1952  
Billy Vaughn Orchestra1952 
Tiny Hill1952 #28 pop
Eddy Arnold1954  
Bob Wills1957  
Homer & Jethro1963  
Riders in the Sky1986  
Lawrence Welk1987  

"Soldier's Last Letter"

(written with Ernest Tubb)

Ernest Tubb1944 #1 country, #16 pop
George Jones1962  
Ramblin' Jack Elliott1962  
The Louvin Brothers1962  
George Hamilton IV1965  
Dave Dudley1966  
Wanda Jackson1967  
Hank Snow1968  
Stonewall Jackson1968  
Hoyt Axton1969  
Merle Haggard1971 #3 country, #90 pop
Reno & Smiley1971  
The Osborne Brothers1995  
Bill Harrell & the Virginians1998  
Mac Wiseman2009  
Charlie Louvin2010  
 

"Tennessee Tango"

(written with Pee Wee King)

Pee Wee King1952  

"Tennessee Waltz"

(written with Pee Wee King)

Pee Wee King1948 #3 country, #30 pop
Cowboy Copas1948 #3 country
Roy Acuff1948 #12 country
Erskine Hawkins1950 #6 R&B
Patti Page1950 #1 pop, #2 country
Stick McGhee1950 #2 R&B
Guy Lombardo1950 #6 pop
Les Paul & Mary Ford1950 #6 pop
Jo Stafford1950 #7 pop
Pee Wee King (reissue)1951 #6 country
Spike Jones1951 #13 pop
The Fontane Sisters1951 #20 pop
Anita O'Day1951 #24 pop
Eddy Arnold1956  
Floyd Cramer1957  
The Louvin Brothers1958  
Margaret Whiting1958  
Connie Francis1959  
Bobby Comstock & the Counts1959 #52 pop
Chet Atkins1959  
Faron Young1959  
Jerry Fuller1959 #63 pop
Tennessee Ernie Ford1960  
Kitty Wells1960  
Don Robertson1961  
Pat Boone1962  
Webb Pierce1962  
Sam Cooke1964 #35 pop, #35 R&B
Slim Whitman1966  
Otis Redding1966  
Ernest Tubb1966  
Manfred Mann1967  
The Mills Brothers1968  
Johnny Jones1968 #49 R&B
Dottie West1968  
Don Gibson1969  
Ferlin Husky1969  
Sonny James1970  
Ella Fitzgerald & Joe Pass1976  
Anne Murray1978  
Charlie Daniels Band1978  
Lacy J. Dalton1980 #18 country
Emmylou Harris1981  
Mose Allison1982  
James Brown1983  
Leon Russsell1984  
Sonny Rollins1989  
David Allan Coe1990  
The Chieftains1995  
Kathy Mattea1996  
Norah Jones2002  
Charlie McCoy2008  
Shawn Colvin2010  
 

"That's a Sad Affair"

(written with Sunny Dull)

Jim Reeves1965  
 

"The Waltz of Regret"

(written with Pee Wee King)

Pee Wee King1950  
 

"Waitin'"

(written with Pee Wee King)

Pee Wee King & Redd Stewart1964  
 

"Walk Me by the River"

(written with Marger Rothget, Pee Wee King)

Bing Crosby1953  
 

"When Love Dies Where Does It Go"

Moon Mullican1955  

"You Belong to Me"

(written with Chilton Price, Pee Wee King)

Jo Stafford1952 #1 pop
Patti Page1952 #4 pop
Sue Thompson1952  
The Orioles1952  
Dean Martin1952 #12 pop
Joni James1952  
Jim Reeves1957  
Paul Anka1958  
Gene Vincent1958  
Pat Boone1959  
Santo & Johnny1960  
Mose Allison1961  
The Duprees1962 #7 pop
Patsy Cline1962  
Petula Clark1965  
Jane Morgan1965  
Jim Reeves (reissue)1975 #54 country
Al Martino1975  
Jerry Lee Lewis1976  
Ringo Starr1981  
Marshall Crenshaw1986  
Margo Smith1987  
Johnny Mathis1989  
T. C. Brandon1989 #93 country
Anne Murray1993  
Bob Dylan1994  
Floyd Cramer1996  
Bonnie Bramlett2002  
Crystal Gayle2003  
Carla Bruni2008  
Beegie Adair2009  
 

"You Tried to Ruin My Name"

(written with Pee Wee King)

Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper1952  
Pee Wee King1952  
Johnnie & Jack1952  

Other Media

Redd Stewart

Induction Year: 1970