Gene Sullivan

Induction Year: 1971

Birth Name: William Daniel Eugene Sullivan

Birth Date: 11-16-1914

Place of Birth: Carbon Hill, Alabama

Death Date: 10-24-1984

Place of Death: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Gene Sullivan was one-half of the popular 1940s country duet act Wiley & Gene. They co-wrote two enduring, much recorded songs: "Live and Let Live" and "When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again."

Gene Sullivan was born and raised near Birmingham, Alabama. His father was a coal miner, and Sullivan went to work in the mines when he was 16. In his youth, he was also a professional boxer. He turned to country music when he bought his first guitar in 1932.

Two of Sullivan's early music jobs were with Happy Hal Burns' Tune Wranglers and the Lone Star Cowboys, both in 1935. He joined the band of the Shelton Brothers in 1936. He performed as a singer, guitarist and comedian with the Shelton troupe. The group broadcast over KWKH in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Florida-born fiddler and singer Wiley Walker joined the Shelton Brothers two years later. He and Sullivan began singing together while on the road traveling to concerts. The two band members formed their duet act in Dallas, Texas, in 1939, the same year they began recording. Wiley & Gene rose to fame on KFJZ radio in Fort Worth, Texas. They also broadcast from Oklahoma City over KWXX, and that town became their home for the rest of both men's lives.

The duet act reached its peak during the World War II era. Wiley Walker and Gene Sullivan wrote and recorded "Live and Let Live" and "When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again" in 1941. Both became classic songs, recorded by dozens of artists down through the years.

In the late 1940s, Wiley & Gene became pioneering country television performers in Oklahoma City. In 1946, they scored their only country music chart hit together with "Make Room in Your Heart for a Friend," which went to #2.

Both men also pursued solo recording careers. Sullivan had a Top 10 hit in 1957 with his novelty tune "Please Pass the Biscuits." But the two men repeatedly reunited as a performing duet during the 1950s and 1960s. After that, Gene Sullivan ran a music store in Oklahoma City.

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Song Catalog

 

"A Tiny Baby Bonnet"

(written with Wiley Walker)

Wiley Walker & Gene Sullivan1941 
 

"Bothered by the Blues"

(written with Wiley Walker)

Wiley & Gene1946 
 

"Don't Make Me Laugh, I'm Mad"

(written with Wiley Walker)

Wiley & Gene1945 
 

"Don't You Dare"

(written with Wiley Walker)

Wiley & Gene1948 
 

"I Just Don't Want to Be Happy"

(written with Wiley Walker)

Wiley Walker & Gene Sullivan1941 
 

"I Might Have Known"

(written with Wiley Walker)

Wiley Walker & Gene Sullivan1941 
Jimmy Dean1957 

"I Want to Live and Love"

(written with Wiley Walker)

Wiley Walker & Gene Sullivan1941 
Texas Jim Lewis1944 
The Maddox Brothers & Rose1946 
The Wilburn Brothers1958 
Carl Smith1965 
Junior Brown2005 
 

"It's Only a Matter of Time"

(written with Wiley Walker)

Wiley & Gene1945 
 

"Kansas City Blues"

(written with Wiley Walker)

Wiley & Gene1946 

"Live and Let Live"

(written with Wiley Walker)

Wiley Walker & Gene Sullivan1941 
Denver Darling1942 
Jimmie Davis1942 
Tex Ritter1946 
Johnny Bond1953 
Johnnie & Jack1956 
Carl Smith1957 
Rose Maddox1958 
Jerry Lee Lewis1958 
Bill Monroe1962 
Flatt & Scruggs1962 
Foy Willing & the Riders of the Purple Sage1962 
Moon Mullican1966 
Charlie Feathers1968 
Jim & Jesse1972 
Mac Wiseman1979 
David Parmley1989 
Tony Trischka2007 
The Del McCoury Band2011  
 

"Love Always Has Its Way"

(written with Wiley Walker)

Wiley & Gene1945 
 

"Make Room in Your Heart for a Friend"

(written with Wiley Walker)

Wiley & Gene1946 #2 country
 

"No Parting Word, No Parting Kiss"

(written with Wiley Walker)

Wiley & Gene1948 
 

"Please Pass the Biscuits"

Gene Sullivan1957 #9 country
 

"Slow Marching, Sad Music"

(written with Wiley Walker)

Wiley & Gene1948 
 

"Tear Drop Waltz"

(written with Wiley Walker)

Wiley & Gene1950 
 

"There's Always Somebody Else"

(written with Wiley Walker)

Wiley Walker & Gene Sullivan1941 
 

"Wash Your Feet Before Going to Bed"

(written with Wiley Walker)

Gene Sullivan1957 

"When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again"

(written with Wiley Walker)

Wiley Walker & Gene Sullivan1941 
Zeke Manners1942 
Cindy Walker1944 #2 country
Tex Ritter1946 
Tex Williams1947 
Cliffie Stone1948 #11 country
Eddy Arnold1951 
Johnnie & Jack1956 
Elvis Presley1956 #19 pop
Rosalie Allen1957 
Slim Whitman1958 
Big Al Downing1959 
Jerry Lee Lewis1960 
Billy Vaughn Orchestra1961 
Goldie Hill1962 
Hank Snow & Anita Carter1962 
Foy Willing & the Riders of the Purple Sage1962 
Jim & Jesse1963 
The Sons of the Pioneers1963 
Lulu Belle & Scotty1963 
Al Hirt1964 
Leon McAuliffe1964 
Frank Ifield1965 
Bill Monroe1967 
Commander Cody1968 
Hank Snow1968 
The Statler Brothers1972 
Webb Pierce1973 
Mac Wiseman1973 
Lester Flatt1974 
Hank Thompson1974 
Danny Davis & the Nashville Brass1974 
Jerry Reed1975 
Sammi Smith1975 
Clarence Gatemouth Brown1975 
Merle Haggard1977 
Larry Sparks1983 
The Maines Brothers Band1985 #84 country
Tim O'Brien1994 
Carl Jackson & Emmylou Harris1996 
The Osborne Brothers1996 
Bashful Brothers Oswald1999 
Billy Swan1999 
Hank Wilson (Leon Russell)2001 
Pete Anderson2004 
Morrissey2008 
Moe Bandy & Joe Paul Nichols2011 
 

"You've Got to Pay the Fiddler"

(written with Wiley Walker)

Wiley Walker & Gene Sullivan1941 

Other Media

Gene Sullivan

Induction Year: 1971