Eddie Arnold met his idol on a train
This week in 1946: A U.S. Navy plane set a record, landing in Columbus, Ohio, after traveling 11,236 miles from Australia; President Harry S. Truman said he would cancel meat price controls; A Soviet policeman killed an American for photographing elections; and a singer from Henderson, Tennessee, had his third hit record.
According to Eddy Arnold, one of the biggest surprises of his career was how many people were aware of his singing and his records back in the early days of his career
During a 1980’s interview, Arnold commented about being surprised in meeting his idol, Gene Autry, during a train trip to New York City early in his career.
He said, “This was in 1946 and Gene Autry was just out of the service. He was on his way to New York for an appearance at Madison Square Garden and I was going there to record. The train left Nashville about 4 in the afternoon to go to Cincinnati, Ohio. He had gone to Cincinnati for some kind of business meeting and got on the train there for New York City. After the train pulled out, I walked up to the club car and there sat Gene Autry. He was already a big star and was my idol. I had bought his records out of the Sears, Roebuck catalog back when I was a kid on the farm. I admired him for the way he conducted his business. So I walked over to him and introduced myself. I was pleasantly surprised – even amazed – that he knew about me – he knew about my music and even knew about, and liked, the record I had out at the time – “That’s How Much I Love You,” which was already a big hit on the jukeboxes. He was very nice to me and we became good friends.”
Eddy Arnold’s RCA Victor single “That’s How Much I Love You” was written by Arnold, Wally Fowler and J. Graydon Hall.
It came on the charts Oct. 12, 1946 and peaked at No. 2 – where it stayed for four weeks. It was his 3rd charted song and was on the charts for 17 weeks.
Eddy Arnold (born: Richard Edward Arnold in 1918) placed 146 songs on the country music charts between 1945 and 2008, including 28 No. 1s. Thirtyseven of his 146 country chart singles also placed on the pop music charts.
He joined The Grand Ole Opry in 1943 and was inducted into The Country Music Hall Of Fame in 1966.
Eddy Arnold died in 2008 at age 89.