Carl Belew ~ Hello Out There

Carl Belew 4/21/1931 ~ 10/ 31/1990

Carl Belew was born in Salina, Oklahoma on April 21, 1931. Like many aspiring artists of the Mid-50s, Carl switched from making small rockabilly records to country music. Carl was introduced to Four Star Records in 1955 by Marvin Rainwater (Gonna Find Me a Bluebird) and subsequently released the rockabilly singles "Cool Gator Shoes" and "Folding Money." After that, he won an amateur contest in Pasadena, California which led to a recording contract with Decca Records. With backing from the major label, Carl launched his recording career in the country music arena. During that time, he made appearances on a pair of radio programs; Town Hall Party and The Cliffie Stone Show.

From there he had a brief stint on the famed Louisiana Hayride and then in 1959 he relocated to Nashville. The move allowed him the opportunity to appear on the Grand Ole Opry and continue pursuing his recording aspirations. Carl's breakthrough composition "Stop the World (And Let Me Off)" hit the Top 10 in 1958, when Johnnie & Jack released their rendition of the song. The song was later covered by Patsy Cline. The following year, Andy Williams hit the Top 5 with "Lonely Street," a song which would become Carl's trademark tune thanks to a cover by Patsy Cline. Gene Vincent, Tony Booth and Rex Allen, Jr., also covered the song.

Carl wrote "Am I That Easy to Forget," a Top 40 pop hit for actress Debbie Reynolds that was subsequently recorded by Engelbert Humperdinck, Skeeter Davis (No. 11, 1960), Don Gibson, Jim Reeves (No. 12, 1973) and Leon Russell. Carl's own rendition of the song, which was his chart debut single, rose to No. 9 in 1959. The song was generated from his initial Decca recording sessions.

In 1960, Belew released his self-titled debut album on the Decca label. That same year, he notched a Top 20 song with the single "Too Much to Lose." Two years later, he was recording for RCA Records and turned out seven lower level singles. The song "Hello Out There" broke into the Top 10 and was his biggest chart hit (No. 8, 1962). The song was covered by LaWanda Lindsay in 1974 (No. 28). Carl followed up with "In the Middle of a Memory" (No. 23, 1964) and Crystal Chandelier (No. 12, 1965), but other than "Boston Jail," a Top 40 in 1966, his remaining RCA singles went nowhere. Two final chart singles, "All I need is You (Decca, 1971) and "Welcome Back to My World," (MCA, 1974), brought his brief chart activity to a close.

Throughout his career, Carl's songs continued to be popular with (and popularized by) other singers. Eddy Arnold hit No.1 in 1965 with "What's He Doing in My World," while Jim Reeves scored a posthumous chart hit with "That's When I See the Blues (In Your Pretty Brown Eyes)" (No. 9, 1968). "Stop the World (And Let Me Off)" also reached the Top 20 twice more thanks to a 1965 cover by Waylon Jennings which was one of his early RCA singles and a 1974 version by Susan Raye. Strangely for such a great writer as Carl, two of his most popular songs, Crystal Chandeliers and Hello Out There, were not penned by him.

The following is a list of original albums Carl recorded between 1960 and 1972: CARL BELEW (Decca, 1960), CARL BELEW, (Wrangler, 1962), Hello Out There (RCA, 1964), Am I That Easy to Forget (RCA, 1965), Another Lonely Night (Hilltop, 1965), Country Songs (Vocallion, 1966), Carl Belew (Allegro, 1966), Lonely Street (Vocallion, 1967) and 12 Shades of Belew (RCA, 1967), His last studio album, When My Baby Sings His Song, a record of duets with Betty Jean Robinson, was issued in 1972. Singing My Song (Buckboard, 1975), Greatest Hits (Plantation, 1979) and Big Time Gamblin' Man (Picadilly, 1980), were reissue material.

Carl died from cancer on October 31, 1990, in Salina, Oklahoma. Two years after his death he won the Music City News award for Best Song with "Look At US," which was a No. 4 hit for Vince Gill in 1991.

Copyright 2010 by RJB, Country Music Historian: Nashville, Tennessee USA

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Somewhere between the greed for money and sound judgment, the legends of country music were tossed aside for the outlandish sound they call country music today.
RJB Nashville, Tennessee

Portions of this work contain the intellectual property of third party authors and contributors. As such, third party authors and contributors retain all copyrights in the individual works and reserve all rights not specifically granted herein.
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We specialize in Original Country Music with emphasis on one hit wonders, obscure artist and hard to find singles.

RJB Nashville, Tennessee

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[Chattanoogaben]

Good version but...it's not the original RCA recording by Carl Belew. great song!!

[flashbell]

That is true, but his original work cannot be found on CD.

[Chattanoogaben]

I have the original RCA Recording on cd.......got it in Nashville at Ernest Tubb record shop 1 year ago. thanks for posting such great music

[flashbell]

Do you have too much to lose?

[Chattanoogaben]

Don't have that one.

[flashbell]

Ok, TY

[erykgee1]

@Chattanoogaben I like the 1962 version of Nick Noble

[erykgee1]

great..

 but I think I like

Nick Noble better

if any one has it please posted

if not mistaken it was on Liberty records about 1962.

thanks Eryk

[rockgor]

Carl wrote some popular songs. My favorite is Crystal Chandeliers. He also

wrote What's He Doing in my World?

Thanks for the melodious post.

[vilmad007]

I am a classic county fan as well as new country music fan but never heard of Carl Belew before although I've heard his songs sung by other artistes. Thanks for posting his songs as well as this information about him. I will be listening to all your videos of Carl Belew as his voice sounds wonderful and so pure like that of Gentleman Jim.

[FoxRunMan]

I consider myself a long-time country music fan, but I had never been aware of Carl Belew before stumbling across this YT post. Thanks for the info about Carl - it seems he had a very interesting career.

I agree with your assessment of today's country music. I don't listen to it. I just tune into the golden oldies of real country music like this one on YT.