Forgotten Artist: Carl Belew ~ Am I That Easy to Forget

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.

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[rreganjjohnn]

I toured with carl in the 60s on the US bases in Germany with my band 'The Tumbleweeds' he was a true gentleman. he wrote 'lonely Street also

[flashbell]

@rreganjjohnn, Carl ranked right up there amongst the best. I wish I had more of his recorded material.

[flashbell]

A smooth and easy version, but not the original recording.

[keylocam]

Thanks for the real deal country you are posting

[FluffyMe1980]

Love this tune! I remember well my father having this song on one of his collectors cd's. As a kid I loved ol' country music! And I STILL love it!!! The'stuff they call 'country' nowadays is just not country at all!! Anyway, thnx for puttin' it on youtube

[codygangsta5]

My dad Billy love the man and the song.

..

[CuteCatFaith]

Very good lowbar details. Much appreciated, and shared. Uprated. Greetings from France via the USA.

[ACatal1]

He is very brilliant country artist & singer and I do love this song, thank you for sharing it!

[wa1ufo]

Beautiful Captain!

[1947burke]

This is the real deal, they don't do songs like this anymore. WHAT A SHAME.

[fluff100100]

Have you got "Am I losing you "

[cmlbob]

As a kid, this was the first song I'd heard Carl's voice on. I was instantly hooked! What a great talent he was. Sadly, I never got to see him in concert. Thanks for posting this song. Wish there were some video of him here on youtube.

[latokatn506]

A great one RIP

[Leodorus]

Such a great song...thanks

for posting this wonderful rendition!

[whiskeedawg]

He looks like Barney from The Andy Grifith show