1 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:14,079 Speaker 1: And we returned to our American stories. Up next, a 2 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:16,520 Speaker 1: story from a man who has sold more than forty 3 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:21,079 Speaker 1: five million records and has thirty eight top forty hits 4 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:24,640 Speaker 1: to his name. We're talking about Pat Boone. When we 5 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:29,040 Speaker 1: interviewed Pat, the first question we asked him was undeniably basic, 6 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:32,400 Speaker 1: but he answered it beautifully. We asked him how he 7 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:36,360 Speaker 1: became famous. Let's get into the story. Take it away, 8 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:37,000 Speaker 1: Pat Well. 9 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:40,120 Speaker 2: I grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. I'm a country boy. 10 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:45,600 Speaker 2: My dad a building contractor, Mama registered nurse, very practical professions. 11 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:49,120 Speaker 2: But we were, as so many people in Middle Tennessee 12 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:52,800 Speaker 2: were and are. We were church goers. We were church members, 13 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:56,880 Speaker 2: and I grew up believing and was baptized when I 14 00:00:56,920 --> 00:01:01,640 Speaker 2: was barely thirteen. So in my teens, I was thinking 15 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:05,720 Speaker 2: of myself, seeing myself as a Christian, a child of God, 16 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:10,520 Speaker 2: and really living a good, wholesome life, and dating Shirley Foley, 17 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:13,520 Speaker 2: the daughter read fully the Country Music Hall of Fame. 18 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:17,360 Speaker 2: He wasn't then, but he was hosting the Grand Old Ockry, 19 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:21,039 Speaker 2: having replaced throy Acuff after many years. And I was 20 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:24,040 Speaker 2: not a big country music fan till I met Shirley Foley. 21 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:28,399 Speaker 2: She came to our high school. Her mom was not 22 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:30,520 Speaker 2: well and so she had to be in the dorm 23 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:34,520 Speaker 2: at the Lipscomb and at sixteen we met and really 24 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:39,319 Speaker 2: a romance began then that continues to this minute. But 25 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:42,760 Speaker 2: we were just teenagers. And then her mom died when 26 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:47,200 Speaker 2: Shirley was sixteen seventeen. Her mom was young, but rheumatic 27 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:51,680 Speaker 2: fever and heart condition, first open heart surgery ever in 28 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:56,760 Speaker 2: Nashville at Vanderbilt Hospital, but she didn't live long after that. 29 00:01:56,880 --> 00:01:59,840 Speaker 2: So then her mom's death brought us even closer together. 30 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:04,680 Speaker 2: And so when Red Foley was given the opportunity to 31 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:09,160 Speaker 2: go to Springfield, Missouri to start the Ozark Jubilee, which 32 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:14,760 Speaker 2: would become the first and huge nationwide country music show 33 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:18,520 Speaker 2: on Saturday nights from Springfield, Missouri, but he hadn't done 34 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:22,079 Speaker 2: it yet, and he was taking his three widowed daughters, 35 00:02:22,919 --> 00:02:25,720 Speaker 2: including Shirley, to Springfield, and I couldn't stand to let 36 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:28,919 Speaker 2: her go. We were nineteen then, so I asked if 37 00:02:28,919 --> 00:02:30,800 Speaker 2: she would marry me, and I asked him and he 38 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:35,720 Speaker 2: tearfully gave us permission and bought our rings. So we 39 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:39,119 Speaker 2: married at nineteen and I was on my way now 40 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:43,400 Speaker 2: to being a preacher teacher. But I had won, seemed 41 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:46,239 Speaker 2: like incidentally. I had won the Ted Mac Amateur Hour 42 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:48,920 Speaker 2: three weeks in a row, and it was the forerunner 43 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:53,079 Speaker 2: of shows like You Know The Voice and America's Got Talent. 44 00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:58,040 Speaker 2: The winners were selected by the viewers with cards and letters. 45 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:01,400 Speaker 2: The show would appear on Saturday night. By Thursday, the 46 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:04,640 Speaker 2: votes were counted, and if you won one week, you 47 00:03:04,639 --> 00:03:07,400 Speaker 2: would come back for another. And I won three weeks 48 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:10,240 Speaker 2: in a row. Well, I was thinking of being a 49 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:14,480 Speaker 2: singer at that point, but nothing came up, no contracts, 50 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:18,240 Speaker 2: no offers. So now I'm married, I'm in Texas and 51 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:22,279 Speaker 2: I get a call from New York and they're assembling 52 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:25,720 Speaker 2: all the three time winners to come back and compete 53 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:29,120 Speaker 2: with each other. Well, I was one, So I flew 54 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:31,760 Speaker 2: back to New York. And I was expecting our our 55 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:35,640 Speaker 2: first baby by then, and so I was on that 56 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:37,960 Speaker 2: show and they told me I was winning. But while 57 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:41,040 Speaker 2: I was having to wait in New York, I couldn't 58 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:43,840 Speaker 2: afford to go back to Texas and then back to 59 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:47,120 Speaker 2: New York again. So I waited in a seedy little 60 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:51,880 Speaker 2: hotel off Times Square until they let me know if 61 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:53,920 Speaker 2: I was winning or not. So while I was waiting, 62 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:57,360 Speaker 2: I went on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Show on a Monday. 63 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:02,280 Speaker 2: After being on the Talent Show Saturday, and auditioned for 64 00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:05,360 Speaker 2: the Arthur Godfrey Show, which was a Monday night, and 65 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:09,120 Speaker 2: they put me on that Monday night and I won. Well, 66 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 2: that disqualified me from the Ted Macamateur Hour because you 67 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:16,000 Speaker 2: can't be a professional winner on Monday. And then me 68 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:19,960 Speaker 2: declared an amateur winder the following Saturday and I blew 69 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:23,040 Speaker 2: it and it was over. I went back to Texas 70 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:27,080 Speaker 2: and again I came that close to being having a 71 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:31,400 Speaker 2: career in music, but it hadn't happened. Now, as we're 72 00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:34,719 Speaker 2: expecting our second child, I get a call from Randy 73 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:38,680 Speaker 2: Wood of Dot Records outside Nashville. He'd seen all of this. 74 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:42,080 Speaker 2: I was a homeboy, you know, winning these national contests, 75 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:46,880 Speaker 2: and he said he had a new record company called 76 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:51,560 Speaker 2: Dot and he thought that I could make some hit records. 77 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:53,880 Speaker 2: And he asked if I'd like to come to Chicago 78 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:57,280 Speaker 2: and record, and of course I did, not knowing what 79 00:04:57,320 --> 00:04:59,479 Speaker 2: to expect, and he had me sing a rhythm and 80 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:04,240 Speaker 2: blues called two Hearts, Two Kisses Make One Love It 81 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:06,360 Speaker 2: was an R and B record by the Charms on 82 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:09,560 Speaker 2: the dutone label, but it was not known on pop 83 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:11,960 Speaker 2: radio at all, and I didn't know what R and 84 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:14,880 Speaker 2: B was, but I listened to that record, and I 85 00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:17,400 Speaker 2: picked up on the flavor of one Heart's Not and 86 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:20,960 Speaker 2: a Baby B Two Hearts to make you Feel crazy, 87 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:24,919 Speaker 2: one kiss so make you feel so nice, two kisses 88 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:29,520 Speaker 2: take you to Paradise, two hearts, two kisses make one love. 89 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:34,960 Speaker 2: And that song that we recorded immediately sold a million records. 90 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:39,240 Speaker 2: That was in March of fifty five. My second baby 91 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:42,159 Speaker 2: had come and number three was on the way already, 92 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:45,000 Speaker 2: and I had to do a follow up record. So 93 00:05:45,120 --> 00:05:48,559 Speaker 2: in May of fifty five, I recorded Fats Domino's Ain't 94 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:52,680 Speaker 2: That a Shame? His had been number one R and B, 95 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:56,440 Speaker 2: which was a separate genre called race music, sold one 96 00:05:56,520 --> 00:05:59,599 Speaker 2: hundred and fifty thousand. I did his song my way 97 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:03,080 Speaker 2: you Me Cry when you said Goodbye? Ain't that a Shame? 98 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:06,760 Speaker 2: And I did my version of rock and roll, as 99 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:09,679 Speaker 2: we were calling it. Mine sold a million and a half, 100 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:13,200 Speaker 2: ten times what Fats had sold with his own song 101 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:16,400 Speaker 2: and his own record, and he was thrilled, and he 102 00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:19,680 Speaker 2: said many times I made more money with Pat Boone's 103 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:22,440 Speaker 2: record of my song than from my own record, because 104 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:25,640 Speaker 2: he was the writer and publisher of his song, and 105 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:29,920 Speaker 2: he actually made more royalty from my version of his. 106 00:06:29,960 --> 00:06:32,600 Speaker 2: Ain't that a shame that I made from mine. I 107 00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:36,039 Speaker 2: was getting like a beginner three percent royalty and he 108 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:41,039 Speaker 2: was making twice that as the writer publisher of the song. 109 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:44,800 Speaker 2: So people had the crazy idea in latter years that 110 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:48,960 Speaker 2: I was somehow taking something from the original performers, the 111 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:52,440 Speaker 2: R and B performers like Little Richard and others, that 112 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:56,120 Speaker 2: I covered their songs. But I took their songs, which 113 00:06:56,200 --> 00:06:59,640 Speaker 2: meant were already hits R and B selling a modest 114 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:03,000 Speaker 2: out of records, and I'd do their song and sell 115 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:05,480 Speaker 2: a million or million and a half of their song, 116 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:08,960 Speaker 2: And they made more money from my versions than from 117 00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:14,560 Speaker 2: their own. So, now as I say this all happened, 118 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:17,720 Speaker 2: I wasn't seeking it. It all just fell on me. 119 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:22,560 Speaker 2: But from that time March of fifty five, for four 120 00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:25,600 Speaker 2: and a half years, I was never off the single chart. 121 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:29,960 Speaker 2: I hold that record in the record business two hundred 122 00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:34,800 Speaker 2: and twenty consecutive weeks without ever being off the single chart. 123 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:38,360 Speaker 2: Everything I recorded from then on I had forty one 124 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:43,000 Speaker 2: chart records in the fifties. Elvis had forty forty. I 125 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:45,880 Speaker 2: had forty one, and he was my opening act. The 126 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:48,080 Speaker 2: first time we met. The kids didn't know who he was, 127 00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:50,480 Speaker 2: but they liked the way he looked. They didn't like 128 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:53,440 Speaker 2: the way his song sounded because it was a Bill 129 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:58,640 Speaker 2: Monroe bluegrass song, blue Moon Enough Kentucky, keep on Shining. Well, 130 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:01,040 Speaker 2: that wasn't rhythm and blue, but he tried to make 131 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:04,720 Speaker 2: it sound like it was. And he got lots of 132 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:08,440 Speaker 2: applause when he left the stage that night, and then 133 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:10,480 Speaker 2: I went on. I got all the screams because I 134 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:14,760 Speaker 2: had three million sellers. So from then on. This is 135 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:18,280 Speaker 2: a very long winded answer to your question, but I'm 136 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:21,680 Speaker 2: just trying to let you see how what was happening 137 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:24,960 Speaker 2: to me was not something I was orchestrating. It was 138 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:28,880 Speaker 2: just happening to me. And as a Christian kid in Nashville, 139 00:08:30,520 --> 00:08:34,120 Speaker 2: I realized that, you know, I had some talent as 140 00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:36,480 Speaker 2: a singer. I could sing anything anybody put in front 141 00:08:36,520 --> 00:08:39,320 Speaker 2: of me. I didn't have any voice lessons to speak of, 142 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:45,160 Speaker 2: but I sang in church as a teenager. Into my 143 00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:48,840 Speaker 2: early grown years, I would lead singing in church. We 144 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:52,000 Speaker 2: did in our church didn't have instruments of music. It 145 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:54,760 Speaker 2: was all a cappella. So I could stand up and 146 00:08:54,880 --> 00:08:58,840 Speaker 2: lead three or four or five hundred people and congregational singing, 147 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:04,360 Speaker 2: sing no undrust, love of Jesus, and just waved my 148 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:07,240 Speaker 2: arms like I knew what I was doing, counting time. 149 00:09:07,559 --> 00:09:10,800 Speaker 2: I didn't know how to count time. But what I 150 00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:13,640 Speaker 2: didn't know at the time was it was great vocal exercise. 151 00:09:14,559 --> 00:09:19,840 Speaker 2: Leading acappella singing, congregational singing for four or five hundred 152 00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:23,400 Speaker 2: people at the time, with or without microphone made it 153 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:26,440 Speaker 2: possible for me to sing rhythm and blues or big 154 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:32,000 Speaker 2: band swaying or anything I wanted to sing without any worry. 155 00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:33,960 Speaker 2: I could just sing it. Whatever you put in front 156 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:37,560 Speaker 2: of me, I could do it. But it wasn't through training, 157 00:09:38,040 --> 00:09:41,600 Speaker 2: that is consciously. So that's a very long winded answer. 158 00:09:42,040 --> 00:09:44,720 Speaker 2: It all happened to me. But I always had the 159 00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:47,480 Speaker 2: sense from that time on that it was for a 160 00:09:47,559 --> 00:09:51,640 Speaker 2: reason that I was going to be a teacher preacher originally, 161 00:09:51,720 --> 00:09:55,400 Speaker 2: and I was being given a different kind of platform 162 00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:59,600 Speaker 2: and as a rock and roll singer, not as a 163 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:01,480 Speaker 2: preacher than a teen idol. 164 00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:04,479 Speaker 1: And a terrific job on the editing, production and storytelling 165 00:10:04,520 --> 00:10:07,440 Speaker 1: by our own Monte Montgomery and a special thanks to 166 00:10:07,520 --> 00:10:12,360 Speaker 1: Pat Boone. Forty five million records sold and astonishing two 167 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:17,280 Speaker 1: hundred and twenty consecutive weeks on the singles charts. Even 168 00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:20,720 Speaker 1: Elvis didn't do that. And what Pat Boone had to 169 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:24,320 Speaker 1: say about his career being thrust on him, well, it 170 00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:27,560 Speaker 1: happens to some people. And that he had all that 171 00:10:27,679 --> 00:10:31,559 Speaker 1: preparation in the pulpit and doing worship and leading it 172 00:10:31,679 --> 00:10:36,280 Speaker 1: a cappella. There was nothing Pat Boone hadn't sung before 173 00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:39,680 Speaker 1: he was a big time singer. The story of how 174 00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:44,040 Speaker 1: Pat Boone came to fame here on our American Stories