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Despite recording eight
albums between 1960 and 1972, Carl Belew is best remembered as
a songwriter whose work was covered by an eclectic group of
artists ranging from Patsy Cline to Gene Vincent to Andy
Williams. Born in Oklahoma April 21, 1931, Belew first entered
the studio in 1955; by the following year, he gained his first
widespread exposure thanks to appearances on a pair of
California-based radio programs, Town Hall Party and
The Cliffie Stone Show. In 1957, he performed on the
Louisiana Hayride.
Belew’s composition “Stop
the World (And Let Me Off)” hit the Top Ten in 1958 in a
rendition by Johnnie and Jack; the following year, Andy
Williams hit the Top Five with “Lonely Street,” a song which
would become Belew’s trademark tune thanks to subsequent
covers by Cline, Vincent, and Rex Allen Jr. Later in 1959, the
breakup of his marriage inspired Belew to write “Am I That
Easy to Forget,” a Top 40 pop hit for actress Debbie Reynolds
which was later recorded by Engelbert Humperdinck, Skeeter
Davis, Don Gibson, Jim Reeves, and Leon Russell. Belew’s own
rendition hit the Top Ten in 1959.
In 1960, Belew released
his self-titled debut LP; in the same year, he notched a Top
20 hit with the single “Too Much to Lose.” Two years later, a
label change prompted another eponymous effort; the single
“Hello Out There” earned him another Top Ten hit, his last.
Between 1964 and 1968, Belew released an album a year,
beginning with Hello Out There and continuing with Am I That
Easy to Forget, Country Songs, Lonely Street, and finally
Twelve Shades of Belew. His last studio album, When My Baby
Sings His Song, a record of duets with Betty Jean Robinson,
was issued in 1972, while one final single, “Welcome Back to
My World,” appeared in 1974.
Throughout his career,
Belew's songs continued to be popular with (and popularized
by) other singers; Eddy Arnold hit number one in 1965 with
“What’s He Doing in My World,” while Jim Reeves scored a
posthumous success in 1968 with “That’s When I See the Blues
(In Your Pretty Brown Eyes).” “Stop the World (And Let Me
Off)” also reached the Top 20 twice more thanks to a 1965
cover by Waylon Jennings and a 1974 version by Susan Raye.
Carl Belew died of cancer
on Halloween, October 31, 1990 at the age of 59.
Jason Ankeny
Mini Profiles on Traditional
Country Artists and Legends
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