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ZEKE CLEMENTS-MEMBER OF HALL OF FAME

Birth Name: Zeke Clements
Induction Year: 1971
Date of Birth: 9/6/1911
Date of Death: 6/4/1994
Place of Birth: Empire, AL
Former Occupations: Coal Miner

Career Milestones:

Late 1920s--first performed on Chicago's National Barn Dance

1931--left the Oklahoma Cowboys (which he joined soon after he joined the National Barn Dance) and got a daily morning show on WSM in Nashville

1933--first appeared on the Grand Ole Opry as a regular with The Bronco Busters

1937--discovered by Walt Disney during an appearance in Hollywood, CA, and signed on to do the voice for "Bashful" in the animated feature "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"

1937-1938--started seriously writing songs

1939--brought his songs to Nashville to show songwriter/publisher Fred Rose

Early 1940s--toured Army camps doing USO shows during W.W.II and wrote his first hit song "Smoke on the Water"

1944--"Smoke on the Water" became the top country song of the year, recorded by Red Foley

1945--founded Liberty Records in Los Angeles to distribute the records of Nashville artists such as The John Daniel Quartet, Paul Howard and himself (sold the label 2 years later)

1947--joined the cast of The Louisiana Hayride on KWKH in Shreveport

Smoke on the Water
Co-writer: E. Nunn
Recorded by Artists:
Red Foley, Bob Wills, Boyd Heath