He’s best known as one half of one of the most famous country comedy acts in history, but Oscar Sullivan has worn, and continues to wear, many hats in his career: comedian, musician, performer, producer, preservationist, teacher. The 81-year-old Sullivan continues to perform and record while leading the traditional music organization he founded and opening a school of music at his base of operations near Cave City.

Sullivan graciously talked with the Amplifier at his home about his career, his current activities, and his philosophies. He told of his start in music, having just graduated from high school in 1939. He was in a band in Edmonton, then had a radio show at WTJS in Jackson, Tennessee, took music lessons, and played drums in an orchestra in Louisville for eight months. He moved down to Nashville and took up mandolin, his first instrument as a child. He played on the Grand Ole Opry, joining Paul Howard in 1942 in

Howard’s band, the Arkansas Cotton Pickers. In 1945, Pee Wee King’s vocalist left to go on his own, a young man named Eddy Arnold. Arnold got a job on the Grand Ole Opry and assembled the Tennessee Plowboys behind him, which included Sullivan. Eddy Arnold and the Tennessee Plowboys would record in Chicago and play Saturday nights in Nashville at the Grand Ole Opry. Arnold would make gains in popularity with each successive record.

On one such recording foray to Chicago in 1947, RCA Victor’s A&R man Steven Shoals came to an Eddy Arnold session and pitched what he felt was a hit to Arnold. According to Oscar, Arnold looked at “I’m My Own Grandpa” and told Shoals, “I’m trying to get into the business, not out of it!” The off- the-wall tale of how marriage can confuse family relationships clearly wasn’t Arnold’s style, but he told Shoals that he had a couple of guys that could do it well, band members Sullivan and Lloyd George. The two practiced the song and recorded it to disc that day.

Sullivan told this reporter about an incident one night in the lobby of a hotel where Arnold and the Tennessee Plowboys were staying. A member of the maintenance staff was coming into the lobby with linens, and the desk clerk hollered at him, “Lonzo! Don’t you come down here with those sheets!” It cracked up Arnold, who pointed to George and said, “That’s it! You’re Lonzo!” The name stuck, and Lonzo and Oscar had their moniker.

Two weeks after its recording, RCA Victor released “I’m My Own Grandpa” by Lonzo and Oscar. Six weeks later, “I’m My Own Grandpa” had sold 3,554,000 copies. The smash hit set an RCA Victor sales record that stood from 1948 until Elvis Presley’s “Hound Dog” broke it in 1956. “I’m My Own Grandpa” sold over 4 million copies and became a staple not just with Lonzo and Oscar but with other comedy acts like Homer and Jethro. A younger generation, particularly college students, was introduced to Lonzo and Oscar’s “I’m My Own Grandpa” on radio’s nationally syndicated Dr. Demento Show, where it has stood as a standard alongside pop and rock comedic songs like “They’re Coming To Take Us Away,” “Fish Heads,” and “The Purple People Eater.”

After “I’m My Own Grandpa” hit, Lonzo and Oscar was hotter than Eddy Arnold, yet they still worked as members of the Tennessee Plowboys. Arnold soon had to reluctantly end their tenure with his band, but at nearly the same time the Grand Ole Opry stepped in and made Lonzo and Oscar members of the Opry. They had lost their band gig and became Opry members, all in October 1947. By the way, don’t feel sorry for Eddy Arnold. His own success as a solo artist was such that he amassed both a classic catalog of hits and enough wealth to be referred to as the owner of Brentwood (a posh Nashville suburb).

After the initial success, Lloyd George approached Oscar Sullivan with his desire to go solo. They decided to go their separate ways, but WSM, the radio station behind the Grand Ole Opry, stipulated that George would have to relinquish the Lonzo name to Oscar so that the duo could continue. George changed his name to Ken Marvin and had a hit with “Uh Huh Honey” on Bluebird Records. Oscar, with the rights to the Lonzo and Oscar name, replaced George with Johnny Sullivan, Oscar’s brother. Oscar produced the act from that point forward.

Lonzo and Oscar has been recognized by music historians for their combination of cornpone image and fast-paced musicianship. Lonzo and Oscar could be buffoonish bumpkins one moment, then race through clever tongue twisters the next. Sullivan describes Lonzo and Oscar’s style as “incidental comedy” that always looked like it “just happened” although it was very well planned. Part of the act was for Oscar to constantly aggravate Lonzo; they later hired comedian Cousin Jody to play what Oscar calls “windy dobro” for them and to also torment Lonzo. Sullivan said that Lonzo and Oscar logged over 5 million miles, performing in all 50 states, Canada, and 15 Far East countries in their 38-year career as members of the Grand Ole Opry from 1947 to 1985. They had their own television show in the 1970s. As a matter of fact, Lonzo and Oscar are credited with the first experimental broadcast on television. Sullivan said that RCA requested that Lonzo and Oscar play a piece of “I’m My Own Grandpa” for RCA experimental television. That signal went about 7 1/2 blocks but was the first television signal broadcast, and it earned Lonzo and Oscar a commemorative plaque to that effect.

Fortune did visit Lonzo and Oscar, particularly at the beginning when the royalty checks, as Oscar described, “looked like Social Security numbers.” But talking with Oscar gives a different impression of what they valued. The creed of Lonzo and Oscar, he said, was that they never cared about trophies or awards, but the dates and places of every standing ovation and every encore were recorded. You can see how Oscar lights up when talking about the audience, saying “once laughter starts in the first few rows, it spreads through the audience like flowers blooming.”

Johnny Sullivan was Lonzo until his death in 1967. He was replaced by David Hooten, who was Lonzo until the duo retired from the Grand Ole Opry in 1985. Between the two, Johnny and David covered 35 years of the 51 year history of the duo.

Fans of Lonzo and Oscar will be interested that the current duo, with Billy Henson as Lonzo, are recording a new album titled The Classic Lonzo and Oscar. Recording is currently underway. The current Lonzo and Oscar will continue to perform for 2 years, after which Oscar Sullivan says it’s time for him to bow out and for Henson to take the rights to the Lonzo and Oscar name and find another Oscar.

With strong feelings about the changes in music and the state of the music business, Oscar Sullivan founded the Traditional Music Association in 1992. Since Nashville had moved away from this kind of music, TMA went to states like Pennsylvania, Missouri, and Florida and persuaded 50 radio stations to play traditional music. TMA encountered strong organized resistance, Sullivan said, from the music business and affiliated individuals. TMA countered with a different approach; when radio was not responsive to overtures, TMA went directly to sponsors of radio. Now about 250 radio stations and 11 magazines cover traditional music according to Sullivan. TMA is establishing an office in Nashville, and some of the board members will be label owners, Sullivan said.

A 1994 heart attack and subsequent quick recovery led Sullivan to believe that “God had more for me to do.” He built a training studio in his home for singers, and he feels that all his experiences as a performer and producer have made a teacher out of him. These factors led him to start the Oscar School of Music, a training ground for performers of traditional music and for those who want to teach others.

The Oscar School of Music operates differently in some respects. For the first few months, the student pays a fee for lessons. Then a contract would be signed where Sullivan is owed a set amount, but he only collects via a percentage of the student’s music earnings until the debt is paid. Once the amount is satisfied, so is the contract, and both parties go their separate ways. Sullivan emphasizes positive attitude, show business training, audio and video training, and familiarization with production techniques.

Those who are interested in either the Traditional Music Association or the Oscar School of Music can visit the website at www.tmasulpromos.com or e-mail tmasulsm@scrtc.blue.net. The address is 240 Jenny Rd., Cave City, KY 42127, and the phone/fax number is 773-3789.