Faron Young had everything going for him: he was young, had a beautifully smooth Country voice and he was strikingly handsome.  Originally known as “the Hillbilly Heartthrob” and later, “the Singing Sheriff,” Faron had one of the longest-running, popular careers in the country music industry.  His style fit somewhere in between Hank Williams and Jim Reeves. 

Faron Young was born on February 25, 1932, and raised just outside of Shreveport, Louisiana.  As a young boy he worked on his Daddy’s dairy farm while attending school.  By the time he entered high school, he had begun singing with a local country band. He briefly attended college, but soon after joined the Louisiana Hayride right there in Shreveport.  He paired up with Webb Pierce and the two did some personal appearances together.

I remember when Faron Young began his career at the Louisiana Hayride.  I had just been hired by radio station WHO in Des Moines at the time.  In 1951, he recorded a couple of songs for an independent label, called Gotham.  They were “Have I Waited Too Long” and “Tattle Tale Tears.”  After hearing the recordings, Capitol Records decided to buy Faron’s contract from Gotham in 1952.  Then came a steady stream of hits like “I’ve Got Five Dollars And It’s Saturday Night,” “Your Time’s Comin’,” “A Place For Girls Like You,” and “If You Ain’t Lovin’ You Ain’t Livin’.”

Faron was invited to join the Grand Ole Opry in 1951.  However, it wasn’t long before his career was interrupted.  In 1953, he was drafted into the army, and while he was singing to the troops in Korea as a Special Service soldier, his first release on Capitol, “Goin’ Steady” went all the way to number two on the charts.  When he was discharged in 1954, Faron never missed a beat.  Many people think Patsy Cline had the first hit of “Sweet Dreams,” but we older fans know it was Faron Young. 

By 1955, Faron Young’s career was looking good.  Most everything he released hit the Top Ten, and now, he was looking at a potential career in the movies.  He began appearing in films, starting with 1955’s “Hidden Guns.” Over the next few years, he was in no less than ten films -- including “Daniel Boone,” “Road to Nashville,” “Stampede,” “A Gun and a Gavel,” “That's Country,” and “Raiders of Old California” -- and was featured in many television shows. Upon his first film appearance, Faron earned the nickname “The Young Sheriff,” which eventually became “The Singing Sheriff.” 

Faron Young left the Grand Ole Opry in 1965 and began to explore a number of different business ventures, including a Nashville-based racetrack, and helping to run the country music publication Music City News, which he co-founded with Preston Temple in 1963.  Late in life, Faron was stricken with emphysema, became very despondent and took his own life on December 10, 1996.  He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2000.

Dusty Owens
TCM Radio News

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