Floyd Cramer

Floyd Cramer (Shreveport ( Louisiana ), October 27 1933 - Madison ( Tennessee ), December 31 1997 ) was an American country - pianist mainly caused sensation in the 50s, 60s and 70s of the last century.

Cramer grew up in Huttig, a small town in Arkansas . At age five he started playing the piano and in 1951 he was awarded a place in "The Louisiana Hayride Band". In 1955 he moved to Nashville and became known for his contribution to the special "Nashville Sound."

Cramer also has played with artists as diverse as background pianist, including by Elvis Presley , Roy Orbison , Patsy Cline , Jim Reeves , Johnny Cash , Chet Atkins ,Boots Randolph , Perry Como , The Everly Brothers and many others.

Besides pianist Floyd Cramer was also an avid golfer and had his own "Celebrity Golf Tournament". One of the highlights of his career was his tour in South Africa, along with Chet Atkins and Jim Reeves, where upon arrival at the airport in Johannesburg least 60,000 people were waiting to welcome them. Other highlights included his hitsingles "Last Date" and "On The Rebound", which in 1961 respectively # 2 and # 4 were in the US BillBoard Top.

Cramer died of lung cancer . Posthumously he was inducted in 2003 into the Country Music Hall of Fame .