James Corbitt Morris (20 June 1907 - July 12, 1998) – better known as Jimmy Driftwood or Jimmie Driftwood – was a prolific United States folk songwriter and musician, most famous for his songs The Battle of New Orleans and Tennessee Stud. June 20 is the 171st day of the year (172nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 194 days remaining. ... 1907 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... July 12 is the 193rd day (194th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 172 days remaining. ... 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Folk music, in the original sense of the term, is music by and of the people. ... A songwriter is someone who writes, in part or in full, the lyrics to songs, the musical composition to songs, or both. ... A musician is a person who plays or composes music. ...

Driftwood was born in Mountain View, Arkansas on 20 June 1907. Driftwood's father was folk singer Neil Morris. Driftwood learned to play guitar at a young age on his grandfather's homemade instrument. Driftwood used the unique guitar throughout his career and noted that its neck was made from a fence rail, its sides from an old ox yoke, and the head and bottom from the headboard of a bed. This homemade instrument produced a pleasant distinctive resonant sound. Driftwood attended John Brown College in northwest Arkansas and later received a degree in education from Arkansas Teacher's College. He started writing songs during his teaching career in order to teach his students history in an entertaining manner. Mountain View is a city located in Stone County, Arkansas. ... June 20 is the 171st day of the year (172nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 194 days remaining. ... 1907 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... The classical guitar typically has 3 nylon and 3 nickel-wound strings. ... State nickname: The Natural State Other U.S. States Capital Little Rock Largest city Little Rock Governor Mike Huckabee (R) Official languages English Area 137,732 km² (29th)  - Land 134,856 km²  - Water 2,876 km² (2. ... The University of Central Arkansas is a state-run institution located in the town of Conway, Arkansas. ...

During the 1920s and 1930s Driftwood left Arkansas and took to the road. Eventually hitchiking his way through the Southwest United States. In Arizona he entered, and won, a local song contest. Sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or primarily in North America as the Roaring Twenties. // Events and trends Technology John T. Thompson invents Thompson submachine gun, also known as Tommy gun John Logie Baird invents the first working television system (1925) Charles Lindbergh becomes the first person to fly... // Events and trends The 1930s were spent struggling for a solution to the global depression. ... Hitchhiking (also called lifting or thumbing) is a form of transport, in which the traveller tries to get a lift (ride) from another traveller, usually a car or truck driver. ... The Southwest region of the United States is drier than the adjoining Midwest in weather; the population is less dense and, with strong Spanish-American and Native American components, more ethnically varied than neighboring areas. ... State nickname: The Grand Canyon State, The Copper State Other U.S. States Capital Phoenix Largest city Phoenix Governor Janet Napolitano (D) Official languages English Only State Area 295,254 km² (6th)  - Land 294,312 km²  - Water 942 km² (0. ...

In 1936 Driftwood married Cleda Johnson, who was a former student and returned to Arkansas to raise a family and resume his teaching career. During this period of his life Driftwood wrote hundreds of songs but did not pursue a musical career seriously. 1936 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

He wrote his later famous "Battle of New Orleans" song in 1936 to help get a highschool class he was teaching interested in the subject. The Battle of New Orleans is a song, written by Jimmy Driftwood and popularized by country music singer Johnny Horton, based on Andrew Jacksons exploits at the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812. ... 1936 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

In the 1950s he changed his name to "Jimmy Driftwood" both publicly and legally. // Events and trends The 1950s in Western society was marked with a sharp rise in the economy for the first time in almost 30 years and return to the 1920s-type consumer society built on credit and boom-times, as well as the height of the baby-boom from returning...

In 1957 a Nashville, Tennessee song publisher heard of Driftwood, auditioned him, and signed him to his first record deal. Driftwood recalled playing some 100 of his songs in one day, of which 20 were chosen to be recorded. Driftwood's first album Newly Discovered Early American Folk Songs received good reviews but did not sell particularly well. 1957 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Nashville skyline Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee. ...

"The Battle of New Orleans" was included on the album but did not fit in the radio standards for airplay at the time because of the words "hell" and "damn" in the lyrics; Driftwood said that at the time those words could be preached but not sang in secular contexts for broadcast. Driftwood was asked to make a shorter censored version of the song for a live radio performance. This was heard by singer Johnny Horton, who contacted Driftwood saying he wished to record his own version of the song. Medieval illustration of the Mouth of Hell Hell is, according to many beliefs, a place or a state of painful suffering. ... dAmn (deviantART messaging network) is the name of the real-time chat system implemented on deviantART version 4. ... Censorship is the use of governmental power to control speech and other forms of human expression. ... John Gale Johnny Horton (April 30, 1925–November 5, 1960) was an American country music singer. ...

Driftwood left Arkansas for Nashville and became popular through his appearances at major country music venues such as the Grand Ole Opry, the Ozark Jubilee, the Louisiana Hayride. He was invited to sing for Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev as an example of traditional American music during that leader's visit to the United States. Country music, formerly called country and western music or country-western, is an amalgam of popular musical forms developed in the southern United States, with roots in traditional folk music, spirituals, and the blues. ... The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly Saturday night country music radio program broadcast live on WSM Radio in Nashville, Tennessee. ... The Ozark Jubilee was the first national country music show on television. ... The Louisiana Hayride, was a radio broadcast from the Municipal Auditorium in Shreveport, Louisiana, United States that during its heyday from 1948 to 1960 spawned the careers of the some of the greatest names in American music. ... The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) (Russian: (СССР)   listen?; tr. ... Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchyov (Khrushchev) (Russian: Ники́та Серге́евич Хрущёв   listen?, April 17, 1894 â€“ September 11, 1971) was the leader of the Soviet Union after the death of Joseph Stalin. ...

The popular peak of Driftwood's career came in 1959 when he had no less than six songs somewhere on the pop or country charts including singer Johnny Horton's recording of his The Battle of New Orleans which remained on top of the country singles chart for ten weeks, and atop the pop charts for 6 weeks, in 1959. The song won the 1960 Grammy Award for Song of the Year. The Battle of New Orleans has since become an American classic country/folk song. After Horton's hit Driftwood became very popular and performed at Carnegie Hall and at major American folk festivals before returning home to Timbo, Arkansas in 1962. During his recording career Driftwood also won Grammy Awards for Wilderness Road, Songs of Billy Yank and Johnny Reb and Tennessee Stud. Driftwood songs were recorded by Eddy Arnold, Johnny Cash, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Homer and Jethro and others. 1959 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1959 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1960 was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Grammy Awards (originally the Gramophone Awards), presented by the Recording Academy (an association of Americans professionally involved in the recorded music industry) for outstanding achievements in the recording industry, is one of four major music awards shows held annually in the United States (the Billboard Music Awards, the American... The Song of the Year is one of the two most prestigious awards in the Grammies, if not in all of the music industry. ... Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Manhattan, New York City. ... 1962 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Eddy Arnold (May 15, 1918) is a country music singer. ... Johnny Cash (February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was a vastly influential singer and songwriter. ... Homer and Jethro were an American country music team with a long career from the 1940s through the 1960s, sometimes known as the thinking mans hillbillies, specializing in comedy records and satirical versions of popular songs. ...

Driftwood for a time in the 1960s toured the United States and Europe with the Preservation Hall New Orleans jazz band, although appearing as a separate act. The 1960s, or The Sixties, in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ... Preservation Hall is a famous jazz performance hall in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. ... New Orleans is the largest city in the state of Louisiana, United States of America. ... Jazz is a musical art form characterized by blue notes, syncopation, swing, call and response, polyrhythms, and improvisation. ...

Back home, Driftwood formed the Rackensack Folklore Society, an association of local folk singers and musicians, and began performing at the local county fair in Mountain View. Driftwood became interested in promoting Arkansas folk music and the local folk performers he knew in the area. Driftwood invited members of the Mountain View community to perform at a festival of his own devising. This festival grew exponentially over the years and transformed into the annual Arkansas Folk Festival which would attract over 100,000 people. Driftwood also a guiding light in establishing the Ozark Folk Center to preserve Ozark Mountain culture. The Folk Center was later absorbed into the Arkansas State Park system and remains a popular tourist destination.

Driftwood also became involved in environmental issues when the United States Army Corps of Engineers planned to dam the Buffalo River. Driftwood worked to defeat the plan, which ultimately led to the establishment of the Buffalo National River. Driftwood played a major role in preserving Blanchard Springs Caverns which later came under management of the United States Forest Service. United States Army Corps of Engineers logo The United States Army Corps of Engineers, or USACE, is made up of some 34,600 civilian and 650 military men and women. ... The Buffalo National River is the USs first federally-protected river and one of Americas great natural treasures. ... The Buffalo National River is the USs first federally-protected river and one of Americas great natural treasures. ... Blanchard Springs Caverns is a cave system located in the Ozark National Forest in Stone County in northern Arkansas administered by the United States Forest Service. ... The USDA Forest Service, a United States government agency within the United States Department of Agriculture, is under the leadership of the United States Secretary of Agriculture. ...

Driftwood was appointed to head the Arkansas Parks and Tourism Commission for his environmental efforts. He was also named to the Advisory Committee of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.. Due to his extensive knowledge of folk music he was appointed as a musicologist for the National Geographic Society. The Kennedy Center as seen from the Potomac River. ... Washington, D.C., short for the District of Columbia (also known as the the District or, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United States of America. ... A musicologist is someone who studies musicology. ... Flag of the National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society was founded in the United States on January 27, 1888, by 33 men interested in organizing a society for the increase and diffusion of geographical knowledge. ...

During his career Driftwood wrote over 6,000 folk songs, of which over 300 were recorded by various musicians. In later life Driftwood enjoyed performing free concerts for high school and college students.

Jimmy Driftwood died of a heart attack on 12 July 1998 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. A myocardial infarction occurs when an atherosclerotic plaque slowly builds up in the inner lining of a coronary artery and then suddenly ruptures, totally occluding the artery and preventing blood flow downstream. ... July 12 is the 193rd day (194th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 172 days remaining. ... 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Fayetteville is a city located in Washington County, Arkansas. ...

External links

• In Memorium - Jimmy Driftwood
• Jimmie Driftwood website