Fred Rose

Fred Rose (August 24, 1898^[1] - December 1, 1954) was an American Hall of Fame songwriter and music publishing executive.

Born in Evansville, Indiana, Fred Rose started playing piano and singing as a small boy. In his teens, he moved to Chicago, Illinois where he worked in bars busking for tips, and finally vaudeville. Eventually, he became successful as a songwriter, penning his first hit for entertainer Sophie Tucker.

For a short time Fred Rose lived in Nashville, Tennessee but his radio show there did not last long and he headed to New York City's Tin Pan Alley in hopes of making a living as a songwriter. It was there that he began writing songs with Ray Whitley, an RKO B-Western film star and author of Back In the Saddle Again, and this collaboration introduced Rose to the possibilities of country music. He lived for a time with Ray and Kay Whitley in an apartment in Hollywood, co-writing many tunes for Ray's movies.

In 1942 he returned to Nashville, teaming up with Grand Ole Opry star Roy Acuff to create the first Nashville-based music publishing company. Their Acuff-Rose Music was almost immediately successful, particularly with the enormous hits of client Hank Williams. Acuff-Rose Music remained a foundation of the country music business even after Fred's death; his son, Wesley Rose, took over the presidency and continued with Roy Acuff until 1985, when the company's catalog was sold to Gaylord Entertainment Company, parent company of the Grand Ole Opry.

While running the business, Fred Rose continued to write numerous country songs and eventually became one of the industry's most important personalities. He also wrote songs under the name Floyd Jenkins.^[2]

Fred Rose died in Nashville in 1954 and was interred there in the Mount Olivet Cemetery.

Along with Hank Williams and the "Father of Country Music", Jimmie Rodgers, Fred Rose was one of the three charter members of the Country Music Hall of Fame when it opened in 1961. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 and into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985.

Selected list of Fred Rose songs

• A Pair of Broken Hearts (Rose/Carson) - Hank Snow
• Red Hot Mama (Rose/Wells Gilbert/Bud Cooper) - Sophie Tucker, Cliff Edwards
• Red Hot Henry Brown - The Charleston Chasers, Margaret Young
• Charlestonette (Rose/Paul Whiteman) - Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra
• 'Deed I Do (Rose/Walter Hirsch) - Sophie Tucker
• Be Honest With Me (Rose/Gene Autry) - Gene Autry
• Pins and Needles (in My Heart) - Darrell McCall
• No One Will Ever Know (Rose/Mel Foree) - (Marty Robbins)Gene Watson
• Flamin' Mamie (Rose/Paul Whiteman) - Coon-Sanders Orchestra, Aileen Stanley
• Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain (Rose) - Roy Acuff, Olivia Newton-John (1976), Willie Nelson, Hank Williams (on Mothers Best Show)
• Take These Chains From My Heart (Rose/Hy Heath) - Hank Williams
• It'a Sin (Rose/William E. Grishaw) - Eddy Arnold
• Texarkana Baby (Rose/Clark) - Eddy Arnold, Bob Wills
• I Can't Go On This Way (Rose)- Bob Wills
• Crazy Heart (Rose)- Hank Williams
• Faded Love and Winter Roses (Rose) - Carl Smith, David Houston
• Foggy River (Rose) - Carl Smith
• Kaw-Liga (Rose/Hank Williams) - Hank Williams, Hank Williams, Jr., Carl Perkins, Charley Pride
• Roly Poly (Rose) - Bob Wills, Carl Smith, Hank Williams, Jim Reeves
• Settin' the Woods on Fire (Rose/Ed G. Nelson) - Hank Williams
• I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive (Rose/Williams) - Hank Williams
• Waltz of the Wind (Rose) - Roy Acuff, Carl Smith, Hank Locklin, Marty Robbins
• Hang Your Head in Shame (Rose/Ed G. Nelson/Steve Nelson) - Bob Wills, Red Foley

References

• Allmusic
• Find-A-Grave profile for Fred Rose
• Rumble, John. (1998). "Fred Rose." In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 459.

• Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum