The year I met Mr. Arnold, other RCA acts like Ronnie Milsap, Steve Wariner, Baillie and the Boys, the members of Alabama and several of their newcomers were there but the big crowd was around Eddy Arnold.  I was a little hesitant to join the shuffle around him but I also knew it might be my only chance to meet the man who had recorded more hits than anyone in country music history.  He was wearing a dark plaid sport coat with a crisp white shirt and a nice pair of narrow-toe cowboy boots.  I waited my turn and finally, there I was shaking his hand.  He looked at me with that ear-to-ear smile that was so familiar from his television show and all those album covers I had seen over the years and he greeted me warmly with, "hello son, how are you this evening?"  The voice was as melodic in greeting as it was on stage.  I told him I was more than fine and excited to meet him and he said, "well there's no explaining some things is there?  I'm just an old farm boy who got a nice break. But I'm glad for it pleased to meet you."  That was it.  I stepped aside for the next guy in line and watched him handle the crowd like a politician who had just been elected.  

I suppose that's not much of a story for you but for me, it was a thrill and a career highlight.  I met Eddy Arnold, shook the great mans hand and walked away with a warm memory that has lasted a lifetime.  He stayed in that spot on the boat all evening with a never-waning line of admiring fans and gave every person who wanted it a memory like that.

I suppose I've spun Eddy Arnold records a few thousand times in my career and I hope there are that many more to come.  Sometime in the next couple of years, it's likely that George Strait will surpass Eddy as the #1 hit maker of all time and I guess that's fine.  I love George too.  But I'm happy that Eddy passed knowing he was still the all-time king. 

It's a shame that so many of his most passionate fans are no longer around.  It's an ironic twist that the longer you live past your prime, the less impactful your passing tends to be.  Eddy Arnold was easily the most successful artist of the late 1940's.  He sold more records and attracted bigger crowds to his concerts than anyone in the world - Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra included.  But he was country before country was cool and now, he's gone and most of his most admiring fans are too.  I wasn't born until 1953 so I missed many of his most productive years myself but I'm still here and I know this;  Eddy Arnold was the first international star of country music.  He and Chet Atkins joined forces to bring country music to places in America and indeed, around the world, that nobody had ever before dreamed. He and his music had appeal to every living soul - equally loved by the sharecropper and Wall-Streeter. He died as a Hall of Famer and the #1 hit maker in country music history.