Pat Boone  (1934- )

By Rivka Willick

Pat Boone became the symbol of white singers who ‘sanitized’ the music of black musicians to make it acceptable to a larger audience.  Today he is sometimes looked upon with distain, however in the 1950’s and 1960’s he dominated Billboard’s top 40 chart with 38 hits.

Charles Eugene Patrick Boone was born June 1, 1934 in Jacksonville, Florida and grew up in Nashville, Tennessee.  He was a good student and graduated magna cum laude from Columbia University.  He was a clean cut, proud Christian who claimed to be a decedent of frontier hero Daniel Boone. 

He first signed with the Republic Record label in 1954 and had his first hit with a version of Fats Domino’s “Ain’t That a Shame”.  Boone repeated his first success by recording songs from other R&B artists like “Tutti Frutti” by Little Richard, “I Almost Lost MY Mind” by Ivory Joe Hunter, and “I’ll be Home” by the Flamingos.  

Boone wasn’t alone in rerecording songs by black artist;, Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, and many others did it, but Boone did it better than the rest.  In the 1950’s he had more hits than any other artist, except for Elvis! 

Boone also enjoyed a successful film career with movies including Journey to the Center of the Earth, State Fair, The Yellow Canary, The Greatest Story Ever Told, and The Perils of Pauline.  He also won an Oscar for writing the lyrics to the theme song for Exodus, “This Land is Mine.”

Starting in the mid 60’s Boone switched to country and gospel songs. Boone was out spoken about his religious beliefs and became a minister.  He struggled with alcohol in the 1970s and tried to broaden his image when he released the heavy metal album In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy. He was fired from the TV show “Gospel America” after he appeared in an all leather outfit.  He eventually got his job back on that show and was later inducted into the Gospel Music hall of Fame in 2006. 

He often performed with his family and his daughter Debby Boone made the hit “You Light Up My Life.”  He is politically active, has endorsed several conservative candidates including Ronald Reagan and Georg W. Bush, and written articles about worldwide terrorism.

Reference:

[1] Jazz a History of America’s Music, Ward, Burns, Alfred A konopf 2007