September 16, 2019, Susan Harber, The Daily News Journal
Carl Bernard Tipton (1923-1989), a self-taught prodigy on banjo and mandolin, was a longstanding resident of Rutherford County. His love and devotion for gospel and bluegrass music spanned an active 50-year career. I met Carl after a performance at a festival in the mid-1980s. He was so friendly and a real gentleman.
Carl was born January 18, 1923 near the Copper Creek community of Gate City, Virginia. He was the oldest son of William Robert Tipton (1904-1988) and Gladys Ave Lane (1905-1960). Both parents parents are buried at Evergreen Cemetery today. In Virginia, Carl attended Shoemaker High where he was nicknamed ‘Dead-Eye’ for outstanding basketball skills.
In the 1940s, Bob Tipton moved to Rutherford County and opened Auto Mechanic and Body Shop on Lebanon Hwy. Bob and Gladys later owned the Tipton Truck Stop in the same building. Carl and his sister Ruby followed their parents to Rutherford County. When Gladys died at age 55, bob wed Mary Bly (1931-1971), and she bore two children: Jeffrey Lynn (1961-1966) and Gidget Lynn (born 1962). When Mary passed, Bob wed third wife Margaret Thomas, who was Carl’s second stepmother.
Carl married Martha Evelyn Leonard on October 21, 1949 when he was 26. they had four children: Joe, Betty Chambers, Bill Monroe Tipton and Linda Dodson. He affectionately referred to his wife Evelyn as ‘Little Sophie’ that also served her as her stage name in numerous performances. Evelyn Leonard was born in Walter Hill and attended Walter Hill Church of Christ and loved Rutherford County as her lifelong home.
Deep-set history beheld both the Tipton and Leonard families within our county. Evelyn’s parents were Carl and Maudie Davis Leonard (1910-1988), who arrived in Rutherford County in the 1920’s. Carl and Maudie are buried in Roselawn Cemetery. Maudie’s great-grandfather Allen Rufus Davis (1824-1905) was i the Mounted Infantry of the Civil War under Company E, First Tennessee. Carl Leonard’s grandparents James Martin Tipton (1882-1960) and Martha Elizabeth Tipton (1879-1953) are buried in the beloved Tipton Family Cemetery in Scott County, Virginia. Carl’s maternal great-grandfather Robert Pendleton (1847-1912), born in Virginia, was a Methodist Circuit Rider.
The Tiptons were a musical family, and Carl was an excellent fiddle player. He often sat at the entrance of his dad’s truck stop playing music as customers drew near. The establishment became a popular stopover for musicians.
Carl was a one of a kind and remains honorable and hard-working during his 66 years on earth. He was known to have an abundance of energy to accomplish many of the feats he pursued. Carl performed a live radio show in WGNS in Murfreesboro with the Mid-State Playboys from the 1940s to the 1960s. Over three decades, his program was broadcast from a new local business every day. He would spend several hours each day visiting local businesses and selling advertising that was promoted during his live show. He carried the large remote broadcasting equipment to a new store every weekday and set it up with perfection. He was ‘front and center’ in the community and well loved by all. Carl was also a DJ and hosted the ‘All Request Jamboree’ on WGNS and WMTS-FM in Murfreesboro. At the time, WGNS studios were above the French Shoppe on the east side of the Rutherford County Square.
In the 1950s, the Murfreesboro Extra Value Days had a parade on the Square; and Carl was a central contributor to sell advertising. He was an original WGNS promotor and embodied the destiny of the Station in their early days.
Carl’s band was known as ‘Mid-State Bluegrass’ playing stage shows all over the South. Carl hosted a morning show for twenty years on Nashville’s WLAC-TV Channel 5. His early morning show also aired on WHTN (Channel 39) in Murfreesboro for 25 years. He was a solid presence as a pioneer bluegrass artist and songwriter in Tennessee for forty years.
Carl worked with highly skilled musicians, including Herb Pederson, Billy Yearwood (steel guitar), Jimmy Maynard (guitar) and brother-in-law Floyd Leonard (aka ‘Knee-High Leonard’) of Murfreesboro (guitar). Jack Stoneman (bass), and Gene Wooten (dobro) were also mainstays with Carl and served as excellent musicians.
In 1977, the line-up for the Carl Tipton Show included Charlie Cushman (five-string banjo), Red Murphy (acoustic bass), Al Holderfield (acoustic guitar), Earl White (fiddle) and Sophie (Carl’s wife) singing lead and tenor vocals and also playing banjo. Cushman and White were two of the most proficient instrumentalists ever assembled in the music industry; yet the both wanted to play in Carl’s band. Several of these musicians crafted their own mandolin and guitars and were highly accomplished.
Carl recorded several singles and extended play (EP) records in his career, as well as 4-Long Play (LP) records between 1967 and 1985. An EP contained three-to-five singles, while and LP was a full album. He played beautiful music on his 1948 Gibson guitar that is now in the hands of son Joe Tipton.
He featured many well-known artist on his Channel 5 TV show, including Johnny Cash and Bill Monroe. Carl was a friend of Cash and visited his home in Hendersonville. Carl also traveled with Monroe and wrote songs for him, as they learned from each other the deep-rooted musical style of Bluegrass.
Several of carl’s songs featured on his show included ‘Kneel and Pray’, ‘Mansion for Me’, ‘Hills of Tennessee’, ‘Joking Around’, ‘Sand Mountain’, ‘I’ll Live in Glory’ and ‘Banks of the Ohio’. He promoted his gospel songs as very special.
Carl hosted many benefits and received numerous awards over the years for contributions to mankind. He continually invited young folks on his stage to introduce guests and was very supportive of new talent. He received the Dave Macon Heritage Award for a lifetime of fabulous music and goodwill.
Carl Tipton died quietly in 1989 after a three-year battle with cancer. Afterward, his widow Sophie carefully preserved and catalogued his collection. Carl and Sophie were members of the Walter Hill Church of Christ and were a solid team with home, family, religion and in music for a lifetime.
Sophie Tipton passed on December 7, 2018. She was a skilled singer and writer composing songs on faith and family.
As a songwriter, Carl Tipton penned ‘Going Home’ for Bill Monroe. The lyrics accompanied a lovely melody with there words:
“I’m going home for my reward … Away up there to see my Lord … He promised me in the by and by … a precious home up in the sky.”
Carl Tipton has gone home yet he left a legacy of quality music and a solid relationship to his friends and fans in Rutherford County.