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Carol Sullivan: My Uncle, Oscar Sullivan, an amazing man Memories of Metcalfe County's Sesquicentennial: There were several Lonzos, but there is only one Oscar. "Oscar Sullivan will perform at two o'clock Saturday, September 4, 2010, on the square in Edmonton as part of the Sesquicentennial Celebration," read the announcement. It was an exciting time for Carol Sullivan to have her famous uncle back in Metcalfe County. This is the column she wrote before the event The next earlier Carol Sullivan column: The Homecoming Reunion: Metcalfe County High School another column about another aspect of the Metcalfe Co. Sesquicentennial. By Carol Sullivan Those who grew up listening to the Grand Ole Opry will remember him as part of the comedy team of Lonzo & Oscar. Oscar Sullivan grew up in Cedar Flat, Metcalfe Co., KY Oscar grew up in the Cedar Flat community of Metcalfe County. One of ten children, he was only a junior in high school when the music business took him away from school. In his own words: "Mom refused to let me quit school and go but this man wanted us the next day to play on the radio in Jackson, and Mom was not budging. So my older brother Henry told Mom that he would look out for me. She let me go on his word. That was the start of my thirty-eight year career."During the early years, Oscar joined forces with a man named Lloyd George (the first Lonzo) and formed a comedy team. "Our first shows on the radio were so different than what people were used to hearing, that we actually got fan mail. The envelope was just addressed "Oscar" and I got it." After the great success of "I'm My Own Grandpa" and a bright yellow Caddy to ride around in, Lloyd George decided go solo and leave Oscar to find another Lonzo. "My brother Johnny said he'd like to be Lonzo. At the time he was working in Eddie Arnold's record store. I asked if he thought he could do it and the rest is history." Lonzo and Oscar one of great comedy teams in history of country music Lonzo and Oscar became one of the most popular comedy teams in the history of country music. They toured the world, playing to audiences who could not speak a word of English. In 1959, the team was touring out west. After a show, Oscar's wife Ruth was driving their car, Oscar's brother Phil, a rising artist himself, was in the front, and Oscar was in the back, sleeping. A drunk driver passed a semi and headed directly into Oscar's car. His wife and brother were killed instantly. For five months, Oscar was hospitalized. "During this time, I felt like I had lost everything. I couldn't work, my wife was gone, my brother was gone, and I was in shock. It took many months for me to be able to tour again, but I did. My daughter Linda was the main reason I came through this." A few years later, he met and married Geneva. They have been together for fifty-one years. Lonzo and Oscar traveled more than ever and played in a few movies, which took them to Hollywood in the early 60's. "We were the first country music artists to have our own bus, too. I saw a bus full of equipment that a singer had rented, and I had a vision of taking everything out of a bus and customizing it. That is what we did. We built bunk beds, put in a kitchen, and we were set. Bye, Bye hotels." In 1967 another blow left him emotionally paralyzed. "My brother Johnny had been eating Tums and complaining of his stomach bothering him. At the age of fifty, he had a massive heart attack while he was riding his tractor on his farm. Lonzo was gone," Oscar remembers. Combined with the death of his wife, his brother, and now his partner, life was very fragile for Oscar, but never one to stop, he began a long search for a new Lonzo. "I could either quit or go on. The team of Lonzo and Oscar was an act; it wasn't us. I had to find a new person I could continue my act with." "It took months and I had just about given up when Dave Hooten walked into my studio and announced he was going to be the next Lonzo. I had doubts, but told him to pick up the guitar and we'd see. He was hired and we worked together for another seventeen years until we decided to retire." No matter where Oscar has lived, he has had a recording studio. He and Johnny had their own record label, Nugget, for years. Even though he retired in 1986, he will never really retire. He now teaches voice lessons and has a compete studio in his basement. At 91, he still mows his own yard As I was leaving his home this week, I looked at his manicured yard. "Oscar, who mows for you?" "Why, I do. Did you see the fish pond I just built and loaded with catfish?" He is amazing. At the age of ninety-one, Oscar Sullivan will once again be in the spotlight, bringing hits like, "I'm My Own Grandpa" and "Hole in the Bottom of the Sea" to all of us who are proud to say, "He is from my hometown." Oscar Sullivan is my uncle; my dad's brother. I have always taken his talent for granted and his position in the music industry as just what he did. Only now, perhaps, do I realize that he is a legend. When the Sesquicentennial was held Oscar was on the Edmonton, KY, public square, there to sit and talk to old friends and new acquaintances. -CAROL SULLIVAN. This story was posted on 2010-09-26 09:18:06
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