Dear Country Music Station:

Is it possible without Eddy Nashville might still be a city noted only for the Opry, bourbon and tobacco?  Recordings were only done in New York and Chicago.  Eddy brought commercial recording to Nashville.

Do you know that Eddy Arnold has the following accomplishments?  This is why he should be honored by The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

             -Internationally performed and sang in various languages including Afrikaans.

             -Has recorded 1,107 songs

             -Is the first country artist to record in Nashville, a commercially, nationally sold record-
              December, 1944-   Mother's Prayer

             -Only performer to be number one for a total of 145 weeks during his career. No one compares.

             -Seven consecutive decades on Billboard's charts.  The only performer to achieve this success.

             -First country entertainer to appear on network TV - Milton Berle, 1949

             -First country entertainer to have his own national TV show, CBS, 1952 as Perry Como's replacement,
              also a recipient of your Honors.

             -First country entertainer to have two careers.  One in country and one in popular music.

              -First permormer to receive CMA  award

              -First performer to receive ACM award

    -Only performer to be on Billboard's Charts in 5 separate categories: Pop, Country, Gospel,     Christmas and Adult Comtemporary  

     -Honored by the National Endowment for the Arts

              -Life Time Achievement Award -Governor of Tennessee

              -Country Music Hall of Fame

               -National Medal of Arts - President Clinton

              -A new title from Mr. Eddy Arnold to Dr. Richard Edward Arnold -Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts, Washington College, Chestertown, MD September 6, 2001

              -Honored on the floor of the U. S. House of Representatives by Congressman Bob Clement for Dr. Arnold and wife Sally's 60th wedding anniversary.

Is Eddy Arnold a Deity?...Well Maybe! According to the following story:

"It would be a gross understatement to call Eddy Arnold a giant of American Music. Deity might be a more appropriate word for a man who scored 58 consecutive top ten country hits between his debut in 1945 and 1954, who never scored less than a top forty hit during the first 21 years of his career, charted over 140 records and sold a staggering total of over 85 million records including timeless classics like "Bouquet of Roses" and "Anytime." Not bad for a fellow dubbed "The Tennessee Plowboy" because he was a former Tennessee plow boy"

                                                                                                                          -Billboard.

Arnold vs. Presley

"Again, many recordings achieved crossover success, including "Tennessee Stud", "What's He Doing In My World" and his biggest US pop hit, "Make The World Go Away", which reached number 6 in 1965 and the next year repeated the feat in the UK pop charts. Several of his albums also achieved Top 10 status in the US album charts. He appeared in several movies, including starring roles in Feudin' Rhythm and Hoedown, and he even received a mention in Jailhouse Rock. He was elected to the Country Music Hall Of Fame in 1966 and by the 80s he had semi-retired to his home near Nashville. RCA have assessed that his record sales are in excess of 85 million. It is quite astonishing that Elvis Presley et al. are automatically regarded as the most successful chart acts. Arnold's chart success eclipses everybody and is unlikely ever to be beaten".

                                                                                                            --Country Music Television

This email has taught us allot about Dr. Arnold.  Now is the time for you to teach your listeners.  Have them contact:

Mr. James A. Johnson, Chairman
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
2700 F. Street N W
Washington, DC 20566

Your station might want to contact Washington too.