The “Golden Hits Of The 50s” 

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CLIFFIE STONE

“THE POPCORN SONG”

(Bob Roubian)

Capitol 3131

No. 14    August 20, 1955

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The son of banjo-plunkin’ comedian, movie maker, and kennel owner Herman the Hermit, Clifford Gilpin

Snyder was born in Stockton, California, on March 1,1917.  Truly, one of country music’s most versatile,

though largely invisible, kingpins, Mr. Stone–nick­ named “Cliffie Stonehead,” by his pop–worked until

the late ’70s as a singer, composer, manager, bandleader, bass player, recording artist, comedian, disk

jockey, TV host, consultant for Capitol Records, and founder of the independent labels Lariat (where he

recorded the debut recordings on Merle Travis and Stan Freeberg) and still­ pumping Grante label.

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To the pop-music audience, “The Popcorn Song” (with a lead vocal by the songs creator, Bob Roubian)

was a fluke hit, an old-timey cornball throwback, a one-off hillbilly novelty.  Country folk knew Cliffie for

his “Silver Stars, Purple Sage, Eyes of Blue” (C&W:#4, 1947), “Peepin’ Through the Keyhole” (C&W: #4,

1948) and “When My Blue Moon Turns Gold” (C&W: #11, 1948).  Some of them probably knew of him as

the co-author of such notables as “Divorce Me C. O. D.,” “Steel Guitar Rag,” and “So Round, So Firm, So

Fully Packed.”  As a youth, Cliffie performed as a comedian and as a member of Ken Murray’s Hollywood

Black­outs, and once appeared in a sketch with fellow Black­out member and future singer-songwriter

legend Gene Austin.  He played bass in big bands with Anson Weeks and Freddie Slack, and worked for

years on L.A. coun­try radio stations as a disk jockey, emcee, and per­former.

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In the late ’40s, Cliffie aligned himself with the newly formed Capitol Records as their C & W consul­tant

and producer, where he helped the careers of Ten­nessee Ernie Ford, Hank Thompson, Merle Travis,

Tex Williams, and Jimmy Wakely.  His ’50s TV program “Hometown Jamboree” (originally titled, “The

Dinner Bell Round-Up”) was a proving ground for artists like Billy Strange, Molly Bee, and JEANNE

BLACK.  A half­ dozen albums and a good pile of singles were released over the years with Cliffie Stone’s

name on them, but “The Popcorn Song” was his lone crossover onto the Hot 100.

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“Hometown Jamboree” ended in the early ’60s, leaving Cliffie time to manage his publishing concerns,

Snyder Music and American Music/Eastern Music. Capitol purchased both companies in the ’70s, when

his attentions turned to running A1V Music, founding Grante Records and later managing Gene Autry

Music. In 1989, Cliffie Stone and his charge who he managed through many years-Tennessee Ernie Ford-

were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.His son Curtis Stone is the bassist with Highway 101.