Red Sovine

Woodrow Wilson "Red" Sovine (July 17, 1918 — April 4, 1980) was a country music singer. He was associated with truck driving songs, particularly those recited as narratives, but set to music. The most famous example of this is his 1976 number one hit "Teddy Bear".

Born in 1918 in Charleston, West Virginia, he was taught how to play guitar by his mother. His first venture into music was with his childhood friend Johnnie Bailes, with whom he performed as "Smiley and Red, the Singing Sailors" in the country music revue Jim Pike's Carolina Tar Heels on WWVA in Wheeling, West Virginia[citation needed]. Faced with limited success, Bailes left to perform as part of The Bailes Brothers. Sovine got married, and continued to sing on Charleston radio, while holding down a job as a supervisor of a hosiery factory.[citation needed] With the encouragement of Bailes, Sovine formed The Echo Valley Boys.[citation needed]