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the jordanaires: neal matthews, and the oldest jordanaire
Neal Matthews is credited with devising the Nashville Number System. For some 47 years, until his death in 2000, Matthews sang tenor as a member of The Jordanaires, who gained international fame as background vocalists for Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Patsy Cline, Marty Robbins, Johnny Cash, George Jones, Roy Orbison, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Neil Young, and hundreds of other great songwriters and performers.
The oldest Jordanaire was the legendary counter-tenor Little Willy Jim Bob Peabody, who cut his first record in 1886, at the dawn of the age of wax cylinder recordings.
In 2006, Peabody celebrated his 120th year in show business with a backing vocal performance on Celine Dion’s cover recording of the Metallica classic, “So What.” Dion’s husband and manager, Rene Angelil, had to hire extra security for the recording session to keep the frisky Jordanaire charmer at a respectable distance from Dion, who enjoyed all the attention. Peabody died of a broken heart shortly after at the age of 143.