Luther Masingill
photo by David Carroll
I was going through some more boxes of my radio goodies and found a tape that Floyd Cramer sent me of his playing his signature song “Last Date” on the Grand Ole Opry in 1962.
It reminded me of the story the late Luther Masingill told about Mr. Cramer’s most famous song.
Luther said Mr. Cramer was traveling through the city one day listening to his morning broadcast and stopped to call him on the phone. The pianist told Luther he had heard about his program and its popularity. Luther said the piano player told him RCA was about to release a new single “Last Date” and would he like the first copy, an acetate recording. Those were special records primarily for promotional and broadcast purposes.
Luther said he had heard a lot about Floyd Cramer, who was good friends with RCA executive and producer Chet Atkins. Luther said Mr. Cramer released a single in the mid 50’s called “Fancy Pants” and the pianist played a lot of recording sessions in Nashville, including Elvis Presley, but he had not had a big hit.
Luther said in a few days he got a call from the Greyhound Bus Station on Market Street that he had a package so he rushed down to the terminal and picked up the special delivery record, the acetate of “Last Date.”
He said he aired the recording the next morning and it became an instant favorite with his listeners. Luther said, “Some mornings we’d play it three times. Luther said his engineer, the late Buddy Houts, liked the song so much he went out and bought a copy of the 45 RPM as soon as it was released to the public.
Floyd Cramer recorded Last Date in the fall of 1960 and RCA released it a few months later. Producer Chet Atkins told Mr. Cramer, “You’d better record that. It’ll be your signature song.” Chet wasn’t wrong.
Floyd Cramer, Chet Atkins and Boots Randolph traveled together and did several concerts known as the “Festival of Music.” Luther introduced the trio at their first Memorial Auditorium concert in May, 1965. Luther said Mr. Cramer always played “Last Date” at his Chattanooga performances and received standing ovations. Luther said the quiet Cramer would tell the audiences, “This is where Last Date was first heard on the radio.” Pointing to Luther, Mr. Cramer said, “He played it first.”
Mr. Masingill was on WDEF radio in Chattanooga for over 70 years. He died Oct. 20, 2014.
The book “Hello Chattanooga” by broadcast personality David Carroll lists a dozen performances by Floyd Cramer in the Scenic City.
Fast forward, going through my cassette box of collectibles, I found the Floyd Cramer Grand Ole Opry recording that he sent me of his playing “Last Date”. I visited several times with Mr. Cramer backstage at the Memorial Auditorium and we had telephone conversations. I even recorded a personalized station break with the piano artist for WDOD.
I never knew for sure but the Grand Ole Opry recording might have been from one of the Prince Albert Shows that ran live on the NBC Radio national network on Saturday evenings.
The Country Music Hall of Famer died of cancer in 1997 at the age of 64. His 1960 top ten hit “Last Date” is still heard today on both country and pop oldie stations. Music historians say Floyd Cramer’s LPs have topped 100 million in sales.
Grandson Jason Coleman is carrying on his grandfather’s music and legacy doing concerts around the country.
According to our Luther, “Last Date” was first heard on the radio in Chattanooga.
Click here to listen.