Cowboy Joe Babcock

Cowboy Joe Babcock is a singer and songwriter whose career in country music spans over sixty years. As a vocalist he and Hurshel Wiginton formed a backup studio singing group called The Nashville Edition. With The Nashville Edition and on his own, Joe sang on thousands of recordings such as Marty Robbins' “Devil Woman,” Charlie Rich’s “Behind Closed Doors,” and Elvis Presley’s Grammy winning version of “Amazing Grace.” In 1968 Joe was asked to sing on a new television program called Hee Haw and stayed with the program for its entire run, which went off the air in 1993. Over the years, Joe has also penned several songs including “Doggone Cowboy,” which Marty Robbins recorded and “I Washed My Hands in Muddy Waters,” which was recorded by dozens of performers over the years including Stonewall Jackson, Charlie Rich, Elvis Presley, Lonnie Mack and Johnny Rivers. In later years Joe, his wife Carol and daughter Lorrie formed the group The Babcocks, which focused on singing gospel music and led to the creation of the popular yearly event, now held at the Grand Ole Opry, entitled Sunday Morning Country.