Boxcar Willie
Passed off as a jovial buffoon by some contemporary commentators, Lecil Travis Martin - stage name Boxcar Willie - was anything but. A B-29 Super Fortress Flight Engineer in the Korean war, he forged a long and successful career based on his excellent singing voice, broad country repertoire and eventual induction into the Grand Ole Opry. Surrounded by a cadre of top quality Nashville studio musicians, he could produce an engaging version of practically any country standard on a moment's notice. A string of albums from the mid-1970s to the mid-90s attest to his popularity. He died of leukemia in 1999.