1988

ELMER TIPPE

Elmer Tippe, for more than 50 years, has been a force behind traditional country music and Western Swing. Elmer and his family left Alberta, Canada, for Vancouver, British Columbia. It was in Vancouver that he started his professional musical career. He and older brothers, Ray and Clarence, teamed up to form Ray’s Harmony Five, delighting audiences throughout Canada’ s Lower Mainland for seven years. In 1955, that sound came to a devastating end when Clarence, returning home from a gig was killed by a drunk driver. Two years later, Elmer and Ray formed "The Pine Mountain Boys" and landed a job performing with "Royal Canadian tours. Tired of starving and road work, after three months, the boys returned to British Columbia. The secret of Tippe’s success may be found in his love of people. Tippe re-created History on the air, playing his guitar and singing. As a staunch supporter and promoter of local artists he would often take time to conduct impromptu on-air-interviews with them. The Canadian Country Music Association and the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame announced the expansion of the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame to include a Broadcast Hall of Fame, a category established for Canadians who have demonstrated extraordinary achievement in country music’s world of broadcast. One of the first of three inductees, Elmer was formally inducted during Country Music Week 2002 in Calgary in September. He joined CKWX Supercountry radio in 1975 starting on the "All Nighter" shift but soon moved to the Mid-Day slot where he stayed until 1991, logging 25 years in radio. The Elmer Tippe Show on CKWX was a destination for listeners each day with it’s down-to-earth style and friendly comfortable format. Tippe became a local superstar developing his own style and creating fan pleasing features such as stars phoning from Nashville, or even dropping by the studio, as well as "Elmer’s Choice", a special song chosen by Elmer each day. A fiddler, Tippe had several recordings of his own on the country charts with his band Elmer Tippe & Supercountry. In 1993 Elmer was inducted into the Western Swing Hall of Fame in Sacramento, CA. Throughout their careers and after reaching stardom, many continued to thank him for it, including Dick Damron, Mel Tillis and Charlie Daniels. Elmer Tippe is legendary in BC Country Music History. He has enjoyed a lengthy career as a recording artist, has met and performed with many country music stars from Canada and the U.S.A., and was a top radio personality in Vancouver for many years. Records to his credit include four albums: I Found A Song, Elmer Tippe and His Supercountry Band, Dreams of a Dreamer and Charlie the Trucker. Also released seven singles off the albums. Three of these songs were written by his son Rick when he was 15 years old. He has received many BC Country Music Awards including the first Male Vocalist Award which son Rick won 20 years . Also, Country Music Broadcaster 7 times, Hall of Fame - 1988, Country Music Person of the Year - 1991, inducted into The Western Swing Society Hall of Fame in Sacramento, CA - 1993, Western Swing Hall of Fame in Seattle, WA -1996, and the Canadian Country Music Broadcaster’s Hall of Fame - 2002