Early career Born in Bulls Gap, Tennessee, Campbell studied art at
Mars Hill College in
Mars Hill, North Carolina, after which he began a radio career at
WNOX in Knoxville. After a year alongside
Roy Acuff on their
Mid-Day Merry-Go-Round, Campbell left WNOX for rival
WROL, where he helped start Knoxville's first country-music television show (on
WROL-TV),
Country Playhouse, that premiered in 1952 and ran until 1958. In 1959 Campbell moved to
Nashville to replace
Rod Brasfield on the nationally syndicated Prince Albert segment of the
Grand Ole Opry. Shortly after, he signed a contract with
RCA Victor, and one of his early singles, "
Trouble in the Amen Corner" reached the 1960 country music top 25. After an unsuccessful stint with the
Starday label, Campbell returned to RCA Victor in 1966 and had three top-30 singles: "
The Men in My Little Girl's Life" (1966), "
The Dark End of the Street" (1968), and "
Tell It Like It Is" (1968). He was named Comedian of the Year in 1969 by the
Country Music Association.
Routines One of Campbell's "signature" routines was to tell stories in "
spoonerism" form, with the first letters of words in some phrases intentionally switched for comic effect. The best-known of these stories was "RinderCella", his retelling of the fairy tale "Cinderella", about the girl who "slopped her dripper" (dropped her slipper). Campbell once told the "RinderCella" story on an episode of the game show
Juvenile Jury. At the conclusion of the story, host
Jack Barry said, "That's one of the funniest stories Carchie Ampbell tells." All of Campbell's spoonerism routines borrowed heavily from comedy routines performed by Colonel Stoopnagle on the radio show
Stoopnagle and Budd in the 1930s. (Colonel Stoopnagle was the stage name of
F. Chase Taylor, 1897–1950.) Campbell also performed a routine with various partners generally known as "That's Bad/That's Good". Campbell would state a troublesome occurrence; when the partner would sympathize by saying, "Oh, that's bad," Campbell would quickly counter, "No, that's good!", and then state a good result from the previous occurrence. When the partner would say, "Oh, that's good!", Campbell would immediately counter with "No, that's bad!" and tell the new result, and so on.
Hee Haw Campbell was a charter member of the cast of
Hee Haw on
CBS-TV from its beginning in 1969, though he also served as a head writer. His regular characterizations included: • "Archie's Barber Shop", in which he performed his spoonerism stories and his "That's Bad/That's Good" routine • "Doc Campbell", with
Gunilla Hutton as "Nurse Goodbody"; though Campbell portrayed an M.D., a certification hanging on the wall clearly showed him being a veterinarian (D.V.M.). • "Justus O'Peace", his version of the classic "Judge" routine of
Pigmeat Markham. • Campbell was also a lead character in the group bit “Gloom, Despair, and Agony on Me!” • One of his most well-known segments was the song "PFFT! You Was Gone", in which he would perform a short verse of original comedy, followed by the standard chorus of "Where Oh Where Are You Tonight", which would conclude with a singing partner, often
Gordie Tapp, and him
blowing a raspberry at each other or at the camera. In later years, Tapp was replaced by the episode's guest stars, who were mentioned in Campbell's lyrics right before they revealed themselves. Campbell also recorded several comedy-music albums, which he continued doing during his
Hee Haw years, such as ''Bull Session at Bull's Creek
with Junior Samples, released the year before Hee Haw'' premiered. He frequently performed musical duets with singer
Lorene Mann.
Later life and death In 1973, Campbell taped a Nashville-based game show pilot called
Skeedaddle. The game is presumed to have been part trivia and part stunt-based. An example of the stunt portion had a member of the audience literally digging for a needle in a haystack for a $700 Refrigerator/Freezer combo. The show would feature celebrity guests as well; the clip shown had fellow
Hee-Haw cast member
Minnie Pearl "hatching eggs" (sitting on a bunch of white balloons one at a time) with the players guessing how many she could bust in 45 seconds. It's presumed that the pilot did not sell. In 1984, Campbell hosted
TNN's
Yesteryear interview show. Campbell was an accomplished amateur golfer and built one of the earliest lighted
golf courses in the United States. An avid painter (he painted the mural backstage at the Grand Ole Opry), he also owned an art gallery and served on the school board in Knoxville, where he lived until his death. On June 15, 1987 Campbell suffered a heart attack. He had heart surgery, but then died of kidney failure on August 29, 1987. He was survived by his wife Mary, and two sons. Campbell is buried near the town of
Powell, Tennessee. ==Legacy==