R.I.P.: Jack Parnell, Influential WHBQ Memphis DJ

Jack Parnell

Jack Parnell, a Memphis rock 'n' roll deejay and longtime voice artist whose resonant pipes thrilled listeners and inspired generations of broadcast professionals, is being remembered as a pop-culture hero in the era when the Baby Boom was addicted to the sonic boom of Top Forty radio, TV dance parties and inescapable commercial jingles.

He was 84-years-old according to the Memphis Commercial-Appeal.

Parnell's voice — a golden, persuasive baritone that was ideal for radio, a magnet for listeners and the envy of his peers — was his calling card and chief selling point in a career that basically lasted his entire adult life. "The best advertising is word of mouth…YOUR words and JACK PARNELL's mouth!" proclaims the banner on Parnell's website, promoting the voiceover talent business that followed his radio days.

"He had his face up on billboards, and if you were a kid back then, everybody knew who Jack Parnell was," said Parnell's son, actor Chris Parnell, a former "Saturday Night Live" cast member who has followed in his father's footsteps — or voiceprint — as a voice performer on such projects as "Hotel Transylvania" and "Family Guy."

“He had the most recognizable voice I ever heard in my life,” said longtime Memphis radio personality Ron Olson, who said he idolized Parnell when the disc jockey was part of the WHBQ-AM 56 stable of stars that included Elvis pal George Klein.

“It was pure sugar" Olson said of Parnell's voice. "It had resonance and clarity and crispness and authority.”