He Just Talked.

Category: News/Obituary

For the third time this week, following the passing of songwriter Jerry Crutchfield and legendary tunesmith Dallas Frazier, we pause to say goodbye to one of country's greats.

Country Music Hall of Fame member Ralph Emery passed away this morning (January 15) at Centennial Medical Center in Nashville with his family at his side. 

What did Walter Ralph Emery do that was so great in country music?  He just talked.  And talked.  And talked.  His resonating voice boomed out of the 50,000 watt clear channel signal of WSM to much of the country in the 1960s and 70s, giving country music what was more or less its first "national network."  Yes, WSM was just a "local" station, but people all over the country could hear it.

And, in the process, they could hear Emery interviewing the newcomers in country music who became legends.  He played their records, often before anyone else in the country could (or would).  A play on Emery's overnight radio show was massive exposure in those days.  (In his first memoir, Memories, Emery claimed that he used that clout to make then-wife Skeeter Davis' song "The End of the World" into the massive country and pop crossover hit that it was in 1962.)

Emery's popularity with and brilliance at interviewing country stars was so good that, later in the 60s, he had an hour-long Monday-through-Thursday night (taped) program where he would interview the superstars and the up-and-comers. 

Emery took his talents to television, hosting the widely-syndicated program Pop! Goes the Country (with its theme song by the Statler Brothers).  And, when the Nashville Network decided to start a nightly country music talk show, it was Ralph Emery who sat behind the desk at Nashville Now.

Emery's popularity made him one of the preeminent authorities on the "Nashville Sound" era of country music.  His books (including Memories, More Memories, 50 Years Down a Country Road, and The View From Nashville) sold well and contained a treasure trove of stories about the stars, the city, and the industry as it evolved through the decades.

He was also in songs, whether it was humorous (check out his "interview" with Lester "Roadhog" Moran sometime), a tribute (the Statlers' "How to Be a Country Star" included the advice to "talk plain like Ralph Emery"), or even an unflattering attack (the Byrds's song "Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man" was Gram Parson's scathing rebuttal after Emery didn't appreciate the Byrds' appearance on the Opry in their Sweetheart of the Rodeo days).

He was rightfully inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame as well as the National Radio Hall of Fame and the Country DJ Hall of Fame.

That voice entertained and educated country music fans for two generations.  And now it's sadly silent.

Ralph Emery was 88.

There Goes My Everything

Category: News/Obituary 

The first major sad announcement from the world of country music for 2022 came today (January 14) with the news of the passing of Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Dallas Frazier. 

Frazier’s family announced on Facebook that the songwriting legend died this morning from complications of a stroke he suffered late last year.

Dallas June Frazier was born October 27, 1939 in Spiro, Oklahoma.  His parents went to California, landing the youngster in Bakersfield.  There he discovered the fertile ground of the Bakersfield sound, performing when he was just 14.

His first songwriting hit was hardly a country standard:  the Hollywood Argyles’ novelty hit “Alley Oop.”  The road was paved, however, and soon Frazier was writing and performing songs that would last generations.

One of them was another novelty-type song Frazier wrote and recorded in the late 50s:  “Elvira.” That song is now legendary, thanks to the #1 version by the Oak Ridge Boys in 1981. 

Frazier’s composition list reads like a compilation album of country’s greatest hits: “Beneath Still Waters” (Emmylou Harris), “All I Have to Offer You (Is Me)” (Charley Pride), “Fourteen Carat Mind” (Gene Watson), and “What’s Your Mama’s Name” (Tanya Tucker).  

In 1967 he received the first “song of the year” award from the CMA for the Jack Greene hit “There Goes My Everything.”  He was also nominated for a Grammy for that tune.  A devoted Christian, Frazier reworked the song into a praise song, “He Is My Everything.”  It was first recorded by Roy Clark on Clark’s gospel album The Magnificent Sanctuary Band.  Jack Greene frequently did “He Is My Everything” after “There Goes My Everything” while performing on the Opry.

In 1988, a dozen years after his induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, Frazier walked away from music.  He became a full-time minister at Grace Community Fellowship in White House, Tennessee.

While he should have been in the Country Music Hall of Fame a good 20 years or so ago, that honor, when it comes, will be posthumous.

Farewell to the legendary Dallas Frazier, who was 82.

Life To Go

Category: News/Obituary

Sadly, we must say goodbye to another country music legend.  This time, it's Stonewall Jackson. 

Jackson, the longest-tenured member of the Grand Ole Opry, died at 5:35 AM Nashville time this morning (12/4) after a lengthy battle with vascular dementia.  

Born in North Carolina on November 6, 1932, Jackson arrived in Nashville with a guitar and a desire to sing his country songs for people.  His backstory included lying about his age to join the Army, then joining the Navy once he was legally old enough to enlist. 

While Jackson was a songwriter, it was his version of the George Jones-penned "Life to Go" that set his feet on the path to country music superstardom.  His career and legacy was cemented with the follow-up song: "Waterloo."

The song, written by John D. Loudermilk and Marijohn Wilkin, was a #1 country and pop hit in 1959.  The banjo didn't sound too out of place on pop radio thanks to its use in the folk revival songs of the era.

From there, the hits kept coming: "B.J. the D.J.," "I Washed My Hands in Muddy  Water," "Smoke Along the Track," "A Wound Time Can't Erase," "Leona," "Why I'm Walkin'," and "Don't Be Angry" were among Jackson's many contributions to the country music soundtrack of the 1960s.

He was made a member of the Grand Ole Opry almost before his record deal was signed in 1956, and at the time of his death was the longest-tenured member of the program.  Of course, that relationship wasn't always a smooth one, as Jackson and other older singers famously sued the Opry in the 2007 for age discrimination, charging that they were being ignored because they were older members.  (The suit was settled out of court.)

While Jackson should have been a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, he will now sadly never see that happen.

Farewell to the legendary Stonewall Jackson, who was 89.

A Real Hurting Song

 Category: News/Obituary

Although not unexpected, it's still sad to report that B.J. Thomas has died.

Thomas, a Grammy and Dove award-winning singer and songwriter, died Saturday (5/29), just over two months after his March 23 announcement that he had stage IV lung cancer.

Billy Joe Thomas was born in Hugo, Oklahoma in 1942.  He grew up listening to country music.  He was given his first taste of fame with a 1966 cover of "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry."  That success, however, came on the pop charts, not the country charts.  In fact, he would have 20 pop chart songs before he ever hit the country chart.  Those charted pop tunes included another Hank Williams song ("I Can't Help It [If I'm Still in Love With You]") and a remake of an Ernest Tubb hit ("Tomorrow Never Comes").

After Ray Stevens turned the producers down to do it, Thomas was recruited to sing the song "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" for the soundtrack of the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  It was a runaway smash hit, staying at #1 for four weeks and winning that year's "best song" Academy Award for writers Burt Bacharach and Hal David. 

In 1975 his country career began when his second #1 hit, "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" crossed over and topped the country charts as well.  That "real hurting song about a love that's gone wrong" was a major milestone in Thomas' career, earning him his only CMA "song of the year" nomination" and sealing his transition to the country world.  He scored two more #1 country hits with "Whatever Happened to Old Fashioned Love" and "New Looks From an Old Lover."

Another place to hear Thomas in the 80s was singing the theme to the TV series Growing Pains. 

Dealing with a longtime addiction to pills and alcohol, Thomas credited his faith with helping him defeat the problems.  His five Grammy award victories all came in the Inspirational/Gospel categories.  He also won two Dove Awards for his gospel music. 

Thomas was far from retired, planning a new album in 2020 when the pandemic struck.

Farewell to country, pop, and gospel great B.J. Thomas, who was 78.

 

Somewhere in Virginia in the Rain

 Category: News/Obituary 

The new year begins as the old one ended: with sad news.  Misty Morgan has died.

Morgan, half of the duet of Jack Blanchard and Misty Morgan, died New Year's Day, less than a week after being diagnosed with cancer.  According to Blanchard (her husband of 53 years), Morgan was taken to the emergency room on Christmas day.  Surgery, per his Facebook posts, revealed that she had cancer and "not more than five months or so, if we're lucky."  By New Year's Eve, Blanchard's posts went from searching for hospice care to "she can't come home." 

This evening, around 6 PM, Blanchard posted, "I was sitting in the hospital room watching Misty sleep, and she died."

Although both were from Buffalo, New York (even born in the same hospital), Jack Blanchard and Misty Morgan didn't meet until 1963, in Florida.  They wed in 1967 and spent their career and lives together.

In 1970 America was blindsided by the novelty-style hit "Tennessee Bird Walk," the song about taking things away from birds that make them birds.  It went to #1 on the country charts and was a top 25 hit on the pop charts (amid things as diverse as Elvis, the Jackson Five, and Led Zeppelin).  Blanchard and Morgan would have a total of five top 40 country hits in their brief heyday, including another novelty song, "Humphrey the Camel," and the far more serious "Somewhere in Virginia in the Rain," before fading from commercial popularity. 

Misty Morgan was 75.

Every Note He Ever Played Or Sang Was the One We Wanted to Hear

 Category: News/Obituary 

Mandolin great Don Stiernberg put it perfectly:  "Every note he ever played or sang was the one we wanted to hear."

"He" was Tony Rice. 

The Bluegrass Hall of Famer died Christmas Day.  Ricky Skaggs' post announcing Rice's death stated, "Sometime Christmas morning while making his coffee, our dear friend and guitar hero Tony Rice passed from this life and made his swift journey to his Heavenly home."

David Anthony Rice was born in 1951 in Virginia.  He grew up in Los Angeles, where -- in one of the great understatements in music history -- learned to play guitar. By 1970 he was in Louisville as a member of the Bluegrass Alliance, then barely known but now regarded as one of the most influential acts in bluegrass music. 

From there, Rice was everywhere in bluegrass, both progressive and traditional: with J.D. Crowe and New South (getting a Grammy in 1983), the Bluegrass Album Band, the collaborative effort Rice, Rice, Hillman & Pedersen, recordings with Emmylou Harris, Ricky Skaggs, and David Grisman; and, of course, the Tony Rice Unit.

While the words "great musician" are thrown around to anyone who can make three chords, Rice's influence simply cannot be understated.  In his statement today (12/26) Skaggs emphasized, "Tony Rice was the single most influential acoustic guitar player of the past 50 years.  Many, if not all, of the bluegrass guitar players of today would say that they cut their teeth on Tony Rice's music." 

Dysphonia, a vocal cord disorder, cut Rice's career short.  Later he also developed tennis elbow, affecting his guitar playing.  

Farewell to the legendary Tony Rice, who was but 69 years old.

'Tis Sweet to Be Remembered

Category: News/Obituary

In less than two months the Country Music Hall of Fame has lost its fourth member.  Mac Wiseman, the legendary singer, dubbed "Voice With a Heart," died Sunday (2/24).  He had been suffering from kidney failure in the last weeks of his life.

Malcom Bell Wiseman was born in 1925 in Virginia.  Stricken with polio as a child, he learned to play guitar, and music became his primary interest.  His first appearance on record came as the bass player on Molly O'Day's classic "The Tramp on the Street" in 1946.

Wiseman also worked in radio, where he would sing and play records.  Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs heard him on the radio and asked him to join their band.  From there he later became a member of Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys before striking out on his own in 1951.

Although usually considered "bluegrass" Wiseman had a number of songs on the singles chart.  His highest charting song was the classic "Jimmy Brown the Newsboy," although he also had a top 40 country hit with the novelty Cy Coben-penned song "Johnny's Cash and Charley's Pride" (with lyrics that were puns of country singers' names: "If I had Johnny's paycheck Charlie'd walk'er home from work no more").

In addition to his decades of work as a recording artist, Wiseman was also very active behind the scenes.  In 1958 he became the first treasurer of the Country Music Association, the organization that would later create the Country Music Hall of Fame.  He was inducted in  2014.  Additionally, he helped charter the International Bluegrass Music Association.  His close association with bluegrass throughout his career led him to be part of the third class of inductees into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame.

People have often asked me what my favorite concert was.  It came in 1995, at MerleFest.  It was hardly a "concert" in the traditional sense (as anyone who's ever been to MerleFest, or any bluegrass festival, will attest), but it was the memorable thing I've ever witnessed in music.  Mac Wiseman was on a stage in a tent near the main grounds, entertaining the Saturday pre-lunch crowd.  One of the individuals enjoying Wiseman's wonderful voice was Doc Watson, the founder of the festival.  After Wiseman left the stage he sat down on a stool next to Watson, and the two spent the next 45 minutes swapping stories and songs, passing Wiseman's guitar between them.  Totally impromptu, totally unscripted, and totally mesmerizing.

The song that's probably most closely tied to Mac Wiseman is "'Tis Sweet to Be Remembered."  That sweet voice will always be remembered.

Mac Wiseman was 93.

Bobbie McKee Will Forever Be Grateful

Category: News/Obituary

For the third time this year, we need to pause and remember a Country Music Hall of Fame great.  

Fred Foster, the guiding force behind Monument Records, died Wednesday (2/20) in Nashville.  He had been in weak health for a number of years.

The greatest legacy of Fred Foster is his ear for talent.  While he worked for Mercury Records in the mid-50s he heard a young man who was on the rockabilly Sun label and begged his superiors to sign the singer.  Mercury passed on Elvis Presley, and the rest is history.

Maybe that failure led Foster to believe he could run a label better, so in 1958 he took every penny he had and formed Monument Records, with the logo showing a replica of the Washington Monument.  Determined not to let the same mistake happen again, Foster signed another fledgling artist on Sun:  Roy Orbison.  From there, Foster's skills helped launch or improve the career of a number of country (Billy Walker, Billy Grammer) and rock (Tony Joe White) acts.  

His two biggest successes, however, came with the discovery of an east Tennessee songbird named Dolly Parton and a Texas Army veteran named Kris Kristofferson. 

Parton's early hit "Dumb Blonde" was released on Monument and produced by Foster.  After her first two albums on Monument she moved on to RCA Victor and international superstardom.

Kristofferson's legacy may be linked to the infamous story about him landing a helicopter on Johnny Cash's lawn to pitch "Sunday Morning Coming Down" to Cash, but it was Fred Foster who first signed Kristofferson to a publishing, and later recording, deal.  Foster was also the one who suggested that Kristofferson incorporate the name of one of the secretaries in the building, Bobbie McKee, into a song.  Kristofferson's "Me and Bobbie McGee" is one of the most important songs in country and rock (thanks to Janis Joplin's cover).

Foster never slowed down, producing the Grammy-winning Last of the Breed album with Willie Nelson, Ray Price, and Merle Haggard in 2007.  In 2016 Foster produced a tribute album to Ray Price.  That year Foster was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in the rotating "non-performer" category for his decades of service to country music as a producer, publisher, and promoter.  

"I am heartbroken that my friend, Fred Foster, has passed on," Dolly Parton said in a statement.  "Fred was one of the very first people to believe in me, and gave me chances no one else would or could."

Fred Foster was 87.

Just Running Scared

Category: News/Obituary

The Country Music Hall of Fame has suffered its second loss in January with the death of Harold Bradley.

The legendary A Team session guitarist, who played on thousands of sessions, died Thursday morning (1/31) in his sleep, according to his daughter's post on Facebook.

Harold Ray Bradley was, is, and ever shall be a "musician's musician."  Born in Nashville, he served in the Navy in World War II before majoring in music at Peabody College.  His first instrument was banjo, but brother and fellow Hall of Fame inductee Owen (they are the only brothers in the Hall of Fame not inducted as a performing act) convinced him to switch to guitar.

The music world was better for it.  Bradley's guitar work ranged from simple, subtle rhythm on songs like Roy Orbison's classic hit "Running Scared" to the driving rhythm of Don Gibson's "Sea of Heartbreak."  Whether it was country, pop (he did sessions with the likes of Paul Anka, Perry Como, and Ann-Margaret), rock (Elvis, Orbison, Leon Russell), or R&B (Brook Benton, Ivory Joe Hunter), Harold Bradley's work was exactly what a song needed, and nothing more.

In addition to his work as a session man, Harold and Owen were producers (although Owen was the far more successful of the two in that regard) and businessmen.  In 1954 the two opened the Bradley Film and Recording Studio.  That became internationally known as "The Quonset Hut," and it changed both country music (with the "Nashville Sound") and the area where it was located (16th Avenue), transforming it into "Music Row."

Owen Bradley, who died in January 1998, was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1974.  Harold's induction came in 2006 in recognition for his long, illustrious career as one of country music's most consistent session men.

Harold Bradley was a longtime friend of the International Country Music Conference.  I was honored to meet him on a number of occasions when he served as a panelist for Studio B keynote sessions that focused on the great history of country music that happened in that studio, and in Nashville in general.  One of my most treasured memories was when he sat on the piano bench, cradling his guitar, and moderator and Country Music Foundation librarian John Rumble played "Running Scared," the great Roy Orbison song that Bradley had provided the guitar work for in 1960.  In the studio, as the recorded version began to play, Bradley strummed along with the work he had created 50 years earlier.  

Farewell to the great Harold Bradley, who was 93.

The Three Bells Ring No More

Category: News/Obituary

Back in the late 2000s I saw Jim Ed Brown at the Midnite Jamboree.  At the autograph/meet & greet after the show I told Jim Ed how much I wished the Browns would get inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. 

Brown smiled shyly, then said, "Well, if they're gonna do it, I wish they'd do it soon, because Maxine's health isn't good."

Who would know that Maxine Brown, the eldest of the singing trio that finally got that Hall of Fame induction in 2015, would outlive her two performing siblings.  Today comes the sad word that Maxine Brown has joined her famous brother and sister in death.  Maxine passed away today (1/21) in a Little Rock hospice with her family at her side.  She had been suffering from heart and kidney issues.

Maxine, along with younger brother Jim Edward, burst onto the country music scene in 1954 with a song that they wrote inspired by their youngest sister, Norma, excitedly trying to explain something to them and getting her words jumbled up.  That song was "Looking Back to See."  In addition to becoming the first brick in the road that would lead the Browns to the Country Music Hall of Fame "Looking Back to See" became one of the more popular songs for duos to record, with acts such as Justin Tubb and Goldie Hill and Buck Owens and Susan Raye also scoring charted hits with the song.  (The rhythm guitarist on the Browns' recording was Jim Ed's friend and Abbott Records label mate, Jim Reeves.  Reeves would later successfully lobby RCA Victor to sign the Browns.)

After Bonnie graduated from high school she joined her older siblings and "The Browns" became the legendary trio that we remember.  While there were many pit stops along the way in the 1950s (most notably, Jim Ed's Army service), the trio built a career with songs such as "I Heard the Bluebirds Sing" and the Ira and Charlie Louvin composition "I Take the Chance."

L-R: Jim Ed, Maxine, and Bonnie Brown celebrate the
50th anniversary of "The Three Bells" in 2009.
c. 2019 K.F. Raizor

With the advent of rock and roll in the mid 50s the Browns' career waned significantly, along with many other country stars.  They were about to call it a career when they recorded "The Three Bells."  From there, the floundering career soared to new heights, with the song topping country, easy listening, and "hot 100" charts.

In the mid-60s the family career ended, with Maxine singing lead on their final single release, "Big Daddy."  Bonnie and Maxine left to be with their young families, while Jim Ed continued with a successful solo and duet (Helen Cornelius) career.

The Browns would reunite on occasion at the Grand Ole Opry, including one memorable weekend in 2009, when the 50th anniversary of the release of "The Three Bells" was celebrated.  

In 2005 Maxine penned a bestselling autobiography, Looking Back to See, about her career in country music, focusing on the trials of performing in the 50s.  The book won the Ella Dickey Literary Award.

Shortly after the 2015 announcement that the Browns were being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame Jim Ed died of lung cancer.  At the medallion ceremony later that year Bonnie announced that she, too, had lung cancer (although she never smoked).  She passed away two weeks before her birthday in 2016.

And so closes the book on another legendary country music act.  The three bells -- Jim Ed, Maxine, and Bonnie -- ring no more on earth.  Oh, what a legacy they left us.

Maxine Brown was 87.

Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind

Category: News/Obituary

One of the things that has made George Strait such an enduring figure in country music is his ability to find the great songs by the great songwriters.  He did that with "Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind;" and, later, "All My Ex's Live in Texas."

The songwriter responsible for those songs, Sanger D. "Whitey" Shafer, died yesterday (1/12) after an illness.  His wife, Tracy, was at the funeral for her mother when Shafer passed, according to songwriting friend Corey Frizzell's Instagram post.

After serving in the Army, Sanger D. Shafer worked odd jobs and decided, finally, to move to Nashville, home of his favorite type of music.  He met other songwriters, including "Doodle" Owens and Dallas Frazier, and began writing songs.  The first major success was when George Jones recorded "Tell Me My Lying Eyes Are Wrong" in 1970, soon followed by Johnny Russell recording what has since become a country gospel classic, "The Baptism of Jesse Taylor."

A longtime Lefty Frizzell fan, Shafer struck up a friendship with the legendary singer.  Their collaborations included two of the most enduring songs of the 70s: "That's the Way Love Goes" (originally a hit for Johnny Rodriguez), and "I Never Go Around Mirrors," one of Frizzell's final top 40 country hits.

Shafer went through a series of divorces, leading to songs such as "Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind" and "All My Ex's Live in Texas."  George Strait turned both into country gold.  Another one of Sanger's heartbreak songs, "I Wonder Do You Think of Me," was a posthumous hit for Keith Whitley in 1989.

In 1989 Shafer was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters' Hall of Fame.  His songs continued to be covered by the greats, the up-and-comers, the local musicians, and anyone who appreciated a great song.

Whitey Shafer was 84.

Many Blooms Still Linger There

Category: Obituary/News

There are songwriters, then there are songwriters' songwriters.  Jerry Chesnut was a songwriter's songwriter.

Chesnut, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Famer, died Saturday (12/15) in Nashville.  Music Row reported that Chesnut's death was unexpected despite the fact that he had been suffering from a respiratory illness for some time.

Born in the eastern Kentucky town of Loyall, Jerry Donald Chesnut enlisted in the Air Force during the Korean War, then settled in St. Augustine, Florida after his military service.  He worked as a railroad conductor by day and a country music performer by night.  Moving to Nashville in 1958, he continued a day job (vacuum cleaner salesman) while honing his craft.

And hone his craft, he did.  Beginning with "A Dime At a Time," the country music world became Jerry Chesnut's oyster throughout the late 60s and early 70s.  Among the highly-touted songwriters who turned to Chesnut for songs:  Del Reeves (the aforementioned hit and "Looking At the World Through a Windshield"), Bill Anderson ("Don't She Look Good"), Loretta Lynn ("They Don't Make 'Em Like My Daddy"), Johnny Cash ("Oney"), and Mel Tillis ("Best Way I Know How").

Then there was that little song about a man's world falling apart while the garden maintained its beauty:  "A Good Year for the Roses."  George Jones made the song a #2 smash in 1970 and set the stage for others, ranging from punk icon Elvis Costello to country outlaw Johnny Paycheck, to cover the tune.  "A Good Year for the Roses" is a powerful song of heartbreak ("many blooms still linger there, the lawn could stand another mowing, funny how I don't even care") and ranks right up there with "He Stopped Loving Her Today" as one of Jones' finest rip-your-heart-out sad songs.

Chesnut also penned another heartbreaking classic, Faron Young's later-era hit "It's Four in the Morning."  And, just to prove he wasn't solely a heartbreak song man, Chesnut penned the rocking "T-R-O-U-B-L-E," a hit for Elvis Presley in the 70s and Travis Tritt in the 90s.

Chesnut retired from songwriting in the early 1980s but would occasionally still perform.  He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1996 and the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame in 2004, the second induction class for the state's music hall of fame.

Jerry Chesnut was 87.

"The Most Talented Person I've Ever Fired"

Category: News/Obituary 

Country Music Hall of Fame legend Roy Clark died today (11/15) of pneumonia at his home in Tulsa.

Born in Virginia and raised in various areas because of his father's work in Navy shipyards, Roy Clark developed a love of music at an early age.  He took up the guitar when he was just 14, and the next year he was winning national championships in banjo and guitar competitions.

In 1955, before major success for either man, Clark was a regular on a regional country music program hosted by Jimmy Dean.  Although popular, Dean canned Clark because Roy kept showing up late for rehearsals.  When Dean fired Clark he told him, "Roy, you're the most talented person I've ever fired."

In the early 60s Clark's star took off.  He had his first top ten hit with a cover of Bill Anderson's classic "The Tips of My Fingers" in 1963.  He also found an acting job as "Cousin Roy Hasley" on The Beverly Hillbillies (he would also play Myrtle Hasley, Cousin Roy's mom).  

Then along came 1969 and a CBS "summer replacement" country music/variety show called Hee Haw.  Clark, who had just released his third single on Dot Records, was tapped to co-host the program with honky tonk great Buck Owens.  Both the program and Clark's single -- "Yesterday, When I Was Young" -- became major hits.  (Ironically, the co-writer and original performer of "Yesterday, When I Was Young," Charles Aznavour, died October 1.)

Clark began building bigger mantles for his awards:  two-time CMA "Entertainer of the Year" (with a third "Entertainer of the Year" award from the ACM), gold records, number one hits (his biggest chart success was 1973's "Come Live With Me"), and a Grammy for his rendition of "Alabama Jubilee."

Clark was one of those rare performers who was well-known to people outside of the country music world thanks to his years on Hee Haw.  Additionally, music fans of all genres knew him for his marvelous guitar work (his first album was titled The Lightning Fingers of Roy Clark) and prowess on other instruments, including banjo (which he frequently played on Hee Haw, including on the "Pickin' and Grinnin'" joke session with Buck Owens) and fiddle.

As with most performers in their 80s, Clark was out of the limelight, but the awards kept coming.  His adopted hometown of Tulsa named an elementary school after him, and in 2009 he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Survivors include Clark's wife of 61 years, Barbara, three children, and a legion of fans.

In 1995, fulfilling a request of baseball legend and fellow Oklahoman Mickey Mantle, Clark sang his major crossover hit at Mantle's funeral.  How it's time for us to sing those words in memory of a true legendary performer in every sense of the word:

There are so many songs in me that won't be sung
I feel the bitter taste of tears upon my tongue

Roy Clark was 85.

Vacancy in the Heartbreak Hotel

Category: News/Obituary

Sadly, the "Heartbreak Hotel" is now vacant.  DJ Fontana, the last surviving member of Elvis' band in the 1950s, has died.

Born Dominic Joseph Fontana in 1931, Fontana's first work as a drummer came on the legendary Louisiana Hayride.  He met and backed the likes of Faron Young and Webb Pierce there.  

Of course, the Louisiana Hayride is also where a young Elvis Presley first unleashed his rockabilly-style music on the world.  Fontana joined Presley's band, playing drums on the groundbreaking "Heartbreak Hotel."  

Army duty called for Elvis, putting an end to the "official" band that consisted of Fontana, Bill Black, and Scotty Moore.  However, Moore and Fontana continued to work with Elvis throughout the 60s, appearing in movies and on TV specials with him.

Additionally, Fontana was an in-demand session musician.  His web site lists his credits on albums by acts as diverse as Jim Reeves, Ringo Starr, and Cheap Trick.  His talents earned him induction into the Rockabilly and Rock and Roll Halls of Fame.

Farewell to DJ Fontana, who was 87.

Don't Worry

Category: News/Obituary

Glenn Snoddy has died.

The man universally credited with inventing the "fuzz tone" guitar pedal died Monday (5/21) at his home in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.  

Glenn Snoddy was born in Shelbyville, Tennessee in 1922.  He served in the Army during World War II, earning Bronze Stars in the Pacific theater.  While in the Army he began to tinker with radio and recording equipment, which set his course to change country music -- and rock and roll, for that matter -- in the early 1960s.

After the War Snoddy found work quickly in Nashville, working as engineer on, among others, Hank Williams' final session.  He was in demand as he worked with Owen Bradley at the famed Quonset Hut.

His life changed completely by accident in 1961.  He served as engineer for a Marty Robbins session at the Quonset Hut.  While Grady Martin played the solo on "Don't Worry" it came through with a distorted, fuzzy sound.  Instead of re-recording the take, they left it as it was.  And people -- especially musicians -- loved it.  

Snoddy invented a guitar pedal to duplicate the fuzz sound that had happened by accident on the "Don't Worry" session.  "I'm pretty sure what happened was the primary transformer opened up," Snoddy later told the Nashville Tennessean about the ground-breaking accident.

In addition to that happy accident, Snoddy worked on classics by Johnny Cash (including "Ring of Fire"), Willie Nelson, Loretta Lynn, and countless others.

Farewell and a salute to Glenn Snoddy, who had turned 96 on May 4.

Kenny O'Dell Dies

Category: News/Obituary

Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee Kenny O'Dell died Tuesday (3/27) in a suburban Nashville healthcare facility.

Born Kenneth Guy Gist, Jr. in 1944, O'Dell changed his name because of the difficulty people had pronouncing his real last name.  His interest in songwriting began early, writing songs while he was still in grade school.  Moving to Nashville in the late 60s, he recorded three albums of his own music, with his biggest hit as a singer being 1978's "Let's Shake Hands and Come Out Lovin'."

As a songwriter, however, O'Dell attained legendary status in 1973...thanks to Watergate.  He told the Nashville Tennessean in 2017 that he kept hearing about Congressional hearings related to the Watergate scandal being held in secret.  "They're always talking about how no one knows what goes on behind closed doors," O'Dell told Bart Herbison.  "And I'm thinking, I like the title 'Behind Closed Doors.'"

O'Dell played rhythm guitar on Charlie Rich's recording of the song, which became a chart-topping smash in country and pop.  The song won the "Country Song of the Year" Grammy award for the year, as well as the "Song of the Year" award in both the Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music awards presentations.

His other massive songwriting success -- earning him a BMI "Country Song of the Year" award and a Grammy nomination -- was "Mama, He's Crazy," one of the biggest hits in the career of the Judds.  Additionally, O'Dell wrote or co-wrote other hits such as "Lizzy and the Rainman" (Tanya Tucker), "I Take It on Home" (Charlie Rich), and "Trouble in Paradise" (Loretta Lynn).

O'Dell was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1996.  His wife, Corki Casey O'Dell, was a Musicians Hall of Fame guitarist.  She passed away last year.

Kenny O'Dell was 73.

Daryle Singletary Dies

Category: News/Obituary 

Daryle Singletary, a "maverick" in that he dared to be true to country music in an era when most were moving toward a pop/rock feel in the 90s, has died.

Singletary died unexpectedly this morning (2/12) at his home in suburban Nashville.  He had performed in Louisiana over the weekend.

Born in Georgia in 1971, Daryle Singletary held fast to the traditions of country music at a time when it was difficult to do so.  In 2002 he released an album titled That's Why I Sing This Way, paying tribute to (and featuring) many of his music heroes such as Johnny Paycheck, George Jones, and Merle Haggard.

After years of struggling Singletary finally scored a hit in the mid-90s with "I Let Her Lie," which was a throwback to the more traditional country songs that had been swept aside.  Singletary didn't change his style once he became successful, continuing with other hits such as "Amen Kind of Love" (his highest-charting single) and "The Note," echoing greats of the past such as Lefty Frizzell and Keith Whitley.

Although he hadn't had a charted record since 2002 Singletary continued to record and perform, remaining a favorite with traditionalists and fans.  Last year he recorded a duet album with bluegrass queen Rhonda Vincent, American Grandstand.  Vincent told No Depression in an interview about the collaboration, "Daryle is one of the greatest singers, and I love to sing with him whenever I have the opportunity."

Survivors include Singletary's wife, four children, and his parents.  Plus, a lot of country music fans.

Daryle Singletary was just 46.

Daryle and Rhonda performing "After the Fire is Gone":

If Only They Could Read Between the Lines

Category: News/Obituary

We've lost Mel Tillis.

The legendary Hall of Fame singer and Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame songwriter died early this morning (11/19) in an Ocala, Florida hospital from respiratory failure.

Lonnie Melvin Tillis was born in Florida (in Tampa).  Her served in the US Air Force before embarking on a career that would see him write some of the most iconic songs in country (and pop) music.  Among his classics:  "I Ain't Never," "Detroit City," "(Sweet) Mental Revenge," and "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town." As a singer, he also made the charts with his own songs, and with songs from the pens of others.

Known for his stuttering (his autobiography was titled Stutterin' Boy), Tillis wrote in the liner notes of the posthumous Jim Reeves album Missing You that Reeves had offered to pay for Mel's speech therapy when Tillis was a newcomer to Nashville.  The speech impediment was real, although diminished (thanks to therapy).

Tillis had been in declining health for years.  In 2016 he underwent intestinal surgery and developed complications.  The complications may have contributed to his death.

The lyrics Mel Tillis has given us over the years will continue to amaze and inspire.  Consider how he detailed the paralyzed and impotent Vietnam veteran begging his wife not to cheat on him in "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town," or the heartbreak from the homesick and lonely man in "Detroit City": 

From the letters that I write they think I'm fine
But by day I make the cars, by night I make the bars
If only they could read between the lines

No need to "read between the lines" here.  Mel Tillis was a remarkable songwriter and talent, and he will be sorely missed.

Mel Tillis was 85.

Some Broken Hearts Never Mend

Category: News/Obituary

The man they called "the Gentle Giant" is gone.  Country Music Hall of Fame great Don Williams died today (9/8) after a short illness.

Born in Texas in 1939, Don Williams' smooth, Jim Reeves-like baritone voice began entertaining fans when he was part of the folk group the Pozo-Seco Singers in the 60s.  The group had a minor successes with the songs "I Can Make It With You" and "Look What You've Done," both hitting the Billboard pop top 40 charts in 1966.  After the band went their separate ways in 1970, member Susan Taylor found success as a songwriter for acts such as the Forrester Sisters, Tanya Tucker, and Mickey Gilley, using the name Taylor Pie.

Don Williams, on the other hand, found the top of the mountain.  Beginning with "The Shelter of Your Eyes" in late 1972, Williams had 56 singles chart in the Billboard country singles chart, all of four of which were top 40 hits.

There was nothing pretentious about Williams' music.  It was pure, simple, and country.  He sang of love ("Love Me All Over Again," "The Shelter of Your Eyes" -- both of which Williams wrote [an oft-overlooked element of his career] -- and "I Believe in You") with a beautiful voice and basic guitar, bass, and drum accompaniment.  And it caught on.  Oh, how it caught on.  Over the course of his career Williams compiled seventeen #1 songs.

Interestingly, one of his comparative "flops" (only hitting #33 on the charts) was a Bob McDill love song called "Amanda."  Waylon Jennings would later find chart-topping success with the song that Williams first recorded.

In addition to all of the great music, Williams was a devoted family man.  He was one of the very few country singers you could say was never associated with any sort of scandal.  He loved his wife, Joy, whom he married in 1960.  

He also loved his music and his fans, staying on the road and performing until he decided to call it a career in 2016.

If an artist ever gave the world a song to describe how fans would feel about his/her death, it would be Don Williams and "Some Broken Hearts Never Mend."  

A sad and grateful farewell to Don Williams, who was 78.

Country Hall of Fame Loses Its Mother

Category: Obituary

The Country Music Hall of Fame has lost a second Hall of Fame members this month.  More significantly, with the passing of Jo Walker-Meador, the Hall of Fame lost the woman who could rightfully be called its mother.

Walker-Meador died Wednesday (8/16) of a stroke in Nashville.  Her death comes nine days after the passing of Glen Campbell from Alzheimer's disease.

Her birth name was Edith Josephine Denning, when she came into the world in 1924.  In 1958 Harry Stone hired Walker-Meador as an office manager for a new organization called the Country Music Association.  By 1962 she was the executive director of the CMA.

In her tenure she oversaw the development of things that we take for granted today: the CMA awards, CMA Fan Fest, and most significantly, the Country Music Hall of Fame.  The 1950s may have been the "golden era" of the music, but Jo Walker-Meador helped make the country music industry a formidable and respectable business in the 60s and beyond.

Walker-Meador stepped down in 1991.  In 1995, the Hall of Fame that she helped make a reality inducted her as a significant industry individual for her vital contributions to country music.

Farewell to Jo Walker-Meador, who was 93.