Country Music

[Professor Knowall]

In 1988, Parton founded the Dollywood Foundation. In the early 1990s, the foundation promised $500 to every Appalachian Tennessee region students who graduated from high school. In doing so, she decreased the dropout
rate from 35% to 6%. Today, the initiative has morphed into serving many different causes, including Parton's Imagination Library, which has provided hundreds of millions of free books to children around the world, including Australia.

Also in 1988, Parton was inducted into the Songwriters HoF. Parton’s career scaled another peak when "Trio", recorded with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris, won a Grammy for best country album in 1987. However in the same year,
her "Rainbow" album resulted in her deepest plunge yet into mainstream pop, although 1989’s more countrified "White Limozeen" (produced by Ricky Skaggs) retained or regained the loyalty of her grassroots following, highlighted by the
# 1 hit, 'Why'd You Come In Here Lookin' Like That'.

Though the song was written by 2 men, Bob Carlisle and Randy Thomas, - as obviously it's usually men who sing about women who can stop traffic during a night on the town, Parton flips the script - and gets to show off her renowned wit and humour this time in song. It’s a fun, lighthearted ode to jealousy in a way that is distinctly Dolly. With its upbeat, cut-time drive and bouncing fiddle, it perfectly combines all of Dolly’s strengths - storytelling, an uptempo dance beat, and pure country sound - mixed with a dose of campiness and introducing the phrase “painted-on jeans”. The song also features one of Parton's funniest music videos, a reality show-style audition series that allows Dolly to show off her by now well honed comedic acting chops -



In 1991, Parton tapped country music veteran, Van Shelton for a duet of 'Rockin' Years' off the album "Eagle When
She Flies", earning Parton another # 1 hi - her 22nd. This is a sweet, nostalgic song where (then aged 45) she talks
about being much older, sitting in a rocking chair and reminiscing about all of the things that she has done throughout
her life. She speaks of some of the struggles that most people can identify with throughout their own lifetime, but also
of the joys. She also sings about the joys outweighing those struggles when it’s time to sit back in the twilight of one’s
life and look back at everything that’s happened. It plays like a pitch perfect throwback to Parton's early days singing duets with Porter Wagoner -



In Parton’s songwriting, faith and family recur frequently as repositories of strength in difficult times. Of all her series of "Tennessee songs", 'Smoky Mountain Memories', from her album, "Heartsongs: Live From Home", is perhaps the most soulful. A song reminiscent of Bobby Bare's great hit 'Detroit City' (see post # 464), it reflects on the hardships faced by several million poverty-stricken southern workers who travelled north in search of work and fortune after WW2, Parton routinely dedicates the song to the memory of her father, who lasted all of 2 weeks in the northern city before heading back to his mountain home - as she describes in the first 2 minutes of this clip before she sings one of her most personal songs about her childhood and family -



'Before The Next Teardrop Falls' was originally a classic recorded by Country-Tejano (Tex-Mex) great Freddy Fender in 1974. Parton covered it a little more than 20 years later, in 1996, including it on her covers album "Treasures". Parton's version featured vocals by David Hidalgo, who sang the Spanish lyrics. It's of the timeless country theme of a love lost to another and the bittersweet sentiments that go with still being in love with her and wishing her the best - with a proviso. It is quite the tear-jerker in its own right, something that Dolly Parton has become synonymous with - but notice how it also pays homage to the songs original bi-lingual Tejano origins -



Along the way through the 1990's, despite her never fully abandoning her country roots, as we've just seen with these selections, Dolly, by continuing to also record and pop lots of (increasingly dated sounding) pop stuff, ultimately lost much of her core country audience (as well as the ever shallow and fickle pop fans) to the point that in 1997 she dissolved her fan club, which had once been one of the staunchest in country music. But Parton’s career - and her appeal to fans of hard-core country - proved to far from over, as she changed direction again. Beginning in 1999 she returned to the
music of her youth and began rebuilding a tradition-minded fan base with a series of critically acclaimed bluegrass albums, starting with "The Grass Is Blue". It was named Album of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association and won a Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album. The same year, 1999, Parton was inducted into the
Country Music HoF.

The series of bluegrass albums reinvigorated Parton's career and her audience. "Little Sparrow" from 2001, in a similar style to "The Grass Is Blue", but even better, marked Dolly's return to pure country music after her long tango with pop material. Also the title of her second bluegrass album, 'Little Sparrow' has a soulful, acoustic style that echoes Dolly's Appalachian roots, saying on its release - "These are the songs I came out of the mountains singing and moved to Nashville and tried to make a living with. You can't make much money with this music, but it feels good to be back
singing it". But contrary to her prediction, she ended up making a lot of money with this music -



Tomorrow will see Dolly Parton's career continue into the 21st century with her return to authentic country music - and still able to chart despite the mainstream country music market being mostly taken over (thanks to dishonest marketing by major recording companies) by insipid pop music, creating a record no other artist has matched.

 

[Professor Knowall]

Never really explored a whole lot of country music except for alt country eg Wilco and Ryan Adams, but I’ve been listening to Gene Clark and Jackson C. Frank and really like the general style.
Any other reccs?

GP and Grevious Angel by Gram Parsons.

Townes Van Zandt

Once Gene Clark was mentioned, Gram Parsons and the great songwriter, Townes Van Zandt are definites. If you're
up for an even deeper dive, try the Williams dynasty all the way from the honky tonk era of the 1950's through to the 21st century - Hank Snr, Hank Jnr, then Hank lll - or check out the Outlaw era of the 1970's - Waylon Jennings, Willie Neilson, Johnny Paycheck and David Allan Coe. Or, just, at your leisure, check out a table random the last 20 pages or
so of this thread and see what you like or don't like - lots of variety to choose from.

 

[Taylor Moss]

Never really explored a whole lot of country music except for alt country eg Wilco and Ryan Adams, but I’ve been listening to Gene Clark and Jackson C. Frank and really like the general style.

Any other reccs?

The new guard of Luke Combs, Riley Green, Chris Stapleton are bloody good too.

 

[Professor Knowall]

The new guard of Luke Combs, Riley Green, Chris Stapleton are bloody good too.

I nearly posted last week - the bad news from the CMA awards was that Luke Bryan hosted it - but the good news was Luke Combs won it (best entertainer). It seems real country music is finally making a comeback back to the mainstream after 2 decades of mostly pop bro-country crap. Also add Sturgill Simpson, Cody Jinks, Tyler Childers and Jamey Johnson to the list.

 

[Taylor Moss]

I nearly posted last week - the bad news from the CMA awards was that Luke Bryan hosted it - but the good news was Luke Combs won it (best entertainer). It seems real country music is finally making a comeback back to the mainstream after 2 decades of mostly pop bro-country crap. Also add Sturgill Simpson, Cody Jinks, Tyler Childers and Jamey Johnson to the list.

Whisky Riff website asked if you were to make a current day ‘Highwaymen’ who would you choose? The only 2 I could think of were Jinks & Childers.

 

[Professor Knowall]

Today we proceed into Dolly Parton's music of the 21st century - an era in which the recording companies, now part
of multi-national companies like Sony, cynically change the country music charts by opening it to pop and rhen the development of the faux-country crap known as "bro-country". This in turn resulted in authentic country music being shoved from the mainstream and labeled as "roots" or "Americana" or even in the "Indie" charts - and so it was that in the decade covered by today's offering, Dolly Parton's music charted higher on the "Indie" charts than the no longer very country, cou try charts. Her music was no longer the pop influenced (or straight out pop) of the previous 2 decades, as she really didn't return to her Smoky Mountains Appalachian roots.

Continuing from yesterday and her 2001 bluegrass album "Little Sparrow" (which most Bluegrass enthusiasts consider is her best work), Dolly’s vocals on 'A Tender Lie' are haunting and the instrumentation captures her musical depth -



'I’m Gone' is from the final album, in the acclaimed bluegrass trio, 2002's "Halo & Horns". It continues Dolly’s tradition
of playing the scorned woman - something she does incredibly well. It's probably the Dolly song that is most fun to sing along to (once you can learn all the thousands of words it includes). The music video below for 'I’m Gone', apart from being quite trippy for a country clip - the early 2000s were a strange time - shows Dolly playing 4 of about the 15 or
so instruments she's proficient in, learning from a young age. She usually plays from 10-12 in her concerts -



The final song on the 2002 "Halo & Horns" album will be familiar to everyone here. Now I know this selection might seem heretical for some here - a country cover of Led Zeppelin's timeless rock classic 'Stairway To Heaven'. But if one can caste aside that thought and just listen, you may find this country bluegrass version surprisingly appropriate - Dolly didn't just cover the song, she paid tribute to it. Her additional lyrics at the end fit perfectly and made sense. And, dare I say it - yeah, why not - her voice is heavenly (sorry) -



I hesitated to put so many songs from 2008's "Backwoods Barbie" album on the list (there's more to come), but I consider the album to be one of her greatest musical achievements of this millennium. I would recommend it as an excellent starter album for any new Dolly fan. 'Cologne' details one of the most gut wrenching perspectives on an affair I’ve ever heard. It’s one reason why Dolly’s songwriting is so good - she inhabits the stories and lives of other people
so effortlessly -



Another from 2008's "Backwoods Barbie" album and writte in New York City when Dolly was feeling homesick for her Great Smokies home, 'Only Dreamin’ is reminiscent of the old Celtic and Irish tunes that survived in the isolated valleys
of the Appalachians and inspired Dolly growing up. The story it tells is heartbreaking, but it’s one everyone can relate to - dreaming for something that will never come true. If you’re in to having a “Sad Music Playlist”, this one is a must add -



In 2004, the Library of Congress presented Parton with the "Living Legend Award" for her contributions to the USA’s cultural landscape. In 2005, she received the "National Medal of Arts", the highest award given to artists by the U.S. government; a year later, she received the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors.

I had fully intended to wrap up Dolly Parton's history today (and originally yesterday). However, I'm hitting the road again after tomorrow for at least a week. With just one day spare, I couldn't start on another artist, so I decided to do 1 extra bonus day on Dolly - taking her career right up to the 2020's, as she's never stopped working.

 

[Professor Knowall]

For today's "bonus extra", we'll follow Dolly Parton's career right up to the present time - but starting where we left off, with a couple of more selections from her 2008 "Backwoods Barbie" album.

As a neat bookend to 1968's 'Dumb Blond', the first Dolly song I selected, 'Backwoods Barbie' opens the last day. Written for Parton's 2008 Broadway musical "9 To 5", the song resonates with Parton personally, writing - "'Backwoods Barbie’
is me saying, ‘Okay, here’s who I am, just a backwoods country girl who wants to be pretty more than anything in the worldAnd I did. I loved anything fancy. I wanted to be pretty, like the pictures in the magazines.” But while the song touches on “all that I am and all that I wanted to be,” it has a clear double meaning - "It was also saying, ‘Don’t judge
a book by the cover, because there’s a lot underneath the hair and the boobs. The song is really about that...” she wrote.

Released as the first album on her own label, Dolly Records, "Backwoods Barbie" was a reminder that Dolly, 40 years after her first top 20 solo hit 'Dumb Blonde', was still a powerful force in the modern music world -
“So read into it what you will, but see me as I am, / The way I look is just a country girl’s idea of glam.”
Surface-level glamour may take look different to the down-home country girl than it does on the runway, but Parton has made a career out of the talent and wit beneath the get-ups. Contrary to the lyrics, it's been a long time since anyone has been “fooled into thinkin’ the goods are not all there.”



After a multi-decade career as one of the greatest success stories in country and pop music, the humility on display on 'Jesus and Gravity' is impressive. Parton’s love for country comes through strong on this, arguably her biggest and best single of the 2000s, blending contemporary country-lite with a gospel choir. She’s quick to credit her own gumption (and her faith) for her success and not fate or luck, never comfortable embracing the blond bimbo label -
“... I can’t say I’ve come this far with my guitar on pure, dumb luck / That’s not to say I know it all…”



Parton originally recorded and performed 'From Here To The Moon and Back' with Kris Kristofferson in the 2012
movie "Joyful Noise". The following year, she re-recorded the tune with Willie Nelson, found on both Nelson's 2013
album "To All the Girls...." and Parton's 2014 "Blue Smoke". Here we have the original version. This is probably one
of the sweetest songs you’re ever likely to hear, whether you listen to country or virtually any other music genre. The
title is fairly self-explanatory, as is the song, talking about loving someone from here to the moon and back, no matter what the circumstances - so it's a song about unconditional love, that we all wish we had ourselves and the type most people would hope to give to someone else at some point in their life. Some are so lucky - many are not -



More than 45 years since Parton's first top 10 single, the title track from 2014's "Blue Smoke” album is pure, distilled, raw country. With bluegrass instrumentation and momentum, it trundles ahead like a locomotive, eager and earnest. You can hear her age (68 at the time) manifesting itself in raspy, throaty tones when she sings the first several lines - which only makes the song better. It lends itself well to a song about a long-suffering, mistreated lover who declares over the bridge - “I’ve had just about all the heartbreak I can stand!” -



'When Life Is Good Again' is the most fitting way to finish on for Dolly, being released in 2020, considering the pandemic and the global lockdown that happened as a direct result of it. On the surface, the song talks about when life will be good again, simply meaning when things can return back to normal. However, it goes on to have a deeper meaning. Ultimately, it talks about not waiting until everything is ideal for life to become good again but about finding happiness within oneself and finding one’s own peace, regardless of the circumstances, so that life can be good, even in the midst of turmoil and chaos.


In April 2020, the same month she recorded this song, Parton also donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University Medical Center to aid in research toward a vaccine for the coronavirus. Just 7 months later, in November, it was revealed the legendary performer's donation was a major factor that helped fund Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine.

I have, over the last few days, listed some of Dolly's major achievements such as her induction into the Songwriters HoF in 1990, the Country Music HoF way back in 1993. There are also all her 49 Grammy nominations and 9 wins and CMA awards - to many for me to itemise. Also an actress and author, she's been nominated for 2 Oscars, 3 Emmys and a Tony - Parton wrote the music and lyrics for the musical adaptation of 9 to 5, which debuted on Broadway in 2009; her work was nominated for the Best Original Score Tony award. And don't forget she runs a major entertainment empire, the Dollywood Company, that employs thousands in her East Tennessee homeland.

In December 2020 BBC labelled Dolly as the world's most loved celebrity. This article explains why - and also, albeit from a very British perspective, outlines the reasons why (and as I didn't use this as a source, provides some additional details of Dolly' life and achievements) -

How Dolly Parton became the world’s best-loved celebrity

How did Dolly Parton become one of the world’s most-loved celebrities? Dorian Lynskey explores the singer’s appeal.

www.bbc.com

In August 2020, USA Today named Parton as their "Woman of the Century". TIME Magazine named Dolly Parton among the world's 100 most influential people of 2021 (with a foreword written by her goddaughter, Miley Cyrus). And she ain't finished yet. At age 75, she's just brought out another album and there's no sign yet that this "dumb" blond from a dirt poor Appalachian family of 12 siblings is slowing down any time soon. Legends don't come more legendary than this one.

Now I'm on the road again and won't be back (at least for big history posts) for about 10 days or so. But I'll be back with an artist known simply as "the storyteller".

 

[Schauermann]

Like him:

 

[Professor Knowall]

Whisky Riff website asked if you were to make a current day ‘Highwaymen’ who would you choose? The only 2 I could think of were Jinks & Childers.

Now I'm back from the bush, I've been thinking about this post. I suppose I could throw in Sturgill, Stapleton or Jamey Johnson, but to me the question reminds me how much that authentic country music has been sidelined over the past 20 or so years ... as in truth none of these names have, up until the last 12 months or so, the public stature (or sales) of any of the Highwaymen (to which could easily have been added legends like George Jones and Merle Haggard). This is mainly due to the record companies (now multinational corporations like Sony), marketing straight out pop music as "Country" (e.g. Luke Bryan and Georgia Florida Line) while sidelining authentic country artists by labelling their music as "Americana" ... but the resistance to this has been growing and it seems things are now changing for the better.

Tyler Childers correctly identified the problem - ironically in a speech at the 2018 "Americana" music awards -

https://www.whiskeyriff.com/2020/01/28/tyler-childers-doubles-down-on-americana-critique-its-kind-of-become-just-a-costume/

“As a man who identifies as a country music singer, I feel Americana ain’t no part of nothin. It is a distraction from the issues that we are facing on a bigger level as country music singers. It kind of feels like ‘Purgatory’.”

And last he reinforced the message, before winning this years 2021 CMA Entertainer of the Year, showing his message has finally got through -
"... It was at the Ryman which is the Mother Church of Country Music and they’re holding the Americana Awards which I feel is a big hindrance in maintaining more true-to-roots country music. And everybody always talks about the state of country music and puts down commercial country and [says] ‘somethings gotta be done’ and ‘we need to be elevating artists that are doing more traditional country’ but then were not calling those artists country artists, they’re getting put into this Americana thing. It is what it is, and I don’t really know how to define what Americana is. We’re our own thing, it’s a new time, and I don’t know what it’s called but I’ve been calling it country, you know? I think a lot of times it’s kind of become just a costume.”

 

[Professor Knowall]

Sad to report the passing away on Dec 4 of pretty much the last of the original honky tonkers of the 1950's, Stonewall Jackson, at age 89. He only very narrowly missed being included in my history series - so here's a snippet on him -

https://www.savingcountrymusic.com/country-music-legend-stonewall-jackson-has-passed-away/

"One of country music’s critically-important performers from the Golden Era of the 50’s and 60’s, and one of the Grand Ole Opry’s most regular performers throughout the years, has passed on to that big stage in the sky. Stonewall Jackson was not a nickname. He was named after the Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson at birth on November 6th, 1932, though despite rumors, there was no direct relation. Stonewall’s name was famous, though he’s also one of those performers whose music and legacy regularly get unfairly lost in the fray.

... At 89-years-old, Stonewall Jackson was the oldest tenured member of the Grand Ole Opry, the only member from the 50’s, and one of country music’s oldest living performers overall. Bill Anderson is now the oldest tenured Grand Ole Opry member, joining in 1961".

And now a couple of his music selections; the first a very heartfelt old honky tonk barroom # 4 hit from 1964, 'Don't Be Angry' (love the twang and the dobro) -


Also from 1964 came this # 1 hit, 'BJ The DJ' -



RIP Stonewall.

 

[Professor Knowall]

I've referred to the old clique of country music being "3 chords and the truth" a few times over the history series. I
doubt this was ever more applicable than our new artist. Dubbed “The Storyteller” by early Country Music HoF member Tex Ritter (posts # 179-180), he wrote songs distinguished by their narrative quality, rich detail and keen insight into the beauty of everyday life. As much a poet and philosopher as he was a songwriter, he was a peerless observer of the human condition, an author of precision-tooled short stories, possessed of a set of skills that could have seen him carving out a comfortable literary career if Nashville had proved immune to his skill and charms.

Born in 1936 in the Appalachian foothills of eastern Kentucky, Thomas Hall was one of 8 children born to a bricklayer
and part-time preacher and his wife. He showed interest in music at an early age. He wrote his first song, 'Haven’t I Been Good to You' at age 9 and learned to play a schoolmate's guitar at age 10. He benefited greatly from the tutelage of local musician Lonnie Easterly (later memorized in the song 'The Year That Clayton Delaney Died') His mother died of cancer when he was 13, and 2years later, his father was shot and seriously injured in a hunting accident. As a result, Hall had to drop out of high school to help support his siblings by working in a factory. Hall's neighbor had a small traveling cinema show, and Hall began to accompany him when a teen, playing bluegrass with other musicians. He and his bandmates,
"The Kentucky Travelers" were also broadcast on the local radio station, where Hall also worked as a d.j.

Hall did not consider a career in music because he aspired to be a writer or a journalist. He was drafted into the army
in 1957 and earned a high school diploma while enlisted. After the Army, Hall enrolled at College in Virginia to pursue writing. He admired Mark Twain and Ernest Hemingway, but discovered he was actually better at writing country songs than stories or articles. While working as a d.j. in Roanoke, he sent some of his compositions to Nashville, where music publishers liked his work. One company, New Keys, urged Hall to relocate to Nashville. He did, and his first recorded song, 'D.J. for A Day', became a top 10 hit for Louisianan cajun star, Jimmy C Newman in 1964. Hall married Iris "Dixie" Dean in 1964, an English migrant who worked as editor of "Music City News" in Nashville.

Hall composed his first # 1 hit, 'Hello Vietnam', for Johnnie Wright (Kittie Well's husband) in 1965 - unusual in that it was openly patriotic amongst the crop of folk and pop protest songs. But his big breakthrough came in 1968 with the biggest hit of his whole career - Jeannie C Riley’s country pop crossover smash 'Harper Valley PTA. Hall always insisted 'Harper Valley PTA' was based on a true story from his childhood in Kentucky, saying that the single mum was "a free spirit" who challenged the small town's social conventions and it's upper echelon (to this day, towns in the South still preserve a stratified class system based on wealth and ancestry). Anyway, that single mum Hall knew really did show up at a PTA meeting and tore into the members for their own "indiscretions" and hypocrisy. As a boy of 9 or 10, Hall was impressed and never forgot the story.

Now I know I dissected this song in detail in post # 537 on Jeannie C Riley, but to rehash part of it - the term "PTA" stands for Parent Teacher Association and can be likened to our school councils. In towns in particular the parents on these councils are generally the ones who come from the "better" (i.e.richer) families. This was the case in 1968 and it largely still is.

So the song tells a fun story about Mrs Johnson, a "Harper Valley widowed wife" - note she wasn't a divorceee or a single mum, which would've diminished her status in 1968, whereas by Hall making her a widow made her a figure deserving of sympathy - though why she's a widow isn't revealed. So, her teenage daughter, a student at the school, comes home with a note for her mother from the PTA, in which they scold her for "wearing your dresses way too high" (mini-skirts being a fashion rage in 1968 - but would've been regarded a controversial choice for mothers of teenagers), her drinking, running around with multiple men and stating that she shouldn't be raising her daughter that way. Outraged, Mrs Johnson pays an unannounced visit to the PTA who conveniently happened to meeting that afternoon. To the PTA's surprise, Mrs Johnson, wearing a miniskirt, walks in and rips them to shreds, exposing a long list of misbehaviours of their members, most of whom were in attendance -



After Johnnie Wright took Hall's 'Hello Vietnam' to # 1 in 1956, the music industry pressured Hall to record his songs. After initially resisting, seeing himself foremost as a songwriter and not rating his vocal range, he decided to take the plunge in 1967, signing a contract with Mercury Records and adding a middle initial to become Tom T. Hall. His first single, 'I Washed My Face in the Morning Dew' became a minor hit. Hall followed the single with two others in 1968 that failed
to crack the Top 40. But the massive success of 'Harper Valley P.T.A', topping both the country and pop charts and voted Single of the Year by the CMA, brought attention to Hall's own recording career, which was evident from the performance of 'Ballad of Forty Dollars'. The song became his first Top 10 hit, peaking at # 4 in both the U.S. and Canada.

Hall’s first job was mowing the grass at a cemetery. During funerals, he’d shut down his mower and listen to the conversations being had by the gravediggers. Several years later, he drew on those overheard conversations for Ballad
of Forty Dollars, a story-song narrated by a cemetery caretaker at the funeral of an acquaintance. It’s a humorous look
at a gravedigger’s musings as he watches and overhears others discuss everything under the sun at a funeral … except
for anything nice to say about the deceased. As with most of Hall’s songs, there’s a ton of humour mixed in, not least in the ending punchline - which I won't provide the spoiler - you'll just have to listen through to the end -



In early 1969, Bobby Bare scored a major hit with his former bass player Tom T. Hall's song, '(Maggie's at) The Lincoln Park Inn' (see post # 465) which shocked listeners with its matter-of-fact approach to adultery. Some radio stations refused to program this song because it didn’t overtly condemn the man’s cheating. Despite this, it still reached # 4 for Bare in 1969. As for Hall, he recorded it in 1969 for his breakthrough album "Homecoming", which provided him with a string of hits - however he never released this one as a single. Although Hall couldn't quite match Bare's superb vocals, the sparser arrangement, compared to Bare's string laden production by Chet Atkins, actually gives it an extra poingnancy for me.

This is songwriting at it's best - telling what really goes on in life, right down to one's hidden inner thoughts. Amongst a tranquil scene of ordinary domestic harmony with his wife and child, the singer daydreams about the woman waiting for him at the local motel. Quite aware of the disconnect between what he seems to be (a regular, happily married church-going family man and what he really is - an adulterer - the singer ends with the scene of his little son in bed and his wife baking cookies. However, he’s conveniently “... almost out of cigarettes and Margie’s at the Lincoln Park Inn.” -



'Homecoming', the title track of his 1969 album, is basically a movie in song form. It bears all the hallmarks of a Tom T. Hall song. It’s written from the perspective of a struggling musician who pays a visit to his hometown. Only his father is still alive, but feeling the need for approval, he stops by for a conversation. Hall once said - “It’s about a son who comes home and tries to explain himself to his father. When you come home, it’s hard to explain what you’re doing.”

The prodigal musician son doesn’t seem like the best bloke. He hasn’t stayed in touch with his father. He wasn’t even able to make it home to be with his mum when she passed. And he left a woman sleeping in his car while he stopped in to say hello. And yet, somehow, we’re almost sympathetic to the narrator. He seems like someone who lost his way and is now beginning to make an effort to drop in and call more often. The story is delivered with warmth and sincerity. It’s one of Hall’s most exquisitely written conversation songs. Perfectly capturing that feeling of wistfulness, the returning son gently nudges for his father’s approval, awkwardly apologising for missing his mother’s funeral, and telling him about the shows he’s been playing and the girl sleeping out in his car. There's a lot one can unpack here -



Hall always had a keen sense of humour and in 1969, he pulled a comedy classic out of the bag with 'A Week in a Country Jail'. The song stemmed from an actual arrest for speeding and its even more unfortunate timing. Thankfully, music can heal, and it can add lots of mayo the details (Hall "only" spent 2 days in prison for speeding), like how an unfortunate event turns into a hot streak of luck and even something of a tale of revenge. A tale about a bloke getting locked up for speeding might not seem particularly droll, but in Hall’s hands it's lol worthy, as he mistakenly calls his boss instead of someone who can get him out on bail, he winds up spending a week in jail eating “hot bologna, eggs, and gravy” and making moon eyes at the jailer’s wife (evidently with some success). Released in 1969 as the third single from the album "Homecoming", the song became the first of Hall’s 7 # 1 hits -



Tomorrow will continue Tom T Hall's most creative period of song-writing.

 

[Professor Knowall]

Along with songwriters such as Townes Van Zandt, Kris Kristofferson, Billy Joe Shaver, and James Talley, Hall brought
to country music a new level of lyric and thematic sophistication and social consciousness. "Country Music" magazine's Bob Allan wrote - "In my estimation Tom T. Hall is one of the greatest country songwriters that ever lived. Maybe Hank Williams or Harlan Howard have written more hits, but in his heyday Hall took country music someplace it had never been before ..." Patrick Carr of "Country Music" wrote - "Hall has broadened and deepened the country river significantly, and is one of the major architects of the music's modern form".

The true beauty’s of Hall work? It all stems from his experience. He was over 30 and already with plenty of life experience (including having a son and a divorce from his first wife) when he cut his first single. His landmark 1971 album "In Search of a Song" came from traversing the nation, going into various bars and honky tonks, talking with the locals (the best way to travel), looking for stories - “I’d get in my car and drive through small-town America and stop off at little cafes and pool halls, to look and listen. I got a lot of songs that way,” he’s said. Now that's the exact right way in travelling to really get to know interesting people and places - especially in the USA.

My favourite Tom T Hall song, about doing what it takes to follow one's heart - in this case going to Memphis on the
off-chance that his lover has gone back there, ‘That’s How I Got To Memphis’ possesses Hall’s trademark simplicity,
saying everything there is to say with a sparing lyric that echoes the narrator’s own lack information. How did he
arrive at his destination? Simple – undying love. “If you tell me she’s not here / I’ll follow the trail of her tears,”
Hall sings in this classic 1969 song. He arrives hungry, exhausted - “I haven’t eaten a bite / or slept for three
days and nights” - but still committed to tracking down his lost love, even if his love seems equally committed
to not being found. The song first appeared on Hall’s 1969 album "Ballad of Forty Dollars & His Other Great Songs",
but enjoyed a renaissance the following year when Bobby Bare took it to # 4 (see post # 464). While Bare could
certainly boast superior vocal strength and range to Hall, I actually think Bare's sparse arrangement captures the atmosphere and emotion of the song than Bare's rather string heavy Chet Atkins production (itself unusual for Bare).

One line explains it all - it's great opening - “If you love somebody enough / you'll follow wherever they go / That’s how I got to Memphis”. I understand it - totally - I've been there (and I don't just mean Memphis). Like the rest of Hall’s songs, it’s the underlying sadness of the song that makes it so beautiful. That melancholy is always there in all of his songs - even the happy ones -


The song has since been widely covered by other artists, most recently by Charley Crockett in 2019, and is now considered a standard.

Tucked away on Hall's 1970 album "100 Children" was this cynical, sarcastic anti-Vietnam war song (in complete
contrast to his patriotic 1965 # 1 hit, 'Hello Vietnam', sung by an implausibly breezy paralysed war veteran who is boarding a plane on a wheelchair, to return home from the war. He smiles at the air stewards and tells jokes - but
with black humour to cover his embarrassment - but it doesn't hide his mental anguish. Jason Isbell performed the
song when Hall was inducted into the Songwriters HoF in 2019 -



Clayton Delaney - real name Lonnie Easterling - was a teenage guitarist in Hall's hometown who befriended Hall when
he was just 12 and taught him to play guitar, inspiring him to be a musician and songwriter. Hall always changed the names of his characters when he took them from real life, thus protecting the people and sometimes to protect him from them. Uncomfortable with creating an unrelated pseudonym, he chose “Clayton” after a hill near where he had lived, and “Delaney” after a family who lived on the hill. Released in 1971 as the only single from the album, "In Search of a Song", it reached # 1 - It was around this time people in country music began to call these sorts of songs "Tom T. Hall songs”.

The song implies death is not something that happens one day and is dealt with the next, and for a child, the impact may be particularly long-lasting. He never mentions it in the lyrics, but Delaney died the same year as Hall’s mother did, so this eulogy to an early musical mentor also stands as a meditation on how a child deals with bereavement in a broader sense. And regardless of the care he took to disguise his subject, those close to him still knew. Years later, killing time in
a bar in Kentucky between gigs, Hall saw a rock band with an exceptional guitarist: struck by something in his playing style and presentation, he went up to introduce himself between sets. The guitarist turned out to be Delaney’s son –
and Hall wrote a song about that, too -



A story of pure dedication and devotion as a man survives a near fatal stay in the hospital - but all he cares about is getting back home to take care of his farm and animals to continue his hard-working way of life. This lines sticks out for its understated delivery and open-ended interpretation - “... The doctors say they do not know what saved the man from death / But in a few days he put on his overalls and left...” -



'Tulsa Telephone Book' was never released as a single, so unless you’ve taken a deep dive into the 1971 album "In
Search of a Song", you wouldn't heard of it. But it was worth seeking out. It’s about a man who’s had a one-night stand with a woman but can only remember her first name. Nothing unusual in that, but in this case, she must've made quite the impression, as he's desperate to see her again - and so reads through the Tulsa telephone book 13 times to try and find her. He doesn’t have any luck, but he does manage to give Hall one of his catchiest, funniest songs -



Tomorrow will have the two biggest selling hits of Tom T Hall's career as we move further into the seventies.

 

[Professor Knowall]

During the early 1970s, Hall and his real-life lyrics helped to inspire a group of young songwriting rebels, including Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark and John Prine, as his narrative style changed the way of country music songwriting.

'(Old Dogs, Children and) Watermelon Wine' is probably Tom T. Hall’s most memorale song - it certainly contains his most well-known line. The setting is familiar, with the singer in conversation with an older man giving out worthy advice about his well-learned secret to a happy and contented life. Tom T. wrote the song after an actual encounter with a 65 year old janitor at a bar at the 1972 Democratic Party National Convention in Miami Beach, who told him "there ain't but three things worth spit for a happy life". Hall listened, wrote out the lyrics on a sick bag on a flight to Atlanta the next day, recording it as soon as he arrived back in Nashville for the 1972 album "The Storyteller", it’s one of his most well-loved, enduringly popular songs, reaching # 1 – even the great John Prine liked it enough to record a cover. So here it is - the secret to a happy life – or, as Hall put it, the only 3 things “worth a solitary dime” - old dogs, kids, and moonshine watermelon wine. (which I still ain't got around to trying) -



The happy guy in Hall’s 1972 song 'Pamela Brown' is a ramblin’ man, just roamin’ around the world and having good times. He had a close shave all those years ago - if he’d married Pamela Brown, he’d probably be back home driving
his kids to school. He’s "the guy who didn’t marry pretty Pamela Brown", and he’s glad to be shot of all that. Or is he?
Hall’s bloke really sounds like a ramblin’ man, and the whole arrangement is upbeat, introduced with a jaunty guitar bit. But Hall's guy might be protesting too much, because there’s irony enough in the song just as it was written. From the first line it’s clear that this is an anti-love song - the guy didn’t marry Pamela Brown. He's grateful to Pamela Brown’s husband for stealing the girl of his dreams, and he’s glad she dumped him because she saved him from the small town domestic round.

The trouble is, you can’t help catching a picture of what might be domestic bliss - driving pretty Pamela Brown’s kids to school mightn’t be all that bad. What's more, although the last verse has a final throwaway line, it shows the singer could still ache a bit at the thought of Pamela Brown -
"... I don't have to tell you just how beautiful she was / Everything it takes to get a country boy in love ..."
One more thing about this song - I'm sure most of us have at least one "Pamela Brown" from the past - the one (or more) that got away but we can't quite forget them, no matter how we try ... -



Written during a particularly fertile patch between 1972 and 1973, ‘Me And Jesus’, a # 8 hit in 1972, was inspired by
a favourite expression of Hall's mother - “Me and Jesus will work it out” (sounds like SAfter listening to a particularly avaricious preacher on the radio one day while travelling around Georgia, Hall wrote the song, setting forth his view
of life, organised religion and a more personal idea of faith.

Hall was never one to lecture. He approached a lot of controversial, hard-bitten topics in war, race, and religion in
ways that were conversational and allowed for his own perspective to shine without lecturing his audience about it.
The best part about 'Me and Jesus' is its “live and let live” philosophy, showing how no one needs to be perfect to
forge a relationship with a higher power or follow a strict set of rules beyond the basics to properly walk the line.
Sinners are welcome in Hall’s heaven, and that it’s just such a relentlessly catchy and upbeat look at it says that,
at the very least, Hall is content with his own faith, and that’s what matters –


Also worth noting, Brad Paisley performed a killer rendition of the song at George Jones’ funeral in 2013, which,
sadly, doesn’t have a video to show for it.

'Ravishing Ruby', a 1973 # 3 hit, to Mexican horns and guitar, describes a young, gorgeous truck-stop roadhouse waitress, but Hall looks inside her head and discovers she’s not paying attention to all her flirtatious customers. She’s
still pining for the father who abandoned her as a teenager, promising he’d return to her ... but hasn’t -
“Ravishing Ruby, she sleeps in a bunk out back / Her days and nights are filled with dreams of a man named Smilin’ Jack/
That was her daddy’s name, that’s all she ever knew / Ravishing Ruby ain’t got time for guys like me and you.”



One of Hall’s simplest songs (definitely only 3 chords in this one, plus some truth), ‘I Love’, despite not really being amongst his best songs (IMO), was the most successful single of his career. The song is a softly sung, heart-warming, quaintly charming list of everyday things that Hall loves about life, from baby ducks to old pick-up trucks, squirrels to puppies, tomatoes on the vine, bourbon in a glass, grass, old TV shows and snow - leading to the two word punchline "you too", written in 5 minutes and recorded in 2 takes. “I invested a total of 9 minutes into it, and it sold more than a million copies and was used in a Coors Light commercial”, he said. 'I Love' not only reached # 1 on the country chart in 1973 (his fourth single to do so), but also crossed over, reaching # 12 on the pop chart, thus becoming his highest selling single -



There's still more to tell about "The Storyteller" and his music - tomorrow.

 

[Professor Knowall]

You won’t find very many conventional cheating or drinking songs on Tom T Hall's song catalog - instead you’ll mainly
find offbeat stories told with precision, wit, and empathy – often all at the same time. In some ways, the fact that he
was most active as a songwriter in the late 1960s and ‘70s says more about his breakout period than anything else.
Even then, he was writing about an America slowly becoming lost to mass-produced pop culture and people too self-
obsessed to just … look around and see the world. Maybe not directly, per se, but the subtext is there. But for all that,
today I'm starting with a plain straightforward drinking song.

OK I might be slightly biased, as I like beer, I like songs about beer and I like beer drinking singalongs, but 'I Like Beer'
is the just type of tune one sings along to with a bunch of mates … preferably at the right sort of bar. A simple tribute to the powers of beer - which makes one "a jolly good fellow". An admittedly light song, and yet, somehow, Hall pulls the song off without making it ever seem like a novelty. Once again, we find Tom T. singing and telling stories in such a plain-spoken and real term that 'I Like Beer' is simply a drunken late night song after a couple of mates have shared a slab or two. Enough beer drinkers appreciated this song to take it to # 4 in 1975. It turned out to be more popular in Germany - especially Bavaria - than in the USA, and at least 60 singers in Germany have recorded versions of Hall's song. Hence, if ever you're in Munich in October, you'll be certain of hearing - and singing - this, probably quite a few times -



Simply put, 'Turn It On, Turn It On, Turn It On' from the 1972 album "We All Got Together And ..." is the best Tom T. Hall song you (most likely) haven’t heard before. It’s a look at a deranged killer’s mindset, from the bullying that spurred him into isolation and fueled his revenge to the mass shooting (more prevalent now than in the era the song) that brought him that strange sense of satisfaction, enough to where he’s content enough facing his own demise. A poignant piece of social commentary and a brutal yet realistic look at the journey of a man driven to kill.

The main character, Johnny, is a man who avoided fighting in WW2 because a doctor declared him unfit to serve. The community saw Johnny as a coward, and Johnny eventually purchased a gun, went on a killing rampage, and when it came his time, it’s revealed that Johnny’s thinking was that the community would no longer see him as a coward. It’s a twisted, cruel narrative, and not for one second are we made to feel sorry for Johnny. Rather, Johnny serves as a symbol of the monster society can turn someone into. We shouldn’t feel sorry for Johnny - instead, we should think about the ways we can prevent Johnny from acting the way he did. From the faster tempo to the tense stakes involved, it’s certainly a wild time, but also one that makes several evergreen statements. –



This brassy bluegrass stomper tells the story of a young poet who meets a cowboy in a local bar. Thinking the cowboy might have some big universal truth to share, the poet asks him about “the mysteries of life”. The cowboy spits between his boots and reveals that his great philosophy of life is simply "Faster horses, younger women, older whiskey and more money”. When it comes to production, Hall kept it simple. His folk-like approach to country music was never meant to be flashy; just tuneful, and with a healthy amount of dobro. But I love the squonking electric guitar groove and pure stomp to this song’s flow. It’s the less serious take on 'Old Dogs, Children, and Watermelon Wine', but became Hall's 7th # 1 hit in 1975 -



'Fox on the Run' was first recorded by Manfred Mann as a single in 1968, which reached #5 in the UK pop charts. It was later modified to bluegrass by Bill Emerson and quickly became a bluegrass favorite. In 1976,Hall covered the song on his Album "Magnificent Music Machine", and it reached the #1. Even though it isn’t a Tom T. original, it pays tribute to the bluegrass influence that he cut his teeth on as a teenager in Kentucky. Best known for its rendition by "The Country Gentlemen", 'Fox on the Run' is full of classic bluegrass themes like the temptation of a wandering woman and, of
course, the obligatory Appalachian imagery -



Released as the lead single off the album "Places I’ve Done Time", 'What Have You Got To Lose?' reached # 9 in 1978. This song is about bars and honky tonks, and thus had to be included here - though it doesn't exactly encourage the honky tonk lifestyle, particularly when one gets older. The third verse might be predicting my future -
"... Now an old country boy just can't sit on the porch / And watch while the world passes by /
No, he's got to be part of some social endeavour / So he gets him a jug and he tries /
He'll play that old jukebox and chase them old hides / About daylight come to in his room /
When that sun's coming up, he's about halfway to hell / And about half way back home around noon".



Two days back had one of Hall’s biggest hits as an artist and signature songs, 'The Year That Clayton Delaney Died',
a straight memoir, save for the fictional name of the titular character of Lonnie Easterly, Hall’s guitar-picking musical mentor, who died at the age of 22 when Hall was aged 12. Years later, killing time in a bar in Kentucky between gigs,
Hall saw a rock band with an exceptional guitarist: struck by something in his playing style and presentation, he went
up to introduce himself between sets. The guitarist turned out to be Delaney’s son – and Hall wrote about that too. 'Son
of Clayton Delaney' is probably the one Hall song next to 'Faster Horses' one could describe as a legitimate jam and a look at what our mentors pass on to us, but also what we pick up on our own. Hall’s acceptance does wonders for approaching generational divides -



Besides his musical output, Hall was the author of 9 books, including novels, songwriting advice volumes and the important memoir "The Storyteller’s Nashville". An accomplished prose writer, Hall won the 1972 Grammy for Best
Album Notes, for his liner notes to "Tom T. Hall’s Greatest Hits". He shared songwriting tips and philosophy in "How I
Write Songs, Why You Can" (1976). The autobiographical "The Storyteller’s Nashville" appeared in 1979, and it's often biting, satirical anecdotes on the Nashville music industry made it a top-seller, and made him some enemies amongst
the Nashville music establishment. His novels included "The Laughing Man of Woodmont Cove" (1982), "The Acts of Life" (1986), "Spring Hill, Tennessee" (1990), and "What a Book!" (1996). His love of literature inspired him to befriend fellow writers William Styron and Kurt Vonnegut.

Tomorrow will wrap up the career of "The Storyteller".

 

[stax on the mull]

Was Tom T Hall ever a pot head, because I think some of the success of "I Love" is due to the mentioning/alternative meaning of "grass".

As you mentioned Porter Wagoner a while back in the Dolly Parton biography, I thought I'd post this insane composition.

 

[Professor Knowall]

Was Tom T Hall ever a pot head, because I think some of the success of "I Love" is due to the mentioning/alternative meaning of "grass".

Ah yeah - you exposed something I didn't include (I always have to cut a lot out to avoid making my posts far far too long - rather than just too long) - the controversial "censoring" of the original version, re-recording one line of 'I Love', (which was then spliced into the original recording), changing "... bourbon in a glass, and grass ..." to "... old TV shows and snow..." after southern radio stations arked up about the lyrics praising hard liquor and marijuana (albeit ambiguously - Hall might've got away with it had he not coupled grass with a glass of bourbon). Also, by 1975, just 2 years later, with the Outlaw movement in full swing, it wouldn't have raised an eyebrow by then.

But was Tom T a pot head? I found no direct evidence, and by 1973 he probably wasn't, but I'd be very surprised if he wasn't to some extent in the 1960's (at least before his second marriage in 1968), for another thing I omitted was that after his arrival in Nashville in 1964, he fell in with the notorious Faron Ray crew of hellraisers who hung out at Tootsie's - the likes of Willie Nelson (no need to add more as far as potheads but I will), Kris Kristofferson, Harlan Howard, Hank Cochran, Bobby Bare (who Tom T maintained a lifelong friendship), Roger Miller and Mickey Newbury. You can draw your own conclusion from this. But after he got married to Dixie Lawrence in 1968, it seems bluegrass became his grass of choice (or compulsion as his wife went on to become a legend of her own in bluegrass composing).

Though I posted the "censored" version due to slightly better sound quality, here's the original version of 'I Love' (with the slideshow lauding youtube). Though this was his best selling song that he actually performed himself, Hall had many better songs than this simple little ditty -

... As you mentioned Porter Wagoner a while back in the Dolly Parton biography, I thought I'd post this insane composition.

Yes, that was insane (an apt description). I included it as part of the Porter Wagoner history back on post # 432), and commented thus - "Unlike so many of our other big country stars, Wagoner wasn't known for drinking or pill popping,
but had several long periods when he did not record or tour, sometimes explaining that there was little good material available. The lyrics in at least two of his songs came from spending time in a Nashville mental hospital. One, 'Committed to Parkview' was written by Johnny Cash about a Nashville institution in which both men had stayed. This song is part of an album "The Rubber Room: The Haunting Poetic Songs of Porter Wagoner, 1966-1977". Wagoner's interpretation of a mental breakdown tops the unease chased by many of the prior decade’s proto-punks and garage rockers".

As you brought up Porter & Dolly, it's the perfect excuse to throw in this Tom T Hall written song they recorded as one of their duets. It was written for but turned down by Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. It was then picked up by Porter & Dolly for their second duet album and features some of Hall’s most thoughtful lyrics. Hall later wrote - “It was inspired by an old folk medicine tale: if you wash your face in the morning dew, it will help remove blemishes from your skin. I changed it around to mean that the morning dew would purify your soul.” Hall also recorded his own version for his debut album, "Ballad Of Forty Dollars", while Johnny Cash also beautifully covered the song for the Hall tribute album "Real: The Tom T. Hall Project" in 1998 -

 

[Professor Knowall]

In the early 1980s, Hall hosted the nationally syndicated TV series "Pop! Goes the Country", and in 1984 he scored his last Top 10 hit as an increasingly cynical America turned away from his homespun yarns and philosophy. Hall attributed his long musical dry spell to changing tastes among country music fans - but his creativity in songwriting also seemed to largely desert him. In response, Hall focused more intently on his successful prose writing career. Following the release
of the album "Song in a Seashell" in 1985, Hall took a 10 year sabbatical from recording. He returned in 1996 with the album "Songs from Sopchoppy", which included the Hall original “Little Bitty.” Alan Jackson spotted the song, recorded
it, and scored a #1 country single with it in late 1996, bringing Tom T Hall back to public attention for a time.

The reality is most people who don't take a deep dive into country music and its history probably remember Tom T. Hall (if they've heard of him at all) as a songwriter with one or two hits. As we've seen over the last few days, that's underselling him a lot, as Hall had 7 # 1 hits as a performer and many more top 10 hits. But if most people only know Tom T Hall as a songwriter for some big hits recorded by other artists, then that's kinda OK - he was, first and foremost, a songwriter, and one of the very best in country music history. So, having already seen the hits he performed, today will have a few of his songs recorded by other artists - in country music, if you haven't already noticed, covers by the right artists are often better regarded than the originals.

The first artist to have a big hit with a Tom T. Hall-penned track was Jimmy C. Newman with the song 'DJ For A Day' in 1963. With a throwback 1950's honky tonk sound and lines like “I’d play the saddest song you ever heard on your radio” and “I’d dedicate my love to you with every song I play,” it was pure country heartbreak that would have made Hank Williams proud. The song went all the way to #1 in the country charts and led to Hall moving to Nashville, with just
$46 in his pocket and his guitar on his back, in order to try and make it as a songwriter -



As mentioned 2 days back, the seemingly happy guy in Hall’s 1972 song 'Pamela Brown' is a ramblin’ man, just roamin’ around the world and having good times. Leo Kottle covered it in 1974. The way Kottke tells it, he sounds kinda glum thinking about Pamela Brown - it's clear that he regrets not marrying Pamela Brown. Kottke has picked up on the song's wistfulness, dropped the carefree air, and sounds sad about not marrying Pamela Brown, even jaded by his ramblin' lifestyle. Because the original sounds so happy and carefree, you could think the irony is Leo Kottke's idea, but I'm still thinking now that Tom T. Hall planted the ambiguity there from the start (as I mentioned 2 days back) and Kottke ran
with it.

But apart from all that, probably the key to Kottle's success with this song is really down to his killer slide guitar skills - hence why I've chosen this live version, featuring a slide solo -



'I'm Not Ready Yet' was originally written by Hall for The Blue Boys in 1968, whose version peaked at # 58. The song
was covered by Tammy Wynette on her 1979 album, "Just Tammy", but it was most successfully covered by Tammy's
ex-husband' duet partner and country music's greatest vocalist, George Jones, who took 'I’m Not Ready Yet' to # 2 in 1980 after recording the song on his legendary album "I Am What I Am". Another reality? If George Jones recorded a song, it was the definitive version - George was the greatest vocalist in country music history. George takes 'I’m Not Ready Yet' to an entirely different level thanks to his ability to get every last drop of barroom desperation and loneliness out of the lyrics. After George sings it, this also throws in Tammy Wynette's version as a bonus extra. But it all started with the storyteller -



Hall wasn’t really in the hit-making business in 1996; he’d retired from writing the sort of songs that you had hits with
10 years earlier. Out of nowhere, he returned with "Songs From Sopchoppy", a new album of overly produced originals named after his part-time Florida home. Tucked away towards the end of the album was ‘Little Bitty’, a song he’d written on holiday while out walking in Australia. Alan Jackson heard it and cut it for his "Everything I Love" allbum, then taking the song all the way to # 1 in 1996 - thus making it the last Tom T Hall written # 1 hit -



My favourite Tom T Hall song, with it's elusive theme of love, desire, mystery (why is the person he is seeking in trouble?), desperation and doing whatever it takes, this song hooks me in from that magnificent opening line -
"If you love somebody enough / You'll follow wherever they go ..."
We've already seen Bobby Bares version that went to # 3 in 1968 on post # 465, then Hall's own version a few posts back # 612. Since then, it's become a country standard, recorded by too many artists to mention them all, but this version by Deryl Dodd for his debut album "One Ride in Vegas" took the song back to the top 40 in both the U.S. and Canada in 1996, staying in the charts for 20 weeks -


More recent covers of 'That's How I Got To Memphis' worth checking out include indie-rock musician, Karl Blau, in 2016, and Texan traditional country and blues performer, Charley Crockett, with his idiosyncratic vocals (I've mentioned him a few times over the past 18 moths), with his 2019 video for the song featuring the legendary Texan honky tonk troubadour, Ken Hand (RIP).

In later decades, Hall and his wife and collaborator, Miss Dixie, whom he had met at the BMI Country Awards in 1964, focused on bluegrass music, advancing the careers of fledgling and established musicians and creating bluegrass music themselves. Operating from their farm outside Nashville, they ran music publishing companies and a state-of-the-art studio. Together, they won the Bluegrass Songwriter of the Year awards for a dozen years between 2002 and 2015. In 2004 he received the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Distinguished Achievement Award with his wife and collaborator of 50 years, Dixie. They were inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2018

After joining the Grand Ole Opry back in 1971, Hall was inducted into the Country Music HoF in 2008, and in 2012 was presented with the BMI Icon award for songwriters who have had a “unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers". Hall was finally (controversially long overdue) inducted into the Songwriters HoF in 2019 (some dirty politics evidently instigated by an antagonistic Bob Dylan had resisted his entry for years). Upon his induction, Hall reflected - “I was listening to the radio one day, and somebody said, ‘That sounds like a Tom T. Hall song', I said,
'I must be doing something a little different than everybody else because now there’s such a thing as a Tom T. Hall
song, and I’m going to buy into that."

Tom T's wife of 50 years and herself a bluegrass legend, Miss Dixie, died in 2015. Hall held out for another 6 years until he passed away Less than 4 months ago on 20/8/21. Amongst a mass of tributes from across the music spectrum, Long time admirer, Jason Isbell tweeted - “Felt like Tom T. just caught the songs as they floated by, but I know he carved them out of rock.”

And with that ... I'm back on the road again for a few more days - I might be back (briefly) before Christmas.

 

[stax on the mull]

My favourite Tom T Hall song, with it's elusive theme of love, desire, mystery (why is the person he is seeking in trouble?), desperation and doing whatever it takes, this song hooks me in from that magnificent opening line -
"If you love somebody enough / You'll follow wherever they go ..."
We've already seen Bobby Bares version that went to # 3 in 1968 on post # 465, then Hall's own version a few posts back # 612. Since then, it's become a country standard, recorded by too many artists to mention them all, but this version by Deryl Dodd for his debut album "One Ride in Vegas" took the song back to the top 40 in both the U.S. and Canada in 1996, staying in the charts for 20 weeks -


More recent covers of 'That's How I Got To Memphis' worth checking out include indie-rock musician, Karl Blau, in 2016, and Texan traditional country and blues performer, Charley Crockett, with his idiosyncratic vocals (I've mentioned him a few times over the past 18 moths), with his 2019 video for the song featuring the legendary Texan honky tonk troubadour, Ken Hand (RIP).

The soul singer Solomon Burke does a decent version of this song both live and studio versions. Not sure if will appeal to country purists, but there's a lot of crossover with country and southern funk and soul music.

 

[Professor Knowall]

The soul singer Solomon Burke does a decent version of this song both live and studio versions. Not sure if will appeal to country purists, but there's a lot of crossover with country and southern funk and soul music.

Absolutely (and one can add the blues into that southern mixture) - hence why I included Ray Charles in the history (posts # 443-445). As you said, plenty of "purists" mightn't appreciate it, but I've given plenty of likes to a lot of the old soul and funk stuff mostly posted by Bushwood in the "What Are You Listening To Now" thread (though I tend to draw the line when he strays into urban hip-hop!).

I always recommend to anyone travelling to Memphis that in addition to Graceland, Sun Studio and (after dark) the
Beale St bars, to take in the quality live blues and soul bands, one should also visit the old Stax Studios, which has a
top class museum on the history of soul music, showing it's southern roots.

Now I won't have time to do any more history for this year as I'll be on the road again from Sunday - at this stage
I should return early in the new year I think. So, in lieu of a history post, and at the risk of over-exposing this song, here's the Charley Crockett version from 2019 I mentioned, with his idiosyncratic lispy vocals. An attraction for me
here is the video featuring the hard bitten Texan honky tonk legend, James "Slim" Hands, who for 50 years plied his
trade as a country music journeyman, going from town to town performing at the good - and even more so the bad
and seedy - Texan honky tonks until he became famous throughout the state for doing just that. He died in the place
he was born - Waco in the middle of Texas - in 2020, just a year after this video was made. I feel like going to a seedy
bar right now -

 

[CliffMcTainshaw]

Carly Pearce.



Some emotion in her singing on this tribute.

 

[Professor Knowall]

Carly Pearce.



Some emotion in her singing on this tribute.

That Loretta tribute song Carly debuted at the Opry (it's very unusual to debut a song their) really seems to have been the making of Carly Pearce's career. First, she received this public twitter response from Loretta Lynn - “Wow! Carly Pearce this song means the world to me and you sang it on my favorite stage in the world – Opry . I loved it and I
love you! Maybe one of these days we can sing one together!”.

Then her album "29: Cast in Stone", where she cast aside her previous derivative and immature pop-country fluff
for an authentic adult country sound with heartfelt lyrics to match finally really broke through - so much so, she was inducted as a member of the Grand Ole Opry in August, after receiving her invitation in person from Dolly Parton the previous month. At her induction, she chose to again sing her Loretta Lynn tribute on the Opry stage.

 

[Professor Knowall]

After a very busy bush Christmas and New Year break (I hope y'all had a good one), I'm back in the city - for now - ready to resume the country music history. I had intended to finish the year with today's featured artist, but I had to hightail it back on the road again a bit earlier than expected. The main reason I wanted to e d the year with this artist is because
he ticked off just about every country musician clique, starting with his impoverished southern rural background, his war service, his many years of touring and performing and the various genres he covered before he finally, after 2 decades
of trying, really hit the big time in his mid-forties.

Born Fred Segrest, 21 in rural Alabama in 1926, one of 10 boys and 5 girls born to a family of dirtpoor sharecroppers
(if you've followed this history for a while, you would know sharecroppers as the most impoverished of the poor). The
only outlet from hard work, hunger and general misery for the over large family was music. Fred first learned to play a homemade guitar at age 5 after listening to the Grand Ole Opry with his family on the family pedal powered radio. His difficult, hardworking and hungry depression era childhood led to him running away from home at 7, and at 12 he was sent to a government employment scheme (housed in communal workers barracks and paid in food stamps). In 1942, at just 15, he lied about his age (his parents signed the papers) and joined the marines for WW2. At age 16, he saw action at both Guam and the fierce, bloody battle of Iwo Jima. He also made his first public appearances singing at officers clubs.

After his discharge, he worked as a labourer in Texas and New York. Having earned black belts in jujitsu and judo, he then taught self-defence to the LAPD. Intent on making a career in country music, he moved to Nashville in 1948 and in 1949, met and befriended the immortal Hank Williams, who taught him something about songwriting. He then caught the ear of the other great country legend of that era, Lefty Frizzell and ended up touring as Lefty's opening act from 1950 to 1953, when he left to join the cast of the L.A. country music TV show “Town Hall Party". It was through Lefty that Freddie Hart (as he now called himself) got his first recording contract with Capitol Records in 1953.

Hart's first singles, released in 1953 and 1954, weren't successful but he got a career break when established country
star Carl Smith covered his song 'Loose Talk' in 1955 (see post # 233 for Smith's big # 1 selling cover). This led to Hart's career success as a songwriter for a number of country stars including Patsy Cline ('Lovin' In Vain'), George Jones ('My Tears are Overdue') and Porter Wagoner ('Skid Row Joe'). However, his win orignal versions didn't catch on with the public. Here is Hart's original of 'Loose Talk'. It's a well written song - if only Hart (or his producer) had slowed the
manic tempo a little and brought out the melody more (he clearly had the vocal ability), he might've had his first hit, instead of Carl Smiths' superior cover -



Most who know Freddie Hart (if they know of him at all) through his lush, louche, steamy, soft-core countrypolitan hits
of the early 1970s (as we shall see in a couple of days). But Hart spent decades slogging through the lower charts before he got a shot at the gold (hence why he is only making an appearance now in this history, despite starting his recording career way backin 1953). But there was a time when Hart was a full-on honky tonk and rockabilly singer, with rough edges and an even rougher life of pills and alcohol. This stage of his career was all but forgotten, even by hard-core country fans until the 2004 album "Juke Joint Boogie", a revelation showcasing a great collection of Hart's early work
of rollicking honky tonk and rockabilly, such as the rockabilly 'Dig Boy Dig' from 1956 -



Given that Hart was already aged 30 when 'Dig Boy Dig' was released, aimed squarely at the teen market, it's no surprise Hart couldn't compete against the likes of Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis. Even so, the 2004 album "Juke Joint Boogie" was a revelation to those, like me, who delve into country music history. Here's a 1956 honky tonker - and I can't help but wonder if the lyrics served as an inspiration for Don Gibson's 1959 hit 'Don't Tell Me Your Troubles' (post # 401) -



In 1958, Hart signed with Columbia Records and finally, with a sound catching the great ballad era that had supplanted the early rock'n'roll "invasion" in the late fifties, scored his first chart hit with 'The Wall' in 1959, his first Top 40 hit, peaking at # 24 - and was later covered by Johnny Cash for his "Folsom Prison" album, but I rate Hart's original as
still the best version, and deserved better than what it charted -



Sticking with the time honoured country theme of prison songs provided Hart with another 1959 hit with 'Chain Gang'. This time, it wasn't an original Hart composition but he still covered new ground by his country rendition of Sam Cookes big Soul hit. Chain gangs were a common sight back then along the southern and western states highways - and though no longer chained, prison road labouring gangs - with their heavily armed guards - can still be sometimes sighted to this day. This was Hart's first top 20 hit, reaching # 17 -



So that sees out Freddie Hart's career in the 1950's - where he's already shown his versalitily in different country music styles, though he had more sucess as a songwriter for other stars than in his own singing career. Tomorrow will follow his career through the 1960's.

 

[Professor Knowall]

Through the 1960's, having married in 1957 and settled down from his earlier wild ways, Freddie Hart made a comfortable living out of his recent riding and touring, basing himself in L.A., but most of all, from writing hit songs for Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Buck Owens, George Jones, Porter Wagoner, Waylon Jennings and many others. But for all his songwriting sucess and his singing talent and experience, major success always seemed just around the corner - and the next corner ... then the next.

Hart's started the decade with another top 20 hit 'The Key's In The Mailbox', reaching # 18. Featuring a stellar lineup
of musicians with Jimmy Day on steel, Tommy Jackson on fiddle, and Darrell McCall (not Buck Owens as many seem to assume) singing harmony on this one, giving it a real Bakersfield like sound - so much so that Buck Owens covered the song for a 1961 album, but here is Hart's 1960 original, and IMO the best version -



Having deserved but ultimately failing to become a top selling star with Columbia, Hart moved to Monument Records in 1963, recording some forgettable anaemic pop-country singles, which deservedly failed to chart at all, followed by a move to Kapp Records in 1965, where he recorded some better material, but found only modest hits like 'Hank Williams’ Guitar' which reached # 23 in 1965). The single was Hart's underrated tribute to not only the greatest country artist of all time, but also his former friend and song-writing mentor when Hart first started his professional career. Those familiar with Hank's music will instantly recognise the distinctive sound Hart recreated and the "Luke The Drifter" like narrative monologue in the song. Of the many tribute songs to the great Hank Williams over the decades, this still remains
one of the very best -



Hart had more minor hits in 1968 with 'Togetherness' at # 24 and 'Born A Fool' reaching # 21, but I find these two offerings much too treacly sweet for my taste and not worth posting (though in this period, Porter Wagoner scored a
#3 hit with Hart’s 'Skid Row Joe' - see post # 431). But what I did like from his 1968 "Togetherness" album was a great version of a Hank Williams classic (he had so many) 'Someday You'll Call My Name' - slowed down with a touch of the Nashville sound and a different steel arrangement with piano and backup singers -


Willie Nelson also did a wonderful cover of this.

'I Lost All My Tomorrows', released in 1969, when honky tonk songs were out of fashion, has all the elements that most people associate with a good honky tonk song - a bloke admitting to being a fool, sitting on a barstool, broke and bereft of all hope and half (or fully) drunk, investing his last coin in a jukebox to play another "she done me wrong" song. For what it is, it's one of the better of the honky tonk genre I like -



I'll finish Hart's 1960's era with another minor hit, 'If Fingerprints Showed Up On Skin' which just missed the top 40
(# 41) in 1970. The Nashville Sound is laid on here, foreshadowing what was soon to come in the seventies. The song itself, all about suspicion, jealousy and anger, does raise an intruiging point - what if finger prints really did show up on skin? Imagine the extra mayhem? Probably a good thing they don't -



Hoping for bigger and better things, Hart had re-signed with Capitol in 1969, where the first 3 singles issued showed some promise, leading Capitol to issue an album titled "New Sounds". This was quickly followed by "California Grapevine", with the title track being issued as the first single off the album. Unfortunately, 'California Grapevine', which had good components of bluesy country rock elements and baroom lyrics just didn't stich well together as a whole and stiffed
as a single, reaching only # 68, far worse than his 3 previous Capital singles and worse than the singles on Kapp had performed. Consequently, Capitol dropped Freddie Hart from the label. At age 45 and after almost 20 years of trying for major success, Hart's recording career appeared at an end (and for me, his best work was already behind him). Little did he, or anyone else, realise what an incredible quirk of fate awaited him (and 50 years later got him into this history series). But all that comes tomorrow.

 

[PatsFitztrick]

Through the 1960's, having married in 1957 and settled down from his earlier wild ways, Freddie Hart made a comfortable living out of his recent riding and touring, basing himself in L.A., but most of all, from writing hit songs for Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Buck Owens, George Jones, Porter Wagoner, Waylon Jennings and many others. But for all his songwriting sucess and his singing talent and experience, major success always seemed just around the corner - and the next corner ... then the next.

Hart's started the decade with another top 20 hit 'The Key's In The Mailbox', reaching # 18. Featuring a stellar lineup
of musicians with Jimmy Day on steel, Tommy Jackson on fiddle, and Darrell McCall (not Buck Owens as many seem to assume) singing harmony on this one, giving it a real Bakersfield like sound - so much so that Buck Owens covered the song for a 1961 album, but here is Hart's 1960 original, and IMO the best version -



Having deserved but ultimately failing to become a top selling star with Columbia, Hart moved to Monument Records in 1963, recording some forgettable anaemic pop-country singles, which deservedly failed to chart at all, followed by a move to Kapp Records in 1965, where he recorded some better material, but found only modest hits like 'Hank Williams’ Guitar' which reached # 23 in 1965). The single was Hart's underrated tribute to not only the greatest country artist of all time, but also his former friend and song-writing mentor when Hart first started his professional career. Those familiar with Hank's music will instantly recognise the distinctive sound Hart recreated and the "Luke The Drifter" like narrative monologue in the song. Of the many tribute songs to the great Hank Williams over the decades, this still remains
one of the very best -



Hart had more minor hits in 1968 with 'Togetherness' at # 24 and 'Born A Fool' reaching # 21, but I find these two offerings much too treacly sweet for my taste and not worth posting (though in this period, Porter Wagoner scored a
#3 hit with Hart’s 'Skid Row Joe' - see post # 431). But what I did like from his 1968 "Togetherness" album was a great version of a Hank Williams classic (he had so many) 'Someday You'll Call My Name' - slowed down with a touch of the Nashville sound and a different steel arrangement with piano and backup singers -



'I Lost All My Tomorrows', released in 1969, when honky tonk songs were out of fashion, has all the elements that most people associate with a good honky tonk song - a bloke admitting to being a fool, sitting on a barstool, broke and bereft of all hope and half (or fully) drunk, investing his last coin in a jukebox to play another "she done me wrong" song. For what it is, it's one of the better of the honky tonk genre I like -



I'll finish Hart's 1960's era with another minor hit, 'If Fingerprints Showed Up On Skin' which just missed the top 40
(# 41) in 1970. The Nashville Sound is laid on here, foreshadowing what was soon to come in the seventies. The song itself, all about suspicion, jealousy and anger, does raise an intruiging point - what if finger prints really did show up on skin? Imagine the extra mayhem? Probably a good thing they don't -



Hoping for bigger and better things, Hart had re-signed with Capitol in 1969, where the first 3 singles issued showed some promise, leading Capitol to issue an album titled "New Sounds". This was quickly followed by "California Grapevine", with the title track being issued as the first single off the album. Unfortunately, 'California Grapevine', which had good components of bluesy country rock elements and baroom lyrics just didn't stich well together as a whole and stiffed
as a single, reaching only # 68, far worse than his 3 previous Capital singles and worse than the singles on Kapp had performed. Consequently, Capitol dropped Freddie Hart from the label. At age 45 and after almost 20 years of trying for major success, Hart's recording career appeared at an end (and for me, his best work was already behind him). Little did he, or anyone else, realise what an incredible quirk of fate awaited him (and 50 years later got him into this history series). But all that comes tomorrow.

Love your work, Prof. Thanks for continuing my education, and expanding my musical boundaries.

 

[Professor Knowall]

We left off yesterday in 1971 with Hart having just lost his record contract. At this stage of his career, most music fans, even casual country music fans, most likely wouldn't have heard of him, while the more dedicated, hard-core country music followers would have seen him more as a music journeyman who had chalked up a few minor hits in varying styles over a long career, hadn't written some hit songs for some star performers, but whose own career seemed washed-up as he entered his mid forties after 2 decades in the industry. So how didn't he get to feature in this history?

During the months after Freddie Hart was dropped from Capitol in 1971, a dj in Atlanta started playing an otherwise obscure track, buried on side 2 of the "California Grapevine" album, which he found interesting, with a laid back sound
not previously heard. Then his listeners started ringing in, demanding even more airplay, while the album, already written off as a dud, suddenly sold out in Atlanta. Soon, other dj's followed suit and before long the song was receiving massive airplay in some areas. The song contained the rather risqué phrase (for the time) "so sexy looking" in its lyrics. Capitol, caught out completely by surprise by the unexpected demand for Hart's song, hastily re-inked Him to the label and issued the former obscure album track 'Easy Loving' as a single - it eventually reached # 1 when enough were finally pressed and distributed, and it even crossed over to become a pop hit.

While encompassing the "countrypolitan" style of Nashville Sound, made popular by Conway Twitty (see posts # 514-520) and aimed squarely at the suburban adult market that had opened up by the then total dominance of youth oriented rock on the pop charts, Hart's relaxed, laid back sound in this particular song was new. It's totally unexpected popularity influenced a whole raft of musicians in differing genres such as the Eagles ('Peaceful, Easy Feeling') and Jimmy Buffet developing his laid back island style. Here we have a live version, in which Hart's loud rhinestone studded outfit almost clashes with the soft, laid back tribute to one's partner, which to me seems to capture that really nice moment of time
just after a really good session (and this time I don't mean drinking). I also like the way he acknowledges and allows his backing band ( one of the best in the business at that time) their moment in the spotlight -


The runaway success of 'Easy Loving' finally made Freddie Hart, after 20 years of performing, a genuine major star. The song achieved the very rare honor of winning the CMA for best song 2 years in a row, in 1971 and 1972. (The only other songs ever to accomplish that were 'Always on My Mind' and 'He Stopped Loving Her Today'). Those were part of a slew
of awards that Hart won or was nominated for during his early ‘70s commercial peak, including 6 CMA nominations over
2 years and winning the best male vocal Grammy in 1972.

In the 1970s, the smooth Nashville Sound had evolved into something even smoother. Labelled “Countrypolitan”, record producers hoped it would help their artists cross over to the lucrative pop market that by 1970 had morphed into a youth dominated rock music only market, leaving a gap that Nashville could fill. It was Music Row’s answer to the counterculture revolution that was still raging in the rest of the U.S. The idea was if country music could no longer capture the youth audience with older sounds, then they could appeal to the “silent majority” that had been largely abandoned by the now rock (and hence youth) dominated pop charts (these decisions, just like today, were determined by NYC music execs of the major recording companies, and resulted in a generation of youth that was largely exposed only to rock music and not much else). "Countrypolitan" was typified by a big production crafted for a more refined, adult ear - not to be wasted on the young, who in the seventies suffered from the musical tripe served up to them on the mainstream pop charts.

Short story here - Freddie Hart, after 20 years in the business and having recorded in just about every country sub-genre (hard core honky tonk, rockabilly, Nashville Sound, country pop, country rock, bluegrass), finally, in his mid forties, found himself at the perfect age to Cash in on the new "countrypolitan sound" - and cash in he did with a series of # 1 hits and many other top 20 hits over the following few years.

I won't inflict you here with all his big early 1970 hits - there is a formulaic sameness about them - but instead look
at just a few of his better ones. Just know, for the purposes of this history, that Hart, after 20 years of being a music journeyman, best known for writing hit songs for others, was now suddenly one of the biggest names on the country music scene, and his music from this era is now what he is best remembered for. 'My Hang-Up Is You' was Hart's 2nd
# 1 and was another big hit, spending 6 weeks at # 1 and 18 weeks on the charts in 1972. It's perhaps fortunate the song title wasn't taken from the repeating opening lines of the chorus - " Everybodys' Got one ..." -



Hart's 4th # 1, 1972's 'Got The All Overs' spent 16 weeks on the charts. If you haven't already noticed, Hart's countrypolitan songs of this era were basically about sex - but not in a teenage or youthful twenties sort of way
where sex is often just the be all and end all. No - this is another example of country music for an older, more worldly
and mature market who have experienced a thing or two about life. These song are about showing appreciation to a partner - perhaps a life partner. It's about sex but they reach beyond that to a genuine love. These type of songs may
be wasted on the young but I've aged enough now to listen and appreciate them -


It appears whoever posted that song on YouTube also had a thing about a certain Bollywood actress.

I did say above that there is a formulaic sameness about Hart's 1970's countrypolitan songs, which you may agree
with by the time you get to this one. Actually, there was one part of that formula that Hart later openly revealed - and
he nailed it perfectly, saying he targeted his goal toward "writing something that every man would like to say, and that every woman would like to hear". 'Trip To Heaven', his 6th # 1 hit, from 1973, is another example of just well he did
that with his countrypolitan hits of the early 1970's - there's another half dozen songs I could've posted like this -



Since Hart was already nearly 45 years old by the time he hit it big, he figured to have a relatively short shelf life at the top. He had 5 more # 1 hits after his breakthrough with 'Easy Loving' - all of them in the years 1971-73. His last top 10 hit was in 1977, although he continued to have decent sized hits throughout the late 1970s, and charted well into the 1980s. His last top 20 hit occurred with 'Sure Thing' in 1980, but he continued to chart more top 40 hits until his last in 1987 - and his last was far from the least. In fact I thought it better than a lot of his better charting seventies and early eighties material, with a relatable song about a past love one wanted - but never got to have (relatable because, lets be honest - surely we all have at least one - or more - that we regret we never could have). It's a cheating song that doesn't just condemn - it understands. The best country songs speak of our hidden truths -



After 1987, Hart increasingly went over to yet another country genre - Gospel, recording several albums. He also increasingly toured, both overseas and on the "nostalgic" circuit. Hart was inducted into the Songwriters HoF in 2004,
not just for his own hits but for the hit songs he wrote recorded by Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Buck Owens, George Jones, Waylon Jennings, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Porter Wagoner, Eddy Arnold, Carl Smith, Charlie Rich, Billy Walker, the Louvin Brothers and many others. When it comes to his own career, though, he remains associated primarily with 'Easy Loving', which was so much Hart’s signature song that his latter-day promotional materials referred to him as “Mr. Easy Lovin’.”

Outside of music, Hart, like some others artists from a background of extreme poverty, proved shrewd in business, owning a succcessful music publishing company, a trucking company and operated a school for children with disabilities. He also opened a chain of martial arts studios, reflecting his passion as a black belt who taught karate and judo to budding LAPD cadets after WW2.

In 2018, Hart recorded a gospel album produced by David Frizzell, the brother of Lefty Frizzell, the country legend who gave Hart his first break back in the early 1950's. Hart had been set to go in and work on overdubs for the project before falling ill and passing away in October 2018 in Burbank, California at age 91, survived by his wife of 61 years and 4 sons. His final album was released posthumously a month after his death. Over his long career, Hart performed pretty much every style of country music there was, but he is best remembered for his phenomenal run of sweet and sexy countrypolitan hits in the early and mid-'70s and most of all for his greatest hit, 'Easy Loving'. He will also be
the last WW2 vet to appear in this history series.