December 28, 2018

 

Remebering the Hillbilly Heaven inductees 2018

Daryle Singletary died on Feb. 12 at the age of 46. The causes of his tragically early death are still unknown, but since his passing, the country community has celebrated his life. From a tribute concert at the Ryman to a Nashville ‘90s Night in March that ended with Cole Swindell, LoCash, John Michael Montgomery and more covering Singletary’s “Too Much Fun,” country stars have taken to the stage and social media to honor the late singer.

After a battle with cancer, ‘90s country singer Lari White died on Jan. 23 at the age of 52. White’s career began when she won a recording contract through the televised talent competition You Can Be a Star. In addition to her hit singles “Now I Know” and “That’s My Baby,” White also wrote songs for Toby Keith, Lonestar, Travis Tritt and Pat Green.

Burt Reynolds died on Sept. 6 at a hospital in Florida after suffering a heart attack. He was 82. The actor had close ties to the country music scene; he starred with Reba McEntire in the 1993 made-for-TV movie The Man From Left Field, and with Jerry Reed in 1977's Smokey and the Bandit. Reynolds also released a country album, Ask Me What I Am, in the early '70s.

Rayburn Anthony’s career goes back to the Sun Sessions in Memphis. Rayburn grew up in the same town as WS Holland of The Tennessee Three fame. After cutting 14 songs for Sun Records, he moved to Nashville and had various releases on the Polydor and Mercury labels. As far as writing is concerned, he wrote hits for the likes of Vern Gosdin, Charley Pride and Jerry Lee Lewis. He wrote  “Caution To The Wind”, the B side to Sandy Posey’s hit “Born A Woman”. His popularity in Europe, especially Sweden sustained over many decades, due to his traditional and rockabilly style. Rayburn was one of the first American acts I ever interviewed. He was touring with Melba Montgomery on a Scottish tour for promoter Drew Taylor. That would’ve been 40 years now, and I’ve enjoyed his music ever since. I was sorry to hear of Rayburn’s passing on April 21st at the age of 80.

The Nashville songwriting community lost a few this year Kenny O’Dell, the songwriter behind the Judds’ “Mama’s He’s Crazy” and Charlie Rich’s No. 1 single “Behind Closed Doors,” died on March 28 at the age of 72. O’Dell also wrote songs for Tanya Tucker, Dottie West and Kenny Rogers, and was one of the longest-serving members of the board of directors for the Nashville Songwriters Association International.

Dolly Parton's brother, Floyd Parton, was 61 when he passed away on Dec. 6. Floyd Estel Parton was "a talented songwriter and composer," his obituary reports; in fact, his famous sister recorded two of his songs, the No. 1 "Rockin' Years" (a duet with Ricky Van Shelton) and "Nickels and Dimes."

More recently, songwriter Jerry Chesnut has died. A member of the Songwriters' Hall of Fame, the tunesmith died on Dec. 15, at the age of 87. In 1967, Del Reeves recorded Chesnut's "A Dime at a Time." One year later, Chesnut notched his first Grammy Awards nomination, when Jerry Lee Lewis' "Another Place, Another Time" -- a Top 10 country hit -- earned a nod. Also in 1968, Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner made Chesnut's "Holding on to Nothin'" a Top 10 hit. Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams Jr. and more recorded his songs. He'd earned another Grammy nomination with his song "A Good Year for the Roses," recorded by both George Jones (who made it a No. 2 song) and Elvis Costello.

Roy Clark died at his home in Tulsa, Okla., due to complications from pneumonia on Nov. 15 at the age of 85. The singer, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist was a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Grand Ole Opry, but he was perhaps best-known for his role on the TV country music variety series Hee Haw.

Nashville Songwriters Hall of Famer Freddie Hart died on Oct. 27 in Burbank, Calif. , after suffering complications from pneumonia. He was 91. Hart is best remembered for "Easy Loving," which earned Song of the Year at 1971's ACM Awards and CMA Awards. The song also earned Hart two Grammy nominations and was Billboard's No. 1 country single of the year 1971.

Other musician deaths this year included Brandon Jenkins, known for his Red Dirt style of country music, died on March 2 following complications from heart surgery in February. Jenkins released over a dozen albums during his career, and saw many of his songs, including “Feet Don’t Touch the Ground” and “Finger on the Trigger,” become hits on the Texas music charts.
The surviving members of Confederate Railroad shared on June 2 that one of their founding members, Wayne Secrest, had died following a long illness. He was 68.
Drummer DJ Fontana, who rose to fame as part of Elvis Presley's band and played for a number of other artists was 87 years old when he died on June 13.
Ed King, a guitarist in the groundbreaking Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, died at his home in Nashville, Tenn., on Aug. 22 at the age of 68. He had been battling lung cancer.
Longtime George Strait drummer Mike Kennedy died in a car accident in Tennessee on Aug. 31. He was 59 years old. Kennedy had played in Strait's Ace in the Hole Band since the early 1980s.

Ronnie Prophet is one of Country music’s all round entertainers. Originally from Quebec , Canada, Prophet made his mark on Nashville, with his own show on Printers Alley, and later in Branson, Missouri. He was a regular compere of the Wembley Country Music Festival, until he had a public spat with the tobacco firm sponsoring the event. He had a string of Country hits in vboth Canada & the USA, stretching back to 1973. Ronnie died March 2nd at age 80.

The Irish scene suffered several notable losses in 2018, including Brenda Mulgrew and Sandy Kelly’s sister Barbara Ellis, an artist in her own right. We also learned of the passing of Sandi Hearsh, the presenter of RTE Radio’s Country Time, but it’s the passing of Big Tom McBride which shook the Irish Country scene most. Big Tom passed away in April at the age of 81, after a musical career which stretched back 50 years. Tom’s wife, Rose passed away in January.

Here in Scotland, we learned of the passing of Ann Duff, who was married to Davie Duff from the band Colorado. The two met when Ann was a member in the Dynamos Showband. Anne contributed a song to the Dynamos “50 Years And More” CD released a couple of years ago. Ann was buried in Golspie on Thursday.
Yorkshire based Gary Perkins , one of the UK’s most popular Country performers passed away on 1oth December at the age of 56. Gary had performed with The Breeze since 1995.

Musician, songwriter, studio-owner and producer Randy Scruggs died on April 17, following a short battle with illness. He was 64. The son of Earl Scruggs, Randy Scruggs produced for and performed with artists including Waylon Jennings, Dolly Parton and Ricky Skaggs, and wrote for artists like Deana Carter.


Behind the music, there’s a business with people who put so much into what we actually hear.
Glenn Snoddy died on May 21 at the age of 96. He was known as the man behind “the Nashville sound,” the fuzzy, distorted guitar effect that he discovered in 1960 by accident. Using the sound made by a blown amp transformer as his inspiration, he invented the Maestro Fuzz-Tone, which was then acquired by Gibson and soon heard everywhere; if you listen to the Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction, you’re listening to a Fuzz-Tone. Snoddy also recorded classics like Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” and Hank Williams’ final quartet of hits (including “Your Cheatin’ Heart”).
BRIAN FERRIMAN was a pioneering Canadian record label owner and artist manager, who as well as managing Michelle Wright for 28 years, actively promoted Canadian Country music on the international stage.
Hazel Smith. Smith garnered acclaim after a long and varied career in country music, which included work as a journalist, songwriter and publicist. She is credited with coining the term "outlaw country" in the late 1970s while working in publicity, when faced with radio stations seeking a term to describe artists such as Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. She died at the age of 83 in her Madison, Tenn., home on March 18, 2018

Dave & Sugar singer Dave Rowland died on Nov. 1 in Nashville after suffering complications from a stroke. He was 74. He was best known as the lead singer for the country-pop trio, which scored a run of hit singles from 1975 until 1981 that included "The Door Is Always Open," "Tear Time," "Golden Tears" and "My World Begins and Ends With You."

Casey Anderson is the father of Lynn Anderson (Rose Garden). Lynn passed away in 2015.
He was one of the founder members of the Nashvillie Songwriters Association International, and amongst his biggest hits he wrote Merle Haggard’s first No.1 Hit “The Fugitive”. In 2001, he, and wife Liz, together with producer Mark Moseley released a western themed concept album called “The Sons Of The Guns”

Singer-songwriter Tony Joe White died at his home in Leiper's Fork, Tenn., of a heart attack on Oct. 24. He was 75. White released more than a dozen albums as an artist, and earned a Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hit with his song "Polk Salad Annie," but he was best known as a songwriter. "Polk Salad Annie" was covered by, among others, Elvis Presley, while "Rainy Night in Georgia" was made famous by rock / pop / R&B artist Brook Benton and "Steamy Windows" became a Top 40 single for Tina Turner.


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