“The Stories Behind the Songs”
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“The Stories Behind The Songs” John Henderson The Stories Behind The Songs A compilation of “inside stories” behind classic country hits and the artists associated with them John Debbie & John By John Henderson (Arrangement by Debbie Henderson) A fascinating and entertaining look at the life and recording efforts of some of country music’s most talented singers and songwriters 1 Author’s Note My background in country music started before I even reached grade school. I was four years old when my uncle, Jack Henderson, the program director of 50,000 watt KCUL-AM in Fort Worth/Dallas, came to visit my family in 1959. He brought me around one hundred and fifty 45 RPM records from his station (duplicate copies that they no longer needed) and a small record player that played only 45s (not albums). I played those records day and night, completely wore them out. From that point, I wanted to be a disc jockey. But instead of going for the usual “comedic” approach most DJs took, I tried to be more informative by dropping in tidbits of a song’s background, something that always fascinated me. Originally with my “Classic Country Music Stories” site on Facebook (which is still going strong), and now with this book, I can tell the whole story, something that time restraints on radio wouldn’t allow. I began deejaying as a career at the age of sixteen in 1971, most notably at Nashville’s WENO-AM and WKDA- AM, Lakeland, Florida’s WPCV-FM (past winner of the “Radio Station of the Year” award from the Country Music Association), and Springfield, Missouri’s KTTS AM & FM and KWTO-AM, but with syndication and automation which overwhelmed radio some twenty-five years ago, my final DJ position ended in 1992. Since November of 1995, I’ve been a studio engineer at Meyer Communications, a group of radio stations in Springfield, Missouri. This continues my association with KWTO as it is now owned by that company. My parents actually met at KWTO in 1944 (Dad was hired away from KRLD in Dallas, while my mother was already working at the station as part of Aunt Martha Haworth’s “KWTO Belles” group). It was love at first sight and after a whirlwind courtship and marriage, they left KWTO and moved on to Nashville’s WLAC-AM to begin their duet act. My boss Ken Meyer, owner of Meyer Communications, gets a kick out of telling people that I got my “start” at KWTO, (a term most often used to describe an announcer’s first radio job). In Nashville, my parents adapted their stage name of “Ted and Wanda,” and achieved some regional success throughout the south via WLAC’s 50,000 watt signal. After only a few years, however, Dad grew disenchanted with the music business. They retired from the industry in 1951 and moved back to Southwest Missouri where my mother was raised. I was born in 1955. Dad’s older sister Dot, along with her husband Smokey, appeared for several years on the Grand Ole Opry and toured with Ernest Tubb’s entourage in the late 1940s, performing with Tubb at New York City’s Carnegie Hall in 1947 at the first of two famous country music concerts held there. Her daughter Dottie was married for a number of years to Hank Snow’s son, noted evangelist Jimmie Rodgers Snow, and is now married to songwriter Glenn Douglas Tubb, (Ernest Tubb’s nephew). Glenn’s most famous composition is Henson Cargill’s 1968 classic “Skip A Rope.” He also penned Johnny Cash’s “Home of the Blues” in 1958 and George Jones and Tammy Wynette’s last major hit “Two Story House” in 1980. Dad’s younger sister Irene Gibbs worked for Cash, serving as his personal secretary from 1973 through 1988. 2 I have always been fascinated with country music due to my family’s close relationships with those in the industry. The stories presented in this volume are for the entertainment of those who read them. My sources for these stories are numerous and I continue to edit them on a regular basis. I have attempted to provide a glimpse of unusual or remarkable events which make the stories interesting in their context of the recording industry. I am continually updating and researching the original stories as I interview people connected with them. Much has been written about the stars and their associates (writers, producers, musicians) who created the hits and I am hopeful that readers will be as enthused about reading these stories as I have been in presenting them here. – JH Dedication To my wife Debbie. Her inspiration and devotion nurtures my research and writing. Also to my late uncle Jack Henderson. Why he thought of his four-year-old nephew, I don’t know, but his gift of 150 duplicate 45 RPM records from his radio station in Fort Worth/Dallas in 1959 began my interest in the study of country music. 3 Contents VOLUME THREE: (alphabetized by artist) 1. THE TIP OF MY FINGERS – Bill Anderson (1960) 2. SWINGIN’ – John Anderson (1983) 3. ROSE GARDEN – Lynn Anderson (1970) 4. BOUQUET OF ROSES – Eddy Arnold (1948) 5. DETROIT CITY – Bobby Bare (1963) 6. THE DANCE – Garth Brooks (1990) 7. DON’T LET ME CROSS OVER – Carl & Pearl Butler (1963) 8. RHINESTONE COWBOY – Glen Campbell (1975) 9. SKIP A ROPE – Henson Cargill (1968) 10. CAN THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN – The Carter Family (1935) 11. ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL – Johnny Cash (1964) 12. SHE’S GOT YOU – Patsy Cline (1962) 13. ABOVE AND BEYOND – Rodney Crowell (1989) 14. 16th AVENUE – Lacy J. Dalton (1982) 15. SIX DAYS ON THE ROAD – Dave Dudley (1963) 16. BYE BYE LOVE – The Everly Brothers (1957) 17. BEFORE THE NEXT TEARDROP FALLS – Freddy Fender (1975) 18. SMOKE ON THE WATER – Red Foley (1944) 19. SIXTEEN TONS – Tennessee Ernie Ford (1955) 20. YOU’RE THE REASON GOD MADE OKLAHOMA – David Frizzell & Shelly West (1981) 21. THE LONG BLACK VEIL – Lefty Frizzell (1959) 22. SWEET DREAMS – Don Gibson (1956) 23. TRUE LOVE WAYS – Mickey Gilley (1981) 24. HONEY – Bobby Goldsboro (1968) 25. I CAN TELL BY THE WAY YOU DANCE (YOU’RE GONNA LOVE ME TONIGHT) – Vern Gosdin (1984) 26. ALL THE TIME / YOU ARE MY TREASURE – Jack Greene (1967-68) 27. DIXIE ROAD – Lee Greenwood (1985) 28. OKIE FROM MUSKOGEE – Merle Haggard (1969) 29. COUNTRY IS – Tom T. Hall (1974) 30. BEFORE THIS DAY ENDS – George Hamilton IV (1960) 31. EASY LOVING – Freddie Hart (1971) 32. HIGHWAYMAN – Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings & Kris Kristofferson (1985) 33. THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS – Johnny Horton (1959) 34. ALMOST PERSUADED – David Houston (1966) 35. WHERE WERE YOU (WHEN THE WORLD STOPPED TURNING) – Alan Jackson (2001) 36. THAT’S WHY I LOVE YOU LIKE I DO – Sonny James (1972) 37. AMANDA – Waylon Jennings (1979) 38. WHITE LIGHTNING – George Jones (1959) 39. NEAR YOU – George Jones & Tammy Wynette (1977) 40. WHY NOT ME – The Judds (1984) 41. WOLVERTON MOUNTAIN – Claude King (1962) 42. TENNESSEE WALTZ – Pee Wee King (1948) 43. LOOKIN’ FOR LOVE – Johnny Lee (1980) 44. COAL MINER’S DAUGHTER – Loretta Lynn (1970) 45. EIGHTEEN WHEELS AND A DOZEN ROSES – Kathy Mattea (1988) 46. CONVOY – C. W. McCall (1975) 47. SOMEBODY SHOULD LEAVE – Reba McEntire (1985) 48. CANDY KISSES – George Morgan (1949) 49. GEORGIA ON MY MIND – Willie Nelson (1978) 50. TOGETHER AGAIN – Buck Owens (1964) 51. I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU – Dolly Parton (1974 & 1982) 52. WAY DOWN – Elvis Presley (1977) 53. WHEN YOU’RE HOT, YOU’RE HOT – Jerry Reed (1971) 4 54. ROLLIN’ WITH THE FLOW – Charlie Rich (1977) 55. HARPER VALLEY P. T. A. – Jeannie C. Riley (1968) 56. DON’T TOUCH ME – Jeannie Seely (1966) 57. LIFE TURNED HER THAT WAY – Ricky Van Shelton (1988) 58. ONCE A DAY – Connie Smith (1964) 59. HELP ME MAKE IT THROUGH THE NIGHT – Sammi Smith (1971) 60. I DON’T HURT ANYMORE – Hank Snow (1954) 61. BLANKET ON THE GROUND – Billie Jo Spears (1975) 62. SHE’S ACTIN’ SINGLE (I’M DRINKIN’ DOUBLES) – Gary Stewart (1975) 63. MURDER ON MUSIC ROW – George Strait & Alan Jackson (2000) 64. NOBODY – Sylvia (1982) 65. FOREVER AND EVER, AMEN – Randy Travis (1987) 66. WALKING THE FLOOR OVER YOU – Ernest Tubb (1941) 67. LONG BLACK TRAIN – Josh Turner (2004) 68. GREEN, GREEN GRASS OF HOME – Porter Wagoner (1965) 69. PICK ME UP ON YOUR WAY DOWN – Charlie Walker (1958) 70. MAKING BELIEVE – Kitty Wells (1955) 71. GOOD OLE BOYS LIKE ME – Don Williams (1980) 72. I’M SO LONESOME I COULD CRY – Hank Williams (1949) 73. YOUR CHEATIN’ HEART – Hank Williams (1953) 74. SAN ANTONIO ROSE – Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys (1938) 75. HELLO WALLS – Faron Young (1961) BONUS FEATURES: “One Melody - Four Classics” I’M THINKING TONIGHT OF MY BLUE EYES – The Carter Family (1929) THE GREAT SPECKLED BIRD – Roy Acuff and His Crazy Tennesseans (1936) THE WILD SIDE OF LIFE – Hank Thompson and His Brazos Valley Boys (1952) IT WASN’T GOD WHO MADE HONKY TONK ANGELS – Kitty Wells (1952) “The Anthem of Rockabilly” BLUE SUEDE SHOES – Carl Perkins (1956) 5 The Story Behind The Song: “The Tip of My Fingers” (written by Bill Anderson) Bill Anderson (#7, 1960) Roy Clark (#10, 1963) Eddy Arnold (#3, 1966) Jean Shepard (#16, 1975) Steve Wariner (#3, 1992) By 1960, Bill Anderson had moved to Nashville and become an important player in the songwriting community. Living in a small apartment, the rent paid with royalty checks, he had set up a tiny table and a manual typewriter in the living room and tried to work on a regular schedule composing new material.