Songwriter Hugh Prestwood Passes

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Hugh Prestwood

Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Hugh Prestwood died on Sunday (Sept. 22) at age 82 following a stroke.

Prestwood wrote such iconic country hits as “The Song Remembers When” and “Ghost in This House.” His “Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart” was BMI’s Country Song of the Year in 1991.

He was born and raised in El Paso. Hugh Loring Prestwood began playing guitar at age 12. After graduating from the University of Texas with an English degree, he taught grade school while performing cover songs three nights a week in a lounge band.

When he was 30, Prestwood decided to move to New York to pursue a career in music. He worked at Macy’s department store and as a secretarial temp during his first five years in Manhattan. In 1977, Jackie DeShannon recorded his song “Dorothy.” Folk star Judy Collins discovered his songwriting, took his “Hard Times for Lovers” onto the AC charts in 1979 and helped him get his first song-publishing contract.

Prestwood’s first major Nashville success was “The Sound of Goodbye.” The song became a smash for Crystal Gayle in 1983, topping the country chart, becoming a top 10 AC hit and earning a Grammy nomination. Rather than moving to Nashville, Prestwood relocated from Manhattan to Long Island that year. Prestwood always thought that living far away from Music Row gave him a “mystique.” In 1983, he also began a 20-year tenure teaching advanced songwriting at The New School in New York.

Meanwhile, in Nashville, Holly Dunn, Judy Rodman and others were recording his tunes. In 1987, he scored his second No. 1 country hit, Michael Johnson’s recording of “The Moon Is Still Over Her Shoulder.” Johnson followed it with his hit single of Prestwood’s “That’s That” in 1988.

Hugh Prestwood wrote solo and was not a prolific composer—he often worked on a song for months or even a year before he thought it was finished to his satisfaction. But in rapid succession, he wrote both “Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart” and “Ghost in This House.” The former topped the country chart for Randy Travis in 1990, which led to its big BMI award. “Ghost in This House” became a major 1990 country hit for Shenandoah. This song was re-popularized by Alison Krauss in 1999, then became a top 20 country hit for TV’s The Voice finalist Lauren Duski in 2017.

The songwriter’s third big hit of 1990 was Anne Murray’s version of his rhythmic “Feed This Fire.” The following year, Highway 101 scored with Prestwood’s “Bing Bang Boom,” and Kathy Mattea was successful with “Asking Us to Dance.” In 1993, Trisha Yearwood recorded Prestwood’s “The Song Remembers When.” It became an enduring songwriters’ anthem and was named the NSAI Song of the Year.

During the next few years, his songs became singles for Vern Gosdin, Suzy Bogguss, Bobbie Cryner, Stephanie Bentley and Ty England. Then Colin Raye returned Prestwood to the top of the charts with his hit recording of “On the Verge” in 1997.

Prestwood’s songs were also recorded by Conway Twitty, The Judds, Shelby Lynne, John Conlee, Jimmy Buffett, Jerry Douglas, James Taylor, Baillie & The Boys, Jerry Jeff Walker, Gene Watson, Barbara Mandrell, Sammy Kershaw, Lee Greenwood, Don Williams and Tanya Tucker.

Hugh Prestwood was also a recording artist, himself. His albums were Ghost in This House (1990), Fate of Fireflies (2005), All the Way On (2007) and I Used to Be the Real Me (2016). In 2006, he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

In 2020, the English recording artist Rumer released Nashville Tears – The Songs of Hugh Prestwood. All 15 of the album’s tracks were written by Prestwood. In 2022 the songwriter moved from Long Island to Lincoln, Nebraska, where his wife’s family lives. This is where he died.

Hugh Prestwood is survived by his wife, the photographer Judy Ahrens. He is also survived by son Bryan Prestwood, daughter Jennifer Bustillos and four grandchildren, as well as several nieces and nephews, A Celebration of Life is planned in the future. In lieu of flowers please consider a donation towards medical expenses. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Please Venmo to: @Judy-Ahrens-5

Robert K Oermann
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