Celebration Of Life Set For Former Opryland Exec. Ed Stone

Ed Stone

A celebration of life will be held for former Opryland USA VP of Marketing & PR, Ed Stone, who passed away on Feb. 11 at the age of 81. Stone’s life and legacy will be honored at the Country Music Hall of Fame Ford Theater on March 25 at 1 p.m.

Stone, a native of Greensboro, Georgia, enjoyed an accomplished career in the travel and tourism industry. After graduating from the University of Georgia’s Journalism and Mass Communication School, his career began at Callaway Gardens where he met his wife, Fran. Their family moved to Nashville with Opryland USA in 1974 where he became VP of Marketing and Public Relations for the park, hotel and the Grand Ole Opry.

In 1990, Stone started his own communications company with regional and national accounts. During his career, he served in leadership roles with Society of American Travel Writers (SATW), SATW Foundation, Travel Industry Association of America (TIAA), Southeast Tourism Society (STS), International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA), University of Georgia College of Mass Communications, and Sequoyah Birthplace Museum.

He was known for his love of golf, having played over 500 courses throughout the world.

Stone is the father of music industry executive Lori Badgett of City National Bank. He also leaves behind his wife of 53 years, Fran Grainger Stone, daughter Robyn Isaacs, and his four grandchildren: Stone and Dylan Isaacs, and Ellie and Anna Badgett. He is proceeded in death by his parents and five siblings.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Girls Give or Fairfield Glade United Methodist Church.

Publisher, Producer & Songwriter Blake Mevis Passes Away At 73

Producer and songwriter Blake Mevis passed away on Feb. 9 at the age of 73 following complications from COVID.

A native of Plymouth, Indiana, Mevis moved to Nashville in 1971 before landing a job with Loretta Lynn’s Coal Miner’s Music. He later worked for ABC and MCA Records and served as President of Pride Music Group, Charley Pride’s publishing company, during the 1980s.

Co-writers Blake Mevis (left) and Byron Hill (right) celebrate the 30th anniversary of George Strait’s “Fool Hearted Memory.” Photo: Courtesy of ASCAP

Mevis, who produced hit albums for George Strait and Keith Whitley, co-wrote Strait’s first No. 1 hit, “Fool Hearted Memory.” At one point in 1983, Mevis had four records in the Billboard country Top 20 that he had either written or produced. He was also responsible for pairing Strait with songwriter Dean Dillon who penned “Unwound,” which became Strait’s breakthrough hit.

Mevis’ other chart-topping songs include Pride’s 1983 “Night Games” and Joe Nichols’ “Brokenheartsville” in 2003. Mevis also had tracks recorded by the likes of Jim Ed Brown, Helen Cornelius, England Dan, John Ford Coley, Dave and Sugar, Charlie Rich, and Don Williams. He produced records for Pride, Vern Gosdin, The Kendalls, Clay Walker, and Moe Bandy and Joe Stampley.

Memorial arrangements have not yet been announced.

Hargus ‘Pig’ Robbins, Country Music Hall Of Fame Pianist, Dies At 84

Hargus “Pig” Robbins. Photo: John Russell/CMA

Hargus “Pig” Robbins, a renowned pianist and Country Music Hall of Fame member who contributed to many country, rock, folk and pop hits since the late 1950s, died on Sunday (Jan. 30). He was 84.

Hargus Melvin Robbins was born on Jan. 18, 1938 in Rhea County, Tennessee. A tragic knife accident caused him to lose his sight at the age of three. He went on to study classical piano at the Tennessee School for the Blind at age seven.

While at school, Robbins developed his own unique style, influenced by pop and jazz pianists Floyd Cramer, Owen Bradley, Marvin Hughes, Ray Charles, and Poppa John Gordy. He developed the nickname “Pig” because he used to sneak in the school through a fire escape and play when he wasn’t supposed to, getting himself as dirty as a pig.

Hargus “Pig” Robbins. Photo: Courtesy of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Robbins soon started playing in Nashville clubs and landed his first major studio gig in 1959, playing the lively piano on George Jones’ hit “White Lightning.” After that session, Robbins was steadily booked in the Nashville recording studios, finding himself among the Nashville A-Team of session players.

Robbins played on many iconic hits coming out of Nashville over the next few decades, including for Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Connie Smith, Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, Roger Miller, the Statler Brothers, and dozens of other country stars. Two memorable examples of Robbins’ playing can be heard on the intros of Charlie Rich’s “Behind Closed Doors” (1974) and Crystal Gayle’s “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue” (1977).

Robbins contributed to Bob Dylan’s 1966 album Blonde on Blonde, opening him up to more folk, pop and rock singers. He also appears on the liner notes for many of Dolly Parton’s albums, such as 1968’s Just Because I’m a Woman, 1971’s Coat of Many Colors, 1973’s My Tennessee Mountain Home, 1974’s Jolene, and more.

Robbins also recorded his own albums, including the Grammy-winning Country Instrumentalist of the Year (1977), Pig in a Poke (1978), and Unbreakable Hearts (1979). He garnered two CMA Awards throughout his career, winning CMA’s Instrumentalist of the Year in 1976 and in 2000. Robbins was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2012 alongside Garth Brooks and Connie Smith.

Following the announcement of his death, Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame, said “Like all successful session musicians, Pig Robbins was quick to adapt to any studio situation. He worked quickly, with perfection less a goal than a norm. And while he could shift styles on a dime to suit the singer and the song, his playing was always distinctive. Pig’s left hand on the piano joined with Bob Moore’s bass to create an unstoppable rhythmic force, while the fingers on his right hand flew like birds across the keys. The greatest musicians in Nashville turned to Pig for guidance and inspiration.”

Sarah Trahern, CEO of the Country Music Association, added “Hargus ‘Pig’ Robbins was a defining sound for so much of the historic music out of Nashville. His talent spoke for itself through his decades-spanning career and work as a session pianist with countless artists across genres. Our hearts go out to his friends and family during this difficult time.”

Former CMA Leader Janice Wendell Dies

Janice Wendell

Nashville entertainment executive Janice Wendell, a 15-year member of the Country Music Association board, has died at age 79.

Wendell worked in television, in advertising and in marketing. She became a prominent community volunteer and philanthropist. In 2011, she was honored with a SOURCE award as an exceptional female music-business contributor.

She was born Janice Walker in East Tennessee in 1942 and spent her childhood in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Her family moved to Nashville in 1957. After graduating as class president from Donelson High, she attended Nashville Business College.

She began her professional career in 1964 with Showbiz, marketing syndicated television series such as The Porter Wagoner Show, Gospel Jubilee and The Beat!!! In 1969, she co-founded the advertising agency Creative House, Inc. This became Eric Ericson & Associates.

Pictured (L-R): Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Kyle Young, Bud Wendell, the late Janice Wendell, the late Frances Preston, and UMPG’s Troy Tomlinson at the 2011 SOURCE Awards. Photo: Alan Mayor

She married Ericson, and they built the firm into the largest privately held advertising and marketing firm in the Southeast. Clients included Third National Bank (later SunTrust), Martha White Foods, Kentucky Fried Chicken, the State of Tennessee and National Life & Accident Insurance Company with its Opryland USA theme park.

Ericson created the Opry jingle “Come Hear American Singing” and helped to popularize “Music City USA” as Nashville’s brand name. The firm was the training ground for dozens of Nashville advertising and marketing professionals.

The couple divorced, and she phased out her involvement with the agency in the early 1980s. Through her work with National Life, she met its executive E.W. “Bud” Wendell, whom she married in 1984. After Ericson’s death in 1987, she returned as chair and CEO of their agency. She sold it and retired from her advertising career in 1992.

Throughout their marriage, the Wendells took part in many charitable, civic and philanthropic interests. Janice Wendell joined the Country Music Association board in 1982 and remained there until 1996. She also served on the boards of The Nashville Symphony, the Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation, The Tennessee Performing Arts Center, The Nashville Tourism Commission, Cheekwood, The Country Music Foundation and other worthy causes.

She was on the Symphony’s executive committee and chaired the Symphony Ball. She helped raise the funds that enabled the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum to move from Music Row to downtown Nashville.

Janice Wendell received awards from United Way, Savvy magazine, the Nashville Advertising Federation and Advantage magazine, as well as SOURCE.

She passed away peacefully on Jan. 13, surrounded by family and friends. Janice Wendell is survived by her husband, E.W. “Bud” Wendell and children Eric Ericson Jr., Lindy Reece, Beth Cosgrove, Danny Wendell and Andrew Wendell. She is also survived by three sisters, a brother and 11 grandchildren.

Services will be held at First Presbyterian Church on Wednesday, February 2 at 10 A.M. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, to Alive Hospice or to a charity of your choosing.

In observance of Wendell’s passing, CMA CEO Sarah Trahern commented: “I worked with Janice significantly in the mid to late 90s on TNN’s Evening of Country Greats television specials. Her passion and unwavering dedication to our artists, our industry and our history was displayed through everything she did, including her service on CMA’s Board of Directors. My heart goes out to Bud during this difficult time.”

Nashville Jazz Legend Beegie Adair Passes

Beegie Adair

Beegie Adair, a keystone of the Nashville jazz community, passed away on Sunday (Jan. 23) at age 84.

The pianist and vocalist was equally at home in a variety of musical settings. She recorded more than 35 albums, played on sessions for country and pop stars, composed ad jingles, headlined at Carnegie Hall and was a jazz educator.

Bobbe “Beegie” Long was raised in Cave City, Kentucky. After earning a music degree at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, she worked as a piano teacher. Migrating to Nashville, she landed a gig with the Hank Garland Quartet. She then spent a decade in the house band at WSMV-TV’s The Waking Crew and Afternoon Show.

This led to her becoming an in-demand session musician, playing on recordings or broadcasts by Dolly Parton, Chet Atkins, Vince Gill, Henry Mancini, Delbert McClinton, Dinah Shore, Ronnie Milsap, Ray Stevens, Boots Randolph, Peggy Lee, Hank Snow, Perry Como, Eddy Arnold, Jerry Reed J.J. Cale, Connie Francis, Mandy Barnett, Waylon Jennings, Neil Diamond and more.

She was in the bands of the TV programs The Johnny Cash Show and The Ralph Emery Show. Beegie Adair also performed on the soundtracks of such films as Clint Eastwood’s Every Which Way But Loose (1978), Burt Reynolds’ Smokey and the Bandit (1977) and Kevin Costner’s Perfect World (1993).

In the early 1970s, she performed in a 10-piece rock band called Sweet Thunder. This is where she met multi-instrumentalist Billy Adair (1947-2014), whom she married in 1975.

She and Billy formed a successful ad-jingle company. Among their clients were Purity Dairies, HCA, Allstate, United Airlines, Hamburger Helper, McDonald’s and Wrangler. A former touring musician, Billy Adair became the backbone of the jazz program at Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music.

In 1982, Beegie Adair formed the Adair-Solee Quartet with saxophonist Denis Solee. This evolved into the Be-Bop Co-Op, a jazz sextet. She has also performed in The Nashville Jazz Machine, Orchestra Twelve, The Andrew Goodrich Quintet and The Jazz Corporation.

She is best known for her Beegie Adair Trio, which showcased her keyboard virtuosity backed by bass and percussion. The group debuted on disc with 1991’s Escape to New York with Bob Crenshaw (bass) and Greg Hutchinson (drums) as her partners.

The trio eventually solidified with Roger Spencer (bass) and Chris Brown (drums) as her rhythm section. Among the many recordings by this lineup of the Beggie Adair Trio were The Nat King Cole Collection (1998), Jazz Piano Christmas (1999), Dream Dancing: Songs of Cole Porter (2000), Love, Elvis (2000), Jazz on Broadway (2005), Sentimental Journey (2006) and Too Marvelous for Words (2015). The trio’s Frank Sinatra Collection won the 1998 Nashville Music Award as Jazz Album of the Year.

Her most ambitious work was the six-CD, boxed-set collection Centennial Composers. Released in 2002 on Nashville’s Green Hill label, its 75 songs were drawn from the catalogs of Great American Songbook composers George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, Duke Ellington, Hoagy Carmichael, Jerome Kern and Irving Berlin.

Adair also hosted her own radio series, Improvised Thoughts. This was an NPR talk/music show of the early 1990s where she chatted and shared music with Tony Bennett, Marian McPartland, Joe Williams, Nancy Wilson, Helen Merrill and others.

In 2002 Beegie Adair was honored by being named a Steinway Artist. This put her in the company of Harry Connick Jr., Billy Joel, Diana Krall, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Michel Legrand and Arthur Rubinstein. Her solo concerts at Steinway & Sons galleries throughout the U.S. attracted sell-out crowds.

Beginning in 2011, she began making annual appearances at the legendary Birdland Jazz Club in New York City. Adair also showcased at other Manhattan jazz venues, often with vocalist Monica Ramey. During this time, several of Adair’s albums became best sellers on the national jazz-music charts. She was also a top seller in Japan.

On Oct. 7, 2016, The Beegie Adair Trio sold out Carnegie Hall. This was a first for a Nashville jazz act. She repeated the feat in 2017, and returned to the hallowed Hall for several years thereafter.

Adair was an adjunct professor of jazz at Vanderbilt. She taught vocal jazz at the Nashville Jazz Workshop for several years. The Trio had a residency there, and she was a board member emeritus.

Beegie Adair died at her home in Franklin. Her burial will be at Williamson Memorial Gardens. Contributions in her name can be made to The Nashville Jazz Workshop, to the Billy Adair Scholarship Fund at Vanderbilt (giving.vanderbilt.edu), to the Williamson County Animal Center or to the St. Joseph Indian School.

A Celebration of Life will be conduced at a later date.

Oh Boy Records Co-Founder, Dan Einstein, Passes Away At 61

Dan Einstein. Photo: Courtesy of Holly Gleason

Dan Einstein, a Grammy-winning producer and co-founder of Oh Boy Records, passed away on Saturday, Jan. 15 after a battle with a prolonged illness. He was 61.

Einstein co-founded Oh Boy Records with friends John Prine and Al Bunetta in 1981. He also aided its artist-owner counterpart, Steve Goodman’s Red Pajamas Records.

Born and raised in Connecticut, Einstein moved to LA in 1978 with his family, where he attended UCLA. He began booking acts at venues and soon went to work with Al Bunetta Management, which moved him to Nashville in the early ’90s.

After Goodman’s death in 1984, Einstein executive-produced the album A Tribute to Steve Goodman, which won the first-ever Contemporary Folk Grammy in 1986. Some of his other production credits include Prine’s 1988 Live album, Goodman’s Unfinished Business, and a Live From The Mountain Stage series.

Einstein, a member of Leadership Music’s Class of 1996, left the music business in 2004 to open Sweet 16th Bakery in East Nashville with his wife Ellen. The beloved neighborhood bakery became a staple shop for custom cakes, award-winning breakfast sandwiches, and more.

He is survived by his wife, Ellen Einstein. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Einstein’s name to Alive Hospice or to Vanderbilt University Medical Center to support the research of Dr. Michael Savona.

Those wishing to celebrate Einstein can RSVP here for a virtual community service, set for Wednesday evening (Jan. 19) at 6:30 p.m. CT. The family hopes to hold a public celebration of Einstein’s life this spring.

Former Grand Ole Opry Drummer Jerry Ray Johnston Passes

Jerry Ray Johnston

Jerry Ray Johnston, a former staff drummer for the Grand Ole Opry, passed away on Jan. 9 in Franklin, Tennessee from complications with COVID pneumonia. He was 65.

Jerry is the father of The Cadillac Three frontman Jaren Johnston, and the father in law to ASCAP’s Evyn Mustoe Johnston.

Jerry Ray Johnston was born in Monroe, Louisiana and moved to Nashville at 24 to pursue a career in music as a drummer. Over the span of 40 years, he played with numerous country stars, had a recording contract with Warner Bros. with the group Bandana, and eventually became the staff drummer at the Grand Ole Opry, which was his dream when he left Louisiana.

He was known for encouraging many other musicians to move to Nashville, then guiding them and introducing them to the network they needed to get gigs. Jerry also donated time to play drums at his church whenever needed.

Jerry Ray Johnston is survived by his wife of 45 years, Karen Roark Johnston; children, Jaren Ray Johnston (Evyn) and Texa Rae Johnston; one grandson, Jude Daniel Johnston; brothers, Jody Lane Johnston (Judy), Randy McKnight (Diane) and Jimmy Johnston (Deborah); and special uncles Billy Johnston (Irene) and Clifford Johnston (Novis). Also mourning Jerry are four brothers-in-law, sister-in-law and their spouses; along with numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents Jimmy Johnston and Dorothy Johnston, and his grandparents, Clarence and Mae Johnston, who raised him from a small child.

Private services were held in West Monroe, Louisiana with Jerry’s brother-in-law officiating. A  memorial service will be held in Tennessee in a few weeks.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to MusiCares, St. Jude Children’s Hospital, Wounded Warriors Project, or the charity of your choice.

Online condolences may be sent to the family at kilpatrickfuneralhomes.com.

Music Industry Veteran Jerry Crutchfield Passes

Jerry Crutchfield

Seven-decade Music Row veteran Jerry Crutchfield died on Jan. 11 at age 87.

Crutchfield had a multi-faceted career as a record producer, songwriter, label executive, vocalist and music publisher. He produced major hit country records for Tanya Tucker, Lee Greenwood, Tracy Byrd and many more. His gospel productions were nominated for Dove Awards. He ran MCA Publishing (now Universal) for 25 years. He headed Capitol Records’ Nashville office. He wrote several hit songs and sang backup for many Music City stars.

Born in Paducah, Kentucky in 1934, the future music executive cited his father’s big-band records as an early influence. In high school, he sang in teen doo-wop groups as well as gospel quartets. At age 18, he joined the Melody Masters gospel group in Princeton, Indiana. While attending Murray State College, he began making inroads in Nashville. He also worked as a local-radio disc jockey.

He and his brother Jan Crutchfield (1938-2012) were signed to RCA Records as members of the pop group The Country Gentlemen in 1956. The name led to confusion that they were a country act, so the billing was changed to The Escorts. Both brothers next embarked on careers as songwriters. Brother Jan’s catalog includes such country classics as “Statue of a Fool,” “Tear Time” and “It Turns Me Inside Out.”

Jerry Crutchfield’s songs were recorded by such country stars as George Jones, Ernest Tubb, Hank Williams Jr., Eddy Arnold, Bobby Bare, Roy Rogers, Jerry Lee Lewis, Porter Wagoner, Faron Young, Tammy Wynette, Connie Smith and Hank Thompson. His hits included Bobby Bare’s “Find Out What’s Happening,” Wanda Jackson’s “Fancy Satin Pillows,” Dottie West’s “Every Word I Write” and Charley Pride’s “Does My Ring Hurt Your Finger.”

He also placed songs with such R&B stars as Irma Thomas, Slim Harpo, Dee Dee Warwick and Arthur Alexander. Pop stars Ricky Nelson, Elvis Presley, Brenda Lee (“My Whole World Is Falling Down”) and Nick Lowe recorded Jerry Crutchfield’s tunes, too.

Both Chet Atkins and Owen Bradley hired him as a backup vocalist. During his early years on Music Row, Crutchfield sang on records by Hank Snow, Webb Pierce, Roger Miller, Jerry Reed, Bill Anderson, Hawkshaw Hawkins and more.

In 1962, he was hired to head the publishing division of Decca/MCA. Among the writers he nurtured there were Don Schlitz, Dave Loggins, Russell Smith, Gary Burr, Rob Crosby and Mark Nesler. Crutchfield took a break from MCA to serve as the head of Capitol Records in Nashville for four years in the 1980s, then returned to music publishing.

As a record producer, his big successes included Barbara Fairchild (“The Teddy Bear Song,” 1973), Dave Loggins (“Please Come to Boston,” 1974), Lee Greenwood (“God Bless the U.S.A.,” 1984), Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers (“Sure Feels Like Love,” 1982), Tracy Byrd (“The Keeper of the Stars,” 1995) and Tanya Tucker (more than 20 top-10 hits from 1986-94). Crutchfield has also produced Glen Campbell, Jody Miller, Chris LeDoux, Anne Murray, Ringo Starr, Sammy Kershaw, Shenandoah, Suzy Bogguss, Dan Seals, Cleve Francis, Brenda Lee, Delbert McClinton, Jason Ringenberg, Barbara Mandrell and Buck Owens, among others.

He also became prominent as a gospel producer. Crutchfield worked with The Hemphills, Doug Oldham, Cynthia Clawson and Terry Bradshaw in that genre.

In the 1990s, he began managing his own publishing companies, Crutchfield Music and Glitterfish Music. Tim McGraw, George Strait and Martina McBride are among the artists who recorded songs from these firms’ catalogs. Crutchfield also worked as a freelance producer for the next 20+ years.

This multi-talented Music Row figure produced Jimmy Dean’s nationally syndicated TV series in 1973-75. He wrote a series of children’s books, The Adventures of Dr. Raccoon. Crutchfield has served on the boards of the Country Music Association, the Gospel Music Association and the Nashville chapter of The Recording Academy. He was also a past national trustee of the Academy. There is a scholarship in his name at Murray State and an exhibit of his career memorabilia.

Jerry Crutchfield is survived by his wife of 62 years, Patsy, son Martin, daughter Christy Fields (husband James Fields), and three grandchildren, Adison, Chase, and Luke Fields.

A musical celebration of life will be announced and held at a later date.

Anyone wishing to make a memorial contribution in Jerry’s name may do so by donating via the American Federation of Musicians to either the Emergency Relief Fund or the Crisis Assistance Fund.

Songwriting Titan Dallas Frazier Dies

Dallas Frazier wins the 1982 Songwriter of the Year award from the readers of Music City News. Photo: Courtesy Robert K. Oermann

Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Dallas Frazier has passed away at age 82.

Regarded as one of the greatest country songwriters in history, Frazier’s classics include “There Goes My Everything,” “Beneath Still Waters,” “Elvira,” “Fourteen Carat Mind” and “All I Have to Offer You Is Me.” His songs helped make stars of Connie Smith and Charley Pride. More than a dozen members of the Country Music Hall of Fame recorded Frazier’s works. He was also a much admired recording artist.

He was born in Spiro, Oklahoma in 1939, but was raised in Bakersfield, California. Frazier recalled his early years as being characterized by labor camps and cotton fields. The boy was highly musical, teaching himself to play guitar, piano and other instruments. He was writing songs by age 12. That is when he was discovered by Ferlin Husky at a singing contest.

Frazier joined Husky’s road show as a juvenile attraction. This led to a 1954 recording contract with Husky’s label, Capitol Records. The youngster became a 1954-58 regular on the Los Angeles TV show Hometown Jamboree, where he was frequently paired with fellow teen performer Molly Bee. Frazier also worked regularly on Cousin Herb Henderson’s Trading Post TV series in Bakersfield. These gigs put the teenager in the company of Tommy Collins, Jean Shepard, Buck Owens, Wynn Stewart and the rest of the country entertainers who would form the bedrock of Bakersfield’s country community.

Dallas Frazier met and married his wife Sharon in 1958. They remained together throughout his subsequent triumphs and trials.

His youthful Capitol singles didn’t take off, but his songwriting did. Frazier’s pop novelty ditty “Alley Oop” became a No. 1 hit for The Hollywood Argyles in 1960. The group was a recording-studio concoction of Gary S. Paxton, Buddy Mize, Scotty Turner and others. Frazier briefly performed as a member of the touring Hollywood Argyles. “Alley Oop” was so popular that it was released in a competing version by Dante & The Evergreens which became a top-20 pop hit. An R&B outfit called The Dyna-Sores also charted with the tune in 1960.

Dallas Frazier. Photo: Courtesy of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Dallas and Sharon Frazier moved to Nashville in 1963. Husky again took the songwriter under his wing, signing him to his publishing company and recording “Timber I’m Falling” as Frazier’s first country hit in 1964.

The songwriter next signed with Acclaim Music, Jim Reeves’ song-publishing company. It was run by the singer’s former Blue Boys band member Ray Baker, who took Frazier’s “Mohair Sam” to Charlie Rich in 1965.

It became a pop hit. Frazier followed Baker to the latter’s Blue Crest Music, and this is where his long run of country songwriting successes ensued.

As a singer, Dallas Frazier re-signed with Capitol Records. He recorded two excellent, R&B flavored albums for the label, Elvira (1966) and Tell It Like It Is (1967). The title tune of the former appeared briefly on the pop charts in 1966, as did “Just a Little Bit of You.” The Capitol singles “Everybody Oughta Sing a Song,” “The Sunshine of My World” and “I Hope I Like Mexico Blues” were mid-sized country chart entries in 1968. Frazier also co-wrote and recorded 1969’s “The Conspiracy of Homer Jones” as a parody of “Ode to Billie Jo” and “Harper Valley P.T.A.”

Meanwhile, his songs scored big on the country charts for others. “Baby Ain’t That Fine” became a 1966 hit duet for Gene Pitney & Melba Montgomery. Jack Greene recorded Frazier’s “There Goes My Everything” in 1966. It remained at No. 1 for seven weeks and was named the CMA Song of the Year. The song received a second boost in popularity when Elvis Presley hit with it again five years later.

Also in 1966, Connie Smith hit with Frazier’s “Ain’t Had No Lovin’” and George Jones scored with “I’m a People.” Both artists showed their appreciation and admiration by recording entire albums of Dallas Frazier songs, Jones in 1968 and Smith in 1972.

George Jones returned to the songwriter’s catalog with 1967’s “If My Heart Had Windows, which Frazier wrote for his wife Sharon, plus “I Can’t Get There From Here” (1967), “Say It’s Not You” (1968), “Beneath Still Waters” (1968) and “Tell Me My Lying Eyes Are Wrong” (1970). Connie Smith encored with Frazier’s “Run Away Little Tears” (1968), “Where Is My Castle” (1971), “I’m Sorry If My Love Got in Your Way” (1971), “Just for What I Am” (1972), “If It Ain’t Love (Let’s Leave It Alone)” (1972), “Dream Painter” (1973) and “Ain’t Love a Good Thing” (1973). Smith has recorded 68 Dallas Frazier songs, more than anyone

Frazier’s songs also aided the ascent of Charley Pride. “All I Have to Offer You Is Me” (1969), “I’m So Afraid of Losing You Again” (1969), “I Can’t Believe That You’ve Stopped Loving Me” (1970) and “Then Who Am I” (1974) all became No. 1 hits for the singer.

Jack Greene resumed recording Frazier songs with “Back in the Arms of Love” (1969),“Until My Dreams Come True” (1969) and “Lord Is That Me” (1970). Brenda Lee’s transition from pop stardom to country hit maker was aided by Frazier’s “Johnny One Time” (1969) and “If This Is Our Last Time” (1971).

The songwriter’s string of country successes also continued with Charlie Louvin’s “Will You Visit Me on Sundays” (1968), Jerry Lee Lewis’s “Touching Home” (1971), Ferlin Husky’s “White Fences and Evergreen Trees” (1968), Elvis Presley’s “Where Did They Go Lord” (1971), Nat Stuckey’s “She Wakes Me With a Kiss Every Morning” (1971), Johnny Russell’s “The Baptism of Jesse Taylor” (1974), Roy Head’s “The Door I Used to Close” (1976), Moe Bandy’s “Does Anyone Make Love at Home Anymore” (1976), Tanya Tucker’s “What’s Your Mama’s Name” (1973) and Stoney Edwards’ “Hank and Lefty Raised My Country Soul” (1974). He also scored a pop success as the writer of O.C. Smith’s 1968 hit “The Son of Hickory Hollow’s Tramp.”

Dallas Frazier returned to record making with a pair of country albums for RCA, 1970’s Singing My Songs and 1971’s My Baby Packed Up My Mind and Left Me. Both were co-produced by Chet Atkins. In 1969-72, Dallas Frazier made the country charts with such RCA singles as “California Cotton Fields,” “The Birthmark Henry Thompson Talks About,” “Big Mable Murphy” and “North Carolina.”

It is a measure of how gifted and prolific he was that Dallas Frazier was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1976 when he was only 36 years old.

In the late 1970s, Johnny Russell revived “The Son of Hickory Hollow’s Tramp” and Rodney Crowell brought back “Elvira.” These revivals of Dallas Frazier classics continued in the 1980s with Emmylou Harris singing “Beneath Still Waters” (1980), The Whites doing a harmony treatment of “If It Ain’t Love (Let’s Leave It Alone)” (1985) and Patty Loveless scoring a hit with “If My Heart Had Windows” (1988).

Biggest of all was The Oak Ridge Boys revival of “Elvira” in 1981. It crossed over to the pop charts, earned a Platinum Record, won a Grammy Award, was the CMA Single of the Year and became the group’s signature song. Also in 1981, Gene Watson hit No. 1 on the country hit parade with Dallas Frazier’s “Fourteen Carat Mind.”

Among the hundreds who recorded his songs were Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Dottie West, Bobby Bare, Ernest Tubb, Hank Williams Jr., Vince Gill, Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn, Ricky Skaggs, Don Gibson, Bill Anderson, Conway Twitty, Kitty Wells, Glen Campbell, Peggy Lee, Englebert Humperdinck, Tom Jones, Keith Richards, Kenny Rogers, Ray Price, Patti Page, Anne Murray, Hank Snow, Webb Pierce, Eddy Arnold, Percy Sledge, Nick Lowe, Manfred Mann, Quincy Jones, Bobby Rydell, Mickey Gilley, The Statler Brothers, Slim Harpo, The Beach Boys and Sonny James.

“There Goes My Everything,” “All I Have to Offer You Is Me” and “Elvira” all earned Frazier Grammy nominations for Country Song of the Year.

Noted for his gentle nature and generosity, Frazier was notable as the mentor of fellow Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee A.L. “Doodle” Owens. His other collaborators included fellow Hall of Famers Whitey Shafer and Earl “Peanut” Montgomery.

Dallas Frazier became a heavy drinker. In the 1980s, he resolved to get his life back on track. He enrolled in Emmanuel Bible College in 1985-89. He quit the music business in 1988 to become a non-denominational minister, channeling his creative energies to write weekly sermons instead of songs.

Throughout the 1990s, he declined almost all overtures to rejoin the Nashville music community. One exception was when he agreed to take part in the Recording Academy’s 1999 documentary Nashville Songwriter, which inaugurated the organization’s oral history program.

About five years later, he began feeling the urge to write again. Sharon Frazier persuaded her husband to appear at a Songwriter Session at the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2006. This inspired the museum to launch its “Poets & Prophets” series the following spring.

Frazier stepped down at his church and began writing songs again in 2007. He returned to the Hall of Fame to take part in its multi-media “Poets & Prophets” series in 2010. Two years later, he marketed a new album, Dallas Frazier: Writing and Singing Again.

Director Scott McDaniel created Elvira: The True Story of Dallas Frazier, and the documentary debuted at the Franklin Theater in 2020. The movie continues to screen at film festivals.

The family announced Dallas Frazier’s death on Facebook on Friday, Jan. 14. He passed following several months of declining health. Since last August, he had suffered two strokes.

Frazier is survived by his wife of 63 years, Sharon Carpani Frazier; daughters, Robin Proetta, Melody Morris and Alison Thompson; four grandchildren; one great-grandson; and a sister, Judy Shults.

The funeral service will be 11:00 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 20 at the chapel of Alexander Funeral Home & Cremation Center, 584 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN. Visitation will be Wednesday, Jan. 19 from 4:00-8:00 p.m. and Thursday, Jan. 20 from 10:00 a.m. until time of service. Online condolences may be submitted at alexandergallatin.com. Frazier requested that donations be made to the Nashville Rescue Mission in lieu of flowers.

“Dean Of Country Broadcasters” Ralph Emery Passes

Ralph Emery. Photo: Courtesy of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Country Music Hall of Fame member Ralph Emery died on Saturday, Jan. 15 at age 88.

He was country music’s leading broadcaster for more than 50 years, first on radio and then as the genre’s ambassador on national cable television. Emery was also a recording artist, a presence in syndicated TV and the author of several books. His relaxed, avuncular style made country stars comfortable as they experienced their first mass-media exposure.

Walter Ralph Emery was born in McEwen, TN in 1933. He was a rather lonely and sad youngster. His alcoholic father and mentally unstable mother led to him being partly raIsed by his farmer grandparents. The introverted boy found solace in listening to the radio and became intrigued with the idea of making it his profession.

Ralph Emery. Photo: Mercury Records

Following a move to Nashville in 1940, he graduated from East High and enrolled in the Tennessee School of Broadcasting. Emery’s teacher was the legendary R&B deejay John Richbourg, who was famed on WLAC as “John R.” Emery was taught proper diction, learned to read the news, modulated his voice and lost his rural accent. John R recommended him for a 1951 job in Paris, TN on WTPR. Emery then returned to Nashville for a stint at WNAH, then one at nearby Franklin’s WAGG. That station is where he learned to interview country celebrities such as Del Wood and Webb Pierce.

Next, he landed a job back home in Nashville at WSIX in late 1953. He did sports announcing for live wrestling broadcasts and emceed a pop-music show by Pat Boone. This led to an offer from WLCS in Baton Rouge, LA in 1956. He only lasted a month there before returning to the Nashville airways on WMAK, a pop-music broadcaster. He was fired by that station. Luckily, he landed a job at WSM in 1957, which paved the way to his national fame.

The station put him on the air on its all-night shift at $90 a week. During the next 15 years, Emery transformed the overnight show. He invited artists to visit the program and encouraged them to bring guitars or to sing playing the station’s piano. Marty Robbins, Patsy Cline, Tex Ritter, Jim Reeves, Loretta Lynn and many other top stars stopped by to chat because of his open-door policy. His easy-going interview style made him an audience favorite, and WSM’s clear-channel, 50,000-watt power meant that the night owl was heard in 38 states nightly. By the time he signed off in 1972, the all-night show was known as “Opry Star Spotlight.”

He was also an announcer on the station’s iconic Grand Ole Opry in 1961-64. Emery’s second wife was Opry star Skeeter Davis, to whom he was married in 1960-64.

His popularity as a broadcaster led to an offer to record for Liberty Records. Emery made an “answer record” to Faron Young’s “Hello Walls” (written by Willie Nelson), and his “Hello Fool” became a top-10 hit in 1961. He also recorded for Mercury, ABC-Paramount, Elektra and other labels, but never made the charts again.

He next made the move to television. Between 1963 and 1991, Emery hosted WSMV-TV’s local, early-morning broadcast. It was named The Ralph Emery Show in 1972. The weekday program featured one of live local television’s only surviving studio bands and was notable for giving breaks to up-and-coming artists such as The Judds, Randy Travis and Lorrie Morgan. For a time in the 1970s and 1980s, it was the highest-rated local morning television show in the U.S.

He also had an afternoon program, Sixteenth Avenue, in 1966-69. He was featured in the movies Country Music on Broadway (1965), Nashville Rebel (1966), Girl From Tobacco Road (1966) and The Road to Nashville (1967).

The pace was grueling. Daily all-night radio, early-morning TV, syndicated-show tapings and announcing work resulted in an addiction to amphetamines. Emery overcame this as his national profile rose.

He launched a syndicated radio show titled “Take Five for Country Music” then “Goody’s Presents Ralph Emery.” This was carried by 425+ stations in 1986-91. Radio syndication led to syndicated television. He hosted Pop Goes the Country in TV syndication in 1973-79. In 1976, he was the announcer for Dolly Parton’s syndicated seres.

When cable television emerged in the early 1980s, Ralph Emery jumped on board. His first show was Nashville Alive, which aired on Ted Turner’s TBS channel in 1981-83. Beginning in 1983, Emery hosted Nashville Now on TNN. It brought him the biggest national audience of his long career. As the flagship show of the network, it attracted a who’s-who of country stardom to Emery’s TV stage and desk. In 1986, he was voted America’s Favorite Cable TV Personality by the readers of Cable Guide magazine.

Photos of Ralph Emery vary widely, depending on the decade. Always insecure about his looks, Emery underwent cosmetic jaw/dental procedures, face lifts and hair transplants. He discussed these candidly in his best-seller 1991 autobiography, as well as several of his private problems.

Fame and popularity from his nightly Nashville Now shows led him to reactivate his recording career in 1989. Emery signed with RCA and issued Songs for Children and Christmas With Ralph & Red. These were in conjunction with Steve Hall’s puppet Shotgun Red, who’d become a regular on Nashville Now.

Ralph Emery was elected to the Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame in 1989. The following year, Barbara Mandrell organized an all-star salute to Emery featuring 70 top country stars.

In 1991, he published Memories: The Autobiography of Ralph Emery. The book spent 25 weeks on the New York Times “Bestseller” list. He followed it with More Memories (1993), The View From Nashville (1998) and 50 Years Down a Country Road (2000). The books were cowritten, the first two with Tom Carter and the last two with Patsi Bale Cox.

Emery left Nashville Now in 1993, but continued to host specials on TNN. He returned full time to cable TV with Ralph Emery Live on RFD-TV in 2007. By the time that show ended in 2015, it was titled Ralph Emery’s Memories.

Known as, “The Dean of Country Music Broadcasters,” Ralph Emery was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2007. He became a member of the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2010.

Ralph Emery is survived by his wife Joy Emery; sons, Steve, Matthew and Ralph Jr.; five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Funeral arrangements have not been announced.