Chicken Soup for the Soul: Country Music: The Inspirational Stories behind 101 of Your Favorite Country Songs Read online

  Chicken Soup for the Soul: Country Music

  The Inspirational Stories behind 101 of Your Favorite Country Songs

  Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Randy Rudder. Foreword by Ken Kragen.

  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  Published by Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, LLC www.chickensoup.com

  Copyright © 2011 by Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, LLC. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

  CSS, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and its Logo and Marks are trademarks of Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing LLC.

  The publisher gratefully acknowledges the many publishers and individuals who granted Chicken Soup for the Soul permission to reprint the cited material.

  Front and back cover photograph courtesy of Getty Images/Iconica: Zia Soleil. Interior illustration courtesy of iStockPhoto.com/dra_schwartz.

  Cover and Interior Design & Layout by Pneuma Books, LLC

  For more info on Pneuma Books, visit www.pneumabooks.com

  Distributed to the booktrade by Simon & Schuster. SAN: 200-2442

  Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  (Prepared by The Donohue Group)

  Chicken soup for the soul : country music : the inspirational stories behind 101 of your favorite country songs/[compiled by] Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, [and] Randy Rudder ; foreword by Ken Kragen.

  p. : ill. ; cm.

  A collection of 101 stories written by famous country songwriters and singers about the genesis of their hit songs and their personal stories, often never told before, about the lyrics for their award-winning hit songs.

  ISBN: 978-1-935096-67-2

  eISBN-13: 978-1-61159-190-3

  1. Lyric writing (Popular music)--Literary collections. 2. Lyric writing (Popular music)--Anecdotes. 3. Country music--History and criticism--Literary collections. 4. Country music--History and criticism--Anecdotes. I. Canfield, Jack, 1944- II. Hansen, Mark Victor. III. Rudder, Randy. IV. Kragen, Kenneth. V. Title: Country music

  PN6071.M87 C455 2011

  810.8/02/0357 2011922319

  PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

  on acid∞free paper

  20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10

  Contents

  Foreword, Ken Kragen

  Introduction

  1. 16th Avenue, story by Thom Schuyler

  2. All-American Boy, story by Bobby Bare

  3. Almost Home, story by Craig Morgan

  4. American Honey, story by Hillary Lindsey

  5. American Made, story by Pat McManus

  6. American Saturday Night, story by Ashley Gorley

  7. Back When We Were Beautiful, story by Matraca Berg

  8. Believe, story by Craig Wiseman

  9. Bobbie Ann Mason, story by Mark D. Sanders

  10. By the Time I Get to Phoenix, story by Jimmy Webb

  11. Can’t Be Really Gone, story by Gary Burr

  12. Coward of the County, story by Billy Edd Wheeler

  13. Delta Dawn, story by Alex Harvey

  14. Desperados Waiting for a Train, story by Guy Clark

  15. D-I-V-O-R-C-E, story by Bobby Braddock

  16. Everlasting Love, story by Buzz Cason

  17. Everything Is Beautiful, story by Ray Stevens

  18. Gentle on My Mind, story by Betty Harford

  19. Ghost in This House, story by Hugh Prestwood

  20. Golden Ring, story by Bobby Braddock

  21. Gone Country, story by Bob McDill

  22. Good Ole Boys Like Me, story by Bob McDill

  23. Green, Green Grass of Home, story by Curly Putman

  24. Halfway Home Café, story by Ricky Skaggs

  25. Harper Valley PTA, story by Tom T. Hall

  26. Have You Forgotten? story by Darryl Worley

  27. He Didn’t Have to Be, story by Kelley Lovelace

  28. He Stopped Loving Her Today, story by Curly Putman

  29. Here in the Real World, story by Mark Irwin

  30. Hey Cinderella, story by Suzy Bogguss

  31. Highway 40 Blues, story by Larry Cordle

  32. Holes in the Floor of Heaven, story by Billy Kirsch

  33. How Do You Get That Lonely? story by Rory Feek

  34. I Believe, story by Skip Ewing

  35. I Can’t Make You Love Me, story by Mike Reid

  36. I Fall to Pieces, story by Harlan Howard

  37. I Hope You Dance, story by Tia Sillers

  38. I Love the Way You Love Me, story by Victoria Shaw

  39. I Run to You, story by Tom Douglas

  40. I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool, story by Dennis Morgan

  41. It Matters to Me, story by Mark D. Sanders

  42. Jackson, story by Billy Edd Wheeler

  43. Jesus Take the Wheel, story by Hillary Lindsey

  44. Johnny Cash Is Dead and His House Burned Down, story by Larry Gatlin

  45. Letting Go, story by Doug Crider

  46. Little Rock, story by Tom Douglas

  47. Live Like You Were Dying, story by Craig Wiseman

  48. Long Black Train, story by Josh Turner

  49. Long Black Veil, story by Buck Wilkin

  50. Love, Me, story by Skip Ewing

  51. Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys, story by Patsy Bruce

  52. Man of Constant Sorrow, story by Dan Tyminski

  53. Marie Laveau, story by Bobby Bare

  54. Maybe It Was Memphis, story by Michael Anderson

  55. Mississippi Squirrel Revival, story by Buddy Kalb

  56. Mr. Bojangles, story by Jerry Jeff Walker

  57. Murder on Music Row, story by Larry Cordle

  58. My List, story by Rand Bishop

  59. My Son, story by Jan Howard

  60. Not That Different, story by Karen Taylor-Good and Joie Scott

  61. Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine, story by Tom T. Hall

  62. Old Hippie, story by David Bellamy

  63. On Angel’s Wings, story by Karen Taylor-Good

  64. Online, story by Chris DuBois

  65. Reuben James, story by Alex Harvey

  66. She Thinks I Still Care, story by Dickey Lee

  67. Simple Man, story by Charlie Daniels

  68. Smoky Mountain Rain, story by Dennis Morgan

  69. Somebody’s Prayin’ story by Ricky Skaggs

  70. Something in Red, story by Angela Kaset

  71. Southern Voice, story by Bob DiPiero

  72. Strawberry Wine, story by Matraca Berg

  73. That’s Just About Right, story by Jeff Black

  74. That’s My Job, story by Gary Burr

  75. The Cape, story by Jim Janosky

  76. The Dance, story by Tony Arata

  77. The Devil Went Down to Georgia, story by Charlie Daniels

  78. The Famous Lefty Flynn’s, story by Jamie Johnson

  79. The Good Stuff, story by Craig Wiseman

  80. The Grand Tour, story by Norro Wilson

  81. The Highwayman, story by Jimmy Webb

  82. The House That Built Me, story by Allen Shamblin

  83. The Most Beautiful Girl, story by Norro Wilson

  84. The River, story by Victoria Shaw

  85. The Song Remembers Whe
n, story by Hugh Prestwood

  86. The Streak, story by Ray Stevens

  87. The Thunder Rolls, story by Pat Alger

  88. This One’s for the Girls, story by Hillary Lindsey

  89. Time Marches On, story by Bobby Braddock

  90. Unanswered Prayers, story by Pat Alger

  91. Uncle Pen, story by James Monroe

  92. Walk on Faith, story by Mike Reid

  93. Walking Away a Winner, story by Bob DiPiero

  94. What A Difference You’ve Made In My Life, story by Archie Jordan

  95. Where’ve You Been? story by Jon Vezner

  96. Wichita Lineman, story by Jimmy Webb

  97. Wind Beneath My Wings, story by Larry Henley

  98. You Had Me From Hello, story by Skip Ewing

  99. You Won’t Ever Be Lonely, story by Andy Griggs

  100. You’re Gonna Miss This, story by Ashley Gorley

  101. You’ve Got to Stand for Something, story by Aaron Tippin

  Meet Our Authors

  Song Lyric Copyrights

  Photo Credits

  About Chicken Soup for the Soul

  Foreword

  As the former president of both the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music, even I have always been intrigued by what inspired or motivated these songwriters to create such wonderful, memorable songs.

  Managing country stars like Kenny Rogers, Trisha Yearwood, Travis Tritt, Diamond Rio and Collin Raye certainly gave me a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process, but with the exception of Travis and my friend, singer/songwriter Skip Ewing, most of my artists’ songs were written by others and it has never ceased to amaze me how varied and interesting are the stories behind their many hits.

  Travis Tritt once said, “Country music is the soundtrack for our lives” and I’ve seen that over and over again. All of us have experienced things in our lives that reflect the lyrics of so many of these songs. I think that’s why we are so fascinated by what it was that moved the writer to put those words into a song.

  I remember many years ago a young songwriter who was living in my guest room wrote a #1 song about a difficult situation I was experiencing in my personal life. (I thought perhaps he should have paid me royalties on that.)

  Another thing I love about this book is it brings to the forefront so many great writers who rarely get the recognition they so richly deserve. It’s eye-opening to see how many songs we attribute solely to the artist who performed them rather than the writer who created them. Most people think Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings wrote “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys” when it actually was Patsy and Ed Bruce. And Collin Raye is so identified with “Love Me” that it’s easy to think he wrote it when, in fact, it was the work of Skip Ewing and Max T. Barnes.

  Of course, the writers have other compensation. I once returned from Europe with my client, the late John Hartford, and in his mailbox we found a package with dozens of royalty checks for his Glen Campbell hit, “Gentle On My Mind.” They totaled nearly $100,000 and John and I sat on his living room floor and tossed the checks up in the air as we laughed and celebrated this unexpected windfall.

  A few years back I produced an award-winning television special called A Day In The Life Of Country Music where we sent 24 different film crews out to follow country stars for 24 hours. What struck me when I looked at the footage from that show is how much of a star’s day is spent just like the rest of us, being a real person, living a real life, rather than the glamour and glitter we all associate with stardom. I guess that’s why they sing songs that remind us all of what we’re going through in our own lives.

  Speaking of producing, I’ll never forget the moment, sitting on the set of Kenny Rogers’ first Gambler movie, when his co-star, Bruce Boxleitner turned to me and said, “The next film you guys should do is Kenny’s current hit, ‘Coward of the County.’” I called CBS that very day and made a deal to make that song into a television movie. At first Kenny resisted doing the project, but eventually he went ahead and delivered what I still consider his best ever acting performance.

  The story in the song “Coward of The County” was so strong that the picture basically wrote itself. Still, I always wondered what had inspired the songwriters to create it and how they came to call the villains in the piece the Gatlins. I was particularly curious because Kenny toured often with Larry Gatlin and his brothers and kiddingly referred to them when he sang the song. In these pages you’ll learn the true story of how Billy Edd Wheeler and Roger Bowling decided to use that name in the song.

  Another song in this collection that I was closely associated with is Hugh Prestwood’s brilliant “The Song Remembers When,” which my then-client Trisha Yearwood recorded. Reading Hugh’s description of how he came to write that song reminds me of what wonderful poets so many of our best songwriters are. He mentions loving Robert Frost, Edwin A. Robinson and Emily Dickinson and taking direct inspiration from a poem by Anne Sexton. He also talks about how he drew directly on things he was experiencing at the time. As he talks about driving through the clouds in Denver and hearing one of his own songs on the car radio, the images of the beautiful video Trisha did for the song comes to mind.

  The story Jon Vezner tells about what brought him to write “Where’ve You Been?” — a song that became such a huge hit for Kathy Mattea — will literally make you cry. His publisher did exactly that when he played it for her. Music means so much to us. We don’t just listen to it; we work out to it, make love to it, sing along with it, and relate to it in so many ways. Jon’s journey with this song also is illustrative of the serendipitous nature of getting a song recorded.

  Reading Alex Harvey’s explanation of how he adapted co-writer Barry Etris’ “Reuben James” is also quite a revelation. He drew on his and his father’s experiences and adapted them to the song. I was managing Kenny Rogers when Alex’s persistence finally paid off and Kenny sat down and listened to Alex and his music. It shows you writing a song is only part of the game. You’ve got to really believe in yourself and your material and keep plugging away to make something happen.

  Also, don’t miss reading Alex Harvey’s story of how he came to write “Delta Dawn” with Larry Collins. Artists are often motivated by tragedies or hard times, but this one will take your breath away. No wonder so many artists recorded that song. It truly came from Alex’s heart and as he said, “it literally wrote itself.” I’ve heard the same thing many times from writers but this one makes a total believer out of me.

  Collin Raye had a #1 hit with the Karen Taylor-Good and Joie Scott song “Not That Different” several years before I began managing him. Still, I got to hear the song over and over as Collin performed it at show after show and audiences sang along to these moving lyrics. That’s one more reason I love reading the story of how these two ladies collaborated on the song while living far apart in two different cities and how Joie eventually moved to Nashville on a dare.

  And I guess it is a songwriter’s dream to have a hit the size of Curly Putman’s “Green, Green Grass of Home.” There have been something like 700 different recordings of that song worldwide and he’s still writing away for (Sony) Tree Publishing 45 years later. But these are just a few of the 101 stories in this book.

  I’ve been waiting a long time for someone to assemble a book like this. My cowboy hat’s off to Randy Rudder, Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield for the incredible work that went into gathering and editing the treasure trove of delightful and revealing stories that make this book such a terrific read.

  You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll be amazed and entertained. The next time someone says, “I wonder why they wrote that?” you’ll know right where to go to get the answer. And if, by chance, you’re one of those people who love to write music and lyrics, you’ll get all the motivation you could ever ask for in the pages of this book. Enjoy it.

  ~Ken Kragen

  Introduction

  As a long-time music journalis
t, I have always been fascinated by two questions: What makes a song a hit? and Where do songwriters get the ideas for songs? What are those intangible factors that cause one song to resonate with listeners across cultures and continents, and another equally strong song to fade into obscurity? Throughout the course of talking with the songwriters included in this collection, I discovered there are perhaps as many possible answers to that question as there are songs and songwriters.

  The late Bill Monroe, Father of Bluegrass, spoke of the “ancient tones” that reside in our collective unconscious and are passed down from generation to generation through folk songs, lore, and — who knows? — possibly even genetically. In this collection, Bill’s son James tells us more about the inspiration behind his father’s classic bluegrass fiddle standard, “Uncle Pen.”

  Jimmy Webb, writing on what is possibly the shortest, yet most covered, song in his amazing catalog, says it is still a mystery to him why “Wichita Lineman” has been so popular. “It’s a lonely, romantic, prairie gothic image,” he says of the lineman working on the plains. “I definitely tapped into it and used it with ‘Wichita Lineman,’ which is also, of course, a love story about a guy who can’t get over a woman.” Webb reveals he wasn’t even finished with the song when he sent it to the studio for Glen Campbell to hear — that he intended to add another verse and chorus later, but the song was arranged and recorded before he knew it.

  Southern literature and poetry certainly have a solid place in inspiring country music lyrics as well. Alex Harvey (“Delta Dawn”) credits Robert Frost and Carl Sandburg, along with French street poet Rimbaud (who influenced Bob Dylan’s writing), as having a big impact on him. Bob McDill is a fan of author Robert Penn Warren and playwright Tennessee Williams, and credits them for having influenced his songwriting. McDill alludes to “those Williams boys: Hank and Tennessee” in “Good Ole Boys Like Me.”

  It’s also surprising how often William Faulkner pops up in country music lyrics. The bard of Oxford, Mississippi is alluded to in both Pam Tillis’s “Maybe It Was Memphis” (written by Michael Anderson), and Tim McGraw’s “Southern Voice” (written by Bob DiPiero and Tom Douglas.)

  A number of other songwriters in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Country Music noted the influence of film and theater on their writing. Tony Arata wrote Garth Brooks’ hit, “The Dance,” after seeing Peggy Sue Got Married. John Hartford wrote “Gentle on My Mind” after he and his wife Betty watched Dr. Zhivago together one evening in 1966. And Billy Edd Wheeler, while a graduate theater student at Yale, wrote the Johnny Cash/June Carter Cash classic, “Jackson,” after reading Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Go figure that one.