Ten Homegrown Favorites: Tom T. Hall (#4)

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Yeah, I know. I'm late. I'll explain about the results of that "creative math" from the car salesman that I wrote about earlier this week. Meanwhile, here's another one of my favorite Kentucky-born performers. This idea was inspired by @LoriAMoore who mentioned some Kentucky musicians in discussions (when she wasn't accusing me of stealing her side guy ). Here's the next great on my list. #4: Tom T. Hall There aren't many country music songwriters who can boast of having a film or a TV series based on one of their songs. Tom T. Hall can say that. In 1978 Barbara Eden starred as Stella Johnson in the film Harper Valley P.T.A., and reprised the role in a TV series in 1980-81. Many people may remember the 1968 hit by Jeannie C. Riley, which was a huge country (and pop crossover) hit. That megahit is just one of the many, many songs that Tom T. Hall has contributed to the world. One of his best-known compositions in recent years is "Little Bitty," which was a hit by Alan Jackson. In addition to all of the songs he's written for others, Hall has also enjoyed a long and successful career as a performer. His finely-detailed short stories in song earned him the nickname "The Storyteller." Some of the songs are based on reality ("The Year That Clayton Delaney Died" was based on a local musician named Lonnie Easterly, who died in 1949 at the age of nineteen [he had TB, according to Hall]), some were more fiction than real but part of his life ("Salute to a Switchblade," about being in the Army stationed in Germany), and some are just figments of his imagination ("A Week in a Country Jail"). In the mid-70s Hall wrote a song about the greats in bluegrass. Being from the Bluegrass State, he couldn't help but be steeped in the music. As a result, as his "country" career waned, Hall and his wife, Miss Dixie, began working extensively in bluegrass, writing songs for aspiring bluegrass performers (as well as the established stars). (On a personal aside, I got to meet him at an IBMA conference, and oh, the music that played at the Tom & Dixie Hall Hospitality Suite during those conferences!!) Dixie, Hall's wife since 1965, died of a brain tumor in 2015. Hall himself has retired, but oh, the music he's given the world. Tom T. Hall Born Thomas Hall, May 25, 1936, Olive Hill Genres: country, bluegrass Country Music Hall of Fame - 2008 Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame - 1978 There are a lot of rock songs about "being on the road." Here's Tom T.'s take on touring, and it's a heartbreaker: