28 March 2007
FARON YOUNG, TWENTY-ONE YEARS AGO: On March 26, 1986, Faron gave a deposition for his upcoming divorce trial. Hilda’s lawyer, Mac Robinson, asked, “Faron, hasn’t drinking been a substantial part of y’all’s problems?” Faron answered, “Drinking is a problem with anybody that drinks, Mac.” When Robinson asked if Faron sometimes was too drunk to perform his second show, Faron said, “No, I’ve always did the show. I’ve never not did it.” He added, “There was a few times I shouldn’t might have done the show.” Most of Robinson’s questions concerned Faron’s financial situation. During a discussion on insurance policies, Faron said, “If she wants to carry insurance on me until I die, that’s up to her. I didn’t think it was lawful she could do it, but I guess it is to carry insurance on your ex-husband and maybe feed him some ground glass.” Robinson asked about the duet album with Willie Nelson, and Faron’s attorney, Grant Smith, said the record company had decided not to release a single. Faron told Robinson, “I think Willie just did it because he wanted to record with me. We have been friends so long. I think he wanted me to come down there and cut a record with him. Hell, he’s cut one with everybody but you and Grant.”
LETTERS
Les Leverett writes, “Well, by golly, you have a letter THIS week! Just want to say thanks for the good stories you have been sending on Faron. Can’t wait for the book to come out.”
Anton Garcia introduces himself by saying, “I am a 25-year-old graduate student at Vanderbilt University, where I am teaching Spanish and Spanish literature and finishing my Ph.D. in 17th-century Spanish literature. Tonight I was browsing the amazon.com website, looking for books on country music, and I found one of your reviews, where you said that you are writing Faron Young’s autobiography. Well, I am a huge fan of Faron’s music, since I got to country music through his records. I discovered Faron and country music when I was ten years old, living in the NW of Spain, and I have been a fan of country music and an avid collector of country material (books, records, CDs) ever since. Now that I am in Nashville, I am hosting a weekly classic country music show on radio station WRVU Nashville. It comes on the air every Thursday morning from 10am to noon (Central Time) and can be heard online as well at www.wrvu.org.   I just wanted to write you this e-mail to let you know that I am delighted that you are writing a biography on Faron. That book was long overdue, since not only was Faron an outstanding country singer, but he was also a shrewd businessman who did a lot to promote and dignify country music at a time when many people in this country didn’t see it as serious, valuable music. Please keep me posted as to the progress of your manuscript and also let me know when the book is published because I would like to buy a copy as soon as it’s out. I also have a project to write a book about country singers of the 1940s and 1950s that have long been forgotten (and unjustly so), people like, for example, Floyd Tillman, Terry Fell, Weldon Rogers, and T. Texas Tyler, to name but a few. A big howdy from the Music City!”