IN THE SPOTLIGHT — BOBBY GOLDSBORO — PART I While waiting for my prearranged phone call from Bobby Goldsboro, I checked his website and read a recent article about the Florida native. Country fans will remember him best for his hits of “Honey” and “Watching Scotty Grow.” He also wrote “With Pen in Hand,” which […]
NEWS Johnny Bush (1935-2020) Texas Country Music Hall of Famer Johnny Bush, 85, died of pneumonia on October 16 in San Antonio, Texas. The Houston Chronicle reports, “John Bush Shinn III’s story began in northeast Houston in Kashmere Gardens in a house with no electricity or running water on a street paved with oyster shells. […]
NEWS Mac Davis (1942-2020) Mac Davis, 78, died September 29, the day after his family tweeted that he was “critically ill following heart surgery in Nashville.” Born in Lubbock, Texas, in 1942, he belonged to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the National Songwriters Hall of Fame. My favorites of his hits were “Baby […]
NEWS The Country Daily reports on country music reactions to the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 87, on September 18. Dolly Parton tweeted, “She was small in stature but even the tallest looked up to her. Her voice was soft but her message rang loud and clear and will echo forever. Thank […]
NEWS William “Bill” Pursell, Grammy-nominated composer and studio musician, died September 3 in Nashville at the age of 94. The Los Angeles Times obituary reports his death came after a “very fast, tough battle with COVID pneumonia,” according to his daughter, Laura Pursell. He had been in the hospital for a week. The California native, […]
At the South Dakota State Fair in Huron, on September 3, Sherwin Linton invited me to talk about my books and my Navy career. Here is my speech. (Thanks to John Mogen for the photo.)
As the biographer of Faron Young and Marty Robbins, I bring these newsletters to classic country music fans around the world. Send me your comments and ideas. Please forward this message and tell your friends to email me if they want to be added to the list. Randy Travis is the subject of my third University […]
IN THE SPOTLIGHT – LEROY VAN DYKE At age 90, Leroy Van Dyke is not slowing down. Except for the COVID-19 pandemic, that is. He’s anxious to get back on the road. During our phone conversation Monday evening, I commented that he sounded as young as ever. “Well, my voice has not left,” he said. […]
IN THE SPOTLIGHT – DALLAS WAYNE When Dallas Wayne, 64, announced he had moved from Austin, Texas, to Bristol, Tennessee, I decided it was time for an update from the Willie’s Roadhouse (SiriusXM) deejay.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT – JEFF CHANDLER When Jeff Chandler woke up in the middle of the night, unable to breathe and with the feeling of an elephant sitting on his chest, his wife immediately called 9-1-1. By daybreak, he had four stents in his heart and was in the recovery room. Carole’s phone call saved […]