My First Blog

Hi...Gotta start somewhere and this is it. You may have seen this before because it was originally the first part of my "Greeting" section: "What songwriter has had songs recorded by the Eagles and The Anita Kerr Singers, Linda Ronstadt and Ruth Buzzi, Randy Travis and Howard Keel, Kenny Rogers and George Burns, Moe Bandy and J.J. Cale, Barbara Mandrell and Billy Lee Riley, T. Graham Brown and The Lewis Family, Willie Nelson and Charlie Sizemore!!? (We're not talking duets here, folks)" I guess I thought everyone who read this would see the humor intended...that someone like Linda Ronstadt would be mentioned together with Ruth Buzzi, who most people don't even know sing. But right after I put that bio together, I appeared at a career day at Webb School in Bell Buckle, TN, where I went to high school. I was introduced as someone who had been fairly successful as a songwriter/publisher who had had songs recorded by Clint Eastwood, Ruth Buzzi and Howard Keel. Those are fine artists but that wasn't the introduction I wanted for that occasion. A psychiatrist told me a ways back, "Your trouble is that you think everybody is like you". I think he was right. In the case of the paragraph above, I just assumed people would see the humor I wanted them to see. When I wrote "Dropkick Me, Jesus (through the goal posts of life)", I figured everybody knew about songs like "I'm Using My Bible for a Roadmap" and "We Need a Lot More Jesus (and a lot less rock and roll)" and would appreciate what I had accomplished with my song. Well, my mother didn't, for one. She just KNEW there was something wrong with a song that had "kick" and "Jesus" that close together in the title. And she wasn't alone. But Elvis Costello and Bill Clinton understand it and like it. And so do I I was just talking on the telephone to my son, Paul. Today is his birthday. He and his wife, Holly, my oldest grandchild, Mary Shields, Paul and Holly's two children, Collin and Katie are in the car going to their cabin at Pickwick Lake. Paul's mother and my first wife, Anne Snowden is also in the car. They wondered where they were on my website. Right Here. Willie Nelson just recorded a song of mine, The Seldom Scene have two about to come out on their new album. Some recent cuts that aren't out include Charlie Sizemore (2), Darren Beachley and Sally Jones. A writer I've been very aware of lately is Geoff Stephens. He's from England and wrote one of the great pieces of music ever, "The Crying Game", had three Elvis cuts....and, "There's a Kind of Hush (all over the world)" and "Daddy, Don't You Walk So Fast". Pretty scary. Have completed and are working on some of the best songs yet. Hope we'll be hearing them soon. All the Best, Paul