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Tom T. Hall At Age 85

T

TheBigA

Legendary singer/songwriter Tom T. Hall passed away tonight.

bluegrasstoday.com

Tom T. Hall passes - Bluegrass Today

Bluegrass and country music legend Tom T. Hall passed away at his home in Franklin, TN on Friday, August 20th. He was born in Olive Hill, KY and died at 85.
bluegrasstoday.com bluegrasstoday.com

www.nbcnewyork.com

Country Singer Tom T. Hall Dies; Wrote ‘Harper Valley PTA'

Singer-songwriter Tom T
www.nbcnewyork.com www.nbcnewyork.com

His breakthrough was writing “Harper Valley P.T.A.,” a 1968 international hit about small-town hypocrisy recorded by Jeannie C. Riley. The song about a mother telling a group of busybodies to mind their own business was witty and feisty and became a No. 1 country and pop hit. It sold millions of copies and Riley won a Grammy for best female country vocal performance and an award for single of the year from the Country Music Association. The story was so popular it even spawned a movie of the same name and a television series.
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Clayton used to tell me "Son, you better put that ole guitar away. Ain't no money in it, and it'll lead you to an early grave"
- From the Semi-biographical song about a man from Tom's home town, "The Year that Clayton Delaney Died".

We played a lot of Tom T. Hall records at the classic country station I worked at in the 90s. "Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine", "Clayton Delaney", "I Like Beer", "A Week in a Country Jail", and "I Love". And a few others that he had a songwriter credit for.

But honestly, I thought Tom T. Hall had passed a long time ago. A lot of long-ago country stars still tour, or appear on awards shows, the Opry, etc. but Tom T. Hall did not.
 
PTBoardOp94 said:
I thought Tom T. Hall had passed a long time ago. A lot of long-ago country stars still tour, or appear on awards shows, the Opry, etc. but Tom T. Hall did not.
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A lot of those long ago country stars also need the money. Tom T. didn't. He really disappeared after his wife died 6 years ago.

I was curious where Jeannie C. Riley is, and she's still alive, in her late 70s, and doesn't tour either.

I haven't listened to Harper Valley PTA in a long time, and was surprised to discover that the distinctive dobro lick in the song was played by Jerry Kennedy, a very well-known country record producer from the 70s and 80s. He's also still alive.
 
I only heard Tom T. Hall perform live once - it was a live radio broadcast of a country music festival back in the later 80s and if I recall correctly, he put on a really solid show.

Regarding some of the older C&W artists that still make appearances because they need the money...Keep in mind that many of the artists that were prolific performers back in the day didn't always make much money doing it. Record companies could also be ruthless with the contracts they offered and even some well-known artists really got the screws put to them as a result. They also weren't packing 40,000 seat arenas and stadiums - they were mostly playing venues with a few thousand seats in some podunk towns while staying in fleabag hotels. Certainly a long way from many of today's artists who show up to play live shows with a full support crew and trucks full of sound, lighting and video equipment. Their situation is somewhat similar to that of major league sports, where even newer, lesser contributing players are guaranteed to make several hundred thousand $$ per year - meanwhile you've got ballplayers from back in the day who are in the hall of fame or who's records still stand, and you hear of teams or organizations raising money to help them make ends meet.
 
TheBigA said:
His breakthrough was writing “Harper Valley P.T.A.,” a 1968 international hit about small-town hypocrisy recorded by Jeannie C. Riley. The song about a mother telling a group of busybodies to mind their own business was witty and feisty and became a No. 1 country and pop hit. It sold millions of copies and Riley won a Grammy for best female country vocal performance and an award for single of the year from the Country Music Association. The story was so popular it even spawned a movie of the same name and a television series.
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Barbara Eden is 90 today.

There are several Tom T. Hall songs I like.
 
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