Tom T. Hall, the singer, songwriter and Country Music Hall of Famer, died Friday (August 20) at his home in Franklin, Tennessee. He was 85 years old.
A prolific composer known for his narrative ability, Hall was once christened “The Storyteller” by his contemporary Tex Ritter. He was responsible for hit songs such as “That’s How I Got to Memphis,” “I Love” and Jeannie C. Riley’s 1968 country pop crossover “Harper Valley PTA,” which was later adapted for film and the television.
Born on May 25, 1936 in Olive Hill, Kentucky, Hall played in a band and worked as a DJ before joining the Army in 1957. He was working in radio when an editor listened to his song “DJ for a Day” and took it to Jimmy C. Newman, who helped Hall achieve his first hit in the top ten. He would go on to write several number one songs, including “Hello Vietnam”, “(Old Dogs, Children and) Watermelon Wine”, “I Love”, “Country Is” and “Faster Horses (The Cowboy and the Poet)”. ”
Hall signed with Mercury Records in 1967 and joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1971. He was nominated for six Grammys, winning in 1972 the album’s best notes. Tom T. Hall’s best hits. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1978, the Kentucky Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008.
His fondness for narrative was not limited to songs. Hall released five books of his life, Memoirs (1979) The Nashville storyteller) a How-To (1976) How I write songs, why you can).