Today we wish Grand Ole Opry member, and Country Music Hall of Fame member Bill Anderson, a very Happy 86th Birthday!!! Bill has been a member of the Grand Ole Opry for just over 62 years and has been an Opry member longer than anyone else in the history of the show. Not only is he a great singer, but a very talented songwriter.
I think Bill Anderson is the greatest living country songwriter, and he may well be the best ever, if you look at the list of what he has written. Happy birthday to Ol' Whisper, also a great and truly loyal Opry member.
ReplyDeleteI think I read that Bill Anderson has written number 1 songs in SEVEN different decades. Amazing country music song writer!
ReplyDeleteLove Bill Anderson, great person and tremendous talent, a poet who turns his works into beautiful music and shares it with the world; and notwithstanding his efforts and support through the years for all those entering the music industry. Even at 86, going strong.
ReplyDeleteChart Songs written by Bill Anderson
ReplyDeleteBill Anderson has written hundreds of songs that appeared in albums over the years and as with many songs, the less commercial songs are some of the best. The following is a list of many of the charted songs Bill has written or co written since 1958! Bill wrote or co-wrote 47 of the 78 carted singles he had from 1958 to 1991.
1958 City Lights #1 by Ray Price
1959 Riverboat #4 by Faron Young
1960 We Missed You #3 by Kitty Wells
1960 The Tips Of My Fingers #7 by Bill Anderson (#10 1963 by Roy Clark, #3 1966 by Eddy Arnold, #16 1975 by Jean Shepard, #3 1992 by Steve Wariner)
1961 Po’ Folks #9 by Bill Anderson
1961 Fickle Fun #29 by Kitty Wells
1961 Happy Birthday To Me #7 by Hank Locklin
1961 To You And Yours(From Me And Mine) #13 by George Hamilton IV
1961 When Two Worlds Collide(co-written with Roger Miller) #6 by Roger Miller
1962 Mama Sang A Song #1 by Bill Anderson
1962 I Missed Me #7 by Jim Reeves
1962 I’ve Enjoyed As Much Of This As I Can Stand #7 by Porter Wagoner
1962 Must You Throw Dirt In My Face #21 by The Louivin Brothers
1963 Still #1 by Bill Anderson
1963 8X10 #2 by Bill Anderson
1963 Peel Me A Nanner #8 by Roy Drusky
1964 Our Hearts Are Holding Hands #24 by Ernest Tubb and Loretta Lynn
1964 I Don’t Love You Anymore #4 by Charlie Louvin
1964 I’ll Go Down Swingin’ #11 by Porter Wagoner
1964 Saginaw, Michigan (co-written with Don Wayne) #1 by Lefty Frizzell (last #1)
1964 Once A Day #1 by Connie Smith
1964 Five Little Fingers #5 by Bill Anderson
1965 Bright Lights And Country Music (co-written w/Jimmy Gately) #11 by Bill Anderson
1965 Think I’ll Go Somewhere And Cry Myself To Sleep #26 by Charlie Louvin
1965 Then And Only Then #4 by Connie Smith+
1966 Bad Seed #10 by Jan Howard
1966 I Get The Fever #1 by Bill Anderson
1966 The Shirt (co-written with George Baily & Mel Strickland) #28 by Norma Jean
1966 Nobody But A Fool Would Love You #4 by Connie Smith
1966 Nickels, Quarters And Dimes #31 by Johnny Wright
1967 Cincinnati, Ohio #7 by Connie Smith
1969 My Life #1 by Bill Anderson
1969 If It’s All The Same To You #2 by Bill Anderson and Jan Howard
1969 You And Your Sweet Love #6 by Connie Smith
1969 Cold Hard Facts Of Life #2 by Porter Wagoner
1970 Where Have All Our Hero’s Gone (co-written w/Bob Talbert) #1 by Bill Anderson
1970 I Never Once Stopped Loving You (co-written with Jan Howard) #5 Connie Smith
1970 Green Green Valley #57 by Tex Ritter
1970 I’m Alright #20 by Lynn Anderson
1971 Dis-Satisfied (co-written w/Carter & Jan Howard) #1 by Bill Anderson & Jan Howard
1972 The Lord Knows I’m Drinkin’ #1 by Cal Smith
1973 The Corner Of My Life #2 by Bill Anderson
1973 Slipping Away #4 Jean Shepard
1974 At The Time #13 Jean Shepard
1974 Between Lust And Watching TV #11 by Cal Smith
1976 Mercy #49 Jean Shepard
1979 I May Never Get To Heaven (co-written w/ Buddy Killen) #1 by Conway Twitty
1995 Which Bridge To Cross, Which Bridge To Burn (co-written w/ Vince Gill) #4 by Vince Gill
1999 Two Teardrops (co-written w/ Steve Wariner) #2 by Steve Wariner
1999 Wish You Were Here(co-written w/Skip Ewing & Debbie Moore)#1 by Mark Wills
2001 Too Country (co-written w/ Chuck Cannon) #58 by Brad Paisley, George Jones, Buck Owens and Bill Anderson (CMA vocal event of the year)
2002 A Lot Of Things Different (co-written w/ Dean Dillon) #6 Kennsy Chesney
2004 Whiskey Lullaby (co-written w/ John Randell) #3 by Brd Paisley & Allsion Krause
2006 Give It Away (co-written w/Jamey Johnson and Buddy Cannon) #1 George Strait
Jim
Jim, an impressive list. Some of those songs I had forgotten he wrote.
DeleteThe Shirt is really impressive but then I'm partial to Norma Jean and it is a recitation so it is very interesting to hear her do.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday To Me is a good one too. I think he has written about it but when he played Scottsburg, Indiana back on November 1, 2019, he sang it and told how he came to write it. I think I can tell it right. It was his birthday and he went to his parents house thinking they would celebrate and his girlfriend would be there. She wasn't and nothing special was going on so he was feeling sorry for himself. He went off alone in a room and wrote pretty much how he was feeling. He left disappointed but got to thinking that he should at least go back and have dinner with his family. When he returned, his girlfriend was there with other friends for a surprise party. He felt foolish but he said he got a good song out of it and told that Hank had a top 10 with it. I'm not sure without checking but I think that girlfriend was Carol, his first wife. I may be remembering that wrong. Sorry Bill if I'm telling that wrong!
And Fickle Fun by Kitty is one of the best ever recordings with Jimmy Day on Steel and Tommy Jackson on fiddle.
Jim
Bill wrote a song called Afterthoughts that was on Keith Harling's first album. I always felt that Keith's career was hurt by bad timing as a traditionalist in the late 90s. If he would have come along 6 or 7 years earlier it may have been a different story. I don't know if Afterthoughts was a single, but it should've been, and a big one.
ReplyDeleteJ in OK
You got me on that one. I'll have to find and listen to it.
DeleteJim
You can find it on YouTube.
DeleteJ in OK