According to Bob Wills, "Faded Love" was an old fiddle tune that his family had played for years.

Bob commented, "My family had been playing that tune for as long as I can remember.  I don't remember anyone ever saying where it came from.

Bob Wills & the Texas Playboys

My father taught me the song and later I just added the words.  My brother, Billy Jack, helped me with some of the words to the tune."

Bob Wills' MGM recording of "Faded Love" entered the country music charts November 4th, 1950 and peaked at number 8.  It was Wills' 23rd chart song and was on the charts for five weeks.

The record featured Rusty McDonald and the Playboy Trio on vocals.

Patsy Cline also had a number seven hit on "Faded Love" in 1963.  Leon McAuliffe had a #22 hit on the tune that same year and Tompall & the Glaser Brothers took it to number 22 in 1971.  Willie Nelson and Ray Price scored a number three hit with their 1980 duet version.

ENJOY "STORY BEHIND THE SONG" AND MORE EACH WEEK BY
SUBSCRIBING TO COUNTRY MUSIC CLASSICS, A FREE DAILY NEWSLETTER.

For a FREE subscription send a blank email to:
CountryMusicClassics-on@milepost1.com

If you do not receive a confirmation email within about
an hour click HERE for an alternate subscription method.

Little Jimmy Dickens

Wilson commented, "I lived every word of that song.  During the Hoover years my family lived on a farm in Haleyville, Alabama.  We were poor country folks and those were lean years.  And in those days everybody was friends with everybody else around and there was always somebody spending the night at our house.  We'd have three or four kids in one bed and somebody had to sleep at the foot of that bed and most of the time, that somebody was me."

"When you hear those words in that song about wakin' up with a big cold foot stuck in your face or some cold toes jamming in your side -- that's me.  I've been there and done that!"

Little Jimmy Dickens' Columbia recording of "A-Sleepin' At The Foot OF The Bed" entered the country music charts January 14th, 1950 and peaked at #6.  It was Dickens' 5th chart single and was on the charts for three weeks.

"STORY BEHIND THE SONG" IS JUST PART OF COUNTRY MUSIC CLASSICS,
A FREE DAILY EMAIL NEWSLETTER ALL ABOUT CLASSIC COUNTRY MUSIC,

For a FREE subscription send a blank email to:
CountryMusicClassics-on@milepost1.com

If you do not receive a confirmation email within about
an hour click HERE for an alternate subscription method.

Johnny Cash says he wrote his hit song "I Walk The Line" because he missed his wife!

Johnny Cash

Johnny commented, "We had been on the road for several days and I was real homesick and missing my wife.  We hadn't been married very long at the time and I was ready to go home.  We were playing a show that night in 1956 in Gladewater, Texas.  I was sitting backstage before the show and just started writing it down.  I finished the song before the show started."

"I Walk The Line" entered the country music charts June 9th, 1956 and made it to number one where it stayed for six weeks.  It was his first number one and his fourth charted song.  The single was on the country music charts for 43 weeks and also scored a #17 on the pop music charts.

IF WHAT YOU'RE READING IS YOUR CUP-OF-TEA, YOU CAN HAVE YOUR
FILL EACH WEEKDAY BY SUBSCRIBING TO COUNTRY MUSIC CLASSICS,
A FREE DAILY EMAIL NEWSLETTER ALL ABOUT CLASSIC COUNTRY MUSIC.

For a FREE subscription send a blank email to:
CountryMusicClassics-on@milepost1.com

If you do not receive a confirmation email within about
an hour click HERE for an alternate subscription method.

According to Audrey Williams, Hank wrote the song, "I Saw The Light" while on his way home from a tour.

Audrey commented, "Hank and his band had been on tour for several days and the car they were traveling in kept breaking down all the time they were gone.  They were on their way back to Montgomery, Alabama and the car was about to quit again.  They were beginning to wonder if the car was going to make it back home.  All at once, Hank spotted the beacon light at the Montgomery airport and he hollered, "We're okay now boys -- we're gonna make it -- I saw the light."

Hank Williams

"After he got home he kept repeating those words over and over and finally sat down and began writing the song.  He finished it the next day."

"I Saw The Light" never became a Hank Williams hit record, but it did become one of the country's best loved gospel songs.  Roy Acuff and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band scored a #56 hit on the tune in 1971.

"STORY BEHIND THE SONG" IS PUBLISHED -- ALONG WITH SEVERAL
OTHER FEATURES IN, COUNTRY MUSIC CLASSICS, A FREE DAILY
EMAIL NEWSLETTER ALL ABOUT CLASSIC COUNTRY MUSIC.

For a FREE subscription send a blank email to:
CountryMusicClassics-on@milepost1.com

If you do not receive a confirmation email within about
an hour click HERE for an alternate subscription method.

According to Boudleaux Bryant, the song "Rocky Top" was one of those little gems that just dropped out of nowhere!

Boudleaux commented, "Felice and I had been assigned to write some old folk songs for an Archie Campbell album.  We really got into what we were doing and after a while -- the whole thing became depressing.

Felice suggested we stop and do something different for a while.  We were in the mountains so she suggested we write a mountain song.  We began fooling around with the idea and in about fifteen minutes, we had finished the song.  "Rocky Top" turned out to be one of our most performed songs.

The Osborne Brothers Decca recording of "Rocky Top" entered the country music charts February 3rd, 1968 and peaked at number 33.  It was their 5th chart single and was on the charts for ten weeks.

The Osborne Brothers

IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU'RE READING, YOU CAN HAVE A FREE DOSE
EACH WEEKDAY BY SUBSCRIBING TO COUNTRY MUSIC CLASSICS, A FREE
DAILY EMAIL NEWSLETTER ALL ABOUT CLASSIC COUNTRY MUSIC.

For a FREE subscription send a blank email to:
CountryMusicClassics-on@milepost1.com

If you do not receive a confirmation email within about
an hour click HERE for an alternate subscription method.

Hank Snow

Hank commented, "When I was just a kid, I'd go down to the train station and watch the old steam engines come in and go out.  I also read everything about them that I could get my hands on and I always loved the Jimmie Rodgers train songs.  So I guess it was a natural thing for me to write a train song.  I remember working on the lyrics to "The Golden Rocket" while we were on the road one night on the way from Chattanooga, Tennessee to North Carolina, where we were to perform the next afternoon."

"The Golden Rocket" entered the country music charts November 22nd, 1950 and made it to number one, where it stayed for two weeks.  It was Hank's 3rd charted single and was on the charts for 23 weeks.

ENJOY "STORY BEHIND THE SONG" AND MORE EACH WEEK BY
SUBSCRIBING TO COUNTRY MUSIC CLASSICS, A FREE DAILY NEWSLETTER.

For a FREE subscription send a blank email to:
CountryMusicClassics-on@milepost1.com

If you do not receive a confirmation email within about
an hour click HERE for an alternate subscription method.

Home  |  The Story Behind the Song  |  Questions & Answers  |  Links  |  Photo Gallery