Bill Anderson's Blog, page 13
May 31, 2023
June 1, 2023
Hi Gang:
Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would be writing you in early June telling you that we have completely sold out of our initial order of the “1984” CD that just came out in May! More of you are evidently missing the traditional sounds of country music than I ever imagined!
Thank you so much for wanting to add these digitally mastered new/old country recordings to your collections. And thanks, too, for the nice letters you’ve been sending my way saying how much you’re enjoying listening to them…some of you “again” and many of you for the very first time. A new box of re-orders is sitting on my desk, so there should be no delays in my getting your copies signed and in the mail to you.
The record is also available for download on all your favorite sites, so if you prefer to get your music that way, have at it.
I’m in the studio this week recording some new material that I’m awfully excited about as well. Once CMA Fest is over and the music business gets back down to business, I should be able to put a plan in place for releasing some things you’ve never heard before. I’ll tease you by saying that some of it is among my favorite things I’ve ever written or recorded. I haven’t cut a new duet with Dolly, but I’ve got some other friends who might just be popping in to surprise you.
And speaking of CMA Fest, I won’t be as involved this year as I was in 2022 when my “As Far As I Can See” CD had just been released and I was signing autographs all over town, but I’ll have a small part in things just the same. I’ll be on both Opry shows the night of June 6th, on a music business panel June 7th at Marathon Music Works talking about the origins of the event first known as Fan Fair, and on the Opry again June 10th. I always seem to find a way to become involved in other unscheduled activities before the week is over, too, so if you’re coming to Nashville, keep your eyes and ears open for a guy walking around town whispering.
Since our exhibit at the Hall of Fame & Museum has been extended into September, maybe some of you who haven’t seen it yet will have a chance to take it in during CMA Fest. I might even spend a little time hanging around down there myself.
May was quite a month in Whisperville. In addition to the release of “1984” I had both a grandson, Gabe, and a granddaughter, Greta, graduate from high school, and some pictures to prove it later on in our newsletter. In addition, my son, Jamey, flew his first trans-Atlantic trips as a pilot for Delta Air Lines last month, getting to see Sweden, Denmark, and Scotland for the first time. He’s now starting to go places his ol’ man has never been, and those are few and far between. Grandson, Blake, who is on a mission trip in the Czech Republic, slipped while throwing a frisbee with some friends and may have broken his ankle. We are hoping it’s just a bad sprain.
It’s never dull around here, so be sure you join us again in July to keep up with all the latest. If you know anyone who might enjoy our newsletters I hope you’ll let them know and invite them to join with us. Have a great beginning to your summer, a Happy Father’s Day to all the dads, and I’ll see you back here next month. Thanks for everything.
Ask Bill – June 1, 2023
1) When they make shows or movies about country artists such as George & Tammy, Hank Williams Sr., and Johnny Cash, do you watch them? Or is it hard because you knew them in real life and maybe have a sense of what is real and what is fiction when it comes to their stories?
I do try to watch most of them, but sometimes it’s a bit difficult to swallow the Hollywood version of what I know really took place. Admittedly, some stick closer to the facts than others. I recall asking Hank Williams’ longtime steel guitar player, Don Helms, what he thought of the first movie about his former boss, “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” when it initially came out back in the sixties. He replied, “It’s all right if you like fiction.” In a way that pretty much sums up the overall genre for me.
2) Do you ever visit the cemetery to pay respect to some of your friends from the music business?
I don’t make a habit of hanging out in cemeteries, but, yes, I do visit the final resting places of some of my friends from time to time. It’s a bit difficult, though, because many of them are not buried in Nashville. And even among those who are, they are not interred in any one specific location. You can spend an entire day driving from one cemetery to another and still not get to them all.
3) In the 80’s there was a PBS series that used your recording, “Ride Off In The Sunset,” at the beginning and end of each episode. Do you know if the song was written specifically for that program or was it just chosen as the theme?
I never knew exactly how that particular recording got selected as the theme song to the series, “Six Gun Heroes,” but I’m glad that it did. I couldn’t believe the tremendous reaction I got from it. People who never heard of Bill Anderson became acquainted with me through those programs. Curly Putman and Bobby Braddock didn’t write the song specifically for the show, but it was a stroke of good fortune for us all when it was chosen.
4) Our Question Of The Month comes from Dave in California: One night during the Stump The Band segment of his show, Johnny Carson called the song you wrote for Jean Shepard in 1974 called, “At The Time,” the worst song he had ever heard. Did you ever get an apology from him? Or did you consider it a backhanded compliment that you got mentioned on his show?
I was a big Johnny Carson fan, and I happened to be watching the night someone in his audience tried to stump the band with my song. The man chose one of the “comparison” lines in the song…”If you’ve never had filet mignon..peanut butter tastes just fine”….or “If you’ve never been to Paris, France…Big Spring, Texas will suit you fine”….and Johnny went ballistic. He screamed, “That’s the worst song I have EVER heard!” as the audience roared. I got a big kick out of it and never asked for, nor did I expect, an apology. He didn’t mention my name, but I wouldn’t have cared. I don’t embarrass easily. Hey, I wrote “Peel Me A ‘Nanner,” too, remember??
Quickies: Do you have any plans to return to Commerce, Georgia, anytime soon? We love you here! And I love Commerce, too. I call it my “adopted hometown,” and I try to get back there as often as I can. Hopefully, I can arrange another visit sometime soon. Many years ago I had the pleasure of meeting you at a PoFolks Restaurant in San Diego. Do you know whatever happened to that wonderful chain of restaurants? Sadly, the chain filed for bankrupcty protection back in the mid-90’s. Only a few of the stores remain open, mostly in the panhandle area of Florida. I’d love to bite into one of those big fluffy biscuits ‘n cream gravy right about now! You and Jeannie Seely often appear on the Grand Ole Opry on the same nights. Have you ever considered doing some of the duets each of you has recorded at some time? I assume you mean the duets Jeannie sang with Jack Greene and the ones I recorded with Jan Howard and Mary Lou Turner. We’ve never talked about it, but it might be fun to try sometime. Why did you only record one record with the Swanee label, and why is the picture on the back of your new CD different from the back of the original LP? Swanee didn’t stay in business long enough for me to do more than the one album. We couldn’t find the negative from the original picture on the back cover, so we used the closest thing we could find. And before I sign off here, I was wrong last month when I wrote that my recording of “Suppertime” was never released on a compact disc. A label in the U.K. called Fat Boy Records released it on a CD titled, “I Wonder If God Likes Country Music.” Thanks to several of you for pointing that out.
And thanks, too, for sending in lots of interesting questions this month. If you’re curious about something connected my career or to country music in general you can ask me about it at AskBill@BillAnderson.com and I’ll do my best to answer. Submit our Question of the Month and win free merchandise from our online store. See you back here again in July.
Latest Photos
It was an exciting day when my grandson, Gabe, received his high school diploma on May 13th. Many of you know the health struggles Gabe experienced throughout his childhood and adolescence, and the fact that he was determined to not fall behind in his education speaks volumes as to his tenacity and his character. Many of you kept him in your prayers throughout his journey, and this picture is proof that all of our prayers were heard and answered. No less special was my granddaughter, Greta’s, graduation two weeks later. Greta fought her own battles, and persevered against some pretty big odds herself, and I’m extremely proud of her accomplishments. (You’ll note I wore the same blue coat and yellow pocket square to both graduations. Although Gabe and Greta went to different schools, both school colors are blue and gold. I wanted to be dressed appropriately for each occasion!) The third picture was taken on stage at the Country Music Hall of Fame when I was invited to lead the crowd in singing “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” at the end of a recent Medallion Ceremony. That song inside those hallowed walls provides a special moment in the life of anyone who loves country music.
May 29, 2023
May 29, 2023
I hope while you are out today enjoying your grill, your boat, your ice cream freezer, your nearby lake or beach, that you don’t forget to pause and remember why we celebrate Memorial Day in the first place.
An awful lot of brave men and women have laid down their lives over the years so that we can enjoy the wonderful blessing we have in this country called “freedom.”
It’s not asking too much, is it, that we pause for a moment this afternoon to remember?To say thank you…even though we might not recognize a face in a picture or a name on a wall?
These heroes were somebody’s brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, mothers, and fathers. The least we can do on this day is remember….and whisper, “Thanks.”
May 26, 2023
WHISPERIN’ BILL ANDERSON RELEASES 1984 AVAILABLE TO STREAM FOR THE FIRST TIME
Prolific songwriter and country music titan, Whisperin’ Bill Anderson releases 1984, a ten-song collection he recorded nearly 40 years ago for Swanee Records, available to stream for the first time. This is the 75th album release for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame member, whose illustrious career has spanned through an impressive seven decades. Anderson’s prior album release featured a duet with Dolly Parton, “Someday It’ll All Make Sense,” which inspired the 2023 GRAMMY® nominated bluegrass version.
To stream or download 1984, click HERE.
1984 TRACKLIST:
1. Pity Party
2. This Is The Goodbye (To End All Goodbyes)
3. Wino The Clown
4. I Never Lie To Ruby
5. Country Music Died Today
6. When You Leave That Way
7. With Her
8. Lorene
9. Second Thoughts
10. The Years Fall Away
Recently, The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum announced it extended its exhibition Bill Anderson: As Far as I Can See through Monday, Sept. 25. The exhibit opened in December 2021 and was originally scheduled to close in March of this year.
The exhibit traces Anderson’s story from his youth in Georgia, where he excelled as a baseball pitcher and sportswriter while in high school and a disc jockey in college, through his contributions as one of the most decorated recording artists and songwriters in history. Items featured in Bill Anderson: As Far as I Can See include historic photographs, treasured keepsakes, instruments, manuscripts and more. Touchscreen interactives also give visitors the opportunity to delve into Anderson’s songs and songwriting process through archival materials, performance clips and exclusive interview footage where Anderson reveals the stories behind his songs.
Learn more about the exhibit and reserve tickets on the museum’s website.
Anderson has placed 80 records on the Billboard charts as a recording artist, with his singles reaching country’s Top Twenty more than 40 times. His original songs have been recorded by a wide array of artists, including James Brown, Elvis Costello, Aretha Franklin, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Louvin Brothers, Dean Martin, Willie Nelson, Charley Pride, Connie Smith, George Strait and many more. As a songwriter, he’s placed songs on the country charts in seven consecutive decades, collaborating in recent years with artists Kenny Chesney, Jamey Johnson, Brad Paisley and many others.
window.ec=window.ec||{}; window.ec.storefront=window.ec.storefront||{}; window.ec.storefront.enable_navigation=true;window.ec.storefront.product_details_layout="TWO_COLUMNS_SIDEBAR_ON_THE_RIGHT";window.ec.storefront.product_details_gallery_layout="SINGLE_IMAGE";window.ec.storefront.product_details_two_columns_with_right_sidebar_show_product_description_on_sidebar=true;window.ec.storefront.product_details_two_columns_with_left_sidebar_show_product_description_on_sidebar=false;window.ec.storefront.product_details_show_product_name=true;window.ec.storefront.product_details_show_breadcrumbs=true;window.ec.storefront.product_details_show_product_sku=false;window.ec.storefront.product_details_show_product_price=true;window.ec.storefront.product_details_show_in_stock_label=true;window.ec.storefront.product_details_show_number_of_items_in_stock=true;window.ec.storefront.product_details_show_qty=false;window.ec.storefront.product_details_show_wholesale_prices=true;window.ec.storefront.product_details_show_product_options=true;window.ec.storefront.product_details_show_product_description=true;window.ec.storefront.product_details_show_delivery_time=undefined;window.ec.storefront.product_details_show_share_buttons=true;window.ec.storefront.product_details_position_product_name=100;window.ec.storefront.product_details_position_breadcrumbs=200;window.ec.storefront.product_details_position_product_sku=300;window.ec.storefront.product_details_position_product_price=400;window.ec.storefront.product_details_position_product_options=undefined;window.ec.storefront.product_details_position_buy_button=600;window.ec.storefront.product_details_position_wholesale_prices=700;window.ec.storefront.product_details_position_product_description=800;window.ec.storefront.product_details_position_delivery_time=undefined;window.ec.storefront.product_details_position_share_buttons=900;window.ec.storefront.product_details_position_subtitle=500;window.ec.storefront.product_details_show_subtitle=true;xProductBrowser("categoriesPerRow=3","views=grid(20,3) list(60) table(60)","categoryView=grid","searchView=list","defaultProductId=550337902","id=my-store-2977122");
May 19, 2023
Bill Anderson 1984
BILL ANDERSON 1984 TRACKLISTING:
1. Pity Party
2. This Is The Goodbye (To End All Goodbyes)
3. Wino The Clown
4. I Never Lie To Ruby
5. Country Music Died Today
6. When You Leave That Way
7. With Her
8. Lorene
9. Second Thoughts
10. The Years Fall Away
May 5, 2023
Bill Anderson Talks Music and God on This is Faith
Whispering Bill Anderson, a true country music icon and member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, Grand Ole Opry, and Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, is the latest guest on Today’s Nashville – This Is Faith. Check it out at
Today’s Nashville | This Is FaithTravel with me into the homes, barns, and studios of your favorite country and Christian music artists, authors and friends – hear their amazing stories of faith! ~Terry Squires Season 4
May 1, 2023
Latest Photos
I recently welcomed Terry Squires and a video crew from CTVN to my office for a sit-down interview. We talked about my career and my Christian faith, and how the two have intertwined over the years. You can access the interview at https://ctvn.org/watch-live/ beginning May 2nd. The second photo was taken the morning our local Exchange Club presented my grandson, Gabe, with a $1,000 college scholarship. They acknowledged Gabe’s amazing high school journey and invited him to say a few words. I didn’t have any buttons on my sweater, but if I had, they’d have been popping off with pride. There’s nothing quite like visiting with friends backstage at the Grand Ole Opry, and I had the chance to do just that recently with Jamey Johnson and Lorrie Morgan. You can tell from our smiles in picture number three that we were a trio of happy campers that particular Saturday night.
May 1, 2023
Hi Gang:
They call it the “Merry Month Of May,” and let’s hope that’s exactly what it turns out to be for all of us. Here in Whisperville, it’s definitely starting off on the right foot.
Our “1984” CD is out and available to our fan club members ahead of its national release date of May 26th. This is the music I recorded for a now-defunct record label back in the eighties. Not many people ever heard it, but hopefully, now they will as it is being released digitally for the first time.
The CDs are priced at only $20 with free shipping, and you can send for yours now and expect prompt delivery. All the ordering instructions are on down in the newsletter. If you’d rather wait and download your copy, those digital downloads will be available, as I said, on the 26th. Either way, I hope you will enjoy a helping of traditional country music…the kind you don’t hear very much of these days.
In addition to my promoting this old/new music, May is going to be busy on some other fronts as well. I’ve got several songwriting dates on the books, and four Grand Ole Opry appearances. We’ll be doing two Opry shows on Saturday the 13th, another on Tuesday the 16th, and a final May show on Saturday the 27th. You’re always welcome to come see us and to tune us in wherever you find our broadcasts.
On the personal side of things we’ve got two high school graduations coming up in our family this month and, needless to say, I am excited about both. The first, on May 13th, will be my remarkable grandson, Gabe, who in spite of fighting an incredibly long, hard battle with a rare form of cancer ever since he was six years old, somehow managed to keep up with his schoolwork and is receiving his diploma on schedule. So many of you have lifted Gabe up in your prayers throughout his journey, and our entire family thanks you. Your prayers…all of our prayers…have most assuredly been answered. I hope you share our joy in his accomplishments. Gabe plans to attend college in the fall and major in electrical engineering. He is truly a walking miracle.
My granddaughter, Greta, will be graduating two weeks after Gabe, and hers has been a different kind of journey although no less strenuous. Greta’s dad, Chuck, died of a brain tumor when she was 9-years old and in the 3rd grade. Losing her father at such a young age left emotional scars that most of us can only imagine. She has toughed it out, though, is graduating on time, and plans to attend college to study elementary education. She wants to be a teacher.
And before I leave the subject of family, I told you a few months back that my grandson, Blake, who is wrapping up his sophomore year in college, will be leaving this month for a six-week Christian missionary trip to The Czech Republic. I ask that you keep him and his group of 20-something fellow college students in your thoughts and prayers as well. Prague is a long way from the hills of Tennessee.
I am an extremely proud PawPaw, and thank you for allowing me to divert your attention away from the music business for these few lines to share my happiness and my pride with you.
Let me wish all you moms out there an especially Happy Mother’s Day coming up on the 14th. May you get to spend it with the people in your life who mean the most.
Thanks for all you mean to me, and thanks for allowing me time for another little visit this month. Hopefully, we’ll see all of you back here again in June. I send all best wishes to each of you….
Ask Bill – May 1, 2023
1) I have heard you worked with Ferlin Husky in your early days, and I wonder what it was like working with him. He seemed like a real character.
He truly was that! Ferlin’s publicity referred to him as the “Star of Any Stage He Steps On,” and he was that as well. Whether he was singing one of his million-sellers like “Wings Of A Dove” or “Gone”….or tickling the audience’s funny-bone as his alter-ego, Simon Crum…there wasn’t anybody in country music who could follow him onstage back in his heyday. I learned so much just standing in the wings watching him entertain, and he helped me so much personally. When he saw that I was having trouble accepting him and other artists impersonating me, he pulled me aside and said, “If you weren’t different, there wouldn’t be anything to impersonate,” and “If I didn’t like you, I wouldn’t give you the publicity!” Ferlin was one of my true heroes. I’m so glad I got to be a small part of his life during his primo years.
2) What country song do you believe to be the best song to capture the essence of country music?
Almost everyone says that “He Stopped Loving Her Today” is the perfect country song, and it’s hard to disagree with that. But again, like so many things in life, the “best” is often in the eyes and ears of the beholder. Country music is certainly about love, but it’s also about trains and trucks and Mama and home and prison and beer and dogs and peeling bananas and Jesus and just about anything else you can think of. I’ll say the “best” one is the one that best reaches out and touches your heart.
3) This is purely hypothetical, but if I were watching a Malpass Brothers performance on a cruise ship and I requested “Tips Of My Fingers,” and they sang it, are they obligated to slip you some royalty cash the next time you have lunch with them? Do you ever extend to friends the offer to freely perform your songs?
Once a song is licensed and out on the market, anyone can perform it on stage at any time. The writer is compensated through whichever performing rights society he or she is affiliated with. In my case, that would be BMI. The Malpass boys wouldn’t be obligated to pay me anything, but I’d be glad to let them buy me lunch!
Our Question Of The Month comes from Deb in Missouri: I just finished reading a book about Roger Miller. When he was awarded all those Grammy’s back in ’64 and ’65, some categories sounded the same to me. For “King Of The Road” and “Dang Me”, he won for SINGLE of the year and then for RECORD of the year. What makes them separate categories.?
I had our folks do some serious searching on this question because I didn’t understand the difference myself. It turns out that Roger won country music Grammy’s in 1964 for Single of the Year, Album of the Year, Male Vocal Performance, Song of the Year, and as Best New Artist. There was no such category as Record of the Year. Evidently, the book you were reading was in error.
Quickies: Have you ever recorded “Suppertime” on an album? I recorded it on an album that was only released on a cassette tape if you can believe that. The collection was called Yesteryear, and it was so obscure that up until recently I didn’t even have a copy myself. But, thankfully, I finally found one. Did you ever write any songs with Mel Tillis? No, because back in the day we were affiliated with different publishing companies and they wouldn’t split copyrights. I would love to have written with Mel. One of my favorite singers was James O’Gwynn. Did you know him and do many shows with him? I knew him and, in 1962, wrote one of his biggest hits, “My Name Is Mud.” I worked with him a couple of times on the Louisiana Hayride where he once let me borrow his guitar. It was one of the best sounding Martin’s that I’ve ever heard. You wrote a song, “You Lied To Me” that Tracy Byrd recorded. Did you ever record it. If not, why? Charlie Walker had the first record on that song, Tracy had the second, and Charley Pride recorded it in his final album. I never recorded it, but I’ve sung it on the Opry several times, once with Tracy. No real reason why I’ve never cut it…maybe I will someday. Do you know what happened to the inventory of LPs from Lawrence Brothers Record Shop that used to be on Broadway near the Ryman? I have no idea. Anybody?
So many good questions this month I couldn’t get to them all. If you have one, send it to me at askbill@billanderson.com and I’ll answer as soon and as best as I can. If yours is chosen Question Of The Month, you’ll receive any item of your choice from our online store absolutely free. Let me hear from you, and I’ll see you back here again in June.
