Ask Bill – June 2, 2025

1) How well did you know Patsy Cline? Did you get along with her and like her? Also, was she really as close to Loretta Lynn as Loretta said? I find it odd that there is not one picture anywhere of Patsy and Loretta together.

I knew Patsy very well and toured with her quite a bit as we shared the same booking agent. She was funny and fun and I liked her a lot. As to her relationship with Loretta, I really can’t say. I find it strange, if it’s true, that there is no picture of the two of them together. I have several pictures of Patsy and me together, including one taken a week to the day before she was killed.

2) What kind of watch do you wear? I have seen you wear it for years, and I’ve I noticed it was a very unique and beautiful piece.

Thank you. My watch was a gift to me from the Atlanta Braves when they became National League baseball champions back in 1995. They went on to win the World Series that year. I was in their clubhouse during Spring Training the following season when the people came to hand out their championship jewelry. One of the coaches pointed to me and said, “He’s one of us. Give him whatever he wants,” and that’s how I got the watch. It’s probably not worth a large amount of money, but you can only imagine how special it is to me.

3) As you approach your 64th anniversary as a member of the Grand Ole Opry, which Opry star has been the most popular with his or her fellow Opry stars during your Opry career? I’m not looking for the Opry star you all wanted to watch perform, but whose dressing room did everyone want to visit?

That’s a very interesting question. Roy Acuff always kept the door to Dressing Room #1 wide open, and there was usually a group of fellow artists moving about inside. Vince Gill continues that tradition in Mr. Roy’s former room today. Room #2 was, and continues to be, the bluegrass music hangout, and because of legends like Bill Monroe, the Osborne Brothers, and Jim & Jesse, all the serious acoustical pickers always made themselves at home in there. I personally loved to park myself in Dressing Room #3 when Little Jimmy Dickens was on the show. You never knew what might happen when the ‘Tater was holding court inside. Minnie Pearl was also extremely popular with her fellow performers as were artists like Grandpa Jones, Bill Carlisle, and Jean Shepard.

4) Question Of The Month: This month’s Question of the Month has to do with songwriting, and it comes from Jeff in Indiana. It’s actually more than one question as he grouped several of them together: “When you write songs, do you write the lyrics or the melody first? How many songs would you say you have written? What is the shortest amount of time it has taken you to write a song, and what is the longest?”

I gravitate toward the stories in country songs, so I usually write from a lyrical idea first. I tend to let the lyric suggest the melody. I have no idea how many songs I have written. I tell folks I’ve been too busy writing them to stop and count. It’s bound to be in the thousands, though, especially if you consider all the ones I threw into the trash! I’ve written songs in 20-minutes (Hank Williams is quoted as once having said if it took longer than that it probably wasn’t worth writing) and I once spent three years working on one. There’s no set pattern. Each individual song seems to take on a life and personality of its own.

QUICKIES: I remember as a child hearing a song called, ‘Please, mommy, won’t you put my little shoes away.’ Have you ever heard it? The actual title is, “Put My Little Shoes Away,” and I’ve heard it all right. I’ve always thought it was one of the saddest songs ever written. A man named Riley Puckett had the original recording of the song back in the 1920’s, but I recall hearing the great Mac Wiseman sing it on many occasions. Bill Monroe also recorded it, but If I remember correctly, Mac’s rendition was the most popular. I can’t afford to come to Nashville, but I’ve been told that if I make copies of the songs I write and mail one to myself I can protect my songs for copyright purposes. Is this true? Yes, I have been told that it is. Send the songs to yourself by either Certified or Registered mail, and do not open them when they arrive. If any question ever arises as to whether or not you wrote the songs, you will have dated postmark proof that you did. I’ve seen some of your flashy stage clothes on various older shows. Do you have these exhibited any place? Several pieces of my older stage wear were on display at the Hall of Fame when my exhibit was there a few years ago. When the exhibit closed, I donated several of them to the Hall, but whether or not they are currently on display I can’t say. I’ve given others to various entities over the years, including the Tennessee State Museum. I saw you and Becky as guests on Tattletales recently and wondered if you still get residuals for airings of those shows? Yes, and if I add all the residuals together for a year or two I might end up with enough to buy a cup of coffee! Now that Dailey & Vincent are recording their TV shows in studios at the Opry, I’m wondering if they would have you on one of their shows? It would be great! Thanks. I was on one of their shows when they first started producing them several years ago, but my invitation to appear with them again must have gotten lost in the mail. Maybe one of them will read this and it will serve as a reminder!!

I’m only teasing, but I’m serious when I say that, as always, I appreciated your questions this month and I thank those of you who sent them in. We’ll do this again in July, so if you’re curious about anything connected to me or to country music in general let me know. My address is askbill@billanderson.com, and remember if you submit our Question Of The Month you’ll receive any item of your choosing from our online store free of charge. I’ll look forward to hearing what’s on your mind.