Subject:  Tom T. Hall, Country Music Hall of Famer, Dead at 85 |
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Date Posted: Sat. 08/21/21 5:56:09am
Tom T. Hall, known for his hits including "I Like Beer," has died. He was 85.
The country singer died at his home in Franklin, Tennessee, on Friday morning, his son Dean confirmed "with great sadness" on social media.
"Our family asks for privacy during this difficult time," Dean wrote. No cause of death was given.
Hall was a renown country songwriter, having penned classics such as "That's How I Got To Memphis" and "Harper Valley P.T.A." (which is sung by Jeannie C. Riley). His songs earned him a spot in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1978.
In 2008, Hall was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame alongside Emmylou Harris, The Statler Brothers and Ernest Stoneman.
Over his decades-long career, Hall earned the nickname of country music's "storyteller," which was exemplified when Rolling Stone included him on its list of 100 Greatest Songwriters.
Hall was born on May 25, 1936 in Olive Hill, Kentucky. From a very young age, he pursued music, writing his first song — titled "Haven't I Been Good to You" — at just 9 years old. As a teenager, he played in a bluegrass band, the Kentucky Travelers.
In 1957, Hall joined the Army, where he would continue to perform on the Armed Forces Radio Network while stationed in Germany. After his deployment, the singer moved to Nashville in 1964 and began to pursue songwriting.
In addition to songwriting, Hall also spent his time writing novels. His titles include The Laughing Man of Woodmont Cove (1982), The Acts of Life (1986), Spring Hill, Tennessee (1990), and What a Book! (1996).
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After Hall met his wife Dixie, she became his closest collaborator until her death in 2015. The couple recorded bluegrass music — including Hall's last studio album Tom T. Hall Sings Miss Dixie and Tom T. — and put their efforts toward uplifting other bluegrass artists as well.
When Hall was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2019, singer Jason Isbell honored him by performing his song "Mama Bake A Pie (Daddy Kill A Chicken)."
On Friday, Isbell paid tribute to his late friend, writing: "The simplest words that told the most complicated stories. Felt like Tom T. just caught the songs as they floated by, but I know he carved them out of rock."
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