Died On This Date (September 8, 2017) Don Williams / Country Music Legend
themusicsover Don Williams
May 27, 1939 – September 8, 2017
The Country Music world mourns the loss of one of its most distinctive song stylists with the passing of Don Williams after a short illness. He was 78.
A native of Floydada, Texas, Williams was born May 27, 1939. He grew up in Portland, TX, graduating there in 1958. Music had always been a part of his upbringing, entering – and winning – a talent contest when he was just three years old. For his efforts, Williams received an alarm clock. He began playing guitar during his teen-age years, learning the songs that he heard on the radio during that period. He and his friends played in local bands around the area.
In 1969, Williams soon found his way to Nashville. By 1971, he had a songwriting contract with the publishing company owned by Jack Clement. The next year would see Williams ink a recording deal with Clement’s JMI Records. He made his chart debut with “The Shelter of Your Eyes” in 1973, and was soon hitting the charts time and again with a much more laid-back sound than a lot of the music coming out of Nashville at the time. 1974 would see Williams top the charts for the first time with “I Wouldn’t Want To Live If You Didn’t Love Me.” From that point all the way through 1991, each Williams single would hit the Top-40 on the Billboard Country charts. His 1970s hits included such chart toppers as “Tulsa Time,” “She Never Knew Me,” and “It Must Be Love.” His career grew steadily through label shifts to ABC/Dot, MCA, Capitol, and finally RCA. Williams also gained a devoted following overseas in such unlikely spots as England, Ireland, and New Zealand , and even South Africa and Kenya – where he reached superstar status. He was named the Male Vocalist of the Year by the Country Music Association in 1978.
The 1980s saw no slow-down in Williams’ recorded output, with the singer notching his biggest hit with 1981’s “I Believe In You,” which not only topped the Country charts, but crossed over to No. 24 on the Hot 100. By this time, he had earned the nickname “The Gentle Giant” for his trademark mellow sound, and the hits continued to pile up throughout the rest of the decade – “Stay Young,” “If Hollywood Don’t Need You,” and “One Good Well” being three of his biggest of the 1980s. His final top ten came in 1991, with “Lord Have Mercy On A Country Boy,” a song that Josh Turner – a Williams fan – would record in 2006.
Though the changing of the guard at radio slowed down Williams’ chart success, he continued to perform for sold-out crowds in America and abroad, playing a final tour in 2006. However, retirement was not in the cards for the singer, who returned to the road in 2010 – the same year that he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Williams’ return to the spotlight also included a pair of albums on Sugar Hill, 2012’s And So It Goes, and 2014’s Reflections, which included contributions from Alison Krauss, Vince Gill, and Keith Urban. It was a sign of his enduring appeal that both albums hit the Top-20 on the Billboard Country Albums charts – his biggest rank there in three decades.
In 2016, Williams decided that the time was right for his final performance, calling it a career after one of the most successful careers in the history of the Country Music business. “It’s time to hang my hat up and enjoy some quiet time at home. I’m so thankful for my fans, my friends and my family for their everlasting love and support,” the 76-year-old Williams said in a statement at the time. Last year also saw the final release of Williams’ career, a live CD and DVD recorded in Ireland. In 2017, the singer was the subject of a tribute album, Gentle Giants: The Songs of Don Williams, that included performances of his hits by artists such as Lady Antebellum and Garth Brooks. [Source: Webster Public Relations]
What You Should Own
Greg Trooper was a singer-songwriter who, besides building up a hefty library of his own releases, had songs recorded by Vince Gill, Steve Earle, Maura O’Connell, Robert Earle Keen, and Billy Bragg, among others. Born in Neptune, New Jersey, Trooper spent much of his teenage years frequenting folk venues of Greenwich Village. It served him well. After a detour to Kansas for college, he settled in New York City where he spent more than a decade playing clubs, pitching his songs, and recording his first couple of albums. By the mid ’90s, Trooper was living in Nashville where he released several more albums, working with producers like Buddy Miller and Garry Tallent of the E Street Band. Throughout his career, he released more than a dozen albums – the studio albums at least, to critical acclaim. During the summer of 2015, Greg Trooper was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer which took his life on January 15, 2017. He was 61.
Holly Dunn is perhaps best remembered for her 1986 country hit, “Daddy’s Hands,” but she had several more hits throughout the late ’80s and early ’90s. After graduating from college where she played in a local band, Dunn moved to Nashville to follow her dreams of becoming a country singer and songwriter. initially finding work as a session singer and songwriter for CBS Records, Dunn began turning heads when her (and brother Chris Waters‘) “I’m Not Through Loving You Yet,” became a top 10 hit for Louise Mandrell. The following year, she signed with MTM Records who released her self-titled debut which spawned three moderate hit singles until the fourth, “Daddy’s Hands,” brought her national acclaim. Over the course of her career, she released 10 albums which contained 21 charting singles. Outside of making records and touring, Dunn found time to work as a popular morning DJ at WWWW in Detroit, MI. She also co-hosted Opry Backstage for TNN for about two years. In 2003, she announced her retirement so she could spend more time on her other hobby, art. Her paintings have been displayed in a gallery in Santa Fe, NM. In March of 2016, Dunn was diagnosed with ovarian cancer which ultimately took her life on November 15, 2016. She was 59.