What No Songwriter Should Miss: Hank Cochran Documentary Premieres at Nashville Film Festival
April 26th, 2012
Note to songwriters: If you get within a hundred miles of a showing of the Hank Cochran documentary, “Livin’ for a Song,” get there. See it. It’s not just history, its a lesson for all songwriters from one of the greatest of all time.
There’ve been a lot of lines written about it and Hank …here’s part of what The Tennessean, Nashville’s daily put in a blog:
Friends, family members and fellow country stars were on hand to celebrate late country songwriting great Hank Cochran on Wednesday night at the Nashville Film Festival, where the documentary Hank Cochran: Livin’ For a Song held its world premiere.
Cochran, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Famer who composed “I Fall to Pieces” and “Make the World Go Away,” died in 2010 at 74.
Of course that’s a small part of his songwriting. His songs were recorded by pop as well as country artists during a career that spanned 50 years.
via Hank Cochran documentary premieres at Nashville Film Festival | Tune In Music City | The Tennessean.
Taylor Swift to Collaborate with Justin Bieber on New Song for Upcoming Album
April 12th, 2012
The girl gets around. Taylor Swift that is. Now it’s the turn of Justin Biever.
Justin Bieber has revealed that his upcoming album Believe, his third, will feature a songwriting collaboration with Taylor Swift. The U.K.s Capital FM Radio posted audio yesterday from a recent conversation with Bieber on the program Vodafone Big Top 40 in which Bieber announced the country-pop singer-songwriter will join Believes all-star guest list.
When asked whether the Swift collaboration would have a country flavor, Bieber replied in the affirmative and explained that Believe will reflect a diverse range of styles. “It doesnt stay in a box,” he explained. “Everything is so different and thats why Im so happy with this album.”
via Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift to Collaborate on New Song | Music News | Rolling Stone.
Bette Midler to be honored by Songwriters Hall of Fame
March 8th, 2012
It’s nice to see a true artist recognized by the Songwriters Hall of Fame for the way she has made hits and enduring standards of a number of songwriters’ work. We noticed this report in the Wall Street Journal, and couldn’t help but add something we think is important: the names of the two songwriters who created “The Wind Beneath My Wings,” the song that became Bette Midler’s signature work. The two co-writers are Larry Henley and Jeff Silbar. And maybe we’ll just throw in that the song was originally considered Country and won both the CMA and ACM awards for the version recorded by Gary Morris. Interestingly, a number of top artists passed on it when it was being pitched as a new song in Nashville. Here’s the WSJ article:
NEW YORK — Bette Midlers voice has helped make songs like “Wind Beneath My Wings” classics, and now she’ll be honored for that gift.
Midler is set to receive the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award at the Songwriters Hall of Fame on June 14 in New York. The organizations chairman, Jimmy Webb, says Midler “captivated the world” with her “stylish presentation and unmistakable voice, making each song her own.”Past Sammy Cahn honorees include Dick Clark, Neil Diamond and Tony Bennett.The Songwriters Hall of Fame is inducting Bob Seger, Gordon Lightfoot, Don Schlitz, Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones, and Jim Steinman this year.
via Bette Midler to be honored by Songwriters Hall – WSJ.com.
Is Dolly’s I Will Always Love You the Most Enduring Song of the Last 50 Years?
February 28th, 2012
By Norm Daniels
In a previous post, we made a big deal over this Dolly Parton song and pointed out that it was a great lesson in how a song could keep going and going. At the time, we didn’t give due credit for the song’s Billboard Hot 100 appearance in it’s first recorded version by Dolly herself. We probably didn’t remember that because we didn’t play it on Top Forty radio, our endeavor at the time. Not suitable for our 12-34 Miami audience.
Now we stand corrected. But the lesson remains. As reported by Billboard.biz:
“As previously reported, the late Whitney Houstons signature ballad “I Will Always Love You” jumps 7-3 on the current Billboard Hot 100. As the song initially spent 14 weeks at No. 1 in 1992-93 wrapping its reign exactly 19 years ago today, on the Feb. 27, 1993, chart, its only the second song ever to reach the top three in separate chart runs. Chubby Checkers iconic “The Twist” dominated at No. 1 in both 1960 for one week and 1962 two.
“Dolly Parton, the love song’s writer, first sent it to No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart the week of June 8, 1974. It became the third of Parton’s 25 leaders on the list, the most among women.
“Always” revisited the Hot Country Songs summit on the Oct. 16, 1982, chart, as Parton had re-recorded it for her film “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.”
More via Is I Will Always Love You the Most Enduring Song of the Last 50 Years? | Billboard.biz.
“Gambler” Writer, Don Schlitz, to Be Inducted Into Songwriters Hall of Fame
February 22nd, 2012
What do all songwriters hope to achieve? Whether they admit it or not, they all would like to achieve fame and fortune. Like maybe this one:
Don Schlitz, whose songwriting credits include Kenny Rogers “The Gambler,” will be inducted into the national Songwriters Hall of Fame during ceremonies on June 14 in New York City. This years inductees also include Gordon Lightfoot, Bob Seger, Jim Steinman and the songwriting team of Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones. “The Gambler,” Schlitzs first recorded song, won a Grammy for country song of the year in 1978. He and co-writer Paul Overstreet won another Grammy for country song of the year in 1988 for Randy Travis “Forever and Ever, Amen.” Schlitzs other songwriting credits include “On the Other Hand,” “I Feel Lucky,” “He Thinks He’ll Keep Her,” “Rockin With the Rhythm of the Rain,” “Deeper Than the Holler” and “When You Say Nothing at All.”
via CMT : News : Don Schlitz to Be Inducted Into Songwriters Hall of Fame in New York City.