CMT Blog: Archive

Among the most memorable performances I've seen while living in Nashville is Tom T. Hall's appearance yesterday (Feb. 25) at Country Radio Seminar. "The Storyteller," as he's fittingly dubbed, entertained the crowd with an acoustic set and the quirky stories behind some of his biggest hits. He told us he moved to Nashville on Jan. 1, 1964, and that he doesn't do many performances anymore or interviews for that matter. In fact, he said he's tired of being asked the same questions about the state of today's country music. But if you really want to know, he thinks it's just fine. He believes music is an art form that continually changes and evolves. After all, what he's done has already been done.

Hall began his performance with "Homecoming," his 1969 single about a touring musician who visits the family home for the first time since his mother passed. He followed this with "The Day Year That Clayton Delaney Died," paying homage to a childhood hero, a singer and guitar picker he calls Clayton Delaney. He sang that Delaney once told him, "Son, you better put that old guitar away, there ain't no money in it. It'll lead you to an early grave." Hall playfully told the audience, "I'd give a hundred dollars if he could only see me now."

My favorite part of the showcase was hearing "I Love," a No. 1 hit in 1974 that he dedicated to his wife, Miss Dixie, sitting near the front of the audience. The delightful tune regarding his loves (coffee in a cup, little fuzzy pups, old TV shows and snow) was inspired by a friend who once told him to write down all of his pet peeves. Thinking this was a silly and rather negative idea, Hall did just the opposite and wrote all of his loves. He explained that the song took him five minutes to write, yet sold a million records. "You don't have to make such a fuss about a song," he told us. "Hell, just write it, sing it and wish yourself a lot of luck."