John D. Loudermilk, 82, a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and
the author of enduring songs like "Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye," "Tobacco
Road" and "Indian Reservation," died September 21, 2016.
Over the last 60 years, Loudermilk's compositions have been recorded by an
eclectic collection of artists that ranges from George Hamilton IV to David Lee
Roth. "His uncommon brain was filled with amazing words and powerful music — or
vice versa," his friend, songwriter Bobby Braddock wrote in a Facebook post.
In 1961, when discussing his approach to songwriting, Loudermilk told The
Tennessean, "I'm looking for the most different thing I can find. Everybody's
writing 'I love you truly.' You've got to find something new. I talk to drunks
at the bus station, browse through kiddie books at the public library (and) get
phrases from college kids and our babysitter. You've got to be looking all the
time."
John D. Loudermilk was born March 31, 1934 in Durham, N.C. As a boy, he learned
how to play guitar. After high school, when he was working for a television
station, he discovered the works of Kahlil Gibran and was inspired to start
writing. One of the poems Loudermilk wrote was called "A Rose and a Baby Ruth."
He set it to music and performed it on the air. A fellow North Carolinian,
college student George Hamilton IV, recorded the song in 1956; it became a Top
10 hit on the pop charts. A few months later, rock 'n' roller Eddie Cochran
also experienced chart success with one of Loudermilk's songs: "Sittin' on the
Balcony," which Loudermilk had written and recorded under the name "Johnny
Dee." Loudermilk's version of the song cracked the Top 40; Cochran's, the Top
20.
As a recording artist, Loudermilk didn't experience anything near the success
he'd achieve as a songwriter working in Nashville. In the 1960s and 70s, scores
of artists across multiple genres recorded his songs, including the Everly
Brothers, the Casinos, Linda Ronstadt, Stonewall Jackson, Johnny Cash, Skeeter
Davis, Marianne Faithfull, James Brown and Glen Campbell. The Nashville Teens'
recording of of Loudermilk's "Tobacco Road" was a hit on both sides of the
Atlantic. In the last half-century, "Tobacco Road" has been recorded more than
200 times, most recently by Shawn Colvin and Steve Earle on their eponymous
2016 album.
A 1967 Tennessean article found legendary producer Chet Atkins praising
Loudermilk's sense of humor: "John is a very funny man. He has one of those
phone-answering machines, only his has a great BBC voice announcing 'The
residence of John D. Loudermilk, eminent composer." And all this is accompanied
by sonorous pipe organ music."
Earlier this year, Loudermilk's music was celebrated by a number of artists,
including Emmylou Harris, Bobby Braddock and Rodney Crowell during a tribute
show at the Franklin Theatre.
In addition to his 1976 induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame,
Loudermilk was a member of the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame. In 1968, he
won a Best Album Notes Grammy Award for the liner notes he penned for his
record "Suburban Attitudes in Country Verse." He has also been honored by the
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's "Poets and Prophets" series, which
salutes songwriters whose work has made a significant impact on the genre.
(This story is in progress and will be updated.)
Songs written by John Loudermilk include:"A Rose and a Baby Ruth""Break My
Mind""Everything's Alright""I Wanna Live""I'll Never Tell""Indian
Reservation""Sun Glasses""Talk Back Trembling Lips""Then You Can Tell Me
Goodbye""This Little Bird""Tobacco Road" "Turn Me On""Waterloo" (co-written
with Marijohn Wilkin)
Attached (if it is allowed) is "Tobacco Road" by the Nashville Teens.
Tallguy
