1) You mentioned in your fan club newsletter that you were having Thanksgiving dinner at your house for family and extended family. Who does the cooking? Are you a chef at heart and most of us don’t know?
I do enjoy cooking, but no, I am not a “chef” by any means. On Thanksgiving, I ordered a pre-cooked turkey with dressing and gravy, and each family brought a home-cooked side dish or two. We had mashed potatoes, green beans, squash casserole, mac and cheese for the kids, sweet potato casserole, fruit salad, apple pie, pumpkin pie….and those are just the dishes that I remember! Nobody left the table hungry, and if they did, it was their own fault.
2) When you write a song do you have a particular singer in mind to sing it? I love your song, “I’ll Go Down Swinging.” Did you write this with Porter Wagoner in mind or did he just like the song and decide to record it?
Very seldom do I write a song with a particular singer in mind….unless, of course, I am co-writing with the singer. Over the years I have mostly just written songs and allowed them to find their own homes. In the case of the song you mentioned, Porter had previously had a hit with another song of mine called, “I’ve Enjoyed As Much Of This As I Can Stand,” and he had asked me to bring him some more material. “I’ll Go Down Swinging” was among the songs I took him.
3) What song of yours did Walter Brennan record?
Actually, he recorded two, but the best known was his version of “Mama Sang A Song” in the early sixties. He took it quite high in the pop charts. On his album, he did another song of mine called, “The Green, Green Valley.” I never met Mr. Brennan, but I was a huge fan of his work. I truly treasure his recordings of my songs.
Thanks for continuing to keep me supplied with questions. Send any you might have to me at askbill@billanderson.com or via mail at P.O. Box 888, Hermitage, TN. 37076. See you back here again next month.
December 4, 2014 @ 6:37 pm
Sounds like you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family. There were 10 of us here at my place. My daughter and her family from Orlando, Florida and my youngest daughter and her family from around here. In fact I am going to be a great grandmother in March and it is going to be a girl. My first great grandchild. Your dinner sounded wonderful. I love to cook and had most of the same thing you had. Had dutch apple pie and also Pumpkin which I made. Also celebrated my birthday which was the 29th.
December 2, 2014 @ 8:32 pm
Your Thanksgiving dinner sounds like you ate with my family, right down to the mac and cheese for the little one.