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Hi Gang:
There was a time….long ago and far away….when I thought George Hamilton IV and I were going to share a branch on the same family tree.
My daughter, Terri, and his son, Chip (better known today as George Hamilton V), came into the den at the Hamilton’s house one Sunday afternoon and announced to both families that they planned to get married. They were either four or five-years old at the time.
Obviously, the romance didn’t last, but the friendship and the love between and Anderson family and the Hamilton family has never wavered in the fifty years that have followed. When we learned of George the 4th’s passing Wednesday night, our eyes filled with tears but our minds overflowed with precious memories.
My former wife, Bette, and George’s wife, Tink, were like sisters. In the early days, when their husbands were both out on the road trying to carve out a place inside the country music business, they kept the children in clean clothes, saw that the lawns were mowed, and good food always in the ‘fridge in anticipation of the day their wandering troubadours would return home. In later years, as Bette began to grow weak from the effects of cancer, Tink was constantly at her side, planting flowers, giving her encouragement, laughing, loving our daughters, and just doing the things longtime friends do for one another. At Bette’s family-only graveside service in 2010, George and Tink were there because they WERE family.
To my daughters, Tink was like a favorite aunt, and they never lost touch with the Hamilton kids, even during the time when their family moved back to North Carolina in the seventies and early eighties. Terri told me as we shared the news of George’s passing, that when the Hamiltons came back to Tennessee, it was like the conversation picked up in mid-sentence. It felt as if they had never left. That happens only in the case of longtime, loving friends.
As recently as a few weeks ago, my son, Jamey, who is James William Anderson IV, was talking with George backstage at the Opry house, and for the ump-teenth time George pointed to the signature “IV” on his stage coat pocket, and said, “You know I want you to have this when I’m gone.” They both laughed, never suspecting that the “when I’m gone” would come so soon.
There’s no way to measure how many miles George and I shared out on tour, both in the U.S., across Canada, and overseas. He opened my eyes to the possibilities of country music reaching far beyond our borders when we performed at the very first International Festival Of Country Music in London back in 1969. He introduced me to music that came from people like Gordon Lightfoot and Joni Mitchell and James Taylor, artists I had been slow to discover on my own. He recorded several of my songs over the years, and we appeared on television together both in the U.K. and here at home. He was regularly in the circle at our Country’s Family Reunion get-togethers, and shared with our viewers some of the most interesting, funny, and poignant stories in the history of those programs.
I got the news of his heart attack Saturday night when I arrived backstage at the Opry. I reached out to the family, and was privileged to spend a few moments with them prior to his passing.
Chip reminded me last night on the phone of how his dad used to talk about his having sung his favorite song, “Life’s Railway To Heaven,” at both his father’s and his grandfather’s funerals. And he would always say, “I hope someday George the 5th will sing it at mine.”
He will, George, and we’ll all be singing it with him. You have “crossed the trestle spanning Jordan’s chilling tide”…..and your train has pulled safely and successfully into the depot. …just as you sang that it would.
For years I carried a clipping in my wallet that read: “The day you were born everyone laughed. You cried alone. Make your life such that in your final hours everyone else is crying and you are the only one without a tear to shed.”
George lived that kind of life. We’ll miss you, pal….but like you sang in the words of another beautiful song written by your son, “We Will Meet Again.”
Thank you for blessing my life.
November 7, 2014 @ 1:07 am
George Hamilton IV, Was form my home town, Winston-Salem,N.C. He use to sing and play on my Uncle radio show in W.S. After got out of school he would go by the radio station and play. He new my Uncle Mr. Scott and my Aunt Bobbie. The last time he was in Wilmington, N.C. he talk to my Aunt. My Uncle had pass away a few years ago. George was a wonderful man. We all love him here. He came home to stay. With our Lord.
October 2, 2014 @ 5:06 pm
What a wonderful letter. Brought tears to my eyes. You were a great friend.
September 24, 2014 @ 3:40 pm
Bill, I was listening to Dallas Wayne yesterday, and he said ever one should read what Bill Anderson wrote about his pal George Hamilton IV. Thanks Dallas and thank you bill for sharing with us about your pal. It is a great tribute to a great country artist.
September 23, 2014 @ 10:22 am
What a beautiful letter, Thank you for sharing it.
September 23, 2014 @ 8:12 am
Beautiful letter, Bill–it made us cry. Thank you for sharing your sweet memories–we will miss our dear friend, George Hamilton IV–
Love you Bill–Michele & Jimmy
September 23, 2014 @ 3:34 am
What a wonderful letter, Bill. That is true friendship. It made me misty. So glad we got to see him when we did. He will be missed.
September 23, 2014 @ 1:58 am
Thanks Bill for that wonderful tribute from another good guy in CW music. Years ago .George played a show here in Sioux Falls with Sherwin Linton,an upper Midwest legend, who was enjoying some national success. George let him close the show.That’s the kind of humble kindness that George was made of.
September 22, 2014 @ 9:37 pm
What a wonderful letter… but, how would I ever have expected any less from you, Bill? Blessings to you.
September 22, 2014 @ 7:30 pm
So sorry for the loss Bill… I KNOW how hard it is to loose loved ones. Know that my prayers are with you and that he is in a better place now.
Always, Sally
September 22, 2014 @ 4:17 pm
A great tribute from one country music legend to another. Thank you, Bill, for sharing this with the rest of us.
September 22, 2014 @ 3:21 pm
Thank you so much for such a beautiful letter for such a Godly man who has blessed countless lives and will continue to bless. I rarely miss Country Family Reunion on Friday evenings, and do so appreciate you Mr. Anderson!
September 22, 2014 @ 1:04 pm
What a beautiful story Bill about true friendship and a life long relationship not only with you and George but of your families as well. I have a lifelong friend like that so I understand. God Bless you and your family and Georges family respectfully, Mick Dwyer Charles Town, West Virginia
September 22, 2014 @ 10:25 am
Thank you Bill for sharing. We have loss another great but boy are they doing some visiting in heaven. I know daddy(Cousin Bud) was there to greet him.
September 22, 2014 @ 9:37 am
Bill that was a really lovely letter.Cheers Luce …
September 22, 2014 @ 9:10 am
What an awesome friend, my dad was a steel player from the 60s till he died in 2000, he always spoke highly of people like you and George.
September 22, 2014 @ 7:37 am
Simply beautiful, Mr. Anderson. You have brought tears to my eyes. I cried when I heard that George had passed. He was not only as amazing artist, but he was such a historian. He had so much knowledge about the music he sang and the places he travelled. I will miss him on the CFR shows. I am truly sorry for the loss of your friend.
September 22, 2014 @ 4:16 am
Well said, from one true legend about another one. I posted earlier that George IV was definitely the poster child for a true gentleman. I know he will be missed by not only his family and friends, but his fans as well. He not only talked the talk, but he walked the walk, simply said, he was an amazing man.
September 22, 2014 @ 4:14 am
Thank you Mr. Anderson. Never have I read more breautiful words. I have loved him since The Jim Thornton Show and I might add I am quite few years younger than George IV. I had pleasure to meet him and his lovely wife when my husband and I were married in 2003. I’m thinking it was at a theater in Pigeon Forge. They announced a honeymoon couple and after the show they came up to us in the lobby to congratulate us. I thought how unusual for that to happen. Gosh I was so tickled, just that they spoke to us. Those pictures from that night are now even more treasured to me. Please give Mrs. Hamilton my love.
I wish with all my heart CMT would televise his memorial . He is just as worthy as others who they have done that for. I appreciate the family privacy but if its going to be a memorial please let us all pay tribute to the” Ambassador”. He is loved and respected so much. Thank you for hopefully reading this…….Connie Blizzard, Nashville, N.C.
September 22, 2014 @ 3:50 am
Bill, I have been a fan of yours since the 70″s & I believe you have written the most beautiful tribute to George IV! I have been a fan of George’s since 1966 when he recorded Gordon Lightfoot’s “Early Morning Rain”! The last time I had the privilege of hearing him in person was in the mid-1980″s and, having been honored to call him friend, had the pleasure of having dinner with him at Shoneys near the Opryland Hotel where I was staying. He was a true gentleman!
September 19, 2014 @ 4:29 am
Bill, no one could have said it better. You truly have a special
gift for placing words on paper that will live on in others’ memories.
September 18, 2014 @ 10:11 pm
George was a talented, likeable entertainer. We will miss his wit and storytelling. So sad to see him go but so thankful God shared him with us for all these years. Thank you for taking the time to tell us of your friendship.
September 18, 2014 @ 8:03 pm
He was a good man.
September 18, 2014 @ 5:12 pm
thank you bill for the letter, I think that Is what good friends do. my feeling about George is , he was always shareing his memories and teaching. he is and will be missed my prayers go to his family and friends every where.
September 18, 2014 @ 4:04 pm
Bill Anderson, what a beautiful and fitting tribute to such a dignified man and friend. You’ll touch so many hearts with this!
September 18, 2014 @ 3:23 pm
I don’t believe I have ever read a better letter after the passing of a true friend.