ASK BILL! 1) I recently watched a half-hour show on PBS called “The Songwriter,” which seemed fairly new, and featured you plugging your last book. It went very smoothly, and I wondered if the questions were submitted ahead of time. It seemed to be entirely spontaneous on your part. No, there was nothing submitted ahead […]
1) In 1988 you made an appearance on Nashville Now and you were singing a great song, but you lost your voice mid-song and had to stop singing. Do you remember that, and do you know the name of the song? I checked all of my albums and never found it. Great song whatever it […]
ASK BILL! 1) Does the Grand Ole Opry dressing room that Roy Acuff used still have some of his pictures on the walls and his sign on the door? Yes. Opry Dressing Room #1, now called “Mr. Roy,” has been preserved much as Mr. Acuff left it, and the door remains open during the shows […]
1) What song did you write that Debbie Reynolds recorded? She recorded “City Lights” back in 1958. 2) How does a singer’s estate (after they pass away) keep making money? And if there are no heirs, who gets that money? When an artist or a songwriter passes away, the royalty stream from their creative works […]
1) How are the guests picked to perform on the Grand Ole Opry? That’s a great question, and I reached out to our talent coordinator, Gina Keltner, for the answer: “Thie Grand Ole Opry is a one-of-a-kind production where all genres of country music are represented. An ideal show will include a mix of the […]
1) The song, “Until The Light Comes On Again,” has some very haunting lyrics in it, and I was wondering if it was written about death, depression, or something else? What is the real meaning of the lyrics? On the video and on the recording that is available for download, I take several seconds to […]
1) Has there ever been a song you could have recorded and didn’t…or a song you have turned down…that charted top ten or even gone to #1?? Yes. I had first crack at “Funny How Time Slips Away,” before it became a big hit for Billy Walker. Willie Nelson, who wrote it, sang it for […]
1) Is there a song or two in your catalog you felt particularly strong about that you think failed to reach its full potential? Something you think you should have done better? I always think I could have done a song better. I’m not sure any artist is ever truly satisfied with their work. One […]
1) Hank Williams’ publisher kept little scraps of unfinished songs of his, and awhile back they had writers like Bob Dylan and Vince Gill try to finish the lyrics or provide a melody for these songs. Do you have notebooks of unfinished songs that may get left behind for future songwriters and artists to try […]
Lots of your questions this month only require short answers, so I’ll try to get to as many of them as I can…even combining several questions into one: 1) Is Country’s Family Reunion planning a cruise to Alaska? I would be very interested in that one. And does Larry Black ever plan on a tribute […]