1) As a child I had a stack of used 45-rpm records, among them many of yours. I was particularly taken with one called, “Country Music Died Today.” Now a lot of my friends and I are getting in arguments as to the validity of the song. I’d be interested in knowing if the song […]
1) Miss Kitty Wells was my favorite female singer. My question is how come you never recorded with her…or did you?No, I never did. Miss Kitty and I were on the same record label for many years, but during that time she cut duets with other label-mates such as Red Foley, Webb Pierce, Roy Drusky, […]
1) I heard you sing a song on TV one night and it said something about I know there was someone before me. What is the name of that song?It’s simply called, “Before,” and I wrote it along with Steve Wariner and Sharon Vaughn. It was from my “Fine Wine” album that Steve produced back […]
1) How is it determined which songs from an album will be released as singles?That’s a good question, but one of those that has no one-size-fits-all answer. Most of the time it’s a team decision, made by some combination of the artist, the producer, the record company, the promotion team, radio stations, and fans. Sometimes […]
1) Have you ever thought of doing a Country’s Family Reunion show during the CMA Festival?No, but I’m not in charge of when and where we record our shows. Since CFR doesn’t normally have a studio audience, though, I can’t see much advantage in taping during CMA Music Fest other than perhaps making more people […]
ASK BILL! 1) Do you “do things up” for Christmas in your home or is the decorating more subdued? Also wondering what you do to celebrate the New Year.When my kids were younger, we “did things up” a lot more than I do now. Now I let THEM do most of the decorating at their […]
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 […]