Mandy Barnett Invited Into Grand Ole Opry Membership By Connie Smith

After 500 appearances on the Grand Ole Opry stage, Mandy Barnett was invited to become a member of the historic membership tonight by Connie Smith, who just might have been as choked up about it as Mandy was... 

BREAKING: @mandybarnett has been invited to become the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry by @RealConnieSmith! pic.twitter.com/oxABjD2aMI

— Grand Ole Opry (@opry) September 29, 2021

Barnett has been singing since she was a child, performing at churches, local venues, as well as Dollywood. In her musical career, she has released eight albums and charted three singles on the Billboard country charts. Her highest-charting country single is "Now That's All Right With Me", which reached No. 43 in 1996. Barnett has also held the titular role in the musical Always… Patsy Cline, a musical based on the life of Patsy Cline, which opened in 1994 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. She has performed the role in nearly 500 performances over a 20-year period. In addition, she has been a regular on the Grand Ole Opry, appearing nearly 500 times since her debut in 1994. Barnett continues to tour, performing with bands and symphonies around the world, including the Nashville Symphony and Detroit Symphony Orchestra. On August 13, 2019, Barnett made her cabaret debut at Feinstein's/54 Below in New York City. Barnett, along with Garth Brooks, Emmylou Harris, Vince Gill and others performed at the 2019 Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum Concert and Induction Ceremony; among the inductees were producer Owen Bradley, Steve Wariner and Alabama. On September 28, 2020 The Tennessee Department of Tourist Development honored Barnett with the unveiling of a “Tennessee Music Pathways” marker at the historic downtown square in her Tennessee hometown of Crossville.  Barnett released her eighth studio album on May 7, 2021 titled "Every Star Above", paying tribute to Billie Holiday's "Lady in Satin." It was the final album orchestrated by Sammy Nestico prior to his death. The album reached number one on the iTunes Jazz Charts one day after its release, and it was named one of the best albums of 2021 by Variety magazine.

Tribute Album To Honor Roger Miller Recruits Brad Paisley, Eric Church, Kacey Musgraves, Willie Nelson, Dozens More

Artist: Multiple
Album: King of the Road: A Tribute to Roger Miller
Label: BMG
Release date: August 31

King of the Road: A Tribute to Roger Miller, out Aug. 31 via BMG, pays long overdue respects to one of American music's premier entertainers and songwriters. The two-disc collection contains new renditions of Miller's songs by Ringo Starr, Dolly Parton, Eric Church, Loretta Lynn, John Goodman and more than two dozen others, including Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson and Merle Haggard on one track. Produced by Miller's son, Dean Miller, and Colby Barnum Wright, 'King of the Road' offers a fresh look at the work of a creative giant who has been gone 26 years but whose genius continues to shape contemporary music in ways both overt and subtle.

Before Miller's premature death of cancer at age 56, the Country Music Hall of Famer had 31 Top 40 Billboard country hits (10 of which crossed over to the pop chart), including his signature songs "Dang Me" and "King of the Road." He held the record for most GRAMMY wins in a single night until Michael Jackson and 'Thriller' broke it in 1984. Miller wrote songs and voiced a character for Walt Disney's 1973 Robin Hood film. He also wrote the music and lyrics for the Tony-winning Big River, helping launch the career of actor John Goodman, who reprises the musical's "Guv'ment" on 'King of the Road.' As Dean Miller writes in liner notes accompanying 'King of the Road,' "Roger Miller was too gigantic to be contained by genres and definitions."

'King of the Road' includes versions of Miller's biggest '60s hits, like "Chug-A-Lug" (Asleep at the Wheel ft. Huey Lewis) and "England Swings" (Lyle Lovett), and lesser-known treasures from a catalog full of gems. As with Miller's own output, the album contains plenty of unexpected turns -- country superstar Eric Church's playful take on Robin Hood's "Oo De Lally," for instance, or Starr's selection of "Hey, Would You Hold It Down?," a song from Miller's long-out-of-print 1979 'Making a Name for Myself' album. By any standard of measurement, Miller was "one of the greatest songwriters that ever lived" -- even if he did say so himself. And he did, in the first of a handful of the album's live-performance interstitials that capture the spontaneous wit of a mind that operated at a breakneck pace.

The scope of material and performances on 'King of the Road' both capture Miller's personality and convey an astonishing legacy that's still felt today. "Roger Miller didn't have to say much," Dean writes in the liners. "You were simply drawn to him. He had a magnetic smile, and electric wit and a passion for life and music that transcended generations."

'King of the Road: A Tribute to Roger Miller' Tracklist:
Disc One
Greatest Songwriter (Banter)
Chug-a-Lug - Asleep at the Wheel ft. Huey Lewis
Dang Me - Brad Paisley
Leavin's Not the Only Way to Go - The Stellas/Lennon and Maisy
Kansas City Star - Kacey Musgraves
World So Full of Love - Rodney Crowell
Old Friends (Banter)
Old Friends - Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard
Lock Stock and Teardrops - Mandy Barnett
You Oughta Be Here With Me - Alison Krauss ft. The Cox Family
The Crossing - Ronnie Dunn, The Blind Boys of Alabama
In the Summertime - The Earls of Leicester ft. Shawn Camp
Fiddle (Banter)
England Swings - Lyle Lovett
You Can't Rollerskate in a Buffalo Herd - Various Artists
Half a Mind - Loretta Lynn
Invitation to the Blues - Shooter Jennings, Jessi Colter
It Only Hurts Me When I Cry (Live) - Dwight Yoakam

Disc Two
Hey, Would You Hold It Down? - Ringo Starr
Engine, Engine #9 - Emerson Hart ft. Jon Randall
When Two Worlds Collide - Flatt Lonesome
Oo De Lally - Eric Church
You Can't Do Me This Way and Get By With It - Dean Miller ft. The McCrary Sisters
Chicken S#$! (Banter)
Nothing Can Stop Me - Toad the Wet Sprocket
Husbands and Wives - Jamey Johnson ft. Emmylou Harris
I Believe in the Sunshine - Lily Meola
Guv'ment - John Goodman
Old Songwriters Never Die (Banter)
The Last Word in Lonesome Is Me - Dolly Parton ft. Alison Krauss
I'd Come Back to Me - Radney Foster ft. Tawnya Reynolds
Reincarnation - Cake
One Dying and a Burying - The Dead South
Do Wacka Do - Robert Earl Keen, Jr.
King of the Road - Various Artists

That Nashville Sound Thursday Newsbytes: Lost Trailers, Mandy Barnett, Lindsay Ell, Kenny Chesney & More

I'm blaming the 100 degree weather yesterday in my neck of the woods on the hot news in today's news round-up on That Nashville Sound. Seems logical, right?  We've got some news on some new projects and a couple of new music videos.

- Sublime vocalist Mandy Barnett will have a new album out on September 28 called Strange Conversation.

- A decade after their smash single "Holler Back", The Lost Trailers are back and have a new EP called Old Friends coming out tomorrow, 6/15.

- The Song Suffragettes just celebrated their fourth anniversary as an all-female music collective and had a unique cover of TLC's "No Scrubs" this last Monday featuring Kelleigh Bannen, Alys Ffion, Kalie Shorr, Candi Carpenter and Tegan Marie.

- Lindsay Ell has a new music video for her song "Dreaming With A Broken Heart."

- Ziggy Marley, Mindy Smith and Jimmy Buffett are guest vocalists on Kenny Chesney's upcoming 7/27 release Songs for the Saints. 

- Rodney Crowell has a new music video for his recut of "Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight." 

The Day The Music Died: To Those Country Music Lost in 2017

Glen Campbell

K.F. Raizor, author of the website Raizor's Edge and the book We Can't Sing and We Ain't Funny: The World of Homer and Jethro is our guest writer today on That Nashville Sound. She's ever so gracious to provide wonderful tributes to honor those to whom the music we treasure just wouldn't be the same without. Thank you, K.F.

Here are the people from the world of country and bluegrass who sang their final song in 2017.

Tommy Allsup (January 11, complications from hernia surgery, age 85): album producer, western swing performer, and session guitarist who lost his seat on the ill-fated Buddy Holly plane in February 1959.

Chuck Berry (March 17, heart attack, age 90): rock and roll's daddy had a major impact on country music as well, with enough Chuck Berry-penned tunes becoming country hits to warrant his induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Billy Joe Burnette (December 29, 2016, heart attack, age 76): rockabilly singer-songwriter who wrote the Red Sovine cross-over tear-jerker "Teddy Bear."

Dr. Benjamin H. Caldwell Jr. (May 8, long illness, age 82): a Nashville physician who did country music a gigantic favor in the 1970s by spearheading a movement to save the Ryman Auditorium from demolition.

Glen Campbell (August 8, Alzheimer's disease, age 81): session guitarist and one-time Beach Boy who became a massive success in country and pop, earning his way into the Country Music Hall of Fame. His poignant farewell albums and public battle with Alzheimer's put a familiar face on the dreaded disease.

Steve Chapman (July 29, unknown cause, age 74): guitarist who worked with Ernest Tubb, Bill Anderson, and Mandy Barnett.

Dave Evans (June 26, long illness, age 66): bluegrass performer who worked with Larry Sparks and had his own band, Dave Evans & the River Bend.

Bob Forshee (May 11, unknown cause, age 80): country music songwriter who penned Darrell McCall's early hit "A Stranger Was Here" as well as songs recorded by Jimmy C. Newman, Jan Howard, and others.

Troy Gentry (September 8, helicopter crash, age 50): half of the 90s/00s superstar duo Montgomery Gentry.

Wendell Goodman (May 21, unknown cause, age 81): husband and manager of rockabilly and country legend Wanda Jackson.

Hairl Hensley (December 31, illness, unknown age): Country Music DJ Hall of Fame member who was the voice of the Grand Ole Opry and early-morning bluegrass music on WSM for decades.

Alan Jabbour (January 13, cancer, age 74): old-time fiddler who was the founding director of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.

Blake Johnson (June 4, heart attack, age 33): bluegrass musician who worked with Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out, James King, and others.

Michael Johnson (July 25, long illness, age 72): singer and songwriter who had country ("Give Me Wings," "The Moon Is Still Over Her Shoulder") and pop ("This Night Won't Last Forever," "Bluer Than Blue") hits.

Danny Lee Jones (February 3, cancer, age 77): bluegrass musician who was a member of Bluegrass Alliance and the Bluegrass Generation, and worked with the Goins Brothers and Bill Monroe.

Rhubarb Jones (April 2, heart attack, age 65): Country Music DJ Hall of Fame member who also announced for the WWF.

Pete Kuykendall (August 24, long illness, age 79): bluegrass songwriter (under the pseudonym "Pete Roberts"), performer (as part of the Country Gentlemen), and promoter. His love of bluegrass led to the founding of the premiere magazine for the genre, Bluegrass Unlimited.

Sam Lovullo (January 3, natural causes, age 88): the producer of the long-running country comedy variety series Hee Haw.

Geoff Mack (July 21, natural causes, age 94): Australian country singer/songwriter whose best-known song was "Americanized" into the huge Hank Snow hit "I've Been Everywhere."

Don Markham (February 24, long illness, age 85): "Here comes Don!" was Merle Haggard's typical introduction to the saxophonist who played with Haggard's band the Strangers after leaving Johnny Paycheck's band.

Grover "G.C." McCoury (February 27, stroke, age 87): the older brother of Del McCoury had his own regional bluegrass act, the McCoury Family.

Billy Mize (November 1, long illness, age 88): Bakersfield Sound singer and songwriter, best-known for writing the Charlie Walker hit "Who Will Buy the Wine."

Leon Rhodes (December 10, illness, age 85): one of the great guitarists in country music who made a huge mark on the sound of Ernest Tubb (remember Tubb's call of "and Leon!" in "Waltz Across Texas").

Kayton Roberts (July 13, stroke, age 83): Steel Guitar Hall of Fame member who played for years with Hank Snow.

Curly Seckler (December 27, natural causes, age 98): Bluegrass Hall of Fame member who was part of Charlie Monroe's Kentucky Partners, Flatt & Scruggs' Foggy Mountain Boys and member of Flatt's "Nashville Grass."

Mark Selby (September 18, cancer, age 56): session musician (Kenny Rogers, Wynonna), singer, and songwriter (including the Grammy-winning "There's Your Trouble" by the Dixie Chicks).

Ben Speers (April 7, Alzheimer's disease, age 86): member of the legendary southern gospel group the Speers Family.

Billy Stewart (March 24, illness, age 85): the brother of Redd Stewart who served as fiddler for Little Jimmy Dickens, Lonzo & Oscar, and others on the Opry in the 1950s.

Tammy Sullivan (April 21, cancer, age 52): part of the bluegrass gospel band the Sullivan Family.

Mel Tillis (November 19, respiratory failure, age 85): Hall of Fame singer and songwriter with a career that spanned six decades.

Greg Trooper (January 15, pancreatic cancer, age 61): Americana singer/songwriter who had his songs covered by acts such as Steve Earle and Vince Gill.

Jo Walker-Meador (August 16, stroke, age 93): the longest-serving executive director of the Country Music Foundation, she was responsible for the expansion of the CMA, the Hall of Fame, and country music as an industry.

Don Warden (March 11, natural causes, age 87): Steel Guitar Hall of Fame member who played in Porter Wagoner's band and became Dolly Parton's manager beginning in 1967.

Don Williams (September 8, short illness, age 78): Country Music Hall of Fame singer and songwriter known as "the Gentle Giant" for his quiet baritone voice that delivered over 40 years' worth of love songs to the world.

Norro Wilson (June 8, illness, age 79): Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member who wrote songs ranging from "The Grand Tour" to "A Very Special Love Song."

Bob Wootton (April 9, unknown cause, age 75): longtime guitarist for Johnny Cash's "Tennessee Three" who joined the band after Luther Perkins' death.

Gil Wright (April 30, unknown cause, age 87): member of the legendary background vocal group the Anita Kerr Singers.

Joe Wright (January 3, unknown cause, age 79): the original lead guitarist for Marty Robbins' backing band, the Teardrops.

Farewell, and thank you for the music.

And finally, sadly:

Hannah Ahlers, 34, Beaumont, CA
Heather Alvarado, 35, Enoch, UT
Dorene Anderson, 49, Anchorage, AK
Carrie Barnette, 34, Garden Grove, CA
Jack Beaton, 54, Bakersfield, CA
Steve Berger, 44, Milwaukee, WI
Candice Bowers, 40, Garden Grove, CA
Denise Burditus, 50, Martinsburg, WV
Sandy Casey, 35, Redondo Beach, CA
Andrea Castilla, 28, Huntington Beach, CA
Denise Cohen, 58, Carpinteria, CA
Austin Davis, 29, Riverside, CA
Thomas Day Jr., 54, Corona, CA
Christiana Duarte, 22, Torrance, CA
Stacee Etcheber, 50, Novato, CA
Brian Fraser, 39, Walnut, CA
Dana Gardner, 52, Grand Terrace, CA
Keri Galvan, 51, Thousand Oaks, CA
Angie Gomez, 20, Riverside, CA
Charleston Hartfield, 34, Las Vegas, NV
Christopher Hazencomb, 44, Camarillo, CA
Jennifer Irvine, 42, San Diego, CA
Nicol Kimura, 38, Placentia, CA
Jessica Klymchuk, 34, Valleyview, Alberta
Carly Kreibaum, 33, Sutherland, IA
Rhonda LeRocque, 42, Tewksbury, MA
Victor Link, 55, San Clemente, CA
Jordan McIldoon, 23, Maple Ridge, British Columbia
Kelsey Meadows, 28, Taft, CA
Calla Medig, 28, Jasper, Alberta
Sonny Melton, 29, Paris, TN
Pati Mestas, 67, Menifee, CA
Austin Meyer, 24, Reno, NV
Adrian Murfitt, 35, Anchorage, AK
Rachel Parker, 33, Manhattan Beach, CA
Jennifer Parks, 36, Lancaster, CA
Carrie Parsons, 31, Seattle, WA
Lisa Patterson, 46, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
John Phippen, 57, Valencia, CA
Melissa Ramirez, 26, Bakersfield, CA
Jordyn Rivera, 21, San Bernardino, CA
Quintin Robbins, 20, Henderson, NV
Cameron Robinson, 28, St. George, UT
Rocio Guillen Rocha, 40, Eastvale, CA
Lisa Romero-Muniz, 48, Gallup, NM
Christopher Roybal, 28, Denver, CO
Brett Schwanbeck, 61, Bullhead City, AZ
Bailey Schweitzer, 20, Bakersfield, CA
Laura Shipp, 50, Thousand Oaks, CA
Erick Silva, 21, Las Vegas, NV
Susan Smith, 53, Simi Valley, CA
Tara Roe Smith, 34, Okotoks, Alberta
Brennan Stewart, 30, Las Vegas, NV
Derrick "Bo" Taylor, 56, Oxnard, CA
Neysa Tonks, 46, Las Vegas, NV
Michelle Vo, 32, Los Angeles, CA
Kurt Von Tillow, 55, Cameron Park, CA
Bill Wolfe, Jr., 42, Shippensburg, PA

These fifty eight individuals were killed when a gunman opened fire on 22,000 fans at an outdoor country music concert headlined by Jason Aldean on October 1 in Las Vegas. Additionally, 546 other concertgoers were injured.

That Nashville Sound’s Top Ten Unexpected Country Duets and Music Collaborations of 2014

This marks the first of several year-end lists that you’ll see from That Nashville Sound including a best-of song list that’s well over 100 songs deep. We’re also trying to cull down the top twenty-five or so albums from the past year out of the several hundred that were listened to. But first, we’ll cover one that isn’t normally seen across the blogosphere. Count down with us the top ten unexpected duets and music collaborations in country music for 2014.

1. Ray Benson and Willie Nelson- “It Ain’t You” Written by Waylon Jennings and going unrecorded for decades, this little tune about getting old but still feeling you fits like a perfect glove for two country legends like Ray Benson and Willie Nelson. Self-reflective and aware of their own mortality, the message delivered by the duo couldn’t be more appropriate.


2. Reagan Boggs and Dave Coleman- “You Deserve Better” Reagan Boggs was riding a wave of critical acclaim when in 2009 she gave birth to her first son. Priorities changed and the Virginia native began to shift her focus on family as she took a break from a near constant touring schedule. She landed back this year with a brand new album called Quicksand that had this fantastic little heartbreaker gem.

3. Sara Evans and Vince Gill- “Better Off” “‘Better Off’ is a stone-cold country song and Vince Gill is never better singing harmony behind Evans’ emotive vocals. Says Evans about the track, “It’s exactly how I was trained to sing as a child, starting off in bluegrass,” she adds. “Like, my mother is gonna cry when she hears this song.”


4. Jimmy Rankin and Alison Krauss- “Flames” Rankin is a member of the famed Canadian family band known as The Rankin Family and Krauss has graced this list every year it’s been done. Her haunting background vocals just might be able to be added to every song I listened to and I might never get tired of them.


5. Drew Kennedy and Lori McKenna- “Rose of Jericho” Not a true duet by definition, Kennedy and McKenna wrote this song together and released separate versions on each of their own albums: Kennedy on his live album, Sad Songs Happily Played, and McKenna on her amazing project, Numbered Doors. It’s so good, we’ll make it an exception on this list. Because it’s our list. We can make up rules as we go along.


6. Ronnie Milsap and Mandy Barnett- “You Make Me Feel Brand New” Drawn from Milsap’s Summer Number Seventeen- on which he pays homage to many of the songs that influenced him during his own formative years- this Stylistics cover is made all that much better with underappreciated Nashville veteran Barnett.

 

7. Kacey Musgraves and Loretta Lynn- CMA Awards Performance of “You’re Lookin’ at Country” With most of today’s country awards show more interested in having pop/rock stars take center stage to satisfy some bizarre inferiority complex that they have with the country music industry, it was incredibly refreshing to see throwback Musgraves take the stage with legend Loretta Lynn at this year’s CMA Awards in front of a Grand Ole Opry background.


8. Charles Esten and Lennon and Maisy- “Believing” The ABC television series has quietly put out some of the strongest soundtrack material over the last couple of years- a testament to the music director and series producer- and this track featuring actor Charles Esten and Canadian child prodigies Lennon and Maisy shows just how.


9. Trisha Yearwood and Kelly Clarkson- “Prizefighter” That Yearwood could come back with new material and it not make a dent on the music charts or on the general country music psyche is one of the great disappointments of the year. The fact that she can add the impeccable background of vocals of Kelly Clarkson and still not do so is a darn near tragedy.

 

10. Blake Shelton and Ashley Monroe- “Lonely Tonight” - So it’s a big sweeping ballad that sounds like it came straight out of Diane Warren’s movie soundtrack vault. Any reason to have songstress Ashley Monroe a little country music radio airplay is a good enough reason to put it on this list for us.

New Music Video From Mandy Barnett- "This Time of the Year"

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Mandy Barnett is getting us in the holiday mood with her cover of Brenda Lee's famous tune set to a Nashville Sound strings production. It's beginning to sound a lot like Christmas.

Cracker Barrel Exclusive Release To Feature Mandy Barnett's Dedication To Songwriter Don Gibson

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and Mandy Barnett have announced the release of I Can’t Stop Loving You: The Songs of Don Gibson, Barnett’s newest CD, which will be available on November 11 at all Cracker Barrel Old Country Store locations. The release, produced by Barnett, features 12 songs written by Country Music Hall of Fame inductee Don Gibson. The album’s debut coincides with the 10th anniversary of Gibson’s death on November 17, 2003, and fulfills a promise that Barnett made to the legendary singer/songwriter. 

“Don, his wife Bobbi, and I became good friends a few years before he passed away,” said Barnett. “He asked me to consider recording an album of his songs, and of course I said yes.  He wrote some of the most-loved songs in country music -- who wouldn’t want to record a Don Gibson song?  Well, it may have taken more than a decade, but thanks to Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, I have fulfilled my promise to Don and I could not be more excited. I had a great experience with Cracker Barrel Old Country Store when they released my Winter Wonderland album in 2010, and I’m happy to be working with them again.”

The 12 songs featured on I Can’t Stop Loving You: The Songs of Don Gibson (all written by Gibson) are:

1)            "(Yes) I’m Hurting"
2)            "Too Soon To Know'
3)            "Look Who’s Blue"
4)            "Sweet Dreams"
5)            "Just One Time"
6)            "Blue Blue Day"*
7)            "Oh Lonesome Me"
8)            "Oh Such a Stranger"
9)            "Far Far Away"
10)          "I Can’t Stop Loving You"
11)          "Lonesome Number One"
12)          "Legend in My Time"

*Features harmony vocals by Alison Krauss

“Mandy Barnett is an amazing vocalist,” said Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Marketing Manager Julie Craig. “Pairing her talent with the songs of the legendary Don Gibson has created an album that we hope will become a classic.”

Gibson, who was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1973 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001, was a very popular and highly influential country music singer/songwriter in the 1950s and 1960s. As an artist, he charted more than 20 Top 10 hits and released nearly 40 albums between 1958 and 1978 and was a member of the Grand Ole Opry. As a songwriter, he wrote songs that have become timeless classics and have been recorded by a multitude of artists in a variety of music genres. Gibson considered himself a songwriter who sang, rather than a singer who wrote songs.

The title track of Barnett’s album is among Gibson’s best known songs. "I Can’t Stop Loving You" was a No. 7 hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles Chart for Gibson in 1958, a No. 3 hit for Kitty Wells in 1958, and a No. 1 hit for Conway Twitty in 1972. It also became a huge crossover hit when Ray Charles took it to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, R&B Singles, and Adult Contemporary charts in 1962. Other iconic Gibson-penned compositions on Barnett’s album include "Sweet Dreams" and "Oh Lonesome Me."

Recorded in Nashville, I Can't Stop Loving You: The Songs of Don Gibson features legendary musicians and Country Music Hall of Fame members Harold Bradley, Hargus "Pig" Robbins, and Charlie McCoy, who also played on some of Don Gibson’s original recordings of these songs.

Songwriter Jerry Leiber Passes Away

Jerry Leiber, half of one of the most celebrated and successful songwriting teams of the 1950s and '60s, has died of cardiopulmonary failure following a lengthy illness. He was 78.

Leiber will be most remembered in country circles for co-writing the legendary Johnny and June Carter Cash song, "Jackson." Additional country stars to cover Leiber-written tunes include George Jones, Johnny Paycheck, Buck Owens, Ray Stevens, Peggy Lee, Elvis Presley, The Rascals, Old Crow Medicine Show, Hank Snow, Jerry Reed, Ray Charles, Clay Aiken, Mandy Barnett and Ronnie Dunn.

With his partner Mike Stoller, Leiber was the author of such hits as "Hound Dog," "Jailhouse Rock," "Loving You," "Yakety Yak," "Stand by Me" and many others. Leiber wrote the lyrics, Stoller the music. The two were among the first and most successful songwriters and producers to merge rhythm and blues with pop music in the 1950s.

Leiber came from Baltimore and met Stoller in Los Angeles in 1950. They bonded over a mutual love for rhythm and blues and had a profound impact as pop music began to absorb black music as it mutated into rock 'n' roll. Before they were 20, the two had written songs for such R&B stars as Ray Charles, Big Mama Thornton and Charles Brown. Besides writing a number of Elvis Presley's biggest hits, Leiber and Stoller produced the Coasters, for whom the pair produced the hits "Charlie Brown," "Young Blood," "Little Egypt" and "Poison Ivy." Their other songs included Ben E. King's "Stand by Me," the Drifters' "On Broadway," the Clovers' "Love Potion #9" and Peggy Lee's "Is That All There Is."

Leiber and Stoller's catalog was used as the basis for the 1995 Broadway revue "Smokey Joe's Cafe." Their last major hit as producers came in 1972, when they produced Stealers Wheel's "Stuck in the Middle with You," which was later used to great effect in Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs."

They were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985, the Producers Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame two years later.

Chris Young, Mandy Barnett and Billy Ray Cyrus Announce New Projects

RCA Nashville revealed the news that GRAMMY nominated singer/songwriter Chris Young will release his highly anticipated third studio album, Neon, on July 12. Neon, which features the smash lead single “Tomorrow,” the fastest-rising single of Young’s career, will include ten brand new songs from the singer. Produced by James Stroud, 7 of the 10 songs from Neon were co-penned by Young, including “Tomorrow.” The “heartfelt ballad,” as declared in a recent People review, has scanned more than 225,000 digital downloads since its release in February.

Vocalist and stage performer Mandy Barnett is set to release her stunning new album Sweet Dreams on May 24th on the Opry Music imprint. The highly anticipated album launch occurs in conjunction with her leading role return to Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium stage in the musical production Always…Patsy Cline.


Sweet Dreams provides Barnett with an opportunity to honor not only beloved music icon Patsy Cline, but also the songs she made famous and the songwriters who crafted the timeless tunes. The album includes Cline's well-known signature hits such as "Crazy," "I Fall To Pieces," and "Faded Love." Barnett leaves her unique and powerful vocal stamp on these songs and others, like the Irving Berlin standard "Always" and "Strange." The project, produced by Steve Gibson, features many of Nashville's most talented studio musicians. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of Patsy Cline's hit "Crazy," which was written by Willie Nelson.

Billy Ray Cyrus, multi-platinum artist, returns to his patriotic roots with the June 28 release of his new album I'm American on Buena Vista Records. Cyrus' collection of songs dedicated to the spirit of being American features special guest appearances by Amy Grant and country artists (also veterans) Jamey Johnson, Craig Morgan and Darryl Worley. Cyrus' single, "Runway Lights," will be shipped to Country radio later this month, and will be the theme song to his upcoming TLC "Surprise Homecoming" series that debuts on May 30, in which the artist will greet troops coming home from the war.


Inspired by a 2009 USO tour in which Cyrus performed for the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, Cyrus has dedicated the album to a new generation of troops, while paying respect to all veterans past and present. The album will feature eight songs – "Runway Lights," "We Fought Hard," "Keep The Light On," "Stripes and Stars," "I'm American," "Nineteen" and "Old Army Hat." The album will also include a newly re-recorded version of "Some Gave All," the song and title of his debut album released in 1992, which was dedicated to the men and women of the U.S. military, and earned Cyrus the Congressional Medal of Honor Society's Entertainers Award.

TNS Video History- Mandy Barnett- "This Time Of The Year"