Hall has earned praise from his peers in the music industry. Singer-songwriter Jason Isbell noted that the American songbook would be lacking if it weren’t for Tom T. Hall’s musical contributions. The “Man in Black” Johnny Cash wrote to Hall that he is his all-time favorite songwriter.
33 of Hall’s songs made the Top 20 on the country charts, which include “Ballad of Forty Dollars,” “A Week in a Country Jail,” and “I Love.” He also wrote the smash hit “Harper Valley P.T.A.,” which won Jeannie C. Riley the 1969 Grammy award for “Best Female Country Vocal Performance.”
Throughout his illustrious career in the country and bluegrass music scene, his songs have been recorded by such acclaimed musical acts as Johnny Cash, Bobby Bare, Rosanne Cash, Erich Church, Duane Eddy, Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller, George Jones, and Gram Parsons, among many others.
“Songwriters aren’t good songwriters, people are good songwriters,” he said. “You sit down as a person and write a song. If you’ve written a song by the time you stand back up, you’re a songwriter. But the person comes first. You can’t look at the thing from somewhere up above, or from some place of supposed knowledge.”
Hall has been inducted into the following Halls of Fame: the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame, the Country Music Hall of Fame, and last year, in the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, the latter of which he shares with his late wife, Dixie Hall, a talented songwriter in her own right.
To learn more about esteemed singer-songwriter Tom T. Hall, check out his official website.
