Milton Sims Mickey Newbury, Jr. (May 19, 1940 - September 29, 2002)[1] was an American songwriter, a critically acclaimed recording artist, and a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. As a teenager, Newbury sang tenor in a moderately successful vocal group called The Embers.[1] The group opened for several famous performers, such as Sam Cooke and Johnny Cash. Although Newbury tried to make a living from his music by singing in clubs, he put his musical career on hold at age 19 when he joined the Air Force. After four years in the military, Newbury again set his sights on making a living as a songwriter. Before long, he moved to Nashville and signed to the prestigious publishing company Acuff-Rose Music.[1] Ralph Emery referred to him as the first hippie-cowboy and along with Johnny Cash and Roger Miller, he was one of the first to rebel against the conventions of the Nashville music society. After his producer, Felton Jarvis, became the exclusive producer for Elvis Presley, Newbury got himself released from his contract with RCA and signed the first offer he received to comply with his condition that he could either produce his own albums or choose the producer. He went on to record three albums in Wayne Mosss garage-turned-studio just outside Nashville. The influence of the production methods can be heard in the albums Waylon Jennings went on to record in the 1970s (with instrumentation highly unconventional for country music) and his poetically sophisticated style of songwriting was highly influential on Kris Kristofferson.[citation needed] It was Newbury who convinced Roger Miller to record Kristoffersons Me & Bobby McGee, which went on to launch Kristofferson as country musics top songwriter. Newbury is also responsible for getting Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark to move to Nashville and pursue careers as songwriters. In 1974, he moved to a house on the McKenzie River in Oregon with his wife, Susan, and newborn son, Chris, where they welcomed three more children over the years. He recorded several albums throughout the 1970s for Elektra and ABC/Hickory, all of them critically praised, but financially unsuccessful. In 1980, he was given the distinction of being the youngest songwriter ever inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Although he spent much of the 1980s retired from performing and recording music, he returned to both recording and touring in the late 1980s before he died, in Springfield, Oregon, following a battle with emphysema on September 29, 2002, aged 62.[1][2] Legacy[edit] Newbury wrote many songs that would be recorded by singers and songwriters such as Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Bill Monroe, Johnny Rodriguez, Hank Snow, Ray Charles, Tony Rice, Jerry Lee Lewis, Tammy Wynette, Ray Price, Don Gibson, Brenda Lee, Charlie Rich, Lynn Anderson, David Allan Coe, Sammi Smith, Joan Baez, Tom Jones, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, John Denver, Kenny Rogers, Steve Von Till, B.B. King, Linda Ronstadt, Dax Riggs, Bobby Blue Bland, and Bill Callahan among many others. Although his songs have been recorded by hundreds of performers from a wide variety of musical genres, he is most remembered for his creation of An American Trilogy, a medley that was recorded by many, including symphony orchestras, and Elvis Presley. He simultaneously had four Top 10 singles on four different charts in the late 60s. Eddy Arnold had a No. 1 Country hit with Here Comes the Rain, Baby, Andy Williams had a No. 4 Easy Listening hit with Sweet Memories, and Kenny Rogers and the First Edition had a No. 5 Pop/Rock hit with Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In). The group also recorded the Newbury penned Sunshine. Shortly before his death, Newbury was interviewed by John Kruth, who was writing a biography on Townes Van Zandt, where he stated How many people have listened to my songs and thought, He must have a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a pistol in the other. Well, I dont. I write my sadness. Many of Newburys songs, such as The Thirty-Third Of August, The Future Is Not What It Used To Be, and Just Dropped In, delve into the dark recesses of the human psyche. “You’ve Always Got The Blues” was used as the soundtrack for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s 8-part TV series, Stringer.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 18:17:37 +0000
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