Tom T. Hall passes away at 85

Hall was best known for writing "Harper Valley PTA," a hit for Jeannie C. Riley in 1969. He wrote 12 number one hit songs, with 26 more that reached the top 10. Hall also had a longstanding recording career in his own right.

Some of his biggest hits include "A Week in a Country Jail", "(Old Dogs, Children and) Watermelon Wine", "I Love", "Country Is", "The Year Clayton Delaney Died", "I Like Beer", "Faster Horses (the Cowboy and the Poet)" and "That Song Is Driving Me Crazy."

A seven-time CMA Awards nominee, Hall was dubbed "The Storyteller" by Country Music Hall of Fame member Tex Ritter for writing songs distinguished by their narrative quality, their rich detail and their keen insight into the beauty of everyday life. His impressive songs earned Hall election to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1978 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2019. Hall was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008.

"Few could tell a story like Tom T. Hall. As a singer, songwriter and instrumentalist, he was one of those triple threat artists who continued to make an impact on the next generation. I'll always remember growing up listening to Tom T.'s music with my father, who was a huge bluegrass and country fan,"  said Sarah Traher, head of the Country Music Association.

Hall was born in Olive Hill, Ky. on May 25, 1936. As a teenager, he formed the Kentucky Travelers, which performed before movies for a traveling theater. Hall enlisted in the Army in 1957, serving in Germany. While there, he performed over the Armed Forces Radio Network and wrote comic songs about army experiences.

Discharged in 1961, he used the G.I. Bill program to enroll at Roanoke College in Virginia where he worked as a disc jockey.

Hall's big songwriting break came in 1963, when country singer Jimmy C. Newman recorded his song "DJ For a Day." In 1964, Hall moved to Nashville and started to work as a $50-a-week songwriter for Newkeys Music, the publishing company belonging to Newman and his business partner Jimmy Key, writing up to half a dozen country songs per day.

Key suggested that he add the middle initial "T" to his name.

Hall wrote songs for dozens of country stars, including Johnny Cash, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Waylon Jennings, Alan Jackson ("Itty Bitty") and Bobby Bare. He also penned "Hello Vietnam", a song that openly supported the Vietnam War at a time when war protest songs were beginning to dominate the pop music charts. The song was a hit for country singer Johnnie Wright and was later used as the opening of the 1987 Vietnam War movie "Full Metal Jacket."

"Harper Valley PTA" hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Country Singles charts a week apart. It sold over 6 million copies and won both a Grammy Award and CMA Award. The song later inspired a motion picture and television program of the same name.

Hall himself recorded the song for his album "The Definitive Collection."s His recording career took off after Riley's rendition of the song, releasing a number of hits from the late 1960s through the early 1980s.

Hall won the Grammy Award for Best Album Notes in 1973 for the notes he wrote for his album "Tom T. Hall's Greatest Hits."

Hall was also noted for child-oriented songs, including "Sneaky Snake" and "I Care." The latter hit the top on the country charts in 1975.

Hall succeeded Ralph Emery as host of the syndicated country music TV show Pop! Goes the Country in 1980 and continued until the series ended in 1982.

Hall was married to bluegrass songwriter and producer Dixie Hall from 1969 until her death on Jan. 16, 2015. They met at a 1965 music industry award dinner she was invited to for having written (as Dixie Deen) the song "Truck Drivin' Son-of-a-Gun," a hit for Dave Dudley. The two would write many songs together.