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Dallas Frazier
Courtesy of the Country Music Hall of Fame and MuseumSongwriter Dallas Frazier, known for penning hits including The Oak Ridge Boys‘ 1981 classic “Elvira,” and Gene Watson‘s “Fourteen Carat Mind,” died Friday (Jan. 14). Frazier was 82.
Frazier was born in Spiro, Okla., on Oct. 27, 1939, and raised in Bakersfield, California. At age 12, he was already writing songs and won a talent competition hosted by Ferlin Husky. By age 14, Frazier was recording for Capitol Records. In 1960, Frazier had his first success as a songwriter, when “Alley Oop” became a pop hit for the Hollywood Argyles. Three years later, he moved to Nashville.
In 1967, the Frazier-penned “There Goes My Everything,” recorded by Jack Greene, was named song of the year by the Country Music Association.
Frazier also found success co-writing songs with A.L. “Doodle” Owens, including Charley Pride‘s first No. 1 Billboard Hot Country Songs hit, 1969’s “All I Have to Offer You (Is Me).” Pride also had No. 1 country hits with the Frazier/Owens collaborations “(I’m So) Afraid of Losing You Again,” “I Can’t Believe That You’ve Stopped Loving Me” and “Then Who Am I.”
Connie Smith and George Jones were also among those who recorded several of Frazier’s hits, such as Jones’ 1967 hit “If My Heart Had Windows.” (Jones also recorded an entire album of Frazier’s songs on Sings the Songs of Dallas Frazier.) Among the Frazier-penned Smith recordings are “Ain’t Had No Lovin’,” “Run Away Little Tears,” “Ain’t Love a Good Thing” and more.
Another’s of Frazier’s best-known songs, “Elvira,” was previously recorded by Rodney Crowell before it became a smash hit for the Oak Ridge Boys in 1981. The group’s recording of the song earned the Country Music Association’s single of the year honor.
“I’ve noticed this all my life in writing songs, there’s a thing called feel, and it’s magic when you get ahold of it,” Frazier told journalist Tom Roland in a 2018 interview. “It can make or break a record. You can have a great song and all, but if it doesn’t have that feel, it just doesn’t do anything. ‘Elvira’ had the feel. And The Oaks, what a tremendous cut. With Richard Sterban doing his thing on it and the horns just making it first class…it had so much magic in it, it’d just raise the hair on your arms.”
During his career, Frazier earned three Grammy nominations, for his work on “There Goes My Everything,” “All I Have To Offer You (Is Me),” and “Elvira.”
In 1980, Frazier’s “Beneath Still Waters” became a No. 1 country hit for Emmylou Harris, and Frazier also co-wrote Tanya Tucker‘s first No. 1 hit, “What’s Your Mama’s Name?”
Frazier was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1976.
“Dallas Frazier is among the greatest country songwriters of all time,” said Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. “He could convey infectious fun with ‘Elvira,’ and then write something as stunningly sad and true as ‘Beneath Still Waters.’ His songs helped Connie Smith to become a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. He was a man of kindness, generosity, and faith, who overcame a hardscrabble upbringing to offer smiling gifts to all of us. He lived a beautiful life of a beautiful mind.”
NEWS
Brad Paisley has called Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding “one of the least pretentious weddings he’s ever seen”.
The country star attended the ceremony alongside his actress wife, Kimberly Williams-Paisley. They joined around 1,000 guests at New York City’s Madison Square Garden earlier this month as the global pop icon married the American football star.
Although the celebration attracted enormous attention and involved tight security and a stunning makeover of the famous arena, Paisley said the occasion never came across as excessive.
“Ironically, (it) was one of the least pretentious weddings that I've ever seen or ever will see,” Paisley told The Associated Press during an interview. “It meant a lot to be (invited). It was, kind of, a big thank you from her to invite us.”
Paisley, who chose Swift as an opening performer for his tour when she was a teenager in 2007, said he was delighted to be included in what many considered the biggest celebrity wedding of the year.
“They were very clear with the invite, and I took this personally when I got the invite, because in the invite, it said, ‘If you're getting this, you mean a lot to us,’” he revealed.
The musician also explained that guests were not told the wedding’s exact location until the date drew nearer.
“It was really fun to watch the cat and mouse game of, like, ‘We can tell you roughly where it's going to be, we're not gonna say what building... and here's the date. If you're in, we'll tell you more,’” he continued. “I went to my wife, I said, ‘Want to go?’ and she said, ‘Absolutely, we gotta be there!’ So, we did it, it was RSVP yes.”
Other famous attendees included Brad Pitt, Gigi Hadid, Bradley Cooper, Ed Sheeran, Sabrina Carpenter, Hugh Grant, Haim and Tom Hanks.
