Ep. 74 - BOB McDILL ("Song of the South")
Before he retired in the early 2000s, Bob McDill landed 152 hits on the\xa0Billboard\xa0country chart, more than any other songwriter in history. He hit theBillboard\xa0Top 10 an astounding 55 times, and 23 of those singles climbed all the way to #1. Many artists returned to the McDill songbook repeatedly, including Don Williams, who scored with the #1 hits \u201c(Turn Out the Light And) Love Me Tonight,\u201d \u201cSay It Again,\u201d \u201cShe Never Knew Me,\u201d \u201cRake and Ramblin\u2019 Man,\u201d \u201cIt Must Be Love,\u201d \u201cGood Ole Boys Like Me,\u201d and \u201cIf Hollywood Don\u2019t Need You.\u201d Mel McDaniel enjoyed four Top 10 hits written by Bob, including \u201cLouisiana Saturday Night\u201d and the #1\xa0\u201cBaby\u2019s Got Her Blue Jeans On.\u201d Those who hit #1 at least twice with McDill compositions include Ronnie Milsap, with \u201cNobody Likes Sad Songs\u201d and \u201cWhy Don\u2019t You Spend the Night;\u201d Doug Stone, with \u201cIn a Different Light\u201d and \u201cWhy Didn\u2019t I Think of That;\u201d Alan Jackson, with \u201cGone Country\u201d and his revival of \u201cIt Must Be Love;\u201d and Dan Seals, who co-wrote several of his own hits with McDill, including the #1 songs \u201cMy Baby\u2019s Got Good Timing,\u201d \u201cEverything That Glitters (Is Not Gold),\u201d and \u201cBig Wheels in the Moonlight.\u201d Additionally, Bob wrote or co-wrote #1 singles such as \u201cThe Door is Always Open\u201d by Dave and Sugar, \u201cYou Never Miss a Real Good Thing (Till He Says Goodbye)\u201d by Crystal Gayle, \u201cAmanda\u201d by Waylon Jennings, \u201cWe Believe in Happy Endings\u201d by Earl Thomas Conley and Emmylou Harris, \u201cDon\u2019t Close Your Eyes\u201d by Keith Whitley, \u201cSong of the South\u201d by Alabama, and \u201cShe Don\u2019t Know She\u2019s Beautiful\u201d by Sammy Kershaw. In addition to multiple Top 5 singles such as Johnny Russell\u2019s \u201cRednecks, White Socks, and Blue Ribbon Beer,\u201d Ed Bruce\u2019s \u201cYou Turn Me On (Like a Radio)," and Pam Tillis\u2019s \u201cAll The Good Ones Are Gone,\u201d Bob has penned Top 10 hits for Johnny Cash, George Jones, Conway Twitty, Bobby Bare, Mac Davis, Johnny Rodriguez, John Anderson, Mickey Gilley, Anne Murray, and Lee Roy Parnell. He has also written charting singles for Jerry Lee Lewis, Charley Pride, Tammy Wynette, and both Duke Boys, Tom Wopat and John Schneider, with the latter taking Bob\u2019s \u201cI\u2019ve Been Around Enough to Know\u201d to #1. McDill was named Country Songwriter of the Year seven times between 1976 and 1994: three times each by the Nashville Songwriters Association and BMI, and once by ASCAP. Nine of his songs were nominated for Song of the Year by the Country Music Association, the Academy of Country Music, or both organizations. The four time Grammy nominee earned ASCAP\u2019s Golden Note Award, received the Academy of Country Music\u2019s prestigious Poet\u2019s Award, and\xa0was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.