Tom T. Hall is one of the great underrated country songwriters--and a true Renaissance man. His career has spanned five decades, and in that time he has released 27 albums, numerous novels, and a number of short stories (his nickname is "The Storyteller"). He's also been known to sing and play the guitar a little, too.
In 1964 Hall moved to Nashville with $46 and a guitar (good luck trying that in this day and age), and within months already had hit singles. His big break came in 1968 when Jeannie C. Riley recorded his song "Harper Valley PTA"--the song would go on to to sell six million copies and Riley became the first woman to ever top both the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Country Singles Chart. And Tom T. Hall parlayed it into a fifty year career.
While "That's How I Got to Memphis" won't show up on many greatest country songs of all time lists, for my money it's certainly worthy of the top ten. I first heard the song as a cover version by Rosanne Cash (killer rendition, too, featuring her Daddy at the end), and actually discovered Hall's version many years later (Bobby Bare had a #3 hit--with a bullet!--on the country charts with it in 1970). Of all the versions I've heard (there are many covers--the Avett Brothers do a nice one, too), I like Hall's best, for one, because it's the full length song, and for two, because sometimes songwriters have a better feel for their own material than other singers do.
Released on his first album, The Ballad of Forty Dollars, "That's How I Got to Memphis" is a song about love lost and the sometimes crazy ways the heart reacts--like trek to Memphis in search of the woman who broke it . Unlike far too many such singles, "Memphis" never gets too maudlin or sappy--the lyrics are as straightforward as the narrator. It's delivered as a monologue to a friend (or fellow bar patron), all the while with the unstated hope that the friend truly understands the ways of the heart. The music is simple, a nice melancholy background to the vocals of a very sorrowful man. All in all, it's a fine addition to the pantheon of songs devoted to the broken heart--of which there will most likely be an endless supply.
Lyric sheet: "I haven't eaten a bite/Or slept for three days and nights/That's how I got to Memphis..."
Sidenote: My oldest son gave me a whale of a Father's Day Gift, creating a Spotify playlist of all the Friday Night Jukebox featured songs--anyone who may be interested can find it here.
Enjoy:
Peace,
emaycee
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