Nashville, Tenn. – Legendary songwriter Bob McDill will make a rare public appearance at the Country Music Hall of Fame^® and Museum on Saturday, March 1, as the latest subject of the quarterly programming series Poets and Prophets: Legendary Country Songwriters. The 2:00 p.m. program, which will be held in the Museum’s Ford Theater, is included with Museum admission and free to Museum members.

Below is a select list of McDill’s biggest hit songs recorded by artists such as Don Williams, Waylon Jennings, Dan Seals and Alan Jackson along with many others.

• Amanda
• (Turn Out The lights) And Love Me Tonight
• Baby’s Got Her Blue Jeans On
• Big Wheels In The Moonlight
• Don’t Close Your Eyes
• Everything That Glitters (Is Not Gold)
• Gone Country
• Good Ole Boys Like Me
• If Hollywood Don’t Need You (Honey I Still Do)
• Louisiana Saturday Night
• My Old Yellow Car
• Rednecks, White Socks and Blue Ribbon Beer
• Song of the South

Museum Editor Michael Gray will conduct an in-depth, one-on-one interview with McDill, illustrated with audiovisual elements from the Museum’s collection, including recordings, photos and film clips. McDill will perform briefly during the program, and immediately following he will sign autographs in the Museum Store.

Bob McDill elevated country music for nearly three decades with artfully crafted songs of substance and insight. He managed to gain commercial success with a body of work that runs the gamut from clever ditties to poignant love songs to literary works of art. McDill is best known for penning classics such as “Carolyn At The Broken Wheel Inn” (The Seldom Scene, Larry Cordle and Lonesome Standard Time), “Catfish John” (Charlie Waller, Mac Wiseman, The Country Gentlemen, The Keel Brothers), “I’m Not That Good at Goodbye” (The Osborne Brothers, Larry Cordle and LST), “Come Early Morning” (The Seldom Scene, Marty Raybon) and many more contemporary country hits covered by artists such as Don Williams, Waylon Jennings, Sammy Kershaw and Alan Jackson to name a few.

Growing up in Beaumont, Texas, Robert Lee McDill was influenced by his mother’s piano playing and family singing. Like the main character in his hit song “Good Ole Boys Like Me,” McDill’s childhood was colored by Thomas Wolfe’s writing and records spun by John Richbourg (WLAC-Nashville) and Wolfman Jack (WXLR-Del Rio, Texas). McDill was a product of pop radio’s diversity and gravitated toward songwriters like Johnny Mercer and Paul Simon. By age 15 he was writing songs, and a few years later, playing in the folk group the Newcomers.

While at Lamar University (1962-1966), he wrote “The Happy Man,” which was recorded in 1967 by Perry Como. McDill was serving a two-year stint in the U.S. Navy when the song was recorded. The following year his second hit, “Black Sheep,” was cut by Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs. Memphis songwriter and song publisher Allen Reynolds had helped McDill place the tunes, and in 1970, McDill and Reynolds went to work for Jack Clement’s publishing company, Jack Music, in Nashville.

McDill had been composing folk, rock and pop tunes, but had an epiphany while listening to George Jones’ hit “A Good Year for the Roses” in the backseat of a car. After hearing an unsettling emotion brewing behind the song’s theme, he was able to truly understand the depth of country music. McDill’s first country success came with Johnny Russell’s 1972 recording of “Catfish John,” co-written with Reynolds. McDill began a rigorous schedule of completing one song a week for the next three decades and would go on to score dozens of Billboard #1 hits. He supplied several country artists with career-defining singles, and found success with recordings by artists as diverse as Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Anne Murray, Lefty Frizzell and Joe Cocker.

McDill was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985. In 1997, he supplied Pam Tillis with the Grammy-nominated hit “All the Good Ones Are Gone,” co-written by Dean Dillon. McDill is currently enjoying retirement and still resides in Nashville.

Visitors are encouraged to ask questions at the interactive Poets and Prophets programs, which are dedicated to songwriters who have made significant contributions to country music history. Previous Poets and Prophets honorees include Hank Cochran, John D. Loudermilk, Bobby Braddock and Craig Wiseman.

More information about the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum is available at www.countrymusichalloffame.com or by calling (615) 416-2001.