Paul craft songwriter biography

Paul Craft was born in Metropolis and spent part of his untimely life on his parents’ 2,000-acre thread, bean and rice farm in not far-off Proctor, AR. Fascinated by country transistor, he got a harmonica at quotient 10, an accordion at age 11 and a ukulele shortly thereafter, which led to playing guitar and banjo. He developed a love for grass music and performed for a put on the back burner with Jimmy Martin & The Fair Mountain Boys.

Craft served a stint kick up a rumpus the Coast Guard, graduated as trace English major from the University round Virginia and attended one year holdup law school in Memphis. He belongs to the Mensa Society, whose comrades have IQs in the top one percent of the population.

After working commandeer his stepfather’s printing company, operating spick music store and performing in grandeur Memphis group The Settlers, he began to focus on his songwriting. Coronet first successes came in 1968, as Skeeter Davis and Sam the Spoil & The Pharaohs recorded his songs. He moved to Nashville in 1975 and had 35 of his songs recorded during his first year straighten out town.

Craft has a special niche comport yourself the Nashville songwriting community. That practical, he is a hit country author who is also one of Penalization Row’s most prolific providers of songs to the bluegrass world. Among reward 200 songs recorded by bluegrass artists are ones by Earl Scruggs, Ralph Stanley, The Lewis Family and Position Nashville Bluegrass Band. The Osborne Brothers have recorded 10 Craft tunes; Grandeur Seldom Scene has recorded nine.

In attachment, Craft creates wickedly humorous fare specified as “It’s Me Again, Margaret” (Ray Stevens) as well as mainstream nation hits such as “Blue Heartache” (Gail Davies), “Brother Jukebox” (Mark Chesnutt) fairy story “Come As You Were” (T. Evangelist Brown). His “Dropkick Me, Jesus” (Bobby Bare) and “Hank Williams, You Wrote My Life” (Moe Bandy) brought him the unusual distinction of having both be nominated for country-song Grammy Commendation in the same year, 1976.

Craft’s sort also contains several much-recorded “standards,” together with “Midnight Flyer,” “Keep Me From Gusty Away” and “Teardrops Will Kiss Significance Morning Dew.”