SONGWRITER MERLE KILGORE

Merle Kilgore with Elvis Presley

Hard to believe that it’s been eight years now since we lost that cuddly bear Merle Kilgore, best known at the end for being Hank Williams, Jr.’s longtime manager/cheerleader—though he had also worked with Hank, Sr., carrying his guitar at the Louisiana Hayride when he was 14.

But Kilgore also had great success as a songwriter, most notably for the late Claude King’s huge 1962 country hit “Wolverton Mountain,” which he co-wrote with King, and Johnny Cash’s “Ring Of Fire,” which he co-wrote with June Carter. And now that legendary 1960s rock ’n’ roller Tommy Roe is back on the road, he recalls another Kilgore composition, “The Folk Singer,” a little morality play (folk singer gets famous, dumps country girlfriend, loses voice and career, comes back to country girlfriend) that was a minor U.S. hit in 1963 but reached No. 4 in the U.K.—where The Beatles opened for him.

“It was a big record for me in England and Europe,” recalls Roe, who was touring the U.K. on the strength of his 1962 U.S. chart-topper (and U.K. No. 3 hit) “Sheila.” “Didn’t do that well here in the States, but it was one I really enjoy singing.”

As for The Beatles, Roe and fellow headliner Chris Montez of “Let’s Dance” fame wisely switched places with The Beatles, who had just caught fire at home.

“I am proud of my short history with The Beatles,” continues Roe, “and when I tried to get my record label to sign them to a record deal and was turned down, I gave up trying to be a talent scout! I thought they were the best act since Elvis, and when the president of the company told me they sounded like shit I was devastated. Six months later they all thought I was a genius!”

Merle Kilgore with Johnny Cash

Kilgore, meanwhile, served as president of both the Nashville Songwriters Foundation and the Nashville Songwriters Association International, and was inducted into the Louisiana Hall of Fame. He was also named an honorary State Senator for Tennessee—and he was nothing if not political.

Asked once whom he favored, Hank, Sr. or Jr., he responded, “Well, Junior is more versatile. But Senior was more focused.”

Jim Bessman