Tom T Hall Obituary, Death Cause – On Friday, the musician’s son, Dean Hall, revealed that their father had passed away at their home in Franklin, Tennessee. Hall wrote the lyrics to hundreds of songs and was renowned as “The Storyteller” for his straightforward yet insightful lyrics. In the early 1970s, Hall helped usher in a literary era of country music along with his contemporaries Kris Kristofferson, John Hartford, and Mickey Newbury.
Hall’s songs were political, such as “Watergate Blues” and “The Monkey That Became President,” deeply personal, such as “The Year Clayton Delaney Died,” and philosophical, such as “(Old Dogs, Children and) Watermelon Wine.” In 1986, he stated, “In all of my writing, I’ve never made judgments,” on his writing. “I believe that is the key to my success. I am here as a witness. I just keep an open mind and take in everything without forming an opinion on its quality.
Near Olive Hill, Kentucky, in a log cabin that had been constructed by his great-grandfather, Hall was born. He was the fourth son of an ordained pastor. He picked up the guitar when he was 4 years old and composed his first song when he was 9 years old. In the beginning, Hall was a member of a bluegrass band; but, when that endeavor was unsuccessful, he switched gears and became a radio jockey in Morehead, Kentucky. In 1957, he enlisted in the United States Army and served for a total of four years, during which time he was stationed in Germany.
After returning to the states, he began a career as a writer and was eventually picked up by a publisher in Nashville by the name of Jimmy Key. In 1964, Hall made his home in Nashville, where he quickly established himself as a successful songwriter earning $50 a week. He penned songs for artists such as Jimmy C. Newman, Dave Dudley, and Johnny Wright; nevertheless, he had so many tunes of his own that he started recording them himself. When he signed his recording contract, the middle initial “T” was added to the name in an effort to make it more memorable.
