BOB MCDILL: Art & Commerce: Threading a Masterful Career

You often hear that all a country songwriter needs is “three chords and the truth” to take on the world.  The three chords part is easy-it’s the element of truth that usually gets lost in the process of writing a hit.  Bob McDill is one of a handful of country tunesmiths who have managed to both top the charts and speak honestly about the human condition. From the early ‘70s through the late ‘90s, he racked up 30 No. 1 country singles, many of them career-defining singles for Alan Jackson, Don Williams, Pam Tillis, Waylon Jennings, Doug Stone, Dan Seals and numerous others.You often hear that all a country songwriter needs is “three chords and the truth” to take on the world.  The three chords part is easy-it’s the element of truth that usually gets lost in the process of writing a hit.  Bob McDill is one of a handful of country tunesmiths who have managed to both top the charts and speak honestly about the human condition. From the early ‘70s through the late ‘90s, he racked up 30 No. 1 country singles, many of them career-defining singles for Alan Jackson, Don Williams, Pam Tillis, Waylon Jennings, Doug Stone, Dan Seals and numerous others. But McDill’s stellar reputation continues to rest on much more than commercial success; the most enduring of his songs are filled with a rare insight and empathy. His lyrics have a lean, well-honed literary quality to them, with a sure feel for the language and imagery of his native South.

Growing up in the Beaumont, Tex. area, McDill was inspired by songwriters like Bob Dylan and Paul Simon.  He began playing guitar and writing songs at a young age and, by his teens, was performing in various rock and folk combos. While serving in the U.S. Navy, he began corresponding with Memphis songwriter (and future Garth Brooks producer) Allen Reynolds, who helped McDill place tunes with Perry Como and Sam the Sham in 1967. After leaving the military, Bob headed for Memphis, where he struggled to build upon his early success. A year later, he followed publisher Jack Clement to Nashville.  It took a few more years before McDill made the transition from writing within the pop/rock vein to composing country, but once he scored his initial hit (“Catfish John, ” recorded by Johnny Russell in 1973) he never looked back.

Bob became a highly disciplined nine-to-five songwriter, turning out at least one completed song a week for some three decades. At the same time, he adhered to high artistic standards and was capable of writing genuine classics. “Good Ole Boys Like Me,” recorded by Don Williams in 1980, is one of these; a tender yet unflinching look at Southern identity, it deservedly remains a country standard. Working on his own and with such collaborators as Wayland Holyfield, Paul Harrison, Dan Seals and Dickie Lee, he became a model for other Music Row tunesmiths to emulate.

His reach as a writer was a broad one. Bob could earn Alabama a No 1 single with a serious-minded tune like “Song Of The South” (1988), and then write Shenandoah a playful ditty like “If Bubba Can Dance (I Can Too)” (1994) and top the charts with that as well. His touch with a lighthearted love song-evidenced by the 1993 Doug Stone hit “Why Didn’t I Think Of That”-was warm and understated. He could be stingingly satiric as well. “Gone Country” took Alan Jackson to the top of the charts in 1995 by neatly skewering the desperate Nashville newcomers who were flooding Music Row at that time. Two years later, McDill and co-writer Dean Dillon caught the quiet desperation of the singles scene perfectly in “All Of The Good Ones Are Gone,” a Grammy-nominated hit for Pam Tillis.

What unites Bob’s diverse accomplishments as a songwriter are his consummate craft and an ability to test the limits of his profession.  If a catchy melody and clever title were needed, he was always there to pitch in, but he also knew what was accomplishable beyond the conventions of Music Row. At his best, his work has the resonance of classic fiction and poetry.  Bob McDill’s songs remain favorites on country radio-and his status as a Nashville legend remains secure. Now retired, he spoke with American Songwriter recently to share his insight into the craft that he has come to know and love through the years.

Did you change as a songwriter over the years?

When I retired about six years ago, I was certainly different from the young lad that started writing songs when he was 15 or 16.

How did you evolve?

You’re able to get closer to your original vision. You have much more craft and you’re able to bring about what you actually wanted. When I was a young kid writing songs, it was very rare that I got even close to what I visualized.  I just didn’t have the skill.

How were you able to improve your craft?

Practice, practice…I did it everyday for about 30 years. And I wrote a lot of junk, but I think I also tried to make some good art while I was at it. It’s interesting…the silly little love songs and the little ditties and especially the little cornball things that were popular for awhile, with drinking and cheating, we wrote those things to make money and stay on the radio. Interestingly, those things have absolutely disappeared. If you look at my ASCAP statements, it’s if they never existed. But the good things that I wrote, even the silly little things like “Baby’s Got Her Blue Jeans On” (a hit for Mel McDaniel), which I do think demonstrated some craft-those and the good art pieces-they’re still on my ASCAP statement and still play and still make income. That says something.