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Warner Mack is one of the few
musicians actually born in Nashville. His parents were both
Tennessee natives, and his father was a minister. When Warner
was 9 years old, his parents moved the family (including
Warner and his two sisters, Juanita and Dean) to Vicksburg,
Mississippi.
Warner wrote “Is it Wrong (for Loving You)” at the age of 13,
after failed teenage romance. It stayed on the Billboard
Magazine’s Top Ten for 36 weeks and is on the album “The 30
Greatest Country Songs.”
His
successes include 40 chart-busting hits, including such greats
as “The Bridge Washed Out,” “Talkin’ to the Wall,” “Is it
Wrong (for Loving You),” “Sittin’ in an All Night Cafe,”
“Driftin’ Apart,” “After the Lights Go Out,” and “It Takes a
Lot of Money.” The list goes on and on.
If
you added up all the weeks that Warner’s recordings have been
on the national music charts, it would total more than seven
years. At age 29, his music career was virtually over, even
though some of his biggest hits were still to come. A car
wreck on the way home from a show date in Madison, Wisconsin
changed his future, and forced Warner to cancel his contract
with DECCA/MCA after a 19 year affiliation.
DECCA/MCA Producer Owen Bradley advised him that he would have
to record or be dropped. He did not have the strength at the
time to go on recording. It would be another 15 years before
he returned to the studio and went back on the road. Warner
says, “I know first hand life’s direction can change in the
blink of an eye.” He still suffers bouts of pain, to this day,
from the 13 surgeries he had to undergo as a result of the
accident.
He
performed more radio shows for the U.S. Air Force than any
other Country Blues artist. In 1965 he was the first Country
artist to record Coca Cola commercials worldwide. A leading
music industry magazine ranked him 6th among all Country
singers. He has received numerous awards for his recording
accomplishments and song writing. In 1991 he was inducted into
the American Academy of Country Music Hall of Fame. Many have
copied his sound, but none have been able to duplicate his
unique style. As a music row executive once stated, “There’s
only one Warner Mack." Country Music legend Mel Tillis says of
Warner, “He just doesn’t hit bad notes; he’s a natural when it
comes to singing.”
Happy
Birthday, Warner Mack!
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