Donald Eugene Gibson (April 3, 1928 – November 17, 2003) was an American songwriter and country musician. A

Country Music Hall of Fame The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the world's largest museums and research centers dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of American vernacular music. Chartered in 1964, the museum has amas ...

inductee, Gibson wrote such country standards as " Sweet Dreams" and "

I Can't Stop Loving You "I Can't Stop Loving You" is a popular song written and composed by country singer, songwriter, and musician Don Gibson, who first recorded it on December 3, 1957, for RCA Victor Records. It was released in 1958 as the B-side of "Oh, Lonesome M ...

", and enjoyed a string of country hits ("

Oh Lonesome Me "Oh Lonesome Me" is a popular song written and recorded in December 1957 by Don Gibson with Chet Atkins producing it for RCA Victor in Nashville. Released in 1958, the song topped the country chart for eight non-consecutive weeks. On what beca ...

") from 1957 into the mid-1970s. Gibson was nicknamed "The Sad Poet" because he frequently wrote songs that told of loneliness and lost love.

Early days

Don Gibson was born in

Shelby, North Carolina Shelby is a city in and the county seat of Cleveland County, North Carolina, United States. It lies near the western edge of the Charlotte combined statistical area. The population was 20,323 at the 2010 census. History The area was originally ...

, United States, into a poor working-class family. He dropped out of school in the second grade.

Career

His first band was called Sons of the Soil, with whom he made his first recording for

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it i ...

in 1949. In 1957, he journeyed to Nashville to work with producer

Chet Atkins Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), known as "Mr. Guitar" and "The Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music ...

and record his self-penned songs "

" and "I Can't Stop Loving You" for RCA Victor. The afternoon session resulted in a double-sided hit on both the country and pop charts. "Oh Lonesome Me" set the pattern for a long series of other RCA hits. "

Blue Blue Day "Blue Blue Day" is a 1958 single written and originally performed by Don Gibson. Chart performance "Blue Blue Day" went to number one for two weeks on the Country & Western Best Seller chart and remained on that chart for a total of six months. ...

", recorded prior to "Oh, Lonesome Me" was a number 1 hit in 1958. Later singles included "Look Who's Blue" (1958), "Don't Tell Me Your Troubles" (1959), "

Sea of Heartbreak "Sea of Heartbreak" is a song written by Paul Hampton and Hal David and recorded by Don Gibson in 1961. The song reached #2 on the '' Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. Content The song describes the feelings of lost love, and compa ...

" (1961); "Lonesome No. 1", "I Can Mend Your Broken Heart" (1962), and " Woman (Sensuous Woman)", a number one country hit in 1972. Gibson recorded a series of successful duets with

Dottie West Dorothy Marie Marsh West (October 11, 1932 – September 4, 1991) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Along with her friends and fellow recording artists Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn, she is considered one of the genre's most in ...

in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the most successful of which were the Number two country hit "Rings of Gold" (1969) and the top 10 hit "There's a Story Goin' Round" (1970). West and Gibson released an album together in 1969, titled ''

Dottie and Don ''Dottie and Don'' is a studio album by American country music artists Don Gibson and Dottie West. It was released in March 1969 on RCA Victor Records and was produced by Chet Atkins and Danny Davis. The album was a collection of duet recordings b ...

''. He also recorded several duets with Sue Thompson, among these being the Top 40 hits, "I Think They Call It Love" (1972), "Good Old Fashioned Country Love" (1974) and "Oh, How Love Changes" (1975). His song "I Can't Stop Loving You", has been recorded by over 700 artists, most notably by

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

in 1962. He also wrote and recorded "Sweet Dreams", a song that would become a major 1963

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...

hit for

Patsy Cline Patsy is a given name often used as a diminutive of the feminine given name Patricia or sometimes the masculine name Patrick, or occasionally other names containing the syllable "Pat" (such as Cleopatra, Patience, Patrice, or Patricia). Among I ...

. Roy Orbison was a fan of Gibson's songwriting, and in 1967, he recorded an album of his songs simply titled ''

Roy Orbison Sings Don Gibson ''Roy Orbison Sings Don Gibson'' is a tribute album recorded by Roy Orbison for MGM Records, and his tenth studio album overall. Released in January 1967, it is a collection of songs written by Country Music Hall of Fame singer/songwriter Don G ...

''. Gibson's wide appeal was also shown in

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fur ...

's recorded version of "Oh Lonesome Me" on his 1970 album, ''

After the Gold Rush ''After the Gold Rush'' is the third studio album by the Canadian-American musician Neil Young, released in September 1970 on Reprise Records, catalogue number RS 6383. It is one of four high-profile albums (all charting within the top fifteen) ...

'', which is one of the few songs Young has recorded that he did not write.

Personal life

Don married Bobbi Patterson in 1967. Following his death from natural causes on November 17, 2003, he was buried in the Sunset Cemetery in his hometown of

Legacy

Gibson was inducted into the

Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame was established in 1970 by the Nashville Songwriters Foundation, Inc. in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. A non-profit organization, its objective is to honor and preserve the songwriting legacy that is ...

in 1973. In 2001 he was inducted into the

, and the

North Carolina Music Hall of Fame The North Carolina Music Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization and museum in Kannapolis, North Carolina that was created to honor musicians, composers and artists with ties to North Carolina that have made significant impact in the music indus ...

in 2010.

The Don Gibson Theater

Located in Cleveland County, North Carolina, The Don Gibson Theater opened in November 2009 in historic uptown Shelby. Originally constructed in 1939, the renovated art deco gem features an exhibit of the life and accomplishments of singer-songwriter Don Gibson, an intimate 400-seat music hall, and adjoining function space that can accommodate up to 275 people. The theater showcases a busy schedule of premier musical performances. Past performers have included Marty Stuart,

Pam Tillis Pamela Yvonne Tillis (born July 24, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She is the daughter of country music singer Mel Tillis and ex-wife of songwriter Bob DiPiero. Tillis recorded unsuccessful ...

Tom Paxton Thomas Richard Paxton (born October 31, 1937) is an American folk singer-songwriter who has had a music career spanning more than fifty years. In 2009, Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Ralph Stanley Ralph Edmund Stanley (February 25, 1927 – June 23, 2016) was an American bluegrass artist, known for his distinctive singing and banjo playing. Stanley began playing music in 1946, originally with his older brother Carter Stanley as part of ...

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist ...

Ricky Skaggs Rickie Lee Skaggs (born July 18, 1954), known professionally as Ricky Skaggs, is an American neotraditional country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, ...

, John Oates and

Gene Watson Gary Gene Watson (born October 11, 1943) is an American country music singer. He is most famous for his 1975 hit "Love in the Hot Afternoon," his 1981 No. 1 hit " Fourteen Carat Mind," and his signature 1979 song " Farewell Party." Watson's l ...

Discography

Albums

Singles

Singles from collaboration albums

References

Other sources

*Wolfe, Stacey (1998). "Don Gibson". In ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music''. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York:

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. p. 199.

External links

Don Gibson Discography

Gibson discography at Emory Law

Gibson in the Country Music Hall of Fame

Gibson at the Nashville Songwriters Foundation

Allmusic Don Gibson with Biography, Discography, Charts
*
Website for the Don Gibson Theater
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson, Don 1928 births 2003 deaths People from Shelby, North Carolina American country singer-songwriters Country musicians from North Carolina Country Music Hall of Fame inductees Grand Ole Opry members RCA Victor artists Hickory Records artists 20th-century American singers Singer-songwriters from North Carolina