Paul Charles Craft (August 12, 1938 – October 18, 2014) was an American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

singer-songwriter. The

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

-born Craft was known as the songwriter for

Mark Chesnutt Mark Nelson Chesnutt (born September 6, 1963) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Between 1990 and 1999, he had his greatest chart success recording for Universal Music Group Nashville's MCA and Decca branches, with a total of ei ...

's single "

Brother Jukebox "Brother Jukebox" is a song written by Paul Craft. It was originally recorded by Don Everly, one-half of The Everly Brothers, in 1977 and reached number 96 on the country singles charts. It was later covered by Keith Whitley on '' I Wonder Do You T ...

", and the novelty song "It's Me Again, Margaret", recorded by

Ray Stevens Harold Ray Ragsdale (born January 24, 1939), known professionally as Ray Stevens, is an American country and pop singer-songwriter and comedian, known for his Grammy-winning recordings "Everything Is Beautiful" and "Misty", as well as novelty ...

, and Craft himself. Between 1977 and 1978, Craft charted three singles on

RCA Nashville RCA Nashville is an American country music record label based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is distributed by Sony Music Nashville which is part of Sony Music. Current artists *Kane Brown *Andrew Jannakos *Miranda Lambert * Niko Moon (RCA/River Ho ...

. His song "Keep Me From Blowing Away" was originally recorded by

The Seldom Scene The Seldom Scene is an American bluegrass band that formed in 1971 in Bethesda, Maryland. The band's original line-up comprised John Starling on lead vocals and guitar, Mike Auldridge on Dobro and baritone vocals, Ben Eldridge on banjo, Tom Gra ...

on their 1973 album ''Act II'' and was then recorded by

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American ...

on her 1974 album ''

Heart Like a Wheel ''Heart Like a Wheel'' is the fifth solo studio album by Linda Ronstadt, released in November 1974. It was Ronstadt's last album to be released by Capitol Records. At the time of its recording, Ronstadt had already moved to Asylum Records and rel ...

'', and has since been recorded by

Moe Bandy Marion Franklin "Moe" Bandy Jr. (born February 12, 1944) is an American country music singer. He was most popular during the 1970s, when he had several hit songs, both alone and with his singing partner, Joe Stampley. Early life and recording ...

, T. Graham Brown,

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis made ...

, The Grascals and

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

. His song "Midnight Flyer" was recorded by the Eagles. His song "Dropkick Me, Jesus" was a No. 17 country hit for Bobby Bare in 1976. He also wrote

's "Hank Williams, You Wrote My Life" and T. Graham Brown's "

Come as You Were "Come as You Were" is a song written by Paul Craft and first recorded by American country music artist Joe Stampley on his 1980 album ''After Hours''. It was later recorded by American country pop music artist Jerry Lee Lewis in 1983 as a single ...

" among others. Craft 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 u ...

on October 5, 2014. Craft died at a hospital in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

on October 18, 2014, at the age of 76.

Discography

References

External links

* biography rchived from the original* *
Paul Craft Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (2009) 1938 births 2014 deaths American country singer-songwriters Musicians from Memphis, Tennessee RCA Records Nashville artists Singer-songwriters from Tennessee Country musicians from Tennessee {{US-singer-songwriter-stub