Robert Gene Yount (October 20, 1929 – June 30, 2005) was an American musician, singer and songwriter in the

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

genre. He was born in

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...

. Between 1949 and 1954 Yount worked as a guitarist and songwriter for Eddie Miller. Together with Miller, he wrote the song " Release Me" for which he is best known. The song reached number 1 in the UK in a cover by Engelbert Humperdinck. Yount sometimes used the stage name, Bobby Gene. As they were working with Dub Williams, (a pseudonym for James Pebworth), Miller and Yount gave him one-third of the song. In 1958, Yount signed away his royalty rights to W.S. Stevenson, better known as William McCall of

Four Star Records 4 Star Records was a record label that recorded many well-known country music acts in the 1950s. The label, founded after World War II, was home to singers such as Hank Locklin, Maddox Brothers and Rose, Rose Maddox, Webb Pierce, Cousin Ford Lew ...

. After the bankruptcy of Four Star's successor in interest, the copyright was acquired by Acuff-Ross Music. When the initial term of copyright ended in 1983, it was renewed for a second term. Between 1983 and 1985 Acuff-Rose paid royalties to Yount, until they were notified by the family of the deceased William McCall of the 1958 assignment. Acuff-Rose then suspended payments until the dispute between the claimants was resolved. On December 24, 1996 the

United States courts of appeals The United States courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal judiciary. The courts of appeals are divided into 11 numbered circuits that cover geographic areas of the United States and hear appeals f ...

, Ninth Circuit, upheld the claim of the McCalls. Robert Yount died in

Oroville, California Oroville (''Oro'', Spanish for "Gold" and ''Ville'', French for "town") is the county seat of Butte County, California, United States. The population of the city was 15,506 at the 2010 census, up from 13,004 in the 2000 census. Following the ...

at the age of 75.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yount, Robert 1929 births 2005 deaths Musicians from Oklahoma City American country singer-songwriters 20th-century American singers Country musicians from Oklahoma Singer-songwriters from Oklahoma