Jack Stapp (December 8, 1912 – December 20, 1980) was an American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

music manager.

Biography

Stapp was born in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, United States. His family moved to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

in 1921, and Stapp was educated in that city. He became the programme controller at

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

's own radio station and oversaw its development to a commercial radio station as WGST. After relocating to New York, Stapp came to the attention of

WSM (AM) WSM (650 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station, located in Nashville, Tennessee. It broadcasts a country music format (with classic country and Americana (music), Americana leanings, the latter of which is branded as "Route 650") and is known as ...

back in Nashville, who made him their programme manager. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Stapp joined forces with Lou Cowan to create

Tree International Publishing Tree International Publishing was a major American music publisher, based in Nashville. As the last major music publisher that was owned and operated in Nashville, it was sold to the Sony Music, CBS Records Group in 1989.John ParelesRecords to Buy ...

. Stapp co-wrote, with Harry Stone, the popular song " Chattanooga Shoe Shine Boy" (1950).
By 1954, Tree Publishing's song, "By the Law of My Heart", was recorded by Benny Martin. The following year, two of Tree Publishing's songwriters, Mae Boren Axton and Tommy Durden, co-wrote "

Heartbreak Hotel "Heartbreak Hotel" is a song recorded by American singer Elvis Presley. It was released as a single on January 27, 1956, Presley's first on his new record label RCA Victor. It was written by Mae Boren Axton and Tommy Durden, with credit being g ...

". By 1964, Stapp had left his radio duties behind to concentrate his efforts in expanding Tree. He later became a founder-member of the

Country Music Association The Country Music Association (CMA) is an American trade association with the stated aim of promoting and developing country music throughout the world. Founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee, it originally consisted of 233 members and was the f ...

and held top posts with

NARAS National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. (NARAS), doing business as The Recording Academy, is an American Learned society, learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is widely kno ...

. Stapp died in 1980, but was posthumously inducted to the

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 amass ...

in 1989. Tree International Publishing, a music publisher, is still based in Nashville.

References

External links

Country Music Hall Of Fame Inductee, 1989
*

Bibliography

* The Editors of Country Music (magazine) (1994)
The Comprehensive Country Music Encyclopedia, p. 365-6
', . * Paul Kingsbury (ed.) (1998)
The Encyclopedia of Country Music: The Ultimate Guide to the Music, p. 503
', . * Barry McCloud (1995)
Definitive Country: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Country Music and Its Performers, p. 761-2
', . 1912 births 1980 deaths American country singer-songwriters Country Music Hall of Fame inductees People from Nashville, Tennessee Members of the Country Music Association 20th-century American singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from Tennessee Country musicians from Tennessee {{US-country-musician-stub