Country songwriter Dallas Frazier died, age 82, on Friday at a care facility in Gallatin, TN after suffering two strokes in late 2021.
The three-time Grammy nominee’s songs were recorded by the likes of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Diana Ross, Engelbert Humperdink, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Jack Greene, George Jones, Charley Pride, Emmylou Harris, and Tanya Tucker.
In 1981, The Oak Ridge Boys covered Dallas’ 1961 track Elvira, which became one of their signature songs.
+9
RIP: Country songwriter Dallas Frazier died, age 82, on Friday at a care facility in Gallatin, TN after suffering two strokes in late 2021 (pictured in 2019)
‘We lost a dear friend today,’ the five-time Grammy-winning band said in a statement on Friday.
‘Dallas Frazier had an influence on our country music career from the beginning. He wrote The Baptism of Jesse Taylor. But his influence in the 1980s was even greater after we recorded his song #Elvira. Rest in peace, Dallas. We will see you on the other side.’
‘I’ve noticed this all my life in writing songs, there’s a thing called feel, and it’s magic when you get ahold of it,’ Frazier told journalist Tom Roland in a 2018 interview.
‘It can make or break a record. You can have a great song and all, but if it doesn’t have that feel, it just doesn’t do anything. Elvira had the feel. And The Oaks, what a tremendous cut. With Richard Sterban doing his thing on it and the horns just making it first class…it had so much magic in it, it’d just raise the hair on your arms.’
+9
Gone too soon: The three-time Grammy nominee’s (pictured in 1966) songs were recorded by the likes of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Diana Ross, Engelbert Humperdink, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Jack Greene, George Jones, Charley Pride, Emmylou Harris, and Tanya Tucker
+9
‘We lost a dear friend today’: In 1981, The Oak Ridge Boys covered Dallas’ 1961 track Elvira, which became one of their signature songs (pictured in 2018)
The five-time Grammy-winning band said in a statement on Friday: ‘Dallas Frazier had an influence on our country music career from the beginning. He wrote The Baptism of Jesse Taylor. But his influence in the 1980s was even greater after we recorded his song #Elvira. Rest in peace, Dallas. We will see you on the other side’
11-time Grammy nominee Connie Smith recorded 72 of the hitmaker-turned-minister’s songs between 1966-2021.
‘The world lost a wonderful Christian man and one of the most successful songwriters in country music history,’ the 80-year-old singer’s rep said in a statement.
‘Connie and Dallas were musical soulmates and great friends. At her appearance on the Grand Ole Opry [on Saturday], Connie spoke fondly of her friend Dallas while making last minute changes to her 3-song setlist to perform Frazier’s I Love Charley Brown, If it Ain’t Love (Let’s Leave it Alone), and Where is My Castle?
+9
Frazier told Tom Roland in a 2018 interview: ‘I’ve noticed this all my life in writing songs, there’s a thing called feel, and it’s magic when you get ahold of it. It can make or break a record. You can have a great song and all, but if it doesn’t have that feel, it just doesn’t do anything’
+9
‘The world lost a wonderful Christian man and one of the most successful songwriters in country music history’: 11-time Grammy nominee Connie Smith recorded 72 of the hitmaker-turned-minister’s songs between 1966-2021
+9
‘He was humble and kind’: Dallas penned country crooner Gene Watson’s first No. 1 hit Fourteen Carat Mind
‘Most sincere condolences go to his wife Sharon and the Frazier family. Dallas will be dearly missed. While so sad about his passing, we celebrate his life, his legacy and the many, many wonderful songs he has left behind for us.’
Dallas penned country crooner Gene Watson’s first No. 1 hit Fourteen Carat Mind.
‘I’m sorry to hear the great songwriter and great man, Dallas Frazier has passed. He wrote so many of our greatest country hits,’ the 78-year-old Texan wrote in a statement.
+9
Tribute: In 1976, Frazier was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the organization is also mourning his loss
The 2020 trailer for Elvira: The True Story of Dallas Frazier
+9
‘Had I not been poor I’d never been a songwriter’: The Oklahoma-born, Cali-raised writer made his final appearance in Scott McDaniel’s 65-minute short Elvira: The True Story of Dallas Frazier, which screened at the 2020 Nashville Film Festival
‘He also wrote Elvira, There Goes My Everything, All I Have to Offer You (Is Me) and so many more. He was humble and kind on top of that. We were just lucky to have him writing his songs for country music. RIP Dallas.’
In 1976, Frazier was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the organization is also mourning his loss.
The Oklahoma-born, Cali-raised writer made his final appearance in Scott McDaniel’s 65-minute short Elvira: The True Story of Dallas Frazier, which screened at the 2020 Nashville Film Festival.
News
EXCLUSIVE: Director Baz Luhrmann says Austin Butler is ‘phenomenal’ as Elvis Presley in upcoming biopic – and his performance will turn him into a ‘superstar’
He is one of Australia’s top directors whose critically acclaimed films are known to turn cast members into household names. And on Wednesday, Baz Luhrmann had nothing but praise for Austin Butler as he weighed in on his portrayal of Elvis Presley for the…
Austin Butler is all shook up as Elvis Presley alongside Tom Hanks as his larger-than-life manager Colonel Tom Parker in new trailer for Baz Luhrmann’s lavish biopic about The King
The new trailer for Baz Luhrmann’s highly-anticipated film Elvis has been released, with Austin Butler taking on the role as the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll alongside Tom Hanks, who plays his larger-than-life manager. The 30-year-old Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood star…
Priscilla Presley visits Australia to open Elvis Presley exhibition in Bendigo – and says The King regretted never coming Down Under
Priscilla Presley has arrived in Australia for a very sentimental reason. The American actress attended Bendigo Art Gallery in Victoria to open the new Elvis Presley exhibition, Elvis: Direct from Graceland. The 76-year-old shared her thoughts on what her former husband,…
Priscilla Presley is mobbed by fans in Australia as she opens new Elvis Presley exhibition in Bendigo – where 300 of The King’s personal belongings are on display
Priscilla Presley was given a very passionate welcome by adoring fans after landing in Australia. The American actress was mobbed by admirers as she arrived at the Bendigo Art Gallery in Victoria to open the new Elvis Presley exhibition, Elvis: Direct…
Elvis Presley’s scandalous hip-shaking, Army service, and the women he loved teased in new trailer for Baz Luhrmann’s biopic
On Monday, Warner Bros. Pictures unveiled the second trailer for Baz Luhrmann‘s biopic Elvis – hitting UK/US theaters June 24 – which focused on The King’s darker times. The three-minute preview began by quoting President Lyndon Johnson: ‘Our country itself is sick. It’s…
The real power behind the King: In an exclusive interview with YOU, Elvis Presley’s former girlfriend reveals who the singer’s true guiding light was (and it wasn’t Colonel Tom Parker!)
Several years after the death of Elvis Presley’s mother Gladys, his ex-girlfriend Barbara Hearn was invited to spend the evening with him at his Memphis mansion Graceland. They had become an item just as his fame started to skyrocket in…
End of content
No more pages to load