Ep. 117 - BUZZ CASON ("Everlasting Love")

The Rockabilly Hall of Fame inductee who’s been called The Father of Nashville Rock talks about a successful career that’s seen his songs covered by everyone from Martina McBride to The Beatles. EPISODE DETAILS: PART ONE Scott and Paul talk about the last chance to enter to win a signed copy of Layng Martine's memoir, Permission to Fly, as well as ask listeners to send in their recordings they've had produced by our friend Justin at Pearl Snap Studios. PART TWO - 3:18 mark The guys talk about Rocketman, the new Elton John film, and get into a larger discussion about whether or not factual accuracy is important when it comes to music biopics. PART THREE - 11:54 mark Paul and Scott call up Buzz at his studio to get the lowdown on how he launched Nashville’s first rock band with a saxophonist who could only play one note; how gigging with Jerry Lee Lewis landed his group a job as Brenda Lee’s backup band; the time he snuck into a radio station after hours to record one of his earliest original songs; why he didn’t know The Beatles had covered one of his tunes until 20 years after the fact; which record he produced that has a dirty joke hidden in the master number on the label of the 45; the way he ended up recording as “Alvin” on the Chipmunks records; why a Bible verse inspired his biggest hit; what he thought when he heard U2’s interpretation of “Everlasting Love,” and how an album project that didn’t go anywhere still led to one of his biggest hits as a songwriter. ABOUT BUZZ CASON Rockabilly Hall of Fame inductee Buzz Cason has been called The Father of Nashville Rock. He is best known as the co-writer of two R&B classics: “Soldier of Love” - which  has been recorded by Arthur Alexander, The Beatles, and Pearl Jam – and “Everlasting Love,” which was recorded by Robert Knight, Carl Carlton, Gloria Estefan, and U2. Cason began his music career with his own group, The Casuals, which eventually became Brenda Lee’s backing band. He scored one Top 20 pop hit as an artist with “Look For a Star” under the name Gary Miles before hitting the charts as a songwriter with Jan & Dean’s recordings of the songs “Tennessee” and “Popsicle,” as well as Ronny & The Daytonas’ recording of “Sandy.” Robert Knight’s version of “Everlasting Love” became a Top 20 hit on both the Pop and R&B charts around the same time Cason produced soul singer Clifford Curry’s classic “She Shot a Hole in My Soul.” Cason later found success in the country market with Tommy Overstreet’s chart-topping “Ann (Don’t Go Runnin’)," T.G. Sheppard’s Top 20 hit “Another Woman,” a string of Top 40 singles with Freddy Weller, as well as Top 10 with singles by Mel Tillis and the McCarters. Martina McBride had a major country hit with “Love’s the Only House,” which Buzz co-wrote with Tom Douglas. Additionally, his songs have been recorded by a diverse range of artists, including Jerry Lee Lewis, Rick Nelson, Dolly Parton, the Oak Ridge Boys, Jimmy Buffett, Alan Jackson, and Placido Domingo.