Jerry Chesnut

Posted in News on January 23, 2003

Sony /ATV Music Publishing Nashville held a special ceremony recently to unveil a portrait of legendary songwriter Jerry Chesnut. Painted by Nashville-based artist Anne Collie, the portrait of Chesnut joins those of other Tree Publishing & BMI greats -- including Harlan Howard, Conway Twitty, Hank Cochran, Curly Putman, Bobby Braddock and Willie Nelson -- on permanent display in the Sony/ATV lobby.

BMI's Bradley Collins and Joyce Rice, Sony/ATV's Donna Hilley, Jerry Chesnut and BMI's David Preston. photo by Brian Tipton

Sony/ATV Music president Donna Hilley praised one of Music Row's "Founding Fathers," whose catalog remains one of the most valuable in the company. Chesnut's songs are currently in the marketplace on more than 300 CDs, with many certified Gold and Platinum.

Among his classics are "T-R-O-U-B-L-E," "Four In the Morning," "A Good Year For the Roses," "It's Midnight," "Oney," "Woman Without Love," "Good Time Charley" and "The Wonders You Perform." The list of the hundred+ artists who have recorded his music is stellar and diverse: Elvis Presley, George Jones, Dolly Parton, Tom Jones, George Strait, Kitty Wells, Buddy Knox, Carol Channing, Travis Tritt, Elvis Costello, Wayne Newton, Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, Tammy Wynette, Jerry Lee Lewis, Brook Benton, Alan Jackson, Marty Robbins, Lorretta Lynn and Hank Williams, Jr.

A native of Loyall, Kentucky and a former railroad conductor, Chesnut moved to Nashville in 1958 and scored his first major hit in 1967 with "A Dime At a Time," recorded by Del Reeves. His first #1 was the Grammy-nominated "Another Place, Another Time," recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis. In his career he has collected nearly two dozen performance honors from BMI, including double Million-Air status for "T-R-O-U-B-L-E." The first Lifetime Member of NSAI, Chesnut joined the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1996.

SOURCENews TAGS Country Artists Jerry Chesnut Hank Cochran Harlan Howard Willie Nelson Dolly Parton Elvis Presley Travis Tritt Hank Williams