Leon Payne

Leon Roger Payne (born June 15, 1917 in Alba , Texas , † September 11, 1969 in San Antonio , Texas) was an American country musician and songwriter . Payne's most successful compositions include country classics like Lost Highway and I Love You Because .

Life

Childhood and youth

Leon Payne, who was blind from birth , grew up in Wood County , Texas. At 18, he graduated from the Texas School for the Blind, which he had attended since he was seven. There he met his future wife Myrtle and was encouraged by his teachers to devote himself to music. Payne began to play guitar , piano , organ , drums and trombone and performed for friends and acquaintances.

Career

Payne soon had his first professional engagements. He played in a number of regional bands in the mid-1930s and made his first radio appearance in 1935. Two years later he joined Bob Wills ' Texas Playboys, with whom he remained loosely connected throughout his career. At the same time Payne began to write his first songs and got the opportunity to record his first records in 1939. Well-known early pieces were You Don't Love Me But I'll Always Care and Down Where the Violets Grow .

Most of Payne's 1940s was spent as The Blind Texas Hitchhicker, performing in vaudevilles and various country shows . In 1948 Payne became a member of Jack Rhodes' Rhodes Boys and occasionally played with Bob Wills. A year later he formed his own band, the Lone Star Buddies , which included Payne as guitarist and singer, Frankie Surisek ( steel guitar ), Ernest Hunter ( fiddle ), Peter Burke ( bass ) and Joe Reesideau (piano and accordion ). With this group, Payne got appearances on successful shows such as the Louisiana Hayride , the Big D Jamboree and the most successful radio show in North America, the Grand Ole Opry from Nashville . At the same time he became successful as a songwriter. George Morgan had a hit with Payne's Cry-Baby Heart and Hank Williams made it to number 12 on the country charts with Lost Highway . Williams was to bring another Payne title to the charts with They'll Never Take Her Love from Me . Leon Payne himself had his biggest hit with I Love Because in 1950. He had written the title for his wife and childhood sweetheart Myrtle. Many notable artists later recorded their own version, including Ernest Tubb , Jim Reeves , Don Gibson Johnny Cash, and a pop version of Al Martino . Even the young Elvis Presley recorded a cover for the song during his Sun Sessions in 1954.

In the years that followed, musicians like Hank Snow and Carl Smith had repeated successes with Payne's titles. Payne played records until 1964; In the mid-1950s he tried his hand at Starday Records under the pseudonym "Rock Rogers" as a rockabilly and in 1963 he released two albums. In 1965 Payne suffered a heart attack , as a result he had to restrict his tours, but did not give up the music. Other artists continued to have success with his titles; Things Have Gone to Pieces became a hit with George Jones that same year, and in 1967 Don Gibson recorded Lost Highway .

Leon Payne died in 1969 due to another heart attack. He was posthumously inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 with over 1,000 composed pieces .

Discography

Singles

Discography is not exhaustive.

year	title	#	Remarks
Decca Records
194?	Pedro the Tamale Man / Don't Be Afraid
194?	The Face in the Crowd / You Haven't Got a Heart
194?	A Lifetime to Regret / The Moon, Your God and You
Bullet Records
	Empty Arms / Lipstick Trail	647	with Jack Rhodes and the Lone Star Buddies
1947	Don't Try It / Lifetime to Regret	649	with Jack Rhodes and the Lone Star Buddies
1948	Lost Highway / Baby Boy	670
	What's the Need / Rollin 'Stone	671
	I Found Someone New / They'll Never Take Her Love	672
1948	Cheaters Never Win / I'll Stick by You	679
Capitol Records
1949	You Still Got a Place / I Couldn't Do a Thing
1949	I Miss That Gal / Did I Forget to Tell You?
1950	I Love You Because /?
1950 (?)	My Daddy / Because You Love Me
1951	Great American Eagle / Fatal Letter		A-side with Tex knight
1951	I Don't Know Why / If I Could Only Live My Live Over
1951	Empty Dreams / Farewell Waltz
1951 (?)	Lonely and Blue over Someone / A Million Years Ago
1951 (?)	Teach Me To Forget / It's Many A Mile Back Home
1952 (?)	Gentle Hands / He's the Light of the World
1952 (?)	I Want You to Love Me / How Can I Help It?
1952	Polk Salad Green / Weeping Willow
1953 (?)	Lyin 'to My Heart / Mailman
1953 (?)	I Need Your Love / Wouldn't It Be Beautiful?
1953 (?)	If I Took the Time / Sister Sue Polka
19 ??	I Love You Because / A Link in the Chain of a Broken Heart
19 ??	Find Them, Fool Then and Leave Them / I Hate to Leave You
195 ??	A Link in the Chain of a Broken Heart / I Love You Because		Republication
195 ??	I'm a Lone Wolf / I Just Said Goodbye to My Dreams
Starday Records
1954	We're on the Main Line / I The 10,000 Times a Day
1955	Christmas Everday / Christmas Love Songs
1956	Doorsteps to Heaven / You Are the One
1956	Two by Four / You Can't Lean on Me
1956	That Ain't Right / Little Rock Rock		as "Rock Rogers"
1956	All the time / one more chance
1956	Sweet Sweet Love / A Prisoner's Diary
1963	Joe Lopez / You Stood Me Up This Morning
1963	Close to You / Log Train
1964	September Memory / Six Foot Six
D records
1960	Brothers of a Bottle / Mitzie McGraw
1960	There's No Justice / With Half a Heart
1960	Blue Side of Lonesome / Things Have Gone to Pieces
Unpublished titles
1956	My baby left me	Starday

Albums

• 1963: Americana
• 1963: Leon Payne: A Living Legend of Country Music
• 2001: I Love You Because ( Bear Family work edition)

Web links

• Leon Payne in the All Music Guide
• Leon Payne on Hillbilly-Music.com (English)
• biography
• Discography with audio samples