| 2006
Nashville Songwriters
Prestwood,
Buffett, Weatherly Click here to read more about the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction & Dinner in The Tennessean. Click here to read more about the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction & Dinner in Music Row magazine. Jimmy Buffett, Hugh Prestwood and Jim Weatherly are the newest recipients of one of the nation's highest songwriting honors – induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. The three men were inducted Sunday, Oct. 22, during annual ceremonies conducted by the Nashville Songwriters Foundation (NSF) at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel. Trisha Yearwood and Michael Johnson paid tribute to Prestwood by treating the audience to a sampling of his legendary songs. Yearwood presented “The Song Remembers When” (her hit recording of that song earned an Emmy Award and NSAI’s Song of the Year in 1993), while Johnson revisited his chart success with the Prestwood-penned tunes “That’s That” and “The Moon Is Still Over Her Shoulder.” Other highlights from Prestwood’s catalog include “Hard Rock Bottom Of Your Heart” (Randy Travis), “The Sound Of Goodbye” (Crystal Gayle), “Ghost In This House” (Shenandoah) and “On The Verge” (Collin Raye). Hall of Fame member Mike Reid provided the induction speech. American Idol finalist and two-time Dove Award Nominee George Huff and Skip Ewing celebrated Weatherly, whose classics include “Midnight Train To Georgia,” “Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye)” and “You’re The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me” (Gladys Knight & The Pips), as well as “A Lady Like You” (Glen Campbell) and “Someone Else’s Star” (Bryan White). Back-up vocals during Huff's performance of "Midnight Train to Georgia" were provided by Marshall Chapman, Gretchen Peters and Buzz Cason. Longtime Weatherly friend Charlie Monk provided the induction speech. Big & Rich joined with Marshall Chapman and Buzz Cason to honor Buffett, whose discography includes hits such as “Margaritaville” and “Come Monday,” as well as “Volcano,” “Changes In Latitudes,” “He Went To Paris,” “Fins,” “A Pirate Looks At Forty” and “Son Of A Son Of A Sailor.” Longtime Buffett friend Don Light provided the induction speech. Each Hall of Fame inductee received the “Manny” (short for “Manuscript”) statuette. In addition to the Hall of Fame inductions, the evening saw the NSF’s sister organization, the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), confer its annual Songwriter Achievement Awards. The organization’s professional songwriter members voted “Jesus, Take The Wheel,” by Brett James, Hillary Lindsey and Gordie Sampson, as their Song of the Year. For the third time in four years, the Songwriter of the Year prize went to Jeffrey Steele, co-writer of hits such as “What Hurts The Most” (Rascal Flatts) and “Something To Be Proud Of” (Montgomery Gentry). A tie in the Songwriter/Artist of the Year category presented honors to both Toby Keith (“As Good As I Once Was” / “A Little Too Late”) and Phil Vassar (“Last Day Of My Life” / “Good Ole Days”). Besides honoring the Song, Songwriter and Songwriter/Artists of the Year, the writers of NSAI’s Professional Songwriters Division also singled out 10 songs and their writers for the organization’s 2006 awards, informally dubbed “The Songs I Wish I’d Written.” Recipients were: 1) “Believe”
(Ronnie Dunn, Craig Wiseman / recorded by Brooks & Dunn);
|
