If you are an old-school country fan, this one will hit deep.
Dallas Frazier, the man who wrote “Elvira” for the Oak Ridge Boys, has passed away.
Frazier was 82 years old.
One of the Great Ones…
Frazier is one of the most celebrated songwriters in country music.
He was enshrined into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and has a laundry list of hit songs with his name on them.
Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, stated, “Dallas Frazier is among the greatest country songwriters of all time.”
Frazier was a country boy through and through.
Born in Oklahoma, he wrote numerous hits for the Oak Ridge Boys and Charlie Pride, as well as collaborating on several hits with A.L. “Doodle” Owens.
In addition to “Elvira,” some of the other songs you may know are “(I’m So) Afraid of Losing You Again,” in 1969, “I Can’t Believe That You’ve Stopped Loving Me,” in1970, and “Then Who Am I,” in 1974.
Young, on Frazier, added, “He could convey infectious fun with ‘Elvira,’ and then write something as stunningly sad and true as ‘Beneath Still Waters.’
“His songs helped Connie Smith to become a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.
“He was a man of kindness, generosity, and faith, who overcame a hardscrabble upbringing to offer smiling gifts to all of us.
“He lived a beautiful life of a beautiful mind.”
On songwriting, Frazier once said, “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. ‘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.”
Rest in peace, sir, your songs will carry your legacy forever.
Source: New York Post