Bob Morrison (songwriter)
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Robert Edwin Morrison (born August 6, 1942) is an American country songwriter based in
Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
. More than 350 of his songs have been recorded. His most successful compositions are the Grammy-winning
Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (born Kenneth Donald Rogers) (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particul ...
song, " You Decorated My Life" and the Grammy-nominated " Lookin' for Love," the theme song for the 1980
John Travolta John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He began acting in television before transitioning into a leading man in films. List of awards and nominations received by John Travolta, His accolades include a Primetime Em ...
film, ''
Urban Cowboy ''Urban Cowboy'' is a 1980 American romantic Western film directed by James Bridges. The plot concerns the love-hate relationship between Buford "Bud" Davis (John Travolta) and Sissy ( Debra Winger). The film's success was credited for spurri ...
'', recorded by Johnny Lee. In 1980, Morrison was awarded "Songwriter of the Year" by the
Nashville Songwriters Association International The Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) is a 501(c) Non-profit organization, not-for-profit trade organization that works to help songwriters in three ways: through legislative advocacy, through education and advice about the ...
(NSAI). He earned more than 40 songwriting citations from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and was
ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...
's Country Songwriter of the Year in 1978, 1980, 1981 and 1982. He was inducted into the
Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame was established in 1970 by the Nashville Songwriters Foundation, Inc. in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. A non-profit organization, its objective is to honor and preserve the songwriting legacy that i ...
in 2016.


Early life

Morrison was born in
Biloxi, Mississippi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. It lies on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast in southern Mississippi, bordering the city of Gulfport, Mississippi, Gulfport to its west. The adjacent cities ar ...
. His father was a jukebox operator who left the house every two weeks to go to New Orleans to pick up a new stack of 45s to restock the local jukeboxes. Morrison received an athletic scholarship (track) to
Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...
where his squad won the SEC championship. He graduated with a degree in nuclear engineering in 1965. A self-taught guitarist, Morrison began playing in local bands at age 15 and later performed in clubs as a solo folk singer. While still in college, he came to the attention of producer and record executive John Hammond who signed him to record several
singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...
for
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. One of those singles, released in 1965, was " The Shadow of Your Smile (Love Theme from ''
The Sandpiper ''The Sandpiper'' is a 1965 American drama film directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, the third of eleven films starring the power couple. Plot Laura Reynolds is a free-spirited, unwed single mother liv ...
'')". Morrison was the first singer to record it, but his version was eclipsed by subsequent recordings by
Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (August 3, 1926 – July 21, 2023), known professionally as Tony Bennett, was an American jazz and traditional pop singer. He received many accolades, including 20 Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, ...
and other established artists. Morrison moved to
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...
in 1967 and worked as a contract actor for
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and released an album on
Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...
, entitled ''Friends of Mine'', which included his original songs. He had a few successes, but after seven years, he gave up his quest for a motion picture career and left Los Angeles.


Career

In 1973 Morrison moved to
Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
with the aspiration of becoming a recording artist; he released an album ''Home Again'' (Monument/MG7618) in the pop-rock genre without much success. He got a job as staff writer for Bob Beckham at Nashville's Combine Music and was paired up to write with Johnny MacRae, whom he considered a mentor. In 1977, Morrison told the '' Tennessean'', "Nashville was kind of the final stand for me... I knew I didn't want to be an engineer, and for a while I thought I wanted to become an actor. But I saw quickly that your body is a very expendable commodity, while songs that you write last forever." His first hit as a songwriter was "The River's Too Wide", recorded by
Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British and Australian singer and actress. With over 100 million records sold, Newton-John was one of the List of best-selling music artists#100 million to 119 million record ...
and
Sammy Davis Jr. Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, actor, comedian, dancer, and musician. At age two, Davis began his career in Vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the Will Mastin Trio, which t ...
Some of his other early hits were " Angels, Roses and Rain" ( Dickey Lee), " You Lift Me Up to Heaven" (
Reba McEntire Reba Nell McEntire ( ; born March 28, 1955), or simply Reba, is an American country music, country singer and actress. Dubbed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Queen of Country", she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Sin ...
) and " You're the One" (
Oak Ridge Boys The Oak Ridge Boys are an American vocal quartet. The classic and most well-known lineup of the group, which performed together for over 40 years, consisted of William Lee Golden (baritone), Duane Allen (lead), Richard Sterban (bass), and Joe B ...
).
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used "You're the One" as the slogan for its national promotion in 1978, adapting it to "We're the One!". Morrison's Grammy-winning song " You Decorated My Life" began as a poem written by Debbie Hupp, a Kentucky mother of five who began writing songs while working in a liquor distillery as a nightwatchman. Hupp and Morrison developed a writing relationship. She brought Morrison the first verse and the title, "You Decorated My Life". Morrison supplied the direction for the second verse, and wrote the chorus melody; together they finished the lyric. Morrison suggested the song to
Dottie West Dottie West (born Dorothy Marie Marsh; October 11, 1932 – September 4, 1991) was an American country singer and songwriter. She also had several credits as an actress. A distinguished figure in the country genre, West was among several people ...
, who declined it, but suggested it for Kenny Rogers. Rogers' recording, released in 1979, became a No. 1 hit on the ''
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'' Country Singles chart, and No. 2 on the
Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...
chart. Morrison's song " Lookin' for Love" was one of the few huge hits that originated from unsolicited amateur songwriters. Two Gulfport, Mississippi school teachers, Patti Ryan and Wanda Mallette, had songwriting aspirations. When they saw Morrison on television accepting an award for his song "You Decorated My Life" , they realized Mallette's husband had gone to school with him, so they sent some of their songs to Morrison; he rejected them. After a while, they sent some more songs that showed some improvement and among them was "Lookin' for Love". Morrison revised a couple of lyric lines, cut the bridge in half and changed the chorus melody of the song slightly. He gave the tape to a friend in Hollywood who dropped it off at Paramount Pictures. It was chosen by
Irving Azoff Irving Azoff (; born December 12, 1947) is an American businessman, who is chairman of Full Stop Management, a company that represents recording artists. During the course of his career, he has worked as an agent, personal manager, concert pr ...
for the film ''
Urban Cowboy ''Urban Cowboy'' is a 1980 American romantic Western film directed by James Bridges. The plot concerns the love-hate relationship between Buford "Bud" Davis (John Travolta) and Sissy ( Debra Winger). The film's success was credited for spurri ...
'' and was sung on the soundtrack by Johnny Lee. It rose to No. 1 on the country charts and No. 5 on the pop charts in 1980. Other noted songs by Morrison are
Gary Morris Gary Gwyn Morris (born December 7, 1948) is an American singer and stage actor who charted a string of hits on the country music charts throughout the 1980s. Morris is known for the 1983 ballad " The Wind Beneath My Wings", although his cred ...
' " The Love She Found in Me",
Conway Twitty Harold Lloyd Jenkins (September 1, 1933 – June 5, 1993), better known by his stage name Conway Twitty, was an American singer and songwriter. Initially a part of the 1950s rockabilly scene, Twitty was best known as a country music performer. ...
's " Don't Call Him a Cowboy", and
Highway 101 Highway 101 was an American country music band founded in 1986 in Los Angeles, California. The initial lineup consisted of Paulette Carlson (lead vocals), Jack Daniels (guitar), Curtis Stone (bass guitar, vocals), and Scott "Cactus" Moser (drum ...
's " Whiskey, If You Were a Woman". On the craft of songwriting, Morrison stated "Inspiration is fine, but very undependable. It's a very demanding life, and even when you're successful, you're not sure you want it."


Awards and honors

Over 350 songs written or co-written by Morrison have been recorded. (See: : Songs written by Bob Morrison (songwriter).) Morrison was
ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...
's "Country Songwriter of the Year" in 1978, 1980, 1981 and 1982 His songs have been recorded by artists including
The Carpenters The Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo consisting of siblings Karen Carpenter, Karen (1950–1983) and Richard Carpenter (musician), Richard Carpenter (born 1946). They produced a distinctive soft musical style, combining ...
,
Bobby Vinton Stanley Robert Vinton (born April 16, 1935) is an American singer and actor, who hosted his own self-titled TV show in the late 1970s. As a teen idol, he became known as "The Polish Prince", as his music paid tribute to his Polish heritage. One ...
,
Highway 101 Highway 101 was an American country music band founded in 1986 in Los Angeles, California. The initial lineup consisted of Paulette Carlson (lead vocals), Jack Daniels (guitar), Curtis Stone (bass guitar, vocals), and Scott "Cactus" Moser (drum ...
,
Barbara Mandrell Barbara Ann Mandrell (born December 25, 1948) is an American retired country music singer and musician. She is also credited as an actress and author. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, she was considered among country's most successful mus ...
,
Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American pianist, singer, and songwriter. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock 'n' roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis m ...
and Bobby Goldsboro. Morrison was awarded "Songwriter of the Year"(1980) by the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) and, as of 2018, has earned 43 ASCAP songwriting citations. He was inducted into the
Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame was established in 1970 by the Nashville Songwriters Foundation, Inc. in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. A non-profit organization, its objective is to honor and preserve the songwriting legacy that i ...
in 2016. On the subject of composing songs, Morrison said the inherent constant rejection is hard to overcome. "The enjoyment comes in seeing the results. If you can make people feel something — even if it's rage — then you've done something," he told a reporter. "To me, these songs of mine are like little children going out into the world...some may be great, and others might fall flat— you just never know".


Personal life

Morrison retired in 2005. He has remained dedicated to physical fitness; he plays golf and is one of Nashville's celebrity tennis players. In 2020, he published the book ''The Aging Train: How You Can Slow It Down''.


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrison, Bob Living people 1942 births Singer-songwriters from Mississippi American country singer-songwriters Country music composers Country musicians from Mississippi