Cecil Allen Null (April 26, 1927 – August 26, 2001) was an American

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

. He began writing songs and singing publicly while serving in the Navy during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. After leaving the service, he performed with various groups on

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

s in

Bristol, Virginia Bristol is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,219. It is the twin city of Bristol, Tennessee, just across the state line, which runs down the middle of its main street, State ...

. He wrote the songs " I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know" and "

I Found Out More Than You Ever Knew "I Found Out More Than You Ever Knew (About Him)" is a country and western song written by Cecil Null. Recorded by Betty Cody in 1952, the RCA release reached the top ten on the Billboard Country Chart. It was the answer record to the Davis Sist ...

", which became 1953 hits for The Davis Sisters and

Betty Cody Betty Cody (August 17, 1921 – July 1, 2014) was a Canadian-born country music singer. Her notable singles include the 1952 RCA releases "Tom Tom Yodel" and "I Found Out More Than You Ever Knew", and "Please Throw Away The Glass" released by ...

, respectively. On December 5, 1953, both songs were listed in the top ten of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Hot Country Songs chart. Null became an expert at playing and designing

autoharp An autoharp or chord zither is a string instrument belonging to the zither family. It uses a series of bars individually configured to mute all strings other than those needed for the intended chord. The term ''autoharp'' was once a trademark o ...

s, and ultimately served as a consultant for a manufacturer of the instrument.

Biography

Cecil Null was born in East War, West Virginia. Following his death from cancer August 26, 2001, he was buried at Glenwood Cemetery in

Bristol, Tennessee Bristol is a city in the State of Tennessee. Located in Sullivan County, its population was 26,702 at the 2010 census. It is the twin city of Bristol, Virginia, which lies directly across the state line between Tennessee and Virginia. The ...

Songs

*" I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know" (1953) *"

" (1953) *"Close Your Eyes (And I'll Be There)" *"Love Isn't Love (Until You Give it Away)" (Cecil Null & E. C. Chance) *"Mother Maybelle" 1964. *"She's Hungry Again" Recorded by Bill Philips (1970)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Null, Cecil 1927 births 2001 deaths Songwriters from West Virginia American autoharp players 20th-century American musicians People from War, West Virginia