Elbert Lee West (July 22, 1967 – May 18, 2015) was an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...

artist. Initially a session songwriter in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

, West saw his first chart success in the 1990s as a co-writer on singles for country singer

Tracy Lawrence Tracy Lee Lawrence (born January 27, 1968) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born in Atlanta, Texas, and raised in Foreman, Arkansas, Lawrence began performing at age 15 and moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in ...

, including the Number Ones "

Sticks and Stones "Sticks and Stones" is an English-language children's rhyme. The rhyme is used as a defense against name-calling and verbal bullying, intended to increase resiliency, avoid physical retaliation, and/or to remain calm and indifferent. The full rhy ...

" and " Can't Break It to My Heart". West co-wrote album tracks for other artists, including tracks for

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has released 16 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, four for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those albu ...

and

John Michael Montgomery John Michael Montgomery (born January 20, 1965) is an American country music singer. Montgomery began singing with his brother Eddie, who would later become known as one half of the duo Montgomery Gentry, before beginning his major-label solo c ...

Biography

Elbert West was born on July 22, 1967. Early in his musical career, West wrote songs for

, and

. By 2001, he had signed to

Broken Bow Records BBR Music Group (formerly Broken Bow Records) is an American record label based in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in July 1999 by Benny Brown, the label specializes in country music. The label's executive vice president is Jon Loba. Craig Morgan ...

, then a newly formed independent label, and his debut album, ''Livin' the Life'', was released that year. West co-wrote ten of the album's thirteen tracks, while others – including "(This One's Gonna) Leave a Mark", previously recorded by John Michael Montgomery – were co-written by Randy Archer and Johnny Park, formerly of the duo

Archer/Park Archer/Park was an American country music duo composed of singer-songwriters Randy Archer and Johnny Park. Signed to Atlantic Records in 1994, the duo released its sole album, ''We Got a Lot in Common'', that year. Two of the album's singles enter ...

. "Diddley", which peaked at No. 56 on the ''

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 Singles & Tracks Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sa ...

charts, was the album's lead single and West's only single to chart. "Diddley" was also made into a music video, which aired on CMT. Erik Hage of ''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

'' gave the album four stars out of five, saying, "West has a big, husky baritone, a keen songwriting ability, a defiant attitude, and is a major country talent." After a falling out over a record, West left Broken Bow Records. In 2013, West started having seizures. He died in Portland, Tennessee on May 18, 2015 at the age of 47 from a

stomach The stomach is a muscular, hollow organ in the gastrointestinal tract of humans and many other animals, including several invertebrates. The stomach has a dilated structure and functions as a vital organ in the digestive system. The stomach i ...

aneurysm An aneurysm is an outward bulging, likened to a bubble or balloon, caused by a localized, abnormal, weak spot on a blood vessel wall. Aneurysms may be a result of a hereditary condition or an acquired disease. Aneurysms can also be a nidus ...

. West is survived by his wife Tammy and their three children.

Discography

''Livin' the Life'' (2001)

Track listing

#"Crawlin' Time" (Judy Hoffman, Elbert West) – 3:22 #"Side of the Road" (D. Scott Miller, West) – 3:46 #"Diddley" (Doc James Shapiro, C.B. Carter) – 2:52 #"Neon Light" (West, Earl Clark) – 3:35 #"(This One's Gonna) Leave a Mark" (John Michael Montgomery, David Lee, Johnny Park, West) – 3:34 #"Unpredictable" (Miller, West) – 2:35 #"Livin' the Life" (Randy Archer, West) – 3:33 #"Robin Loves to Hear Me Sing" (Miller, John Ramey) – 4:21 #"My Last Resort" (Miller) – 3:08 #"Sinner" (Miller, West, Ken Prueitt) – 3:46 #"Middle of the Line" (Lee, West) – 3:14 #"Everything That He's Not" (Miller, West, Stewart Harris) – 5:23 #"Kiss My Lips Goodbye" (Miller, West, Even Stevens) – 2:57

Personnel

*Steve Brewster – drums, percussion *Gary Burnette – six-string bass guitar, electric guitar,

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

John Cowan John Cowan (born August 24, 1953) is an American soul music and progressive bluegrass vocalist and bass guitar player. He was the lead vocalist and bass player for the New Grass Revival. Cowan became the band's bassist in 1972 after the departure ...

– background vocals *Steve Mackey – bass guitar, tic tac bass *Russ Pahl – six-string bass guitar,

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

Dobro Dobro is an American brand of resonator guitars, currently owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was origin ...

, acoustic guitar, electric guitar,

steel guitar A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conve ...

gut string guitar The classical guitar (also known as the nylon-string guitar or Spanish guitar) is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor of ...

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form i ...

talk box A talk box (also spelled talkbox and talk-box) is an effects unit that allows musicians to modify the sound of a musical instrument by shaping the frequency content of the sound and to apply speech sounds (in the same way as singing) onto the sou ...

guitar, tic tac bass *James Pennebaker – fiddle, electric guitar, steel guitar *Laura Vida – background vocals *Barry Walsh – piano *Elbert West – lead vocals

Singles

Music videos

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:West, Elbert 1967 births 2015 deaths American country singer-songwriters BBR Music Group artists Singer-songwriters from West Virginia People from McDowell County, West Virginia Country musicians from West Virginia