Mack Vickery (June 8, 1938 – December 21, 2004), also known as Atlanta James and Vick Vickers, was an American musician, songwriter, and inductee in the Hillbilly Hall of Fame and Alabama Music Hall of Fame. His songs have been recorded by artists such as

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, and

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Biography

Vickery was born in Town Creek, Alabama and moved to

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

in 1957. Considered leading man material, he recorded for

Sun Records Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee on February 1, 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Jo ...

, although nothing was initially released. Vickery continued to record for a number of minor labels and under various aliases, including "Vick Vickers" and "Atlanta James". Vickery first scored a songwriting hit when

Faron Young Faron Young (February 25, 1932 – December 10, 1996) was an American country singer, musician, and songwriter from the early 1950s into the mid-1980s. His hits including " If You Ain't Lovin' (You Ain't Livin')" and " Live Fast, Love Hard, Die ...

recorded Vickery's song "She Went A Little Bit Further", which reached number 14 on the Country Music charts in 1968. Vickery followed this with songs for artists like

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, James Carr, John Anderson, and

Tanya Tucker Tanya Denise Tucker (born October 10, 1958) is an American country music singer and songwriter who had her first hit, "Delta Dawn", in 1972 at the age of 13. During her career Tucker became one of the few child performers to mature into adulthood ...

. Vickery's most successful hit as a writer was co-writing " The Fireman" with Wayne Kemp, recorded by

, which reached number 5 in 1985. Jerry Lee Lewis recorded a number of Vickery's songs, including "Rockin' My Life Away", " Meat Man" (described as "two minutes and forty seconds of sexual boasts, delivered furiously and convincingly") and "Ivory Tears". Vickery became known as Lewis's "speechwriter", and "In Vickery, a fan as well as a professional, Jerry Lee had found someone who could articulate his troubles better than he himself ever could." According to the book ''Jerry Lee Lewis - His Own Story'', Vickery was one of Lewis' best friends; Lewis stated that he was "like a brother". Waylon Jennings recorded " The Eagle" which was written by Vickery along with Hank Cochran and Red Lane. This song was used as the unofficial "official theme song" of the First Gulf War as it was easy to relate the lyrics to the F-15 Eagle fighter jet. Jennings had recorded "Cedartown Georgia" earlier in his career, a 1971 hit that was co–written by Vickery, Sammi Smith, and Charlie Cobble. Both songs are found on albums of the same names, respectively. In 1970, Vickery recorded the album ''Live at the Alabama Women's Prison'' which included

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

impersonations. The back cover notes of the live album were penned by Waylon Jennings as he said Mack had beat him to the punch by recording a live album at a women's prison. He reached the charts as a singer (under the name "Atlanta James") for the first time in 1974 with "That Kind of Fool" (also recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis) and again in 1977 with "Ishabilly" and "Here's to the Horses". Vickery was also friends with legendary Nashville disc jockey

Ralph Emery Walter Ralph Emery (March 10, 1933 – January 15, 2022) was an American country music disc jockey, radio and television host from McEwen, Tennessee. Emery promoted numerous stars on his radio and TV shows, and was called the Dick Clark (ent ...

and made numerous appearances on his early morning WSM television show. He also made several appearances on the Nashville Network (TNN) show ''Nashville Now''. In the 1970s, Vickery toured with comedian Hollis Champion, also known as "Elmer Fudpucker", opening shows for Jerry Lee Lewis. In 1989, Vickery won the Music City News "Song Of The Year Award" for another song he co-wrote with Wayne Kemp, " I'll Leave This World Loving You", a hit for

Ricky Van Shelton Ricky Van Shelton (born January 12, 1952) is an American retired country music singer. Active between 1986 and 2006, he charted more than 20 singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts. This figure includes 10 Number One hits: "Somebod ...

. In 2002, the

Alabama Music Hall of Fame The Alabama Music Hall of Fame, first conceived by the Muscle Shoals Music Association in the early 1980s, was created by the Alabama Music Hall of Fame Board, which then oversaw construction of a facility after a statewide referendum in 1987 ...

honored Vickery with a bronze star in its Walkway of Stars. Vickery died of a heart attack in Nashville, Tennessee in 2004 at the age of 66.

References

External links

Alabama Music Hall of Fame
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vickery, Mack 1938 births 2004 deaths People from Town Creek, Alabama American country singer-songwriters American rockabilly musicians 20th-century American singer-songwriters Country musicians from Alabama Singer-songwriters from Alabama