Roger Dale Bowling (December 3, 1944 – December 26, 1982) was an American

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates 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 genre and film scoring. ...

who specialized in

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

Biography

Bowling was born in Helton,

Leslie County, Kentucky Leslie County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Its county seat and largest city is Hyden, Kentucky, Hyden. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 10,513. It was formed in 1 ...

. As a recording artist, he placed seven singles 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 ...

'' country chart, all with songs he co-wrote. His highest-charting single as an artist was "Yellow Pages", which peaked at number 30 in 1981. He also performed the opening theme song "Heal It" ( Byron Hill/ Mike Reid), and the closing credits song "Friday Night Fool" (which he wrote) for the feature film '' The Exterminator'' (1980), on

Embassy Pictures Embassy Pictures Corporation (also and later known as Avco Embassy Pictures as well as Embassy Films Associates) was an American independent film production and distribution company, which was active from 1942 to 1986. Embassy was responsible ...

. He committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

in Wiley,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, at the age of 38, after being diagnosed with terminal

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

a year earlier.

Work

His best-known songs include: * "

Blanket on the Ground "Blanket on the Ground" is a song written by Roger Bowling and recorded by American country music singer Billie Jo Spears. It was released in February 1975 as the second single and title track from the album '' Blanket on the Ground''. Irish b ...

" a number one hit for

Billie Jo Spears Billie Jo Spears (born Billie Jean Moore; January 14, 1938 – December 14, 2011) was an American country music singer. She was known for a series of Single (music), singles whose characters often represented women in assertive positions. Among t ...

in 1975 * " Lucille" (co-written with

Hal Bynum Harold Lynn Bynum (September 29, 1934 – June 2, 2022) was an American songwriter associated with the outlaw country movement in the 1970s. Bynum wrote more than 200 songs for popular country artists, including Kenny Rogers (" Lucille"), Patty ...

), a number one hit for

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 ...

and named CMA Song Of The Year in 1977 * " Coward of the County" (co-written with

Billy Edd Wheeler Billy Edd Wheeler (December 9, 1932 – September 16, 2024) was an American songwriter, performer, writer, and visual artist. His songs include " Jackson" ( Grammy award winner for Johnny Cash and June Carter) " The Reverend Mr. Black", "Dese ...

), a number one hit for Kenny Rogers in 1979 * "I'd Like To Sleep Til I Get Over You", a number five hit for Freddie Hart in 1975 * "

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

" (co-written with

George Richey George Richey (born George Baker Richardson; November 30, 1935 – July 31, 2010) was an American songwriter and record producer. He was born in Arkansas, but raised in Malden, Missouri. Career Richey was a mainstay of the Nashville country mus ...

and

Billy Sherrill Billy Norris Sherrill (November 5, 1936 – August 4, 2015) was an American record producer, songwriter, and arranger associated with country artists, notably Tammy Wynette and George Jones. Sherrill and business partner Glenn Sutton are regar ...

), a number five hit for

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American Country music, country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for a long list of hit records, and is well known for his distinctive voice an ...

and

Tammy Wynette Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music singer and songwriter, considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Lynn, Wynette helped bring a ...

in 1977 * "'57 Chevrolet" in 1972

References

1944 births 1982 suicides 1982 deaths 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American singer-songwriters American country singer-songwriters Country musicians from Kentucky People from Harlan, Kentucky People from Leslie County, Kentucky Singer-songwriters from Kentucky {{US-composer-20thC-stub