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other was co-writing “Everlasting Love” in 1967 with Mac Gayden,
the song he cites as the one most people will forever associate with him.
Robert Knight did the original version (which appears on Night Train To Nashville,
Vol. 1) and the song has received more than 5 million plays worldwide according
to BMI. Gloria Estefan and U2 have covered it, and it’s also been a No.
1 hit in England in two different decades.
“The most recent use of the song was as the background for a Pringle’s ad,” Cason laughed. “We’ve got a lot of mileage out of it, but never thought it would become the support for urging folks to buy potato chips.”
However there are some fans who consider another song Cason co-wrote in the ‘60s, “Soldier of Love” with Tony Moon, superior to “Everlasting Love.” Arthur Alexander did a fabulous country-soul version, but it was The Beatles who gave it international status and fame.
Although he enjoyed considerable success during the ‘50s and ‘60s with rock and soul tunes, Cason deems the growth of the Americana movement as the prime thing that’s helped keep him viable in today’s music arena. “When R&B and soul started shifting over more conceptually into first funk, then urban contemporary and rap, that really wasn’t that suited for the types of things that I like to write,” Cason said.
Didn’t have to fit the formula
“But I’ve never been a straight traditional country songwriter either. But with the emergence of Americana music and the subsequent radio format, it allows writers and singers like me to have a lot of freedom stylistically. We can take a song in many directions, have some country or blues flavor, but aren’t restricted to just making it a 12-bar number or trying to produce it in a strict honky-tonk manner. It really lets you take the song in the direction that you think will work, rather than trying to fit it into a formula.”
Cason’s 2004 autobiography Living The Rock ‘N’ Roll Dream: The Adventures of Buzz Cason details many more Cason highlights, among them his time with the Crickets, his days backing Brenda Lee and the period during the ‘70s when the likes of Dolly Parton, Merle Haggard, The Judds and Emmylou Harris were regularly coming to cut songs in the then-new Creative Workshop facility.
But Buzz Cason is far from living in the past or cutting back his activities. He has a cut on the forthcoming new Jerry Reed CD, and is already getting material together for a follow-up to Hats Off To Hank. He’ll also soon begin work on the next Derailers project, and he continues his numerous publishing, recording and producing activities. Cason is also thrilled both of his sons are involved in some fashion with Hats Off To Hank.
“This (the music business) is something that I’ve spent almost my entire life being part of and I still feel just as energetic and enthusiastic about it now as I did in the beginning,” Cason concluded. “It keeps changing and music keeps evolving, but there’s still plenty of great songs being written and played today, and I’m thrilled to still be a part of it in some way.”CP
The Music Biz appears Mondays in The City Paper.
“The most recent use of the song was as the background for a Pringle’s ad,” Cason laughed. “We’ve got a lot of mileage out of it, but never thought it would become the support for urging folks to buy potato chips.”
However there are some fans who consider another song Cason co-wrote in the ‘60s, “Soldier of Love” with Tony Moon, superior to “Everlasting Love.” Arthur Alexander did a fabulous country-soul version, but it was The Beatles who gave it international status and fame.
Although he enjoyed considerable success during the ‘50s and ‘60s with rock and soul tunes, Cason deems the growth of the Americana movement as the prime thing that’s helped keep him viable in today’s music arena. “When R&B and soul started shifting over more conceptually into first funk, then urban contemporary and rap, that really wasn’t that suited for the types of things that I like to write,” Cason said.
Didn’t have to fit the formula
“But I’ve never been a straight traditional country songwriter either. But with the emergence of Americana music and the subsequent radio format, it allows writers and singers like me to have a lot of freedom stylistically. We can take a song in many directions, have some country or blues flavor, but aren’t restricted to just making it a 12-bar number or trying to produce it in a strict honky-tonk manner. It really lets you take the song in the direction that you think will work, rather than trying to fit it into a formula.”
Cason’s 2004 autobiography Living The Rock ‘N’ Roll Dream: The Adventures of Buzz Cason details many more Cason highlights, among them his time with the Crickets, his days backing Brenda Lee and the period during the ‘70s when the likes of Dolly Parton, Merle Haggard, The Judds and Emmylou Harris were regularly coming to cut songs in the then-new Creative Workshop facility.
But Buzz Cason is far from living in the past or cutting back his activities. He has a cut on the forthcoming new Jerry Reed CD, and is already getting material together for a follow-up to Hats Off To Hank. He’ll also soon begin work on the next Derailers project, and he continues his numerous publishing, recording and producing activities. Cason is also thrilled both of his sons are involved in some fashion with Hats Off To Hank.
“This (the music business) is something that I’ve spent almost my entire life being part of and I still feel just as energetic and enthusiastic about it now as I did in the beginning,” Cason concluded. “It keeps changing and music keeps evolving, but there’s still plenty of great songs being written and played today, and I’m thrilled to still be a part of it in some way.”CP
The Music Biz appears Mondays in The City Paper.
He’s
been involved in some capacity of the music business since the mid-50s, yet
Buzz Cason remains just as active, involved and enthused now as he was making
appearances as a teenager on the Noel Ball Saturday Showcase program in Nashville
back in 1956.
Today, Cason works as a songwriter, producer, and
performer, penning and recording songs and supervising sessions while also
maintaining an impressive collection of writer-owned catalogs as the President/Owner
of Southern Writers Group, USA.
Cason’s long list of current professional credits
includes being on the Board of Governors of the National Recording Arts and
Sciences (NARAS), as well as on both the Southern Writers Advisory and East
Coast Advisory Committees (both ASCAP), and a member of the Country Music
Association.
Yet with all these activities and endeavors, Cason
maintains he still gets his greatest thrills out of being a performer, while
also writing and producing current music.
His new release Hats Off To Hank (Palo Duro) features
15 new tracks that include everything from straight acoustic blues to more
country-flavored fare, plus a stirring regional
“It’s kind of exciting right now to be out there doing new music again,” Cason said. “I really didn’t initially plan to do a CD, but after the head of the label heard the demos he told me ‘Man, this music deserves to be released. People need to hear it.’ So we wound up making a new project and it has really worked out better than I anticipated.”
He also points out this isn’t a Hank Williams tribute date, though the title track does cite his admiration for the country music legend.
As a songwriter, Buzz Cason’s work has been covered by country (T.G. Sheppard, Oak Ridge Boys, Freddy Weller, Martina McBride, Mel Tillis, Jeannie Kendall and Alan Jackson), rock (The Beatles, U2, Jan & Dean), pop (Gloria Estefan), soul/R&B (Robert Knight, Carl Carlton) and even opera (Placido Domingo) performers.
He’s done harmony vocals for Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, Kenny Rogers, Bob Wills and Kris Kristofferson (to name just a few).
But he cites two experiences as critical in terms of developing his compositional skills and giving him valuable insights about the music business.
“When I met Bobby Russell at the old Globe Recording Studio in Nashville (it was located above Mom’s Tavern which is now Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge) and began co-writing with him I learned so much about the technical side of writing, everything from lyrics and melody to presentation and style,” Cason remembered.
Their lengthy association began with the single “Tennessee,” which was later covered by Jan & Dean in 1958 and wound up as their first Top 100 hit. Later Jan & Dean did another Cason/Russell number “Popsicle,” which became a Top 20 hit in 1963, and the two men maintained a solid professional relationship for almost 25 years.