October 20, 1962-26 years old, One year earlier, I signed my recording contract with Columbia/Epic Records, had recorded my first session at Owen Bradley's Quonset Hut, Don Law Producing, and had my first single record out. The A side was "Somebody Had To Lose", written by Jimmy Gateley, the B side was "I Had Heaven In My Hands, And Let It Go" written by Sonny James. Now, I was jumping into music with both feet, moving to Nashville.
Jimmy Gateley was my lifelong friend. He had grown up on a farm about 5 miles from where I grew up, in the Ozarks, and we both had attended Pleasant Hope High School. Jimmy was 5 years older than me, and had graduated the year before I started High School, but, growing up in the same area, we knew each other. By the time I got out of High School, 1954, Jimmy was a seasoned entertainer. I joined the Navy, he joined the cast of The Ozark Jubilee Network Television show from Springfield, MO. Jimmy was an all around talented man, singer, musician and songwriter. We kept in touch, after I got out of the Navy in 1958, Jimmy and his wife, Esther, had moved to Nashville, and when I came into town, in 1961, looking for songs to record for my first session, Jimmy had just the one.
So now, 1962, I'm moving to the big city, and Jimmy and Esther told me to come to their house in Madison, Tennessee, just outside of Nashville, to sleep on their couch until I got settled into this Music Business. I found their house and was welcomed like home folks always do. Esther, who was a World Class cook, had me a big Supper on the table and a bed made up on the couch. I stayed there my first week in Nashville, Esther cooking, and Jimmy taking me around Music Row, introducing me to Owen Bradley, at Decca, Chet Atkins at RCA and Jim Foglesong at ABC Dot. It was a great first week, and the kindness shown by Esther and Jimmy was so encouraging that I felt at home immediately in the Music Row part of Nashville, which was like a city within a city, in those days. Jimmy was always there, as a friend, for me, two guys from the same farm area of the Ozarks, following their music dreams.
For the second week in Music City, I slept on Leo Taylor's couch. Leo was a friend and drummer in Kitty Wells/Johnnie Wright family band. He was very generous with his couch, and later, even slipped me $30 dollars for when I was struggling to make ends meet, in the music biz, where ends do not always meet.
I got to return the favor, for Jimmy, a couple of years later. In 1965, Billy Sherrill, my producer at the time on Epic, was looking for songs to record for Cliff Richards, an artist from Europe that he was working with. I had always loved the song that Jimmy wrote called, "The Minute You're Gone". Sonny James had a huge country hit with it in 1961, and I thought that it would be a good song for Cliff. I took my copy of "The Minute You're Gone" to Billy Sherrill and he cut it on Cliff. It was a big European hit, and was a good lick for Jimmy as a songwriter. (come to think about it, I never did get my copy of the record back).
Kindness and friendship are human traits that make life just a little bit easier and smooth the way in a sometimes rocky road. Jimmy Gateley and Esther Gateley made it possible for me to ease into a business that can be almost impossible to crack, just by being kind and generous. Leo Taylor was always a friend in need and a friend indeed. It meant the world to me then, and it means even more to me today. Stan
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