Goodbye (Again) Tom T. Hall “That’s How I Got to Memphis”

Tom T. Hall was a songwriter’s songwriter.

That statement has been made many times over the course of Tom T. Hall’s long, productive and successful career as a country songwriter.

Those words rang so true after his death at the age of 85 on August 20th, 2001, as fellow songwriters sang his praises:

It saddens me to think Tom T. Hall has passed away. His Faster Horses album was in constant rotation on my turntable for years. He was as complicated a gentleman as he was a masterful storyteller and poet. I admired the man. I miss him already.

–Rodney Crowell

The simplest words that told the most complicated stories. Felt like Tom T. just caught the songs as they floated by, but I know he carved them out of rock.

–Jason Isbell

Tom T Hall was an absolute titan. If you ever met him or worked with him you saw it immediately. His songs live on forever to prove it. Thanks for setting the bar so high…

–Will Hoge

SavingCountryMusic.com was the first media outlet to report his death on that day in August 2021.

There was a sad rumor at the time that Hall had taken his own life, although no definitive cause of death was stated in initial reports.

Subsequently it has been revealed that “The Storyteller” had taken his own life at his home in Franklin, Tennessee.

The Williamson County, Tennessee Medical Examiner’s report conducted by Samuel Smith M.D. reads that Tom T. Hall “had sustained an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, to the head, on the morning of 8/20/2021. A 911 call was placed at 1115 hours on 8/20/201. Williamson County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) and Williamson Medical Emergency Medical Services (WMC EMS) responded to the call. Paramedics confirmed death at approximately 1133 hours, due to obvious injuries.”

Tom T. Hall is perhaps most known for penning the 1968 Jeannie C. Riley number one hit (country AND pop), “Harper Valley P.T.A.” But Hall’s career would be underestimated greatly if seen through only the lens of one novelty song.

…Hall amassed 50 songs on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, including seven No. 1 hits. He also landed seven top 10 albums on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart, including reaching No. 1 on that chart with The Rhymer and Other Five and Dimers in June 1973. —Billboard

Throughout his career, Hall timelessly and empathetically chronicled humanity — from barstool stories to cemetery caretakers — with tales that would influence generations of wordsmiths to follow. His songbook of country hits includes “(Old Dogs, Children and) Watermelon Wine,” “A Week in a County Jail,” “I Love,” “Little Bitty,” made famous by Alan Jackson … and the list goes on. —The Tennessean

An accomplished prose writer, Hall won the 1972 Grammy for Best Album Notes, for his liner notes to Tom T. Hall’s Greatest Hits. The autobiographical The Storyteller’s Nashville appeared in 1979. His novels included The Laughing Man of Woodmont Cove (1982), The Acts of Life (1986), Spring Hill, Tennessee (1990), and What a Book! (1996). His love of literature inspired him to befriend fellow writers William Styron and Kurt Vonnegut. He shared songwriting tips and philosophy in How I Write Songs, Why You Can (1976).

In the early 1980s, Hall hosted the syndicated TV series Pop! Goes the Country [following long-time host Ralph Emery], and in 1984 he scored his last Top Ten country hit, a cover of the Gordon Jenkins and Johnny Mercer tune “P.S. I Love You.” Following the release of the album Song in a Seashell in 1985, Hall took a ten-year sabbatical from recording. He returned in 1996 with the album Songs from Sopchoppy, which included the Hall original “Little Bitty.” Alan Jackson spotted the song, recorded it, and scored a #1 country single with it in late 1996. —Country Music Hall of Fame

One of Hall’s most acclaimed (and most covered) songs, “That’s How I Got to Memphis,” was Bobby Bare’s first single for Mercury Records. A solo write by Tom T. Hall, it debuted on Billboard‘s Country Singles chart on 8/8/70 peaking at #3 for two weeks.

That’s How I Got To Memphis

(Words and Music by Tom T. Hall)

If you love somebody enough you’ll follow wherever they go
That’s how I got to Memphis, that’s how I got to Memphis
If you love somebody enough you’ll go where your heart wants to go
That’s how I got to Memphis, that’s how I got to Memphis.

I know if you’d seen her you’d tell me ’cause you are my friend
I’ve got to find her and find out the trouble she’s in
And if you tell me she’ not here you can follow the trail of her tears
That’s how I got to Memphis, that’s how I got to Memphis.

She’d get mad and she used to say that she’d come back to Memphis some day
That’s how I got to Memphis, that’s how I got to Memphis
I haven’t eaten a bite or slept for three days and nights
That’s how I got to Memphis, that’s how I got to Memphis.

I’ve got to find her and tell her that I love her so
I’ll never rest till I find out why she had to go
So thank you for your precious time, forgive me if I start to cryin’
That’s how I got to Memphis, that’s how I got to Memphis…