Alan Jackson Credits His Legendary Career To Late Songwriter, Jim McBride, In Touching Tribute: “My Longtime Friend”

Touching words from Alan.

Yesterday, the news broke that Jim McBride, a legendary country music songwriter and member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, had unexpectedly passed away at the age of 78 on January 6th. His death would be confirmed by both longtime friend and fellow songwriter, Jerry Salley, as well as the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, which McBride was inducted into in 1995.

After his death, the Alabama Music Hall of Fame shared a tribute to McBride:

“Jim was a beloved Alabamian, songwriter, friend, mentor, and so much more. He is perhaps most widely recognized for his work with Alan Jackson, including co-writing the country hits “Chattahoochee” and “Chasing That Neon Rainbow.”
Jim’s songs have been recorded by legends such as Johnny Cash, George Jones, Reba McEntire, Alabama, Willie Nelson, Charley Pride, Kris Kristofferson, Randy Travis, Brenda Lee, Jerry Lee Lewis, Toby Keith, Dwight Yoakam, and many more.

His honors include a CMA Song of the Year Award, numerous accolades from ASCAP, BMI, NSAI, NARAS, CMA, AMA, ACM, Billboard Magazine, his induction into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, and his induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

We will greatly miss Mr. McBride—may his legacy live on forever.”

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McBride was a native of Huntsville, Alabama, who started writing songs as a child and began pursuing songwriting as a full-time career by the age of 18.

In the 1970s, he discovered a mentor in fellow Alabama native and legendary songwriter Curly Putnam, and even had some songs featured on the classic television series Hee Haw. But he eventually grew frustrated with his lack of success and decided to give up on songwriting as a career, instead going to work for the US Postal Service.

But in 1980, he got his first real break when Conway Twitty recorded “A Bridge That Just Won’t Burn,” a song penned by McBride and Roger Murrah. He had told Murrah that he would move to Nashville if somebody recorded the song, and as McBride later recalled:

“Roger called me one night and said ‘I guess you need to pack your bags, we’ve got Conway’s next single.’ I quit the post office the day after Christmas.”

His first #1 hit would come in 1981 with “Bet Your Heart on Me,” which was recorded by Johnny Lee, and in 1987 Waylon Jennings scored yet another #1 hit with “Rose In Paradise,” co-written by McBride and Stewart Harris.

His life (and career) changed, though, when he met Alan Jackson in 1988. Jackson was a new artist in Nashville, still two years away from releasing his debut album, but the two became frequent collaborators, writing songs together like “Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow,” “Someday,” “A House With No Curtains,” “(Who Says) You Can’t Have It All,” and of course one of Jackson’s biggest hits, “Chattahoochee.”

In addition to the plethora of Jackson hits, McBride also penned songs for everybody from Keith Whitley, Diamond Rio and John Anderson to Reba McEntire, Johnny Cash and Alabama. Other notable hits from the Alabama native include Aaron Tippin’s “I Was Born with a Broken Heart,” Wade Hayes’ “What I Meant to Say” and Tammy Cochran’s “Angels in Waiting.”

Reflecting upon the loss of his longtime friend and collaborator, the “Summertime Blues” singer would take to his social media pages this morning to pen a touching tribute to McBride.

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Sharing multiple images of the two receiving awards, both for “Chattahoochee,” at the 1995 ASCAP Awards (Song of the Year) and the 1993 TNN Music City News Country Awards (Song of the Year), Jackson would call McBride a “good man and a great and genuine songwriter,” noting that he truly understood country music as a genre. He’d also ponder if his career would ever reach the heights it did without the late songwriter.

“Jim was a good man and a great and genuine songwriter. He understood country music and touched many with his songs. Jim and I wrote some of my favorite songs together and I don’t know if my career would have ended up quite the same without his help, inspiration, and encouragement in my early years. Thank you Jim, rest in peace. – AJ”

Thoughts and prayers go out to the entire McBride family, Jackson and all of the artists he worked with and inspired over the years. Country music lost a great one this week. Rest in peace, Jim McBride.

“(Who Says) You Can’t Have It All”

The post Alan Jackson Credits His Legendary Career To Late Songwriter, Jim McBride, In Touching Tribute: “My Longtime Friend” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.