James didn't pick his own songs to record

Sonny James
Sonny James

This week in 1970: A British plane crash in Spain killed 112 people; 46 people were shot during a riot in Ashbury Park in New Jersey; the U.S. Justice Depart-ment sued the state of Mississippi to force school integration in the fall; and a singer from Hackle-burg, Alabama, had his 34th hit record.

According to Sonny James, he was constantly writing songs back during his recording days, but didn't feel competent to choose his own material to record.

He commented, "My producer Ken Nelson was always asking me about this or that song that I had written and I just felt that I was too close to the song to make an unbiased choice. I just didn't feel competent to do that, so it was always up to him to choose the songs to record that I had written."

"And one of the songs of mine that Ken did pick for me to record was a song I co-wrote with Carole Smith titled "Don't Keep Me Hangin' On." He told me "Sonny, I feel real strong about this song and I think we should go with it. So we did and he was right, it was a hit."

The Capitol Records single came on the charts July 4th, 1970 and was at the top of the charts on Aug. 8, 1970 and stuck there for four weeks. It was his 34th charted song, his 16th No. 1, and was on the charts for 15 weeks. The song was also the title tune for his "My Love / Don't Keep Me Hangin' On" album, which debuted on the Country Album Charts July 25th, 1970 and peaked at No. 8.

Sonny James (born: James Hugh Loden) placed 72 songs on the country music charts between 1953 and 1983 including 23 No. 1s.

He joined The Grand Old Opry in 1965 and was inducted into The Country Music Hall Of Fame in 2006.

Sonny James died in 2016.

 

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