Interview with Boudleaux and Felice Bryant (Wake Up Little Susie, All I Have to Do Is Dream, Rocky Top). We aske our distinguished panel about "Common Mistakes Songwriters Make". The panel includes Buddy Killen (President of Tree Music), Chuck Kaye (President Almo Music (A&M)), Thom Bell President Mighty Three Music, Sam Trust (President ATV Music), George Pincus President of George Pincus Music, Terri Fricon (President of Filmways), Bob Montgomery EVP House of Gold, Larry Fogel (Director of April Blackwood), Lester Sill (President Screen Gems) and Herb Eiseman (President 20th Century Music).

Boudleaux and Felice Bryant

By Kelly Delaney

Excepts from the Songwriter Magazine interview

Ironically, Boudleaux and Felice were a year into their marriage before they discovered that the other wrote songs. It seemed a likely diversion for each, since both had been exposed to music at an early age. Laughed Felice, a product of an Italian-American family, I was singing O Sole Mio when they cut the umbilical cord. Growing up in Milwaukee, she sang Italian fold songs with her family and later performed at school and charity affairs

Boudleaux, on the other hand, received formal musical training as a concert violinist. Besides the violin he learned to play piano, guitar, bass, and sousaphone.

And so, song collaborators and pluggers they became. They began mailing out songs to publishers at the rate of 20 a day, while they performed a bit to pay the bills. They managed a couple of small recordings (1-2-3-4-5-foot-6 by Ernie Lee and Give Me Some Sugar, Sugar Baby, and I’ll Be Your Sweetie Pie by the Three Sons), but things didn’t start clicking until a new publisher in Nashville heard their song, Country Boy, and invited them to Music Row. That new boy in town? None other than Fred Rose, of Acuff-Rose.

Rose got the Bryants a full-time job at $35 a week, representing Ned Tannen in Nashville. They plugged their own country songs exclusively for Tannen, and also wrote pop for Acuff-Rose.

Songs by Boudleaux and Felice Bryant

Mexico, Bob Moore
Country Boy, Little Jimmy Dickens.
Hey Joe, country hit for Carl Smith, pop hit for Frankie Laine.
Richest Man (In the World), Eddy Arnold.
Have a Good Time, Tony Bennett.
Our Honeymoon, Carl Smith.
Just Wait Til I Get You Alone, Carl Smith.
Back Up Buddy, Carl Smith.
This Orchid Means Goodbye, Carl Smith.
Bye Bye Love, The Everly Brothers, Simon and Garfunkel.
Wake Up Little Susie, The Everly Brothers.
All I Have To Do Is Dream, The Everly Brothers, Bobbie Gentry and Glen Campbell, Richard Chamberlain, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Andy Gibb and Victoria Principal.
Bird Dog, The Everly Brothers.
Devoted To You, The Everly Brothers.
Problems, The Everly Brothers.
Take a Message To Mary, The Everly Brothers, and Bob Dylan.
Poor Jenny, The Everly Brothers.
Like Strangers, The Everly Brothers.
Penny Arcade, Christy Lane.
Always It's You, The Everly Brothers.
Love Hurts, Roy Orbison, Everly Brothers, Jim Capaldi, Nazareth, Linda Ronstadt, Gram Parsons, Gary Morris.
Raining In My Heart, Buddy Holly, Leo Sayer.
Blue Boy, Jim Reeves.
Let's Think About Livin', Bob Luman.
My Last Date, Skeeter Davis.
Baltimore, Sonny James.
I Love To Dance With Annie, Ernest Ashworth.
Come Live With Me, Roy Clark.
Sweet Deceiver, Christy Lane.
Rocky Top, Buck Owens, Lynn Anderson.

Other Articles:
Boudleaux and Felice…On Craft By Rich Wiseman
Phil Everly Interview By Rich Wiseman

Excerpt:Thom Bell, President, Mighty Three MusicWhat Usually happens to writers – and this has been a common mistake with our company, anyway – is that they’ll bring me songs they think are like the ones I’ve written already. They’ll play me something like You Are Everything and tell me “That song’s great!’ ‘Well I appreciate the fact that you think so,” I’ll say. ‘But I've written that kind of song before.’ Why would I need to get the same song again? It would be better if they brought me something different. But they dont seem to realize that.

Also read the most common mistakes from:
Buddy Killen, Tree Music
Sam Trust, President, ATV Music
Chuck Kaye, President, Alamo Music
George Pincus, President Gil/Pincus Music
Terri Fricon, President, Filmways Music
Larry Fogel, Director of East Coast Operations, April/Blackwood
Bon Montgomery, EVP, House of Gold Music
Lester Sill, President, Screen-Gems
Herb Eiseman, President 20 th Century music

Other Articles: "What You Have to Gain by…The Constructive Critique" By Gelsa Paladino
" ‘I Will’ Attitude Keeps Me on the ‘Road to Success’" By Nashville’s Kathleen M. Patterson