Bobby Braddock

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Robert Valentine (Bobby) Braddock (born August 5, 1940) is an American country music songwriter and record producer. A member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, Braddock has contributed numerous hit songs during more than 40 years in the industry, including 13 number-one hit singles.

Early years

Braddock was born in Lakeland, Florida to a father who was a citrus grower. Braddock spent his youth in Auburndale, Florida, where he learned to play piano and saxophone. The musician toured Florida and the South with rock and roll bands in the late 1950s and early 1960s. At the age of twenty four, Braddock moved to Nashville, Tennessee to pursue a career in Country Music.

Musical Success

After arriving in Nashville, Braddock joined Marty Robbins' band as a pianist in February 1965. In January of the next year, a song he wrote for Robbins, "While You're Dancing", became Braddock's first record to appear on the charts. He then signed his first of five recording contracts with major record labels and with a publishing contract with Tree Publishing Company, now Sony BMG. Braddock quickly established himself as a bankable songwriter, penning songs in the 1970s for such artists as The Statler Brothers, Tammy Wynette, George Jones, Nancy Sinatra, Johnny Duncan, Willie Nelson, Tanya Tucker, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Tommy Overstreet.

Braddock continued his successful songwriting career well into the 21st century, writing songs recorded by artists including Lacy J. Dalton, T.G. Sheppard, Jon Anderson, Mark Chesnutt, and Tracy Lawrence. Braddock sometimes co-wrote songs with Curly Putman or Sonny Throckmorton, fellow members of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

As a producer, Braddock's greatest success thus far is the discovery of country singer Blake Shelton, securing a recording deal in 2001. Braddock is credited as producer for several of Shelton's number-one country hits, including his debut single "Austin" which spent five weeks at the top of the charts.

Also in 2001 Braddock penned the song "I Wanna Talk About Me", intended for Shelton but eventually recorded by Toby Keith. "I Wanna Talk About Me" topped the Billboard Country Charts for five weeks in 2002.

In March 2007, Braddock released a memoir recounting his early life in pre-Disney World Central Florida, titled Down in Orbundale: A Songwriters Youth in Old Florida [1], published by Louisiana State University Press.

Braddock currently resides in Nashville and continues to write songs for publishing company, Sony/ATV.

Awards and Recognition

• The George Jones classic, "He Stopped Loving Her Today," which Braddock co-wrote with Curly Putman, won the Country Music Association Song of the Year award two years in a row (1980 and 1981) and the 1981 Song of the Year from the Academy of Country Music. This song was voted "Country Song of the Century" in a poll by Radio & Records magazine, as well as "Best Country Song of All Time" in a poll conducted by the BBC and Country America magazine.
• 1981 Music City News Songwriter of the Year
• 1981 Nashville Songwriters Association Song of the Year
• 1981 Inductee into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame

Songwriting

Braddock has written numerous chart singles. Songs he has written or co-written include:

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Singles

References

• Billboard magazine
• R& R (Radio and Records) magazine
• Country Weekly magazine
• CMT (Country Music Television)
• The Encyclopedia of Country Music

External links

• Bobby Braddock Tribute Website
• Bobby Braddock Hometown Biography
• Interview with Music Journalist Larry Wayne Clark
• 2005 Article in Songwriter Universe Magazine