Harris, Ted (2 August 1937 – 22nd November 2015)

Songwriter from Lakeland, Florida, who moved to Nashville, Tennessee, on 11^th June 1958 and was placing songs within two weeks.

Soon thereafter, his works were being contracted to Silver Star Music Publishing Company, which was owned by country great Hank Snow. In fact, his first song, “My Lucky Friend”, was recorded by Snow, who included it on one of his albums and as the B side of one of his singles. The two of them combined for a top-ten hit, “Chasin’ a Rainbow”, which peaked at #6 on 1^st June 1959.

In 1965, he co-founded Harbot Music Publishing Co. and received a nomination for a Grammy award for his song, “Crystal Chandelier”, which Carl Belew recorded. It was also covered by Louis Armstrong, Floyd Cramer, Vic Dana, and Charley Pride. In 1966, Roy Drusky recorded his “Rainbows and Roses”. Ferlin Husky recorded “Once” and Dottie West recorded “Paper Mansions” in 1967.

In 1968, he became one of the first members of the National Songwriters Association, serving on a board that included the likes of Kris Kristofferson and Tom T. Hall. “The True and Lasting Kind” proved to be the lasting kind, as it was covered by at least five artists: Johnny Duncan & June Sterns, Ferlin Husky, Bobby Lord, and Kitty Wells.

In 1969, he won the first of four consecutive SESAC awards for Country Music Writer of the Year. Nashville Songwriters Association International bestowed their Outstanding Achievement Award on him in 1970 for “You and Me Against the World”, which was recorded by Jimmy Dean & Dottie West, Jack Greene & Jeannie Seeley, Bobby Lord, and Roy Rogers. In 1971, he was voted on to the Country Music Association Board of Directors as a songwriting representative.

He continued to have success with his songs, as well: “Here I Go Again” was recorded by Lynn Anderson, Del Reeves, Nat Stuckey, and Bobby Wright. Ted cites Wright’s version of the song to be his favourite recording of one of his own songs because the emotion in the recording matched what he was trying to convey on paper. Other highlights from 1971 included “The Happiness of Havin’ You” by Jay Lee Webb and “The One You Say Good Mornin’ To” by Jimmy Dean.

In 1972, Ted took home a record seventeen SESAC awards, as a publisher and writer, and NSAI gave him another Outstanding Achievement Award for “Here I Go Again”. He called “The Fool I’ve Been Today” his favourite song, from a sheer songwriting standpoint. It was recorded by Jack Greene, Conway Twitty, and Jerry Wallace.

In 1976, more SESAC awards rained down on him, including Country Single of the Year for Charley Pride’s cover of “The Happiness of Havin’ You”. Ted won the SESAC Hall of Fame Award for “Crystal Chandelier” in 1977. The song also won a SESAC International Award, as BBC Radio-2 named it the “All Time Favorite Country Music Recording Ever” according to a national poll. Ted was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Association International Hall of Fame in 1980.

In 1987, Glen Campbell and Steve Wariner recorded “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle” and Campbell performed it in Washington, D.C.’s Ford’s Theatre for an audience that included President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan. It proceeded to garner more awards for Ted, including SESAC’s Country Music Writer of the Year and National Television Performance Activity Award, and NSAI’s Special Achievement Award.

He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1990.

In all, Ted won a whopping eighty-seven SESAC awards. His works can be heard on albums such as Cal Smith’s I’ve Found Someone of My Own and The Essential Dottie West.

He passed away in Lewisburg, Tennessee, in 2015 when he was 77 years old.

Cal Smith recordings
A Handful of Stars (Ted Harris)

Sources:

Harris, Ted (2 August 1937 – 22nd November 2015)

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