Lane, Red (9 February 1939-1st July 2015)

Guitarist and singer-songwriter, born Hollis Rudolph DeLaughter in Zona, Louisiana. In the ’50s he joined the Air Force and when he wasn’t repairing airplanes, he performed on a radio programme entitled Hawaii Calling. Nashville would be calling soon.

In the 1960s, he began to establish himself as a valuable session man. In 1964, Justin Tubb encouraged him to record some of his songs and send them to Buddy Killen, who subsequently hired him as a songwriter at Tree. He had a hit right out of the gates with Faron Young’s “My Friend on the Right”. Other hits followed, including Dottie West’s “Country Girl”, later covered by Skeeter Davis, and Waylon Jennings’ “Walk On Out of My Mind”. Lane would continue to collaborate with Jennings on 1970’s Waylon, penning “Just Across the Way” and co-writing “Yellow Haired Woman” with Jennings. His compositions can also be heard on The Best of Waylon Jennings and Nashville Rebel.

He also had some film success, writing and recording songs for 1971’s Going Home. The session work kept pouring in, as well. In 1973, he played dobro on Dick Feller Wrote… and co-wrote “‘Til I Get it Right” with Larry Henley for Tammy Wynette.

The 70s ended strongly for Lane, who co-wrote “My Own Kind of Hat” with Merle Haggard. It was the beginning of a partnership that saw Merle recording about 25 of his songs. Lane wrote three songs and played acoustic guitar on Haggard’s That’s The Way Love Goes and toured extensively with Haggard in the early ’80s. The two of them joined forces again on 2007’s Working Man’s Journey, an album that is only available at Cracker Barrel. Lane again played acoustic guitar on Willie Nelson’s 1988 release, Shotgun Willie, and Willie Nelson: Complete Atlantic Sessions CD.

Five years later, he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Foundation Hall of Fame. He received eight BMI performance awards and the coveted One Million Performance Award for B.J. Thomas’s “New Looks From An Old Lover”. Other artists who have recorded his work include Thom Bresh, John Conlee, Jimmy Dean, Vern Gosdin, Jake Mathews, and George Strait.

He died from cancer in July 2015 when he was 76 years old.

Jeannie Seely recordings
Between the King and I (Red Lane)

Sources:

Lane, Red (9 February 1939-1st July 2015)

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