Tom T. Hall is simultaneously an international superstar and a complete unknown. If his name does ring a bell, it could be for any number of reasons. Depending on when and where you have lived you may remember him as, for example, the spokesman for Tyson Chicken from years back, or from his appearances on Hee Haw. Maybe you think of Tom T. Hall as the answer to the trivia question, "Who wrote 'Harper Valley P.T.A.', the 1968 smash hit for Jeannie C. Riley that spawned its own feature film and television series?" Or perhaps you listened to country radio in the 70's and remember a Tom T. Hall novelty song like "Sneaky Snake" or "I Like Beer". Be it a song or a show or a commercial or whatever, the man's name seems to conjure up dozens of associations. However, what most people don't know is that Tom T. Hall is a living legend among songwriters.
In Nashville, Tom T. Hall is treated like royalty. The great George Jones, known far and wide as "The Rolls Royce Of Country Singers", calls him "by far the all-time greatest songwriter/storyteller that country music has ever had". Nashville-based music journalist and historian Robert K. Oermann maintains that he moved to Nashville largely as a result of hearing Hall's songs on the radio in the late 60's and early 70's. "His songs...literally called out to me," says Oermann. "Tom T. Hall lured me here; he inspired my own career as a writer." Oermann was so inspired that he compiled a 2 CD Tom T. Hall boxed-set for Mercury Records in 1995. At the time of its release, Oermann had this to say about his labor of love: "If this boxed-set accomplishes one thing, I want it to remind everyone that Tom T. Hall is one of the greatest singer-songwriters who ever recorded; not just in country, but in any field of music. He's that good; he's that important."
In addition to the boxed-set, which is of course a collection of Tom T. Hall's original recordings, there is another exciting project in the works. Kickstand Productions and Delmore Recordings kicked off the Tom T. Hall Tribute Project in March of 1995 with modest plans for a tribute record. Since that time, the Project has grown considerably in scope. REAL: A Tribute To Tom T. Hall Volume One will be released Fall, 1997; Volume Two is being earmarked for release next year. The rosters of the tribute records have not yet been made public, but it has been confirmed that there will be a full 17 tracks on the first volume alone. That record's line-up comprises an extremely broad array of artists, each of whom appears both out of admiration for Tom T. Hall's work and out of the aforementioned desire to keep his music alive and in the public consciousness.
In addition to the records, there was a Tom T. Hall tribute showcase at Austin's South By Southwest Music Conference in March '97, and similar showcases will be taking place at the CMJ Conference and at the Bottom Line in New York City, to name just a few. There will also be a tour composed of a rotating line-up of bands from the record(s), performing both original material and Tom T. Hall material. As all the above makes evident, the Tom T. Hall Tribute Project is a tribute in the truest sense, intended to pay homage to Tom T. Hall by turning today's audiences on to the wonderful songs of Nashville's Storyteller.
