Vern Gosdin’s lonesome tone and distinctive quiver made him one of country music’s singular artists, earning the nickname “The Voice.” His run on the Billboard charts began when his Elektra single, “Hangin’ On,” edged onto the Hot Country Songs list dated Oct. 30, 1976.
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In truth, Gosdin had charted the song previously, taking it to No. 37 in 1967 as one-half of The Gosdin Brothers, including younger sibling Rex Gosdin. That version’s studio band included two future members of The Byrds, Clarence White and Gene Parsons.
Written by Buddy Mize and Ira Allen, “Hangin’ On” was resurrected by producer Gary S. Paxton – who also produced Bobby “Boris” Pickett’s Halloween novelty “Monster Mash” – and recorded at Nashville’s Sound Stage in April 1976. Emmylou Harris provided female harmonies, as it rose to No. 16 on Jan. 8, 1977, launching a string of 41 Gosdin solo entries. Nineteen of them ascended to the top 10 – beginning with the “Hangin’ On” flip side, “Yesterday’s Gone” – and three of those titles reached No. 1: 1984’s “I Can Tell by the Way You Dance (You’re Gonna Love Me Tonight),” 1988’s “Set ‘Em Up Joe” and 1989’s “I’m Still Crazy.”
An Alabama native, Gosdin shared the Country Music Association’s song of the year award with Max D. Barnes for the grief-stricken 1989 ballad “Chiseled in Stone,” and saw his top 10 1982 single “Today My World Slipped Away,” co-written with Mark Wright, rise to No. 3 in 1997 after it was covered by George Strait.
Gosdin died at age 74 on April 28, 2009.
