Joe Allison: Songwriter, Music Executive
Joe Allison (Oct. 3, 1924 ~ Aug. 2, 2002) was a hall of fame songwriter, a radio and television personality, a record producer and a country music business executive. Joe began his activities in country music as a disc jockey (DJ), but enjoyed a multi-faceted career, including successful songwriting. His best-known compositions were He'll Have to Go and Live Fast and Love Hard, Die Young. As a record executive he worked with Willie Nelson, Tex Ritter, Bob Wills, Hank Thompson, among other musicians. It was as a DJ that Allison built his reputation, hosting his daily Country Corner show on AFN (American Forces Network) during the 1960s.
Joe Allison was born in McKinney, Texas (TX). After high school in 1939, he attended Murry Junior College in Oklahoma. Joe started his first radio job at KPLT in Paris, TX, in 1943 and moved to KMAC in San Antonio the following year. After serving in the Air Force at the end of World War II, he became an emcee for Tex Ritter's show at the Texas Theater in 1945. Later Joe traveled with Ritter's band on a tour of the United States and Canada. In 1946 Ritter recorded Allison's first song, When You Leave, Don't Slam the Door (No. 3, 1946).
When Allison moved to Nashville in 1949 he began to gain notice as an up-and-coming talent. Allison soon had his own daily show on WSM and WSIX, (Nashville) where he hosted stars including the Everly Brothers, Anita Kerr, Chet Atkins and Brenda Lee. Joe moved to Los Angeles in 1952 and replaced Tennessee Ernie Ford on KXLA. Allison soon expanded to television, hosting Town Hall Party for KTTV and Country America for the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in Hollywood. Allison's songwriting also began to receive broader recognition around that time. With the help of his first wife, Audrey, he wrote Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young, which Faron Young recorded in 1955.
The inspiration for Allison's most successful song came in 1959 while talking to his wife on the phone. She had been unable to hear him clearly and wrote on a note pad: "Put your sweet lips a little closer to the phone." When Allison found those words, he wrote the remainder of the song, He'll Have to Go, around those words. Chet Atkins believed the song would be perfect for Jim Reeves and while the smooth crooner was initially reluctant, he recorded the song. He'll Have to Go spent 14 weeks on the country charts at No 1 in 1959, reached number two on the pop charts and received Broadcast Music Incorporated's (BMI) country and pop awards for 1960.
In 1960 Allison started a country music division at Liberty Records, where he signed Willie Nelson to his first contract and produced his album, And Then I Wrote (1962). Joe was also instrumental in reviving western swing legend Bob Wills's career with a series of albums and in 1963 produced The Tips of My Fingers for Roy Clark. A tireless supporter of country music, Allison worked as the general manager of Central Sounds, a music publishing company, where he mentored songwriters like Tommy Collins, Howard Harlan, and Bobbie Bare. Joe remained involved in radio, designing a program for the Armed Forces Network during the 1960s and continued to write songs, including Roy Clark's 1969 hit, Love Is Just a State of Mind.
In 1965 Allison moved back to Nashville where he oversaw the country music division of Dot Records and worked on projects with Clark and Hank Thompson. Between 1967 and 1974, he worked for Capitol and Paramount Records before concentrating exclusively on independent production through the remainder of the 1970s. During those years he worked with Tommy Overstreet, Joe Stampley, and cowboy singer, Red Stegall. Joe oversaw a tribute album to Tex Ritter, the singer who had recorded his first song and scored a posthumous hit for Jim Reeves with Fight the World in 1974.
Allison helped found the Country Music Disc Jockey Association (a forerunner to the Country Music Association) and convinced the city of Nashville to donate land for the Country Music Hall of Fame. In recognition of these efforts, he was presented with CMA's Founding Presidents Award in 1964. In 1976 he was inducted into the Country Disc Jockey Hall of Fame and in 1978 became a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Allison retired from the music industry during the 1980s, though he continued to serve on a number of industry boards and committees. After retiring, he sold antiques and paintings until he had a heart attack in 1988.
Written by: Richard Bell, Country Music Historian, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. June. 2011.
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