Born on This Day in 1949, the Hall of Fame Songwriter Who Got His Big Break With Tommy Overstreet and Penned Hits for Reba, Anne Murray, and Johnny Paycheck

November 23, 2025 6:17 pm

Charlie Black, the Nashville Songwriter Hall of Fame member whose No. 1 hits included “You Lie” by Reba McEntire, “Jukebox Charlie” by Johnny Paycheck, and Anne Murray’s “Shadows in the Moonlight,” was born in Cheverly, Maryland, on this day in 1949.

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Charlie Black Thought He Wanted to Sing at First

After graduating from the University of Maryland in 1970, Charlie Black moved to Nashville, like so many, to pursue a career in country music.

“Like many writers, when I first came to Nashville, I thought I wanted to be a singer,” Black later recalled. “Then someone said, ‘You know, you can make a living by songwriting alone.’ My wife and I thought that sounded like a good idea.”

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“Turns out,” he continued, “songwriting is the best job around! You just can’t beat hearing your words and music on the radio, or going No. 1 or staying No. 1 or writing the first top ten for a new act like Blackhawk.”

Getting Started With Tommy Overstreet

Black first found success when country singer Tommy Overstreet recorded his song “Girl, You Came and Eased My Mind.” Overstreet would take multiple other Black compositions to the Top 10. Those included “Send Me No Roses” (1973), “I’ll Never Break These Chains” (1973), “(Jeannie Marie) You Were a Lady” (1974) and “If I Miss You Again Tonight” (1974).

Teaming up with collaborator Rory Bourke, Black also wrote “Shadows in the Moonlight,” which Canadian pop-country star Anne Murray recorded for her 1979 album New Kind of Feeling. Murray’s version topped both the adult contemporary and country charts that year. The duo brought on Kerry Chater for “I Know a Heartache When I See One,” which Jennifer Warnes took to No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100.

That songwriting team penned several other hits for Murray, including “Lucky Me” and “A Little Good News.” The latter earned Single of the Year at the CMA Awards and won the Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance.

Inducted into the Nashville Songwriting Hall of Fame in 1991, other Charlie Black highlights included “Sounds Like Love” by Johnny Lee, Alan Jackson’s 1995 No. 1 hit “Right on the Money,” and several Phil Vassar hits.

Charlie Black died on April 23, 2021, at age 71. He was married to fellow songwriter Dana Hunt, who co-wrote the George Strait singles “Check Yes or No” and “Write This Down.”

Featured image via X/Twitter