5 Years Ago Today, Garth Brooks Bid Farewell to the Legendary “Craftsman” Behind His Most Beloved Country Anthem

On this day (May 23) in 2021, Dewayne Blackwell died at the age of 84 in Ajijic, Mexico. He began his songwriting career in the late 1950s, writing hits for pop acts like The Fleetwoods, Bobby Vinton, and the Everly Brothers. After two decades of success in the pop world, he moved to Nashville. There, he began penning country hits. While the list of Blackwell-penned hits is long, one song stands above them. He co-wrote Garth Brooks’ “Friends in Low Places,” which became a massive hit and is among the best country songs in history, according to countless lists.

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According to Music Row, Blackwell dropped out of high school and moved from California to Alaska. There, he worked as a stevedore and longshoreman. That is also where he began honing his songwriting skills. By the end of the 1950s, he was back in California performing and recording with his family band. The Blackwells tragically disbanded in 1961, when Ron Blackwell, Dewayne’s brother, died in a motorcycle accident.

By then, Blackwell had already found success as a songwriter. The Fleetwoods recorded “Mr. Blue” in 1959, and it was a smash hit. The single went to the top of the Hot 100 and reached the top five of the R&B chart. Bob Dylan, Garth Brooks, Pat Boone, Bobby Vinton, and Mike Peston are among the other artists who have recorded it over the years.

The next two decades saw several pop artists, including Bobby Vee, Billy Fury, Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, and the Everly Brothers, chart with Blackwell’s songs.

[RELATED: On This Day in 1990, Garth Brooks Released His Signature Song, Fulfilling a Promise to a Friend]

Dewayne Blackwell Goes to Nashville

In the early 1980s, Dewayne Blackwell moved to Nashville to kick off the second phase of his songwriting career. He got some early cuts from Porter Wagoner (“Turn the Pencil Over”), Dottie West (“Tulsa Ballroom”), and Marty Robbins (“Honkytonk Man”), among others.

David Frizzell’s “I’m Gonna Hire a Wino to Decorate Our Home” topped the country chart in 1982, giving him his biggest hit of the decade. Then, in the early 1990s, Garth Brooks made “Friends in Low Places” a massive hit. It remains one of Brooks’ most popular songs and has been listed among the greatest country songs in history multiple times.

Written by Blackwell and Earl Bud Lee, Brooks released the song in 1990 as a single from his sophomore album No Fences. It quickly climbed the country chart and held the top spot for four weeks. That year, it won Single of the Year at the ACM Awards. It took the same award at the CMA Awards in 1991.

“What we lost when we lost Dewayne Blackwell was someone who truly was a craftsman,” Brooks wrote of the songwriter in a memorial piece for Billboard. He recalled singing the demo for “Friends in Low Places” so Lee and Blackwell could pitch it to other artists.

“All I know was I did demos sometimes five, nine a day, and this was the one I couldn’t get out of my head for months,” Brooks recalled. “It just kept circling back in. I never believed that me as an artist, would take that song on,” he added. “Now, I can’t imagine being the artist that I’ve got to be without that song.”

(Photo by L. Cohen/WireImage)