Born 89 Years Ago Today in Louisiana, the “Countrypolitan” Architect Who Penned Hits for Tammy Wynette, Lynn Anderson, and Jerry Lee Lewis

On this day (September 28) in 1937, Royce Glenn Sutton was born in Hodge, Louisiana. Alongside fellow producer and songwriter Billy Sherrill, Sutton orchestrated the “countrypolitan” phenomenon that spread through county music in the early 1960s, pairing slick pop elements with mainstream country. Together, the two wrote David Houston’s Grammy-winning 1966 hit “Almost Persuaded”.

Sutton also wrote or co-wrote many of Tammy Wynette’s early hits, including “Your Good Girl’s Gonna Go Bad” and “I Don’t Wanna Play House”. Additionally, he helped transform country singer Lynn Anderson — his wife of nine years — into an international superstar, producing her signature song “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden” and writing three of her number-one hits.

On April 17, 2007, Glenn Sutton died of a heart attack at age 69 in Nashville. Today, we’re honoring his life and legacy on what would have been his 89th birthday.

Glenn Sutton Always Wanted to Play Music

Raised in Chireno, Texas, Glenn Sutton faithfully tuned into WSM and the Grand Ole Opry every Saturday night.

““I think he knew from the earliest years of his boyhood that he wanted to play music,” recalled his daughter, Lisa Sutton. “One of my favorite pictures of him is an old black and white shot of him and his first guitar—he’d used some old painter’s tape to ‘write’ his name on it. He was years from setting foot in Nashville, but in Daddy’s mind, he was already a star…”

Writing songs from an early age, he had moved to Henderson by age 16. That’s when he began hosting his own 15-minute show on a local radio station every Saturday.

During his time serving in the U.S. Air Force, Sutton formed a honky-tonk band called Slim Mims & the Dream Ranch Boys. Following his discharge, he moved to Jackson, Mississippi, where he continued playing local clubs while working as an electric razor repairman and insurance salesman.

After releasing the single “Long Tall Texan”, Sutton again relocated to Nashville in 1964, signing with Al Gallico Music.

The Hits Started Coming

Shortly after his arrival in Music City, Glenn Sutton linked up with Billy Sherrill. They co-wrote “Almost Persuaded”, a song about a married man who nearly forgets his wedding vows while out at a tavern.

Country singer David Houston took “Almost Persuaded” to the top of the U.S. country songs chart in 1966. It stayed there for nine weeks, winning the Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Recording. Artists including Patti Page, Sheb Wooley and Etta James had all recorded their own versions within three years.

Sutton also became a go-to writer for Tammy Wynette, penning hits such as “I Don’t Wanna Play House,” “Take Me to Your World,” and “Bedtime Story.”

Additionally, he wrote or co-wrote several hits for Jerry Lee Lewis, including “To Make Love Sweeter for You”, “She Still Comes Around (To Love What’s Left of Me)” and “What’s Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made a Loser Out of Me)”.

The Lynn Anderson Years

Glenn Sutton perhaps gained the widest recognition for his professional collaboration with Lynn Anderson, to whom he was married from 1968 to 1977.

On top of producing her 1970 mega-hit “Rose Garden”, Sutton penned three number-one singles for his then-wife: “You’re My Man,” “Keep Me in Mind,” and “What a Man My Man Is”.

While he never seriously pursued a career as a singer, Sutton did land two singles on the Billboard country charts in the late 1970s, including the novelty song “The Football Card”.

Inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1999, Glenn Sutton remained a colorful presence on Music Row until his untimely death. He often showed up to parties dressed as various alter egos, including “Bluewater Dave, the world’s oldest living entertainer” or superhero Angelman.

[RELATED: 56 Years Ago Today, Lynn Anderson Recorded the Signature Hit Her Husband Didn’t Want Her To Sing]

“He was one of the funniest human beings in the world,” friend and producer Jerry Kennedy told The Tennessean after Sutton’s death in 2007. “If you didn’t know him, you really missed something.”

Featured image by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images