Legendary songwriter Dean Dillon has been honored with a Tennessee Music Pathways marker not far from his hometown of Cherry Bottom. The markers are dedicated to “the musical pioneers and legends influenced and shaped by Tennessee.”
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“I like to think my accomplishments were seeded here as I look back on my days,” Dillon said in a statement about the honor.
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Dillon earned his marker for the numerous hits he has penned. Among his catalog are songs recorded by George Jones, Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith, and more than 70 songs for George Strait. Among his Strait cuts are “The Chair,” “Nobody in his Right Mind Would’ve Left Her,” and “Ocean Front Property.”
Dillon began his career by winning a contest at Jacksboro High School in Campbell County. Soon after, he began performing regularly in Knoxville on the Jim Clayton Star Time variety television show. After graduating from high school, he made his way to Nashville where he began to work as a performer at Opryland. His first No. 1 single came in 1979 when Jim Ed Brown and Helen Cornelius recorded “Lying Here In Love with You.”
Dillon also wrote “Tennessee Whiskey,” which would become a hit for Chris Stapleton years after the fact. He originally penned the track with Linda Hargrove after a performance at the Bluebird Cafe. The song was previously recorded by Jones and went No. 1 in 1983.
“I wrote the song 35 years ago,” Dillon once explained. “It was 4 o’clock in the morning and I had been drinking all night and I met a young lady by the name of Linda Hargrove and we decided to go home together—but not for what everybody thought. I had the idea for the song and we sat at her house at 4 o’clock in the morning and wrote that song. And the rest is history.”
In 2002, Dillon earned was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in 2013 he earned the BMI Icon Award. In 2020 he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Strait presented the Hall of Fame medallion to Dillon.
Photos courtesy of Adventure Anderson County
