Not every country singer writes their own songs. In fact, some of the biggest names in the genre almost exclusively cut songs from professional songwriters. Unfortunately, the people who pen hit songs usually get overlooked by fans of the songs they created. Dean Dillon is a perfect example of this. He penned songs that were recorded by some of the genre’s biggest stars and is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. However, relatively few country fans know who he is.
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Dillon’s love of music started at an early age. After finishing high school, he traveled to Nashville hoping to start a career in country music. He released his debut single, “I’m Into the Bottle (To Get You Out of My Mind)” in 1979. Over the next few years, he released several more singles but never broke into the top 10 of the country charts. He also released a handful of albums with his first and most successful, Brotherly Love, a collaboration with Gary Stewart, peaking at No. 23 on the Billboard Hot Country Albums chart.
Seeing little success as a recording artist, Dillon began writing songs for other artists. Soon, some of country music’s biggest stars started sending his songs to the upper region of the country chart. Legends like George Strait, George Jones, Keith Whitley, Toby Keith, and many more recorded his songs and made them hits.
Dean Dillon Co-Wrote Several Classic Country Songs
It’s hard to overstate how important Dean Dillon is to the country music world. He co-wrote “Tennessee Whiskey” with Linda Hargrove. Chris Stapleton made it a hit after George Jones and David Alan Coe recorded it. He also wrote “Miami, My Amy” with Royce Porter and Hank Cochran. It has since become a favorite among Whitley’s fans. However, no artist has benefited from Dillon’s writing more than George Strait.
Strait has recorded several songs co-penned by Dillon over the years. For instance, he has writing credits on “The Chair,” “Nobody in His Right Mind Would Have Left Her,” “It Ain’t Cool to Be Crazy About You,” “Ocean Front Property,” and “Famous Last Words of a Fool.” All of those songs were No. 1 hits for Strait in the 1980s. Dillon also co-wrote Strait’s debut single, “Unwound,” which peaked at No. 6 on the Hot Country Songs chart in 1981.
Strait is one of the most successful and influential artists in modern country music. Without Dillon’s songwriting, though, he may not have become the star he is today.
Other Country Favorites Co-Penned by Dillon
- “Leave Them Boys Alone”–Hank Williams Jr., Waylon Jennings, Ernest Tubb
- “A Lot of Things Different”–Kenny Chesney
- “Guitars and Tiki Bars”–Kenny Chesney
- “Spilled Perfume”–Pam Tillis
- “Set ‘Em Up, Joe”–Vern Gosdin
- “Whippoorwill River”–Vince Gill
- “I’ll Never Forgive My Heart”–Brooks & Dunn
Featured Image by Mike Coppola/Getty Images
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