| Vern Gosdin Dies at 74 |
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 Late Tuesday afternoon, Vern Gosdin died at the age of 74 at a hospital in Nashville. Vern suffered from a string of health problems in the 90s including a heart bypass in 1990 and two strokes by the end of the decade. He reportedly suffered from another stroke a couple of weeks ago.Vern Gosdin was often referred to as "the Voice" and was one of country music's mainstream success stories in the '80s with songs like 'Set 'Em Up Joe' and 'Chiseled in Stone.' He was born in Woodland, Alabama and achieved success as part of the Gosdin Brothers with his brother, Rex, before pursuing his solo career. As the Gosdin Brothers, Vern and Rex had one country hit, 'Hangin' On' which peaked at No. 37 in 1967 on the Billboard chart. Rex passed away in 1983. Vern lived in California and performed in multiple blue-grass groups before moving to Atlanta in the 1970s. Emmylou Harris knew Vern from his days in California and agreed to record a demo single with two songs, a remake of their 1967 hit and a new song, 'Yesterday's Gone.' Soon thereafter, Vern scored a record deal with Elektra Records with 'Yesterday's Gone' as his first single - reaching No. 9 on the country charts in '77. He charted his first No. 1 hit in 1984 with 'I Can Tell By the Way You Dance (You're Gonna Love Me Tonight)' and continued Top 10 success throughout the late 1980s. He co-wrote many of those hits including 'Do You Believe me Now,' 'Chiseled in Stone' and 'That Just About Does It.' His songs 'Set 'Em up Joe' and 'I'm Still Crazy' made it all the way to the No. 1 spot. Vern also earned a CMA Award in 1989 with Max D. Barnes for song of the year for 'Chiseled in Stone.' |