Most of the time, When we idolize a song, we tend to look more on the singer than the composer. Of course, they are on stage, on our radios, in our ears singing the songs that we know and in fact, often sing along with. Let us take Country Hall of Famer, Charley Pride for example. His signature song is one of the great ‘sing along’ songs in the history of country music. Remember his “Kiss An Angel Good Morning”? I guess out of a hundred people, ninety-nine has already turned up their radios to sing along with it. Who put those great words with that fanciful song? His name was Ben Peters, a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Ben Peters, His Life
Ben Peters was born, this same day, June 20, in 1937, in rural Hollandale, Mississippi. As a child, he picked cotton. He went on as University of Southern Mississippi graduate and a Navy pilot. Later on, he became a Nashville songwriting legend, penning fourteen number-one hits. Briefly, a solo recording artist himself, Peters created hits for the cream of country singers for forty years.
Peters had the country songwriter’s gift for noticing everyday commentaries that were great song material. Kenny Rogers’s “Daytime Friends and Nighttime Lovers” was inspired by a weatherman’s indication of daytime highs and nighttime lows. In addition, Peters’ most well-known song, “Kiss an Angel Good Mornin’,” began with his wife’s prompt to kiss their daughter Angela, nicknamed “Angel,” before going to work.
He was also named Billboard’s “Best Male Country Writer” in 1973. In 1975, the Nashville Songwriters Association named Peters “Songwriter of the Year”. Sadly, he died on May 25, 2005, after a pneumonia attack.
Want To Know More?
Songwriter Ben Peters ruled among the most successful Nashville tunesmiths of the country-pop era, winning the Grammy for Best Country Song with 1972’s “Kiss an Angel Good Morning.” It is true, you did not know it, but you have sung along with Ben’s songs for years. Which ones? Let us try to take it one step at a time. Ben Peters did not just write “Kiss An Angel Good Morning” for Pride. He also wrote the Charley Pride smashes “It’s Gonna Take A Little Bit Longer”, “More To Me”, “You’re So Good When You’re Bad”, and, okay, cutting it short, Pride recorded forty Ben Peters songs. Moreover, Ben wrote Kenny Rogers’ “Daytime Friends”, Freddy Fender’s “Before The Next Teardrop Falls”, Eddy Arnold’s “Turn The World Around”, and way too many more to mention.
We have been singing along to Ben Peters songs for years and did not know it. Now, we do. Mr. Peters, we will always hear your words and music, no matter what.
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