Born on March 26, 1955, Dean Dillon celebrates his 64th birthday today. He is mostly known for collaborating with the Country King, George Strait. He was also inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame acknowledging his brilliance in songwriting.
Dillon’s Earlier Years
He was born in Lake City, Tennessee and grew up listening to country music. He began showing his interest in music by playing the guitar at the age of 7. At the age of 15, he began performing as a singer and his debut was at the Knoxville variety show: Jim Clayton Startime.
Interestingly, his first record was produced by Dean Rutherford. He then worked with record executive Jerry Bradley and his name was changed to Dean Dillon. According to the record executive, he just randomly picked the name Dillon from a telephone book.
His Legacy
As mentioned earlier, he is most notably known to have written or co-written some of Strait’s hit songs. These songs are “Down and Out,” “Drinkin’ Man,” Marina Del Rey,” “I Believe,” and many others. He also worked with a younger generation of country stars including Toby Keith and Kenny Chesney.
His Take on Current County Music
Dillon is also known for not holding back on his opinions about the current music scene. He admitted that he is not a big fan of the current country music style. Taking note that he made a lot of country hit songs, he can sure say what he wants.
“You gotta understand, I live, eat, sleep and breathe songs. Where are all the great songs that I know get written in Nashville?”
He is asking for more varieties from the current country music scene knowing that there are a lot of talented songwriters out there. This includes his daughter, Jessie Jo Dillon. He only hopes that he will inspire other songwriters out there to bring out that old country music that we all love.
Check out one of his performances here:
We wish this legendary songwriter a happy birthday.
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