Don Gibson--Oh, Lonesome Me (1958)

     Don Gibson was born in Shelby, North Carolina in a poor family, and had dropped out of school by the second grade. He began playing the guitar as a young teenager and progressed to the point that with a few other local musicians formed the group, Sons of the Soil who recorded a side or two in 1948, but broke up the next year. In 1950 he formed a new group called, King Cotton Kinfolk who spent the early 50's signed to RCA then Columbia developing his sound and his songwriting abilities.
     In 1955, he had written a song called, "Sweet Dreams" which caught the attention of a friend who worked for Acuff-Rose Publishing. He was offered a contract, but Gibson only signed with the provision that he would be given a chance to record. The song was recorded by Faron Young who took it to number 3 on the country charts, and several years later would become a signature song for Patsy Cline.
     This hit opened up the chance again to record with RCA. His recording was another self penned song, "Oh Lonesome Me" which not only became a number one hit on the country charts, but reached number seven on the top 100 as well. This began a long career for Gibson which duel country/pop hits into the early 60's and a force on the country charts through the late 70s. Besides the two hits mentioned he also wrote, "I Can't Stop Loving You" which became a massive hit for Ray Charles in the early 60s. He passed away in 2003 of natural causes.