Paul Gilley | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Herbert Paul Gilley |
Born | Maytown, Kentucky, US | October 1, 1929
Died | June 16, 1957 Morgan County, Kentucky, US | (aged 27)
Genres | Country |
Occupation(s) | Lyricist, music promoter |
Years active | 1949–1957 |
Herbert Paul Gilley (October 1, 1929 – June 16, 1957) was an American country music lyricist and promoter from Kentucky. In his lifetime, he was little known as a songwriter, but decades after his death by drowning at age 27, he was identified more widely as likely having written the lyrics to a dozen famous songs, including two that were hits for Hank Williams: "Cold, Cold Heart" and "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry". He may have also written "I Overlooked an Orchid", which was a number-one country hit in 1974 for Mickey Gilley (no relation).[1][2][3] Other songs that have been attributed to Gilley include "If Teardrops Were Pennies", "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes", and "Crazy Arms".[4]
Gilley's contributions to songwriting are not widely known; he is not listed in the Oxford New Encyclopedia of Country Music published by the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, nor in Barry McCloud's Definitive Country encyclopedia.[5] However, his hometown declared a Paul Gilley Day in 2012, and Morgan County, Kentucky, local historian W. Lynn Nickell wrote and published a biography, Paul Gilley: The Ghost Writer in the Sky.[4][6]