Tom T. Hall was a songwriter’s songwriter. That statement has been made many times over the course of Tom T. Hall’s long, productive and successful career as a country songwriter. Those words rang so true after his death at the age of 85 on August 20th, 2001, as fellow songwriters sang his praises:
SavingCountryMusic.com was the first media outlet to report his death on that day in August 2021. There was a sad rumor at the time that Hall had taken his own life, although no definitive cause of death was stated in initial reports. Subsequently it has been revealed that “The Storyteller” had taken his own life at his home in Franklin, Tennessee. The Williamson County, Tennessee Medical Examiner’s report conducted by Samuel Smith M.D. reads that Tom T. Hall “had sustained an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, to the head, on the morning of 8/20/2021. A 911 call was placed at 1115 hours on 8/20/201. Williamson County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) and Williamson Medical Emergency Medical Services (WMC EMS) responded to the call. Paramedics confirmed death at approximately 1133 hours, due to obvious injuries.” Tom T. Hall is perhaps most known for penning the 1968 Jeannie C. Riley number one hit (country AND pop), “Harper Valley P.T.A.” But Hall’s career would be underestimated greatly if seen through only the lens of one novelty song.
One of Hall’s most acclaimed (and most covered) songs, “That’s How I Got to Memphis,” was Bobby Bare’s first single for Mercury Records. A solo write by Tom T. Hall, it debuted on Billboard‘s Country Singles chart on 8/8/70 peaking at #3 for two weeks. That’s How I Got To Memphis (Words and Music by Tom T. Hall) If you love somebody enough you’ll follow wherever they goThat’s how I got to Memphis, that’s how I got to MemphisIf you love somebody enough you’ll go where your heart wants to go That’s how I got to Memphis, that’s how I got to Memphis. Published: 24.05.2019 2 min read If you love somebody enough You’ll follow wherever they go That’s how I got to Memphis So goes the country song written by Tom T. Hall in 1969. Like many of Hall’s songs, it tells the story, this one about a person, perhaps a man, looking for his love and how that pursuit has brought them to Memphis. Memphis is mentioned in the song a total of 19 times, but the song itself is not about Memphis at all. Memphis is just a substitute for “that’s I got here.” Memphis is present. Memphis is where you end up if you pursue what your heart wants. Memphis is a passing state to which you were brought by following your heart’s desire. A place that you will eventually leave behind. Memphis is not the place for the man. For him, Memphis is meaningless. It is neither a sign of progress or a setback. It is a place with meaning for other people but the man. Only the love interest is said to have any history with Memphis and any desire to be there: She would get mad and she used to say That she’d come back to Memphis someday That’s how I got to Memphis But Memphis is not meaningless for everybody. For the love interest, Memphis holds a meaning, a goal. It is something they will back to eventually, the beginning and the end. Memphis closes the circle. For most people, Memphis is the end of the journey. The place where they started from and where they through experience will learn to yearn back. Memphis is as far as an apple fallen from a tree. But despite being meaningless by itself for the man, Memphis does have a meaning for his story. Therefore, even though Memphis is something he will eventually say goodbye to, say goodbye to the people he’s met there, say goodbye the things that brought him here and possibly even the love that brought him there, he can not but feel sad. For him not to feel sad about leaving Memphis would mean that the journey has been in vain. So thank you for your precious time Forgive me if I start to cry That’s how I got to Memphis
 My first recollection of hearing ‘That’s How I Got to Memphis’ was Kelly Willis’s version on the 1998 Tom T Hall tribute album ‘Real: The Tom T Hall Project’. However, the song had first appeared on Hall’s splendidly named ‘Ballad of Forty Dollars and His Other Great Songs’ in 1969. It then became a hit the following year for Bobby Bare, reaching Number 3 on the Billboard Country Chart. The song has since established itself as a country standard with numerous cover versions to choose from for this feature. Versions by The Avett Brothers, Rosanne Cash, Scott Walker, Whitey Morgan, Haddon Cord and Charley Crockett were all considered and each one would have been worthy of inclusion. However, in my final selections, I’ve tried to reflect the diversity of artists that have covered the song and the way in which Hall’s brilliant songcraft lends itself to such wide-ranging interpretation. Tom T Hall (1969) We start with the original. Like all of Tom T’s songs the beauty is in its simplicity. No extravagance, no idiosyncrasy, no gimmicks. It doesn’t need any of those adornments because the song itself stands tall. Tom T Hall is a genius songwriter, and when you’ve got that, you don’t need anything else.
Solomon Burke (2006) The song featured as the opening track on Burke’s ‘Nashville’ album recorded at Buddy Miller’s Nashville home and produced by him. The album features cover versions of songs by amongst others Dolly Parton, Bruce Springsteen, Gillian Welch, Jim Lauderdale and Patty Griffin. Buddy Miller has long covered the song himself and his own version was probably the hardest to leave out. Nevertheless, he features prominently in this live version of the song.
Karl Blau (2016) For those of you not familiar with him, Karl Blau was a fairly obscure indie-rock musician who was putting out albums from 1997 without creating too many waves, when in 2016 when he released ‘Introducing Karl Blau’, a set of covers from which this is taken. The album also included Tom T Hall’s ‘Homecoming’ as well as songs by Townes Van Zandt, Link Wray and Tom Rush. The album was critically acclaimed and featured in many ‘Best of’ lists for that year. This is a great version.
AJ Lee and Blue Summit (2018) This version is a live recording from the GOF California Bluegrass Festival in 2018. It features the wonderful AJ Lee and her Blue Summit band. The slightly quicker pace and the beautiful bluegrass instrumentation add a further dimension to the song whilst still maintaining its simple beauty. Watching clips like this really bring it home as to how much of a miss live music has been during 2020.
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Who first sang How I Got to Memphis?
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