I've been listening to my Joe Diffie CDs for the first time in quite a while. He's one of many country artists who, instead of writing his own material (except for maybe a few co-writing credits here and there), rely on the storied Nashville stable of songwriters for material. A few Diffie songs were written by Dennis Linde (pictured above) which reminded me that there was a period back in the nineties when I was noticing his name as (sole) songwriter of many favorite tunes by various country artists. However, I haven't noticed his name at all in, oh, I don't know, maybe the last five years or more.
So with my interest in Linde (pronounced LIN-dee) rekindled I decided to Google him, hoping maybe I'd find a myspace site or something. I knew nothing about him except to note that his spate of songs last decade had a certain uniqueness, almost always very specific in narrative details and quite often with a humorous turn of phrase here and there. They invariably stood out (to me) over other tracks on artists' albums.
Sadly, in Googling him tonight I learned that Linde passed away December 22, 2006. Apparently he was indeed a very highly regarded songwriter. He penned "Burning Love" which was, of course, made famous by Elvis in 1972. In 2001 Linde was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. He also was the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) Songwriter of the Year in 1993 and BMI Songwriter of the Year in 1994. Here's his Wikipedia page.
From the obituary piece I link to above, I particularly like these two bits...
Drawing on the influence of writers such as Mark Twain, J.D. Salinger and John Steinbeck, composers such as George Gershwin and Cole Porter and the rock'n'rollers Little Richard and Fats Domino, Linde developed the quirky, idiosyncratic, individual style which would lead him to write colourful hits such as "Bubba Shot the Jukebox" and "It Sure is Monday" for the country singer Mark Chesnutt, and "Queen of My Double Wide Trailer" for Sammy Kershaw, another country star, in the early Nineties.
. . . .
Though Linde would set himself challenges like writing a series of songs starting with each letter of the alphabet—which explains why his catalogue includes puzzling titles like "X Marks the Spot" and "Zoot Suit Baby"—his outlook and approach remained unpretentious. "If you can last through the down spells and don't get wiped out by the up spells, you can stay there. And that's what I want to do," he said.
While Garth Brooks seems to have faded away into early retirement after his meteoric rise to country superstardom, I can attest that "Callin' Baton Rouge" (on 1993's In Pieces) was one of the better Brooks tunes on any album and it was written by Linde. The Dixie Chicks' "Goodbye Earl" (from 1999's Fly) was another uniquely identifiable Linde effort. "Ten Pound Hammer" by Aaron Tippin (1995's Tool Box) is another good one. Joe Diffie seemed to particularly like Linde's tunes for a while, recording "John Deere Green" (Honky Tonk Attitude, 1993), "Junior's In Love" (Third Rock From The Sun, 1994), "Down In A Ditch" (Life's So Funny, 1995), and "John Doe" (Twice Upon A Time, 1997).
Below are the lyrics to two of my absolute favorite Linde tunes. I tried to find anything for either on YouTube, but there was nothing. Instead here's a short list of YouTube "Dennis Linde" search results with some other samples of his work (though I haven't actually viewed any of them myself due to dialup lag).
Bubba Shot The Jukebox
Performed by Mark Chesnutt on Longnecks & Short Stories (1992)
We were all down at Margie's bar tellin' stories if we had one
Someone fired the old jukebox up, the song it sure was a sad one
A teardrop rolled down Bubba's nose from the pain the song was inflictin'
And all at once he jumped to his feet just like somebody kicked him
(Chorus 1)
Bubba shot the jukebox last night
Said it played a sad song that made him cry
Went to his truck and got a .45
Bubba shot the jukebox last night
Now Bubba ain't never been accused of bein' mentally stable
So we did not draw an easy breath 'til he laid that Colt on the table
He hung his head until the cops showed up, they dragged him right outta Margie's
They told him, "Don't you play dumb with us, son, you know damn well what the
charge is"
(Chorus 2)
Bubba shot the jukebox last night
Said it played a sad song that made him cry
Went to his truck and got a .45
Well, he shot the jukebox last night
When the sheriff arrived with his bathrobe on the confrontation was a tense one
He shook his head and said, "Bubba Boy, you was always a dense one
Now reckless discharge of a gun, that's what the officers are claimin'"
Bubba hollered out, "Reckless, Hell! I hit just where I was aimin'!"
(Chorus 3)
Bubba shot the jukebox last night
Said it played a sad song that made him cry
Went to his truck and got a .45
Well, he shot the jukebox, stopped it with one shot
Bubba shot the jukebox last night
(Bridge)
Well, he could not tell right from wrong through the teardrops in his eyes
Beyond a shadow of a doubt it was a justifiable homicide
(Chorus 4)
Bubba shot the jukebox
Stopped it with one shot
Bubba shot the jukebox last night
Junior's In Love
Performed by Joe Diffie on Third Rock From The Sun (1994)
With a dozen roses in his gun rack Junior pulled up into her side lot
He carried them up to the front porch and hollered, "Wanda, look at what I got!"
She was sittin' there watchin' TV with a dry wall hanger named Shorty
She pressed her nose to the screen door and said, "They smell like WD-40!"
He said, "Now don't you be that way, you know how much I love you
I can't hardly sleep at night and when I do I dream of you
And by the way, Shorty, I thank you, you could've had'em put me in jail, son
I'm just glad I run outta air hose when I come at you with that nail gun"
(Chorus 1)
Oh, Junior's in love, ain't that a good one
He'll track her down and then if she should run
He'll bring her home like a deer on the hood, son
Junior's in love
Wanda walked down the front steps and said, "I hate to break up the party
But I've get to get to work by five, would you run me over there, Shorty?"
That's when Junior turned bright red and said, "I'm takin' her to the diner!"
And he threw Shorty in the truck bed with a busted nose and a shiner
(Chorus 2)
Oh, Junior's in love, ain't that a hot one
There's lots of lovers and Junior, he's not one
Don't know a kiss from a hug from a shotgun
Junior's in love
(Bridge)
Oh, you know there's an oil puddle down by the diner and it came outta his transmission
That's where he parks every night and stares through the window in a lovesick and
sorry condition
(Chorus 1)
Oh, Junior's in love, ain't that a good one
He'll track her down and then if she should run
He'll bring her home like a deer on the hood, son
Junior's in love
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