09/24/2019
Happy birthday to Wayne White, whose songs are the foundation of GCM, and whose mission is still ours today.
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Happy birthday to my dad, Wayne White. His touring career started in a station wagon with Leroy Van D**e and ended on a jet with Mel Tillis. He wrote some of the best songs I know, some of which were recorded by Dottie West, Sonny James and Jack Palance. (JP recorded a song of his that Dottie West originally pitched to Johnny Cash.) He played with Sonny James, Ernest Tubb, Dottie West, Leroy Van D**e and Mel Tillis, and backed up tons of others on packages shows while on tour with them, like Willie Nelson, Ray Price, Connie Smith, David Houston, and Barbara Mandrell. He gave drum lessons to Irlene Mandrell. He got career advice from Chet Atkins. He played with Sonny James for his appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show and was one of the earliest drummers to play the Grand Ole Opry. He worked as a performer, arranger and copyist for The Nashville Network and was a staff drummer on Opryland’s Country Music USA. He co-owned a restaurant in Nashville with live music and dinner shows, hosting groups like The Whites, and was a partner in a recording studio. He taught me how to play, how not to play, how to listen, and how to put on a show. He put me on my first sessions and taught me how to record. He taught me how to be a human. He taught me to always swing for the fences while always putting others first. He expected nothing but the best from me, but was always the first to tell me it was going to be ok when I missed the mark. He died when I was 26 and I still learn from him everyday.
Happy Birthday, Slick. You were my main man. Thanks for all the teaching and all the hangs. You were one of a kind. .
