True Life Stories About 'The Voice', VERN GOSDIN

By Dr. Gerald Murray

The book ,True Life Stories about, "The Voice", VERN GOSDIN, was written by his personal manager and exclusive agent Dr. Gerald Murray . It covers a time span from when Vern was a little boy including the time he left home. It tells of his troubled life and his choice to never see his father again. It reveals the promise he made to God to never fly again,this is something that was kept a secret by Vern for more than twenty years. The book also covers his last family reunion,tours,personal life matters with his wives and women, his dream trip to Costa Rica. Additionally, it covers different aspects of his music,road tours, and a career overview.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Jan 1, 2007
• ISBN: 9781483542355

Book preview

Songs

INTRODUCTION

This book was not written in the traditional sense where very structured interviews are used followed by a few hours of research into specific family history to gain information. I have known Vern Gosdin for almost thirty years and have been his agent and manager for the past few years. He is a very close friend who is more like a family member than just a friend. In recent years Vern has enjoyed Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays with us at my mother’s home where he is considered one of the family.

I know that there are facets of Vern’s life that these pages will not cover but there never were any intentions of covering every specific detail. The information that I am about to share with you comes primarily from only two sources. My first source of information was made possible by the fact that I was present at the time when most of the events recorded in this book took place. The second source of information has come from many years of relaxed and casual conversa-tions with Vern, his friends, his family, and his colleagues.

I have always been one to take pictures and document events as they occur. My relationship with Vern has been no exception. I admit that I know him so well that I do have a wealth of knowledge worth sharing. In recent months, some influential persons in the country music industry have encouraged me to share my knowledge about Vern with his fans and with other country music lovers in general.

Vern has gone through some tough times in his life. But, ultimately he has achieved much success and has attained the status of a true country music legend. Even if you do not already know Vern Gosdin, you will be inspired by the way he has handled many of the personal and professional events in his life. Throughout the pages of this book, your emotions are likely to go from one end of the spectrum to the other.

Vern has always called his songs ‘true songs’ because he says that they reflect true events that have occurred in his life. For that same reason, I guess it will be appropriate to call this book a ‘true book’. It is my sincere wish that you enjoy your journey through this record of some Vern Gosdin true life experiences.

CHAPTER 1

THE PROMISE VERN MADE TO GOD

SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS IN

CHAPTER 1

Vern On An Airline Trip

In Icy Weather

He Survived An

Airline Crash

His Life Altering Promise To God

A Demonstration Of Love

And Respect For His Fans

Pages Of Pictures

THE PROMISE VERN MADE TO GOD

Hello and thank you for allowing Vern and me to share a huge portion of his life story with you. You probably are already cognizant of his long time career as a country singer, song writer, and guitar playing audience pleaser. If you have ever heard him sing, and no doubt you have, you surely know about the magnificent singing voice with which he has been so bountifully blessed. You may even be aware that many of his friends, fans, and colleagues affectionately refer to him as The Voice.

It will be my pleasure throughout the pages of this book to share with you many of the eventful moments and historical occurrences that have shaped the life of this man called The Voice. Some of the events and stories are so funny that you will laugh until your sides hurt. On the other hand, some of the hard times may bring tears to your eyes. So sit back, relax and enjoy your journey into this revealing account of a true country music legend.

By now you may be thinking that I should slow down for a few minutes and tell you a little something about who the heck is writing these words. Well here it is. I have lived most of my life in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, which is a city well known for recording studios that have played a major role in the country music sound. Over the years, I have been involved professionally in the country music business at many levels: from merchandise promoter to business agent to artist manager. I have worked with some pretty big names. Vern Gosdin is one of them and we have been close friends for many years. For the last several years, I have also been his agent and manager. Suffice it is to say, I am Dr. Gerald Murray and I am dedicated to bringing you this story. In later chapters more information will be provided about the roads I have traveled.

Well it is time to turn the show over to Vern for a few words. And now, I am going to tell you about a promise that Vern told me he made to God one cold and blusterous winter day quite a few years back.

I have heard this story many times over the years. The way I tell the story may not be Vern’s exact words but I will try to keep it as accurate as my memory will allow. The remainder of this chapter will be written as if Vern was telling this story directly to you in his own words. As you read the remainder of this chapter try to imagine that Vern is looking in your eyes and talking directly to you.

The thoughts that follow are written in the way that I think Vern would be most likely to speak them. So here is my rendition in writing of Vern talking to you:

I was onboard an airliner about to depart from Nashville, Tennessee headed to Fort Worth, Texas where I was scheduled for a show date performance that night. Much to my surprise and even much more to my regret this turned out to be a day that I will never forget. The wind was howling like a wolf, the temperature was bone chilling cold, and ice and snow was everywhere. In my humble opinion the runway, what little I could see of it, looked more like a snowmobile trail.

At that moment, I heard a voice on the speaker saying, This is your captain, Flight 321 has been cleared for takeoff. Please check your seatbelts, the trip today may be a little bumpy. At this point I was getting a little worried and with no disrespect to the pilot I really did not think it would have taken a rocket scientist to figure out that this was not going to be a smooth ride. I have always prided myself in having the ability to do a good job of sizing up a situation. I have always liked to make my own judgment about important matters and to exercise at least some control over my destiny. Now, here I was on an airplane, in my seat, buckled in, and nowhere to go at this point.

The pilot taxied onto the runaway and revved up the engines. Out of my small window the only thing I could see was blinding snow with the wind blowing in swirls and nothing more was visible to me at that moment. I sat up in my seat and pulled the seatbelt as tight as I could get it and noticed that most everyone else was doing the same thing. Off to my left I saw a mother with two little girls. She was packing the two little tots into their seats very gently, sort of like I do my eggs at the grocery store. She was working hard at finding the best position and using everything available to hold them upright and safe.

The plane grunted and jerked and I could tell it had started to move. The engines roared and I could feel the vibration all over. Finally, as we started down the runway, I could just barely make out a steel structure building off to the right out of the small window by my seat. It was at that moment I realized something was terribly wrong. The plane was sliding to the side and the building was coming straight at us. I experienced a feeling of helplessness for what seemed like an eternity. An eerie thought flashed through my mind. I visualized a flashback of the news when Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas, and Hawkshaw Hawkins had departed this world by way of an airplane crash. The next thought to enter my mind was so this is also how it will end for me. The plane continued to slide sideways off the runway and then back on again. Everyone was screaming and disoriented as the inside lights flashed on and off in the airplane.

Next there was a tremendous jerk that really tested our seatbelts and then the plane stood still. Have you ever seen a grown man dig through snow and look for the ground just so he could kiss it? This is all I had in mind as all those panic stricken passengers exited the disabled airplane.

Well I guess you are wondering what all this is leading up to, so here it is. I went into the airport and called my agent, Shorty Lavender. I explained to him the entire horrifying experience and told him to cancel the show. Shorty gave me an ear full of reasons why we could not and should not cancel the show. I told him that I did not care about the money and that I was not going to get back on another airplane and that was that.

Shorty then started talking about how disappointed the fans would be if I did not show up for the venue and do the performance. Well when he started talking about my fans that is all it took to get me back on another airplane. I agreed to catch the next flight out so that I could arrive at Fort Worth in time to do the show that night. I have always appreciated my fans as much as any artist and the thought of disappointing and letting them down was all it took to convince me to keep the date.

I did make a major promise right then and there. This was a promise that I have stuck to for over twenty years. I promised God if he would just help me fly safely to Fort Worth today and back to Nashville tomorrow so that I could honor this date and not disappoint these good people that I would never fly again. Those last two flights were uneventful and the show was a big success. Put yourself in my place and think about how many miles I rode in a car and bus over the next twenty years when an airplane would have been so much faster and so much easier on my demanding schedule.

I had taken Vern to the emergency room because of a concern about his blood pressure. While waiting for one of my good friends Dr. Terry Hart or Dr. Ron McCoy to arrive I decided to do a little experimenting on my own.

Vern Gosdin and the magnificent Connie Smith share the marquee and the stage at Birmingham, Alabama.

L to R. Kenny Presley, Vern Gosdin, Billy Pickens, and Gerald Murray standing by Gerald’s bus.

L to R. Dr. Ron McCoy, Dr. Terry Hart, Little Jimmy Dickens, and a stage worker back stage at the Grand Ole Opry.

Vern Gosdin and Connie Smith posing for photographs just before the show started.

Vern and Gerald at Vern’s home. In the background are some of the gold records, awards, and plaques that Vern has earned over the years.

CHAPTER 2

THE TRIP TO COSTA RICA

SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS IN

CHAPTER 2

Vern’s Burning Desire

To Visit Costa Rica

Nashville To Costa Rica By Car

Bandits And Robbers

Alter Vern’s Plan

An Emergency Airplane Landing

Was God About To Collect

On That Promise

Pages Of Pictures

THE TRIP TO COSTA RICA

Have you ever had someone tell you about an experience or a place of beauty that sounded so appealing that you just could not get it out of your mind? Vern Gosdin had that happen to him after a friend returned from a visit to Costa Rica and told him about all of wonders that he had experienced in that far away little country.

It was one of those situations where the more he thought about it the more his mind just would not have peace until he could go see that magnificent place. There a burning desire was created in his mind to mingle with the local population and witness the sights his friend had describe.

Vern’s friend had told him about the beautiful mountains, the comfortable temperatures, and the majestic oceans bordering two sides of the dynamic landscaped little country. Vern is quick to admit that the most interesting item his friend had mentioned was his characterization of an abundant female population. He had described most of these ladies as being beautiful, charismatic and down right friendly. At the very least, the presences of these ladies certainly complimented all of the aforementioned factors.

Vern spent the next few years thinking, plotting, and planning a trip to visit Costa Rica. As you can imagine, an airline ticket would have been a logical and easy solution to the whole situation. Vern’s personal policy was not to fly on the airlines or any other airplane for a very long time. Over the years, each time he thought about going to the airline ticket office he would think about his promise. Making this trip by boat did not seem like a logical solution and with flying out of the question; it appeared that going by land was the only option left.

After doing some geography research Vern verified what he thought he already knew. With any mode of transportation it is one heck of a long way from Nashville, Tennessee to San Jose, Costa Rica and it is especially long if the choice is by ground. By land the route would wind southward across several US States with a border crossing most likely at Matamoras, Mexico. From that point, the journey would be required to continue and go south to southeast from one end of Mexico to the other end. Then the route would cross all the way through the countries of Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua before reaching Costa Rica.

Vern worked on a plan to drive there and was extremely satisfied with the long journey that lay ahead until he heard all the stories of the bandits and robbers along the way. Vern is not one to back down from a little danger and he told me that he would feel safe as long as I was with him. Vern told me that he knew that I had held some kind of World Championship chap14 in kickboxing. He reasoned that my skills should be sufficient to take care of us if we happened to encounter any life threatening trouble along the way. I wished that I felt as sure about my skills as he did.

The big obstacle that now lay between Vern and Costa Rica was trying to convenience me, his good friend and manager, to go on the land version of the trip. I pointed out that we would be on the road at least two weeks going and