Bill Anderson is set to join an exclusive club that includes Bob Dylan, Smokey Robinson, Carole King, Paul McCartney and John Lennon.
It’s called the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Anderson will be inducted this June. He showed why Thursday in a concert at Savannah Center.
The man called “Whispering Bill” is a master at telling a story with — as they say in Nashville — “three cords and the truth.” He did so throughout the concert, regaling the audience with stories, jokes, and most of all music.
Anderson, 80, has been doing that since his first big songwriting hit in 1960, “City Lights” to his co-writing “Give It Away.” That was the 2007 Country Song of the Year for George Strait.
The reason for his artistic longevity and success is simple.
“Bill Anderson’s songs pluck at your heart,” said Ric Swimmer, who attended the show. “And his music is real.”
Anderson, a long-time member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, opened the concert with the steady beat of “But You Know I Love You.”
“It’s great to be back in The Villages,” Anderson said. “They tell me that a lot of seniors live in The Villages. And their parents live in Sarasota.”
Anderson looked dapper, wearing a bright red sport coat and white slacks. He soon sang one of his most popular songs, “Po’ Folks.”
It’s a country tale of poverty and woe, against the bright rainbow of family unity, as Anderson sang: “But we had something in our house money can’t buy/Kept us warm in the winter cool when the sun was high/… We patched the cracks and set the table with love.”
The band supplied some country rock on “Give It Away.” Anderson loves to tell stories. That was true on the classic, “I Wonder If God Likes Country Music.” It told the tale of an aging country singer, longing for one more chance.
Roy Acuff originally sang with Anderson on that song, but at Savannah, James Freeze played bass and sang the Acuff chorus.
Anderson rolled back the clock with “City Lights,” his first big songwriting hit done by Ray Price. On this night, Kenzie Wetz supplied the fiddle and back up vocals, along with Ziggy Johnson on keyboards and Cotton Payne on drums.
Anderson had a special connection to “Saginaw Michigan,” a song he co-wrote for Lefty Frizzell.
“That was Lefty’s last No. 1,” Anderson said. “That song meant a lot to me because Lefty was one of my main influences.”
Country music has a way tugging the heartstrings and Anderson did just that on, “Mama Sang A Song,” one of his biggest early hits. “My songs are like my children; I don’t have favorites but this one means a lot.”
Anderson, in his gentle-whisper, told of his family and how his mother’s faith brought them together.
There was another emotional moment on “A Lot of Things Different,” a bittersweet look back at what might have been.
“I think we all have those moments in our lives where we wish we could go back and do things different,” he said, introducing the number.
It wasn’t all serious.
Anderson had some fun on a song called, “The Songwriters,” with these lyrics:
“We’re heroes, we’re schemers, we’re drunks, we’re dreamers, we’re lovers and sometimes fighters…We’re the devil, we’re preachers…We’re true love but mostly one-nighters – we’re songwriters.”
Anderson paid tribute to veterans with his powerful, “Old Army Hat.” He said a young man told him the story of his grandfather who served in World War II.
“After he talked to me, I know this would make a good song,” Anderson said. “The United States isn’t perfect but I’ve been all over the world and I have to say this is the best country of all because we have our freedom.
“The reason we have our freedom is because of the men and women who serve our country. This song is for them.”
Anderson had the audience sing-a-long to his best known song, “Still.” He stood center stage and, like a conductor, led the crowd.
“You guys aren’t bad,” he said with a wink. “Thank you for coming out and being with us to share our music tonight.”