Buzz Cason’s biggest hit was “Everlasting Love” but the singer, songwriter and “Father of Nashville Rock” notched hits for several rock and country stars during a 60-year career.
The 84-year-old died on Sunday (June 16).
- James E. “Buzz” Cason was founder of Nashville’s first rock band the Casuals before perusing a solo career in the early 1960s.
- He recorded music but became best known as a hit songwriter and / or producer for artists such as Martina McBride (“Love’s the Only House”), Dolly Parton, Mel Tillis and the Oak Ridge Boys.
- “Everlasting Love” was co-written with Mac Gayden. It’s one of very few songs to enter the Billboard Hot 100 in four straight decades.
“Buzz Cason, left this plane this morning,” writes Gayden on Facebook. “He will be singing I’m sure and making his new surroundings smile.”
The Country Music Hall of Fame also shared a post on X that spoke of Cason’s life and career:
Another Cason song that was recorded and popularized by several artists was “Soldier of Love.” Arthur Alexander, the Beatles and Pearl Jam all took a turn with the love song.
As a producer, Cason worked with Jimmy Buffett. He also sang background vocals on albums by Elvis Presley, Kenny Rogers, John Denver and Roy Orbison.
More recently, Cason was best known as the founder of the Creative Workshop in Nashville’s Berry Hill neighborhood. The concept was built as a place for new artists to develop and among those that accepted the invitation was Buffett. Merle Haggard, and Kevin Costner also recorded at the studio.
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Billy Dukes is a Senior Editor and Executive Producer of Video Content at Taste of Country. He specializes in country music interviews, trend analysis and the Secret History of Country Music. Additionally, Billy covers Yellowstone, 1923 and related television shows through the Dutton Rules podcast. To date, he’s written more than 13,000 articles for Taste of Country and produced over 3,000 videos for the Taste of Country YouTube channel.
