Every Friday around 11 a.m. Central, it’s time for Classic Americana on Radio Heartland. We pull a special track from the archives or from deep in the shelves to spotlight a particular artist or song.

This week we honor a singer and songwriter who enjoyed a No. 1 country hit but was more successful at writing songs that became hits for other artists. We’re talking about Leon Payne, who was born in Texas on June 15, 1917.

Payne lost his eyesight in early childhood. As a result, he was educated at Texas’ State School for the Blind in Austin, where, at age 12, he was given his first guitar. At age 18, Leon Payne got his first job performing on the radio, and he maintained a career as a working musician for the rest of his life.

In 1947, Payne got signed to Bullet Records in Nashville, and he scored an immediate regional hit with the song “Lifetime to Regret.” While at Bullet Records, Payne released another song, “Lost Highway,” that Hank Williams heard and recorded a version of his own, which became a massive hit for Williams. Our Classic Americana selection of the week is Hank Williams’ cover of Leon Payne’s “Lost Highway.”

Payne himself scored a No. 1 country hit in 1950 with “I Love You Because.” That song has been covered by several artists and many of those versions have hit the charts, but none reaching No. 1 like Payne’s original. Nevertheless, “I Love You Because” is now a country and pop standard.

Although Leon Payne was a talented singer, he is best remembered as a songwriter whose works reached more audiences when performed by other people. Payne’s songs have been recorded by such artists as Emmylou Harris, George Jones, Merle Haggard, Joan Baez, Elvis Costello, The Waterboys, Townes Van Zandt, Glen Campbell, and Kacey Musgraves.

Payne’s career was cut short when he suffered a heart attack in 1965 at the age of 48. He died just four years later, but he left behind a vast catalogue of work that is loved to this day. Leon Payne was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.

External Links

Leon Payne – Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame

Leon Payne – Texas State Historical Association