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 spotlight an artist known as a godfather of Americana: Rodney Crowell. He’s an artist who has written many songs for other artists, and he also has enjoyed success as a singer-songwriter under his own name.

Born on August 7, 1950, in Houston, Texas, Crowell grew up with a father who was a construction supervisor by day but a gigging musician by night. Crowell was switched on to music at an early age, and his keen ear for language combined with his musical interests to lead him down the path of songwriting. He befriended and was inspired by other Texas songwriters, including Townes Van Zandt, Mickey Newbury, Guy Clark and Susanna Clark.

Musician Jerry Reed was the first to embrace Crowell’s songs, and Reed got Crowell signed to a publishing deal. Not long thereafter, Crowell joined the band of Emmylou Harris as she was breaking out on her own following her musical partnership with the late Gram Parsons. Crowell moved to Los Angeles, and spent three years in Harris’ band, writing many songs for her that became hits, including “Bluebird Wine,” “Till I Gain Control Again,” and “I Don’t Have to Crawl.”

In 1978, Crowell released his debut solo album, titled Ain’t Living Long Like This. The album includes the songs “Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight,” which went on to be recorded by Harris and also by the Oak Ridge Boys, who made it a hit. Also on the album is the song, “Voilà, An American Dream,” which the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band would record a few years later as “An American Dream” and make that song a hit. And the album’s kind of title track, “I Ain’t Living Long Like This,” was recorded in 1979 by Waylon Jennings, whose version became a big hit, too (the song had also been recorded by Emmylou Harris and by Gary Stewart).

But for this week’s Classic Americana pick, let’s feature Crowell’s version of his song. Here’s Rodney Crowell with “I Ain’t Living Long Like This.”

Since that time, Crowell has continued to write and record and produce, both for himself and for other artists. He’s enjoyed 15 No. 1 songs throughout his career, along with two Grammy Awards. In addition to the aforementioned artist, his music has been recorded and performed by such artists as Johnny Cash, Rosanne Cash, Willie Nelson, Etta James, George Strait, Van Morrison and Bob Seger. 

Crowell’s most recent album is 2023’s Chicago Sessions, which was produced by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy and received a Grammy nomination. And later this month — on August 29 — Crowell will release a new album, the 10-song collection Airline Highway.

External Links

Rodney Crowell – official site