Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young

Faron Young had it all.
That is why, despite the best efforts of the Louvin Brothers and Lefty Frizzell, Young remains my favorite country music performer.
He parlayed his penchant for memorable tunes by emerging songwriters such as Don Gibson ("Sweet Dreams") and Willie Nelson ("Hello Walls" and "Three Days") into a relentless succession of country music hits.
His movie-star good looks landed him roles in... well... movies. Duh.
He had friends in the right places -- fellow Shreveport, La. native Webb Pierce helped launch Young's recording career -- and he had business sense, too. At the height of his fame, Young founded "Music City News," a magazine devoted to the burgeoning Nashville music scene.
Young even plays a role in one of the greatest, unsubstantiated country music legends of all time: Sources say he traded his then-girlfriend Billie Jean Jones to Hank Williams for a song. If true, this swap worked out well for both country stars. Hank made Billie Jean wife No. 2 and the song, "Goin' Steady," rocketed up to No. 2 on the country charts.
Young also had the uncanny ability to spot talent. The so-called "Young Sheriff" boasted no fewer than three musical superstars in his 1950s backup band, The Country Deputies. Floyd Cramer played piano and guitar duties were shared by Hank "Sugarfoot" Garland and future genius Chet Atkins. No wonder his 1950s' hits never seem to age.
If Young was at all a flawed musical hero, it is because he only managed to complete the first two of the three tasks mentioned in his initial chart-topper, 1955's "Live Fast Love Hard Die Young."
He lived as fast and loved as hard as anybody in Nashville.
Then, instead of dying young, he watched as Nashville shifted away from his own evolving style. He left Capitol Records at the end of 1962 and switched to Mercury, where his hits included "Wine Me Up" and the classic "It's Four in the Morning." However, the hits were fewer in number and less frequently charting than his Capitol Records heyday. Country music passed him by.
Fearing he had been forgotten and disheartened by the music industry, Young committed suicide by gunshot and died on Dec. 10, 1996.

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