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Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 19,579 Likes: 13
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OP
Top 10 Poster
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 19,579 Likes: 13 |
Hi Folks,
I was saddened to learn that JPF member Sonny Bell passed away yesterday of cancer. He was an award winner for Best Lyric in 2002 and also a nominee for Best Country Album and Song. But what I remember most about Sonny is a lesson he taught me that he never even knew about. Back in 1998 when I first started getting music from members, I got a CD of song demos from Sonny. They weren't very good. In fact, they were really bad. For the next year or two I always had in my mind that he was a nice guy but not a good writer or singer. When I got the next batch of music from him, I had very low and to be honest pretty biased expectations that it would be as bad as the first batch. But I was surprised that the songs had significantly improved. He had also hired some great demo vocalists (some that have become well known from Nashville Star) and I was really shocked. But then the next time around, when he sent me his Backstretch Boys album, I was blown away. His development was so drastic I had decided to give him a special award that year for most improved writer... but then I didn't have to because he won for Best Lyric. He proved to me that even if someone was at the very bottom of the musical food chain, they really COULD vastly improve all the way to the point of winning against very serious competition. He really did go through a creative transformation and I was really proud to have witnessed it. Since then I have realized that even the worst thing I hear in a given year doesn't mean that writer or artist won't be the next big thing. It can happen and Sonny proved it.
I know he co-wrote with many other JPF members. I am very sad I never got to meet him face to face. I had hoped to see him on my Midwest tour. With the passing of 2 JPF members I had hoped to meet this year in less than a month, I sure hope I get to meet a lot of you on the road this year. Life is short and I want to make sure I make the most out of my own Dash Between the Dates. Now that Sonny's have been filled in, I think he did.
Here's his lyric that won.
The Dash Between The Dates Copyright Sonny B. Bell All rights reserved.
As I walked up to the headstone I noticed first his name Engraved in fancy letters It stood out bold and plain He was born in nineteen-sixty-four And he died in eighty-nine I swallowed hard when I realized He was only twenty-five
I stood there for a moment Sadly staring at the stone Imagining some far off year When my time on earth is gone Then suddenly it came to me As I turned to walk away The only thing that matters Is the dash between the dates
CHORUS: The dash between the dates It's so easy to ignore It’s hardly ever noticed But stands for so much more It's all the time you get Before you get to heaven's gates Every minute of your life Fits in the dash between the dates
On my way home that evening I thought of all I'd seen How some die young and some die old And some die in between If there's one thing that I learned that day It's that time don't ever wait And the only time to live Is in the dash between the dates
CHORUS Repeat)
BRIDGE: Don't wait until you're dyin' To think about your fate Don’t waste another minute Of the dash between the dates
Brian
Brian Austin Whitney Founder Just Plain Folks jpfolkspro@gmail.com Skype: Brian Austin Whitney Facebook: www.facebook.com/justplainfolks"Don't sit around and wait for success to come to you... it doesn't know the way." -Brian Austin Whitney "It's easier to be the bigger man when you actually are..." -Brian Austin Whitney "Sometimes all you have to do to inspire humans to greatness is to give them a reason and opportunity to do something great." -Brian Austin Whitney
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Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 4,192
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Top 100 Poster
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 4,192 |
Wow! Thanks for sharing his story. I never met him either but I think he's a hero.
Vanessa
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 1,223
Top 200 Poster
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Top 200 Poster
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 1,223 |
Sorry to hear of Sonny's passing. I never had the pleasure of interacting with him on the boards, but I can see by the lyric posted above what a talent he had.
Thanks for sharing your memories of his work, Brian. There is a lesson in all of that: If someone wants success badly enough, they will continue to work hard until they achieve it; not sit passively by and hope success finds them.
~Christine
Change the world...one act of random kindness at a time.
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 7,044 Likes: 16
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Joined: Aug 2002
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"If one man can do it, any man can do it. It is true. But the real question is, if one man did it, are you willing to do what it takes to do it as well?" –Brian Austin Whitney
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