A.L. "Doodle" Owens
Arthur Leo Owens (also known as "Doodle Owens"), born November 28, 1930 in Waco, Texas; died October 4, 1999 in Nashville, Tennessee, was an American country music songwriter and singer. He had a long songwriting partnership with Dallas Frazier, with whom he wrote "All I Have to Offer You (Is Me)" (1969), "(I'm So) Afraid of Losing You Again" (1969), I Can't Believe That You've Stopped Loving Me"(1970) and "Then Who Am I" (1974), all #1 country hits for Charlie Pride. In the 1980s Owens wrote many songs with fellow songwriter Dennis Knutson for George Jones and other artists.
As a singer, Owens' only charting hit was "Honky Tonk Toys", written by Owens with Gene Vowell, which made it to #78 on the country charts in 1978.
Charley Pride's version of "All I Have to Offer You (Is Me)" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Country Song in 1970. Owens was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1999.[1]
Other charting songs by Owens
- Get This Stranger Out of Me (Owens) - #63 country, Lefty Frizzell, 1967
- Barbara (Owens) - #55 country, George Morgan, 1968 (title song of album)
- Johnny One Time (Owens, Frazier) - #36 country, Willie Nelson, 1968; #3 Adult Contemporary, Brenda Lee, 1969
- Raggedy Ann (Owens, Frazier) - #45 country, Charlie Rich, 1968
- True Love Travels on a Gravel Road (Owens/Frazier) - #58 country, Duane Dee, 1968
- What Are Those Things (With Big Black Wings) (Owens, Frazier) - #19 country, Charlie Louvin, 1969
- Chain Don't Take to Me (Owens, Frazier) - #30 country, Bob Luman, 1971
- She's as Close as I Can Get to Loving You (Owens, Frazier) - #61 country, Hank Locklin, 1971
- She Wakes Me with a Kiss Every Morning (And She Loves Me to Sleep Every Night) (Owens, Frazier) - #11 country, Nat Stuckey, 1971
- Touching Home (Owens, Frazier) - #3 country, Jerry Lee Lewis, 1971 (title song of album)
- When He Walks On You (Like You Have Walked On Me) (Owens, Frazier) - #11 country, Jerry Lee Lewis, 1971
- Just for What I Am (Owens, Frazier) - #5 country, Connie Smith, 1972
- Hank and Lefty Raised My Country Soul (Owens, Frazier) - #39 country, Stoney Edwards, 1973
- Some Old California Memory (Owens, Warren Robb) - #28 country, Henson Cargill, 1973
- Would You Walk With Me, Jimmy? (Owens, Whitey Shafer) - #22 country, Arlene Harden, 1973
- Champagne Ladies and Blue Ribbon Babies (Owens, Frazier) - #34 country, Ferlin Husky, 1974 (title song of album)
- I Just Started Hatin' Cheatin' Songs Today (Owens, Shafer) - #17 country, Moe Bandy, 1974
- Freckles and Polliwog Days (Owens, Frazier) - #26 country, Ferlin Husky, 1974
- There's Still a Lot of Love in San Antone (Owens, Lou Rochelle) - #48 country, Darrell McCall, 1974; #64 country, Connie Hanson and Friend, 1982
- Falling (Owens, Shafer) - #50 country, Lefty Frizzell, 1975
- It Was Always So Easy (To Find An Unhappy Woman) (Owens, Shafer) - #7 country, Moe Bandy, 1975
- Because You Believed in Me (Owens, Shorty Hall, Gene Vowell) - #20 country, Gene Watson, 1976
- Cowboys Ain't Supposed to Cry (Owens) - #13 country, Moe Bandy, 1977
- She Just Loved the Cheatin' Out of Me (Owens, Shafer) - #11 country, Moe Bandy, 1977
- You Still Get to Me in My Dreams (Owens, Bill Shore) - #16 country, Tammy Wynette, 1982
- Cold Summer Day in Georgia (Owens, Dennis Knutson) - #24 country, Gene Watson, 1985
- Somebody Wants Me Out of the Way (Owens, Knutson) - #9 country, George Jones, 1986
- Wine Colored Roses (Owens, Knutson) - #10 country, George Jones, 1986
- The Bird (Owens, Knutson) - #26 country, George Jones, 1987
- The Right Left Hand (Owens, Knutson) - #8 country, George Jones, 1987
- Fourteen Minutes Old (Owens, Knutson) - #6 country, Doug Stone, 1990
(Darrell McCall was the "Friend" in the 1982 release of "There's Still a Lot of Love in San Antone". The single was released at the end of 1982, but reached #64 on the country charts in February 1983.)[2]
References
- ^ http://www.nashvillesongwritersfoundation.com/l-o/al-doodle-owens.aspx Nashville Songwriters Foundation page for Owens
- ^ Billboard, Feb. 12, 1983