Jim McBride, 'Chattahoochee' songwriter and Alan Jackson collaborator, dies at 78

Jim McBride, the Grammy-nominated state songwriter who partnered with vocalist Alan Jackson connected songs including “Chattahoochee” and “Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow,” died Tuesday. He was 78.

“Jim was a bully antheral and a large and genuine songwriter,” Jackson wrote connected Thursday successful an Instagram story. “He understood state euphony and touched galore with his songs. Jim and I wrote immoderate of my favourite songs unneurotic and I don’t cognize if my vocation would person ended up rather the aforesaid without his help, inspiration, and encouragement successful my aboriginal years. Thank you Jim, remainder successful peace.”

Jackson’s photograph showed him and McBride arsenic younger men, smiling and holding ASCAP certificates. In 1994, “Chattahoochee” won the Country Music Assn.’s grant for opus of the twelvemonth and they were nominated for the Grammy for state opus of the twelvemonth arsenic well.

“I americium successful shock. I americium devastatingly sad. My telephone has been ringing and dinging each day, truthful I anticipation my friends volition recognize I’m conscionable not capable to speech close now,” songwriter and adjacent person Jerry Salley wrote Wednesday connected Facebook, noting that McBride died aft a autumn connected Monday. McBride had texted Salley conscionable hours earlier falling, the second said.

“I’ll ne'er cognize wherefore helium took a accidental to constitute with me” erstwhile they met successful Nashville successful the aboriginal 1980s, Salley wrote, “but man, we deed it off, became instant friends, and loved being successful the penning country together. He ever brought retired the precise champion successful me.”

Though champion remembered for his Jackson collaborations, McBride’s songs were besides recorded by artists including Conway Twitty, Johnny Lee, Johnny Cash, George Jones, Reba McEntire, Alabama, Willie Nelson, Charley Pride, Kris Kristofferson, Randy Travis, Toby Keith and Dwight Yoakam.

“We volition greatly miss Mr. McBride — whitethorn his bequest unrecorded connected forever,” the Alabama Music Hall of Fame said Wednesday connected Instagram. The hallway remembered the songwriter arsenic a “beloved Alabamian, songwriter, friend, mentor, and truthful overmuch more.”

Born Jimmy Ray McBride successful Huntsville, Ala., connected April 28, 1947, helium began penning songs a child, but didn’t get 1 recorded until overmuch later.

“The songs conscionable started coming successful my caput and aft a portion I decided to effort it,” helium said successful an interrogation published by American Songwriter astatine the extremity of 1997. “I conscionable thought I’d constitute immoderate songs and bring them to Nashville and spot what happened.”

He said helium was ever drawn to thing astir euphony and learned aboriginal connected that “that small bitty sanction beneath the opus was the idiosyncratic who wrote the song.”

McBride’s archetypal bid sending songs to Nashville didn’t effect successful instant success. He knew lone 1 feline successful town, songwriter Curly Putman, who served arsenic a mentor.

“Curly gave maine bully proposal and helium was ever precise honest. He told me, ‘Unless I’m honorable I can’t assistance you,’” McBride told American Songwriter. “I’d play him a opus and he’d archer maine what was incorrect with it and helium was ever right. But if determination was thing there, helium would beryllium definite and fto maine cognize that I had done thing right. And helium ever encouraged maine to get different opinion, but I ne'er did; his sentiment was ever bully capable for me.”

He saw respective of his songs performed successful the aboriginal 1970s connected the amusement “Hee Haw,” but successful the mid-’70s helium coiled up tucking his dreams distant and staying astatine his occupation with the U.S. Postal Service. Even then, helium kept penning songs with Roger Murrah, who would beryllium a Grammy nominee successful the aboriginal 1990s for “Don’t Rock the Jukebox,” recorded by Jackson.

He promised Murrah and others that helium would instrumentality to Nashville if helium got “that large lick.” Then came Conway Twitty, who wanted the opus “A Bridge That Just Won’t Burn.”

“Roger called maine 1 nighttime and said, ‘I conjecture you request to battalion your bags, we’ve got Conway’s adjacent single,’” McBride told American Songwriter. “I discontinue the station bureau the time aft Christmas, 1980, and past started enactment the archetypal of January with Bill Rice and Jerry Foster. The lone different writer they had was Roger Murrah.”

Events astatine that clip were bittersweet for McBride, whose parent — his biggest philharmonic power increasing up — died of crab successful 1981. She was buried the aforesaid time helium was expected to get his archetypal euphony award, for “A Bridge That Just Won’t Burn.”

That September helium had his archetypal No. 1 hit, “Bet Your Heart On Me,” with vocalist Johnny Lee. And helium fine-tuned his songwriting.

“I don’t deliberation I’d ever had a span successful a opus until I moved here,” helium told American Songwriter. “Another happening I had to unlearn was that I wasn’t Kristofferson. I chopped backmost connected the poetic stuff. I was penning a batch of worldly wherever each enactment had to beryllium brilliant. Through the years, I learned to constitute conversational lines.”

McBride didn’t person a deed azygous again for six years, until Waylon Jennings recorded “Rose successful Paradise,” his past No. 1 track, successful 1987.

“I had songs connected 14 albums and couldn’t get a single,” McBride told Huntsville’s News19 successful 2023. “Randy Travis kinda kicked the doorway unfastened and Waylon.” After that, McBride said, “Things started picking up.”

That’s erstwhile helium met Alan Jackson, with whom helium would person 4 No. 1 hits, “Chattahoochee” being the biggest of them.

“He said, ‘Will you constitute with me?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, let’s get together,’” McBride told News19. “So, we got unneurotic and deed it disconnected conscionable similar that. It was similar penning with myself, really.”

McBride was inducted into some the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame successful 2017 and was a past president of the Nashville Songwriters Assn. International.

But for much than 30 years, that deed opus “Chattahoochee” was a portion of his beingness — particularly the 1 enactment astatine the opening wherever it talks astir it getting “hotter than a hoochie coochie” down connected the Chattahoochee River, which borders Alabama and Georgia. Everyone wanted to cognize what that meant, apparently.

“Alan got bushed of everyone asking him,” McBride told News19. “He told everybody to telephone me, and they did. When the region just would travel to town, determination was ever a broadside amusement with the hoochie coochie girls. So that’s what I was thinking. And the woody was if you were a young man, you’d effort to get successful determination earlier you were 18.”

And why, commune tell?

“They’ll amusement you a small bit,” helium said, “but you’re going to person to wage if you spot immoderate more.”

McBride is survived by his 2nd wife, Jeanne Ivey, and sons Brent and Wes from a erstwhile marriage.