Fred Burch Explained

Fred Burch is an American popular songwriter (born ?1931-1932).^{[1] [2]} His hometown was Paducah, Kentucky but he was based in Nashville where he was a staff writer with the Cedarwood Publishing Co.^{[3] [4]}

Burch and fellow songwriter Don Hill also recorded as South for a 1969 single "Barefoot In The Woods" on the Silver Fox label.^{[5] [6]} In 1983 he wrote a musical, American Passion, with Willie Fong Young.^{[7] [8]}

Selected songs

Co-writers' names are in brackets.^[9]

• "Dream on Little Dreamer" - Perry Como hit (1965)^[10] (Jan Crutchfield)
• "How High's the Watergate, Martha?"^[11] - David Allan Coe (Bob Robison)
• "PT-109" - Jimmy Dean hit (1962) (Marijohn Wilkin)
• "Tragedy" - Thomas Wayne hit (1959), Fleetwoods hit (1961), Brenda Lee (on album), Paul McCartney (album bonus track), others (Gerald Nelson)
• "He Made a Woman Out of Me" - Bobbie Gentry, Bettye LaVette (Don Hill)
• "Snakes Crawl at Night" - Charley Pride (Mel Tillis)
• "Sing You Children" - Elvis Presley (Gerald Nelson)
• "The Love Machine" - Elvis Presley (Chuck Taylor, Gerald Nelson)
• "Yoga is as Yoga Does" - Elvis Presley (Gerald Nelson)
• "Atlantic Coastal Line" - Burl Ives, Charley Pride (Mel Tillis)
• "Strange"- Patsy Cline (Mel Tillis)
• "Big Big World" - Johnny Burnette (Red West, Gerald Nelson)

Notes and References

1. Billboard - Jan 1, 1966 - Page 29 "Burch's biggest to date is the Perry Como hit last year, "Dream on Little Dreamer."
2. Unverified detail in press report, June 3, 1962: "At the age of 30 ..."
3. "P.T.109... Former Paducah Man Writes Hit Song", The Paducah Sun, Paducah, Kentucky, June 3, 1962, page 23
4. Display advertisement by Cedarwood Publishing Co, Billboard, January 25, 1964
5. https://www.discogs.com/artist/3031468-South-5 Artist page for South
6. "Barefoot In The Woods" discographic details and image of label at 45cat.com.
7. East West: The Chinese-American News Magazine 1975 "According to the author, novelist Patrick Anderson, Young and another songwriter, Fred Burch (of "How High's the Watergate, Martha?" fame) met in 1969 when Young"
8. Dan Dietz Off Broadway Musicals, 1910-2007: Casts, Credits, Songs, Critical Reception p16
9. https://repertoire.bmi.com/Search/Search?Main_Search_Text=fred%20burch&Main_Search=Catalog&Search_Type=all&View_Count=100&Page_Number=1&Part_Type=WriterList&Part_Id=pD0cv49HQiyMGL%252fVkcyOhg%253d%253d&Part_Id_Sub=YO0HedHMatLb45JzS23DVw%253d%253d&Part_Cae Fred B. Burch repertoire
10. Charles Portis, Jay Jennings - Escape Velocity: A Charles Portis Miscellany 2012- Page 80 "Nevertheless, with a few really big sellers and a small catalog of standards, a writer can retire young. Crutchfield and collaborator Fred Burch, both thirtyish and Kentuckians, are two comers, part of Nashville's new wave. They wrote Dream On, Little Dreamer ..."
11. http://www.musicvf.com/songs.php?page=artist&artist=Fred+Burch&tab=songaswriterchartstab MusicVF.com - Fred Burch