Idea for hit came from psychiatrist
This week in 1973: The stock market took its sharpest drop in 19 years; The House and Senate voted to override President Richard Nixon’s veto of a curb on war powers; Gulf and Ashland Oil Companies plead guilty to charges of illegal gifts to President Nixon’s campaign; and a singer from Olive Hill, Ky., had his 22nd hit record.
Ideas for songs sometimes come from strange circumstances, and according to Tom T. Hall, the idea for his 1974 No. 1, “I Love” came from a friend of his who happened to be a psychiatrist.
Hall commented, “My friend was telling me that a lot of his patients (I wasn’t one of them—by the way— although I’m sure I could have been—at one time or another) suffered with unhappiness and that his advice to those patients was to make a list of all the things that are out of place in their lives. And in most cases— they would usually wind up with a short list. At the time, I thought that was a negative exercise, but then one morning I got to thinking of all the things that I love and decided to make a list of all those things. And out of habit, I was singing along as I made the list and in about five minutes I had written the song “I Love.” But the song is actually just a list of things I care about.”
Tom T. Hall’s Mercury Records “I Love” entered the country music charts Nov. 10, 1973 and was at the top of the charts the week of Jan. 19, 1974 and stayed there for two weeks.
It was his 22nd charted song and was on the charts for 18 weeks.
Tom T. Hall joined The Grand Ole Opry in 1971 and was inducted into The Country Music Hall Of Fame in 2008.