Don Gibson

Donald Eugene Gibson (April 3, 1928 – November 17, 2003) was an American country singer and songwriter. Gibson wrote such country standards as the ballad "Sweet Dreams" and "I Can't Stop Loving You", and enjoyed a string of country hits from 1956 until the late '70s, including number ones on the US Country Chart with Oh Lonesome Me and Blue Blue Day, both tracks he also wrote.

Gibson was an inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, nicknamed "the Sad Poet" because he frequently wrote songs that told of loneliness and lost love.

Don Gibson was born in Shelby, North Carolina, The youngest of five children, he was born to a family of sharecroppers during the Depression. His father, Solon Gibson, worked for the railroad and died when Don was two years old. His mother, Mary, later remarried and the family eventually made living as sharecroppers. Gibson disliked farm work from an early age and sought to distance himself from the life of agricultural labor.

Gibson stopped attending school regularly after the second grade, a decision he later regretted. He subsequently became an avid reader, reportedly in part to compensate for his limited formal education. He was also notably shy throughout his childhood and youth and had a pronounced stutter. He was self-conscious about his appearance and voice and would sometimes avoid entering crowded places.

Music became an important form of escape for Gibson. He frequented a local pool hall, where he listened to country music, and also heard country performers on the radio. At the age of 14, he bought an inexpensive guitar and began teaching himself to play. Among the performers whose songs he learned were Red Foley and Tennessee Ernie Ford. His early musical development was largely informal, based on listening, imitation, and practice rather than formal musical training.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.