Curly Putman, the country music songwriter who penned classics such as Green, Green Grass of Home and D-I-V-O-R-C-E, has died aged 85.
Putman, who was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1976, penned songs for the likes of George Jones, Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette and Chet Atkins.
Born Claude Putman Jr in Princeton, Alabama, he spent time in the US navy before learning steel guitar and honing his craft as a songwriter.
Putnam’s break came in 1965 when Porter Wagoner recorded Green, Green Grass of Home – which had failed to chart for Johnny Darrell – and took it to No 5 on the country chart . The song later became an international hit thanks to Tom Jones’s recording, with Elvis, Johnny Cash, the Grateful Dead and Dean Martin following up with their own versions.
Along with writing Dolly Parton’s first hit, Dumb Blonde, and co-writing D-I-V-O-R-C-E for Tammy Wynette with his collaborator Bobby Braddock, Putman penned He Stopped Loving Her Today, often regarded as one of the greatest country songs of all time. It helped resurrect the career of George Jones when his version was awarded song of the year by the Country Music Association in both 1980 and 1981.
Putman died on 30 October following a lengthy illness.
