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(Excerpt from the article mentioned above)
Henry Redd Stewart, country songwriter and musician, dies
He was best known for 'Tennessee Waltz,' 'Soldier's Last Letter'
Henry Redd Stewart, a singer and co-writer of such country songs
as "Tennessee Waltz," "Slow Poke," "Bonaparte's Retreat"
and "You Belong to Me," died yesterday in Louisville. He was 80.
He was born Henry Ellis Stewart in Ashland City, Tenn., completed
only the seventh grade and fought in World War II.
In 1935, he was contracted to write a song for a car dealer's
commercial in Louisville, and in 1937 he got a job playing in
Pee Wee King's band, the Golden West Cowboys. Stewart, with
the Golden West Cowboys, played on the Grand Ole Opry for many years.
In 1944, his song "Soldier's Last Letter" was released
by Ernest Tubb, and it stayed at No.1 on the Billboard
country chart for four weeks. Later he signed a lifetime
exclusive songwriting contract with Acuff-Rose Publications.
He wrote his most famous song, "Tennessee Waltz," with by King
in 1948. According to the Country Music Hall of Fame's Web site,
King and Stewart were driving from Dallas to Nashville when
they heard Bill Monroe's "Kentucky Waltz" on the radio. King
said there should be a waltz in honor of his adopted home state
of Tennessee.
Stewart often performed with his wife, Darlene, who died July26.
She also had a career in country music, traveling with her sister
as The Collins Sisters.
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