Through the graces of fiddler/producer Matt Combs in Nashville, I met and spent a little time hanging with composer/musician John Hartford a couple of years before Hartford passed in 2001. Hartford penned the renown hit "Gentle on My Mind" that Glen Campbell made famous in 1968. I believe he wrote it in less than 1/2 hour.
One day I mentioned to Hartford that it was interesting that he didn't try to duplicate that success. "Oh, but I did," he reflected. He spent three weeks trying to write another hit in that vein called "A Simple Thing as Love." That's a great song, but it never caught on in the manner that "Gentle on My Mind" did.
One can't plan a hit, really. Serendipity, timing, luck, and airplay, etc. are all factors in creating something that will catch on. It doesn't matter. I believe that one should just write and write and create honest expression. If a success comes out of it, great! If not, you've created a body of work that will be strong on its own merits.
Hartford spent the rest of his life writing great songs, none of which caught on in the manner of his 1968 success. However, he left a body of work that a now much younger generation is playing and recording. So, who knows? One of those renditions may become a hit yet.
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