Joe Allison, 77; Wore Many Hats in Country Music

Joe Allison, who co-wrote the 1960 Jim Reeves hit “He’ll Have to Go” during one phase of a wide-ranging career in country music, died Aug. 2 at a hospital in Nashville. He was 77.

The cause of death was respiratory failure after a long battle with lung disease.

Allison was a disc jockey, recording executive, producer and publisher who worked with many of the top names in country music, including Tex Ritter and Willie Nelson.

He first found success as a songwriter, however, when Ritter recorded Allison’s “When You Leave, Don’t Slam the Door” in 1946. It rose to the top three on the country music chart.

The song was one of several hits he wrote, often in partnership with his first wife, Audrey. Their best-known number was “He’ll Have to Go,” which Reeves recorded in 1960. Singer Jeanne Black later recorded an “answer” song, “He’ll Have to Stay,” for which Allison won a BMI Award.

Allison, born in McKinney, Texas, started in country music as a performer with Ritter after leaving the Army Air Corps at the end of World War II. After the success of “When You Leave, Don’t Slam the Door,” he moved to Nashville in 1949 to become a disc jockey at WMAK. He soon had his own daily show on WSM and WSIX, where he hosted stars including the Everly Brothers, Anita Kerr, Chet Atkins and Brenda Lee.

He moved to Los Angeles in 1952, succeeding Tennessee Ernie Ford on his daily KXLA radio program. He also moved into television on KTTV’s “Town Hall Party” and ABC’s “Country America.”

During this period, he helped found the Country Music Disc Jockey Assn., which later became the Country Music Assn.

His songs were recorded by an array of artists, including Nat King Cole, Patsy Cline, Elvis Presley, Ry Cooder, Bing Crosby, Tom Jones and Eddy Arnold.

Allison moved back to Nashville in 1970 and became head of the country music department at Paramount Records, where he helped groom such stars as Joe Stampley and Tommy Overstreet. He also produced Ritter’s last album, “Tex Ritter: An American Legend.”

Allison spent his later years buying and selling antiques and paintings, finally retiring in 1988 after a heart attack.

He is survived by his wife, Rita; sons Gregory Joe, Brian James and Mark Woodward; and a brother, Jerry, all of Nashville.