Tom T. Hall Interview, 1978

Nashville Tennessee is home to established stars of country music like Tom T. Hall and those in search of fame like the Thompson Brothers.
Mike Murphy visits the home of country music, Nashville, where he meets country music star Tom T. Hall and some younger talent trying to get their big break. Nashville, the capital of the US state of Tennessee is home of country music, now a multi-million dollar industry.
Country songwriter and singer, Tom T Hall is reaping the rewards of success and lives in isolated splendour in the Tennessee countryside. He prefers not to live an ostentatious Hollywood lifestyle. Instead his home is a 59 acre farm with cows and a 16 track recording studio. His only outward show of success is his custom made three part Cadillac which contains a colour television, a bar, a beer cooler, a telephone and a guitar.
Increasingly country music is merging with pop music. Tom T Hall defines the difference between the two genres,
If you sell a million records its pop, if you sell one hundred thousand its country, so we’re talking about numbers, you know, and statistics, but I think country music, it’s something other than that, right now it’s very hot and its selling a lot of records.
Hundreds of hopefuls arrive in Nashville on a daily basis, with many, such as the Thompson Brothers, willing to play on the street in the hope of discovery. The brothers are finding it difficult to break into the Nashville country music scene and receive little encouragement from the established stars.
However after 14 months in Nashville, their tenacity is finally paying off. They are meeting the right people and are about to make a record. The brothers are convinced they will be successful in Nashville and hope their next step will be performing at the Grand Ole Opry.
The six part series ‘Murphy’s America’ follows presenter Mike Murphy as he visits six US states: Montana, Tennessee, New York, Nevada, California and Florida.
This episode of ‘Murphy’s America’ was broadcast on 30 November 1978. The presenter is Mike Murphy.