Whatever Happened To Johnny Russell

'There's no place that I'd rather be than right here with my Rednecks, White Socks and Blue Ribbon Beer...'

And so opened a song that became a beer drinking anthem in country music. The year was 1973. The artist was Johnny Russell.

Johnny was a force in country music, not only as a singer, entertainer and story-teller, but as a great songwriter.

Johnny wrote one of Buck Owens' biggest hits, 'Act Naturally', a smash for Buck in 1963. And then it came back as a hit in 1965 by none other than the Beatles! Not a bad accomplishment for a writer!

Just for good measure, the King George Strait had a #1 with Johnny's penned 'Let's Fall To Pieces Together'.

Although Johnny used his weight as a running joke for years, diabetes finally caught up with the man. Johnny had both legs amputated in 2001 because of the disease and died July 3rd of that year.

But I'm thinking Johnny would want us to hoist one in his honor and sing along, 'There's place that I'd rather be than right here, with my Rednecks, White Socks and Blue Ribbon Beer...".