[1] Among his best known songs are "Bobbie Sue" (co-written with his wife, Adele),[2] "Modern Day Romance",[3] "Twenty Years Ago",[4] "Somebody's Doin' Me Right", and "The Light In Your Eyes".
[5] His father worked in newspapers and radio, and his mother was an English teacher.
His songs have been recorded by, among others, Eddy Arnold, The Oak Ridge Boys,[7] Bobby Blue Bland, Keith Whitley, Candi Staton, Kenny Rogers,[7] Agnetha Fältskog, LeAnn Rimes,[7] B.J.
Thomas, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band,[8] Dr. Hook, Eddie Rabbitt,[8] the Cox Family, S-K-O, and Paul Overstreet.
In 1997, he placed number 19 on Billboard magazine's year-end list of Hot Country Singles Songwriters.