Dennis Linde

Dennis Linde (pronounced LIN-dee, March 18, 1943 – December 22, 2006) was an American musician and songwriter based in Nashville who has had over 250 of his songs recorded.

[4] Linde wrote the following top-5 U.S. country hits: "Long Long Texas Road" (Roy Drusky, 1970), "The Love She Found in Me" (Gary Morris, 1983), "Walkin' a Broken Heart" (Don Williams, 1985), "Then It's Love" (Don Williams, 1986), "I'm Gonna Get You" (Eddy Raven, 1988), "In a Letter to You" (Eddy Raven, 1989), "Bubba Shot the Jukebox" (Mark Chesnutt, 1992), "It Sure Is Monday" (Mark Chesnutt, 1993), "Callin' Baton Rouge" (Garth Brooks, 1993), and "John Deere Green" (Joe Diffie, 1993).

[2] Sixteen years after his death, Ashley McBryde released a concept album entitled Lindeville, a tribute to Linde's work.

[8] Linde found a perfect fit at Combine— it allowed him to flourish alongside writers and artists like Dolly Parton and Mickey Newbury.

[b] Linde said, "Bob Beckham's building at Combine was a rickety old two-story place, and Kris [Kristofferson] lived in an upstairs room next door.

The increased stature he found with "Burning Love" gave him sufficient credibility for a new deal with Elektra to record Dennis Linde in 1973.

[12] He was co-leader of the rock band Jubal, consisting of Alan Rush, Rob Galbraith, Terry Dearmore, and Randy Cullers.

[16] Linde wrote other songs featuring an undesirable character named Earl; e.g., "Queen of my Double-Wide Trailer" (Sammy Kershaw).

In 1994, Linde won BMI's "Top Writer Award" and received four awards as BMI's most-performed titles for that year: "It Sure Is Monday" (Mark Chesnutt), "Janie Baker's Love Slave" (Shenandoah), "John Deere Green" (Joe Diffie), and "Queen of My Double Wide Trailer" (Sammy Kershaw).

[3] Although Linde was the sole composer of most of his songs, he occasionally collaborated with country artist Mel McDaniel and Nashville songwriters Bob DiPiero and Alan Rush.

[18] "Burning Love" has been on the soundtrack of several motion pictures, including Heartbreak Hotel (sung by Dennis Linde, 1988),[19] Late for Dinner (by Elvis, 1991), Honeymoon in Vegas (by Travis Tritt, 1992), Love, Honor & Obey (by Kathy Burke & Ray Burdis, 2001), Lilo and stitch (by Wynonna, 2003), and The Game Plan (Elvis, 2007).

[21] An NPR review by Jewly Hight noted that it was an unusual album featuring songs that were all connected in some way to Linde's quirky characters that all lived in the same fictional town.

[24] Linde was known as one of the more reclusive figures on the Nashville scene, rarely attending industry events and preferring to be neither photographed nor interviewed.

Chicago Tribune music writer Jack Hurst said, "[Linde] is no morose, unkempt hermit inhabiting some artistic garret".

"[13] Linde had bizarre challenges for himself; i.e., daring himself to write a song starting with every letter in the alphabet, leading to the creation of "X Marks The Spot" and "Zoot Suit Baby".

[25] Linde's daughter, Mary Elizabeth (called "Lisa"), was an actress (Days of Our Lives, The Darkling) married to Hollywood actor James Marsden (X-Men, 27 Dresses).

[26] The couple sponsored a benefit for the Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis in 2009 to honor Dennis Linde, entitled "A Night of Burnin' Love" that included Rascal Flatts, Montgomery Gentry and Mark Chesnutt and others.