[6][7] While in the service, he performed over the Armed Forces Radio Network and wrote comic songs about army experiences.

[8] His early career included being an announcer at WRON, a local radio station in Ronceverte, West Virginia.

[9] Hall's big songwriting break came in 1963, when country singer Jimmy C. Newman recorded his song "DJ For a Day".

[5] In 1964, Hall moved to Nashville and started to work as a $50-a-week songwriter for Newkeys Music, the publishing company belonging to Newman and his business partner Jimmy Key, writing up to half a dozen country songs per day.

[10] Hall was nicknamed "The Storyteller", and he composed songs for dozens of country music stars, including Johnny Cash, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Waylon Jennings, Alan Jackson, and Bobby Bare.

The song proved to be a hit for country singer Johnnie Wright and was later used in the 1987 Vietnam War movie Full Metal Jacket.

[11] One of Hall's earliest successful songwriting ventures, "Harper Valley PTA", recorded in 1968 by Jeannie C. Riley,[5] hit No.

[5] One of his best-known numbers, "Pamela Brown", was recorded by Leo Kottke and became a staple of his[clarification needed] performances.

Hall's song was also used with altered lyrics and a hard rock arrangement in a popular 2003 TV commercial for Coors Light.

[14] Hall succeeded Ralph Emery as host of the syndicated country music TV show Pop!

[39] Hall met bluegrass songwriter Dixie Deen in 1965 at a music industry award dinner to which she was invited for having written the song "Truck Drivin' Son-of-a-Gun", which became a hit for Dave Dudley.

[45] At age 85, Hall died at his home in Franklin, Tennessee, on August 20, 2021,[47] of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.