Jack Rhodes
Musician · 1907–1968 · Martin's Mill, Texas
Best known for
Songwriter
Jack Rhodes was an East Texas country and rockabilly songwriter, producer, and entrepreneur whose more than six hundred copyrights include “A Satisfied Mind” (with Joe Hayes) and “Silver Threads and Golden Needles” (with Dick Reynolds). The first reached No. 1 country for Porter Wagoner in 1955; the second gave the Springfields and later Linda Ronstadt their breakthroughs.
Assisted by AI.
Spot something off? Help us fix it.
- Born Andrew Jackson Rhodes on January 12, 1907, in Martin’s Mill, Van Zandt County, Texas.
- Quit school young to help support his family; worked in the Houston shipyards during World War II until a 1944 back injury ended that career.
- Was the stepbrother of Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee Leon Payne; led Payne’s touring band from 1947 to 1948.
- Co-wrote “A Satisfied Mind” with Joe Hayes; Porter Wagoner’s 1955 RCA recording reached No. 1 country.
- Co-wrote “Silver Threads and Golden Needles” with Dick Reynolds; the Springfields' 1962 version reached No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Linda Ronstadt cut it in 1974.
- Owned the National Sounds record company, the All Roads Music and Red Ball publishing houses, the Trail 80 Motor Courts in Mineola, Texas, and built his own studio behind the kitchen of the motel restaurant around 1953.
- Wrote for Gene Vincent and Capitol Records during the rockabilly era; inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in 2009.
- Inducted posthumously into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972.
- Died October 9, 1968.
