My 100 Favorite Charted Country Songs: A Tear Dropped By

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Those foul-mouthed weathermen said the dirty S word for next weekend! My friends in Ohio? They’re really cussing YOU guys out. I don’t suppose a country song will help you out after that news, but anyway, here is the next one on my list of favorite charted country songs. A Tear Dropped By - Jean Shepard Oh, and LOOK!!! More 60s country music hair!!!! This must be the “six degrees of Patsy Cline” portion of the countdown. Yesterday, of course, we had the classic song “Sweet Dreams,” which is now so closely associated with Patsy that her biopic was named after that song. And today we have another close connection. Jean Shepard’s husband, Harold “Hawkshaw” Hawkins, was one of the fatalities of the plane crash that also took Cline’s life. I have to tell you, Jean Shepard was one of the sweetest human beings on earth. I wrote to her, asking if I could interview her for an article I was writing on Bill Anderson. When I was at the Opry I introduced myself and she literally grabbed me by the shoulders, took me into her dressing room, sat me on the couch, and said, “Now, honey, WHAT do you want to know about Bill Anderson?” (She recorded an entire album of Anderson’s songs in the early 70s.) She was a remarkable singer, too. She delivered this funny-but-not-funny song with the perfect tone to highlight the lyrics (“a tear dropped by just to ask how things have been, and before I can answer it’s invited all its friends”). She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2011, five years before she died. I’m glad she made it while she was alive. She definitely deserved it. A Tear Dropped By Written by Larry Lee and Rusty Adams Recorded by Jean Shepard From Heart, We Did All That We Could, 1964 Peak chart position: #38 Today’s rock song: “Southern Cross” I hadn’t planned to cry: