October 21, 2026
Country music lost a great voice as John Anderson left us today at the age of 71. Now that’s John Anderson and not Jon Anderson. Jon Anderson is also a singer, but he was the lead singer of the great progressive rock band Yes, and as far as I know, Jon is still alive and well. As for John Anderson, that guy had one of the greatest voices in country music. The country twang that he dished out in his songs was truly second to none.
Anyone who listened to country music back in the early 1980’s probably spent some time singing along with Anderson’s song SWINGIN’. I would challenge anyone to listen to that song without joining in with the words, “I was on the porch with Charlotte, feelin’ love down to my toes… and we were Swingin’, yes we were Swingin’…Little Charlotte she’s as pretty as the angels when they sing, I can’t believe I’m out here on her front porch in this swing, just-a-swingin.” Of course, that was back in the day when folks still had porch swings. My grandmother had one.
Although I’m sure that swingin’ with Charlette Johnson had its perks, my favorite John Anderson song was a tune called 1959. Back in the early 1980’s I started listening to country music, and that song was flooding country radio back then. The song was all about a guy reading an old love letter written by his teenage sweetie from 1959, even though Anderson was only 5 years old in 1959. Hearing that song as a teenager, I fantasized about having a girl writing the words, “Baby I’m yours. I’ll love you always. I’m gonna stand by you until the end of time. Remember all of the good things that we shared together. Signed – love Betty – 1959.” Well, I didn’t know anyone named Betty back then, but I would have taken a Betty or a Charolette. R.I.P. John Anderson.
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