The country music world was saddened today by the passing of Eddy Arnold, a Hall of Fame member and the very first CMA Entertainer of the Year.

My father and sister got to meet Mr. Arnold a few years back. My sister was looking into some of our genealogy, and Dad took her to a cemetery somewhere near Nashville where some of our ancestors are buried. It turns out that the cemetery was on a corner of Mr. Arnold's property, and he noticed the visitors and naturally came out to check on things. He was quite hospitable, talked to them for a good while and even asked my sister to send him a copy of the information she was putting together. I don't recall if she ever did or not.

I read the AP story on his passing, and "Make The World Go Away" is one of those titles that it's impossible to look at without hearing the song in your head. It was a classic song made famous by a classic entertainer (when I was three years old, but I caught up to it later). Some people criicized him for merging country and popular music, but it's been my observation that the really great musicians are less concerned about labels and distinctions than their fans are.