One of country music's most prolific writers of all time was Johnny Hathcock, penning more than 400 songs during his long career. Scoring his first hit in 1954 with "Wake Up Irene" (recorded by Hank Thomas on Capitol), Hathcock also enjoyed another major hit with a song he wrote ten years later, "Welcome to my World," which went on to become the theme song for renowned country entertainer Eddy Arnold. Besides Arnold, more than 60 other artists recorded their own versions of the song over the years, including Elvis Presley, Dean Martin, and Andy Williams. In the ensuing years, Hathcock worked for radio stations in New Mexico and Texas, as an editorial writer for Record Stockman (a syndicated livestock publication), as well as a columnist for the Amarillo Globe-News. 1999 saw the release of a poetry collection, entitled Sweet & Sour. Hathcock died on December 26, 2000, in Amarillo, TX, at the age of 81. ~ Greg Prato, Rovi
