Hugh Prestwood, top Nashville songwriter of 'The Song Remembers When,' dies at age 82

Hugh Prestwood, an El Paso, Texas, native and Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame-inducted wordsmith, died on Sept. 22 following a stroke. He was 82.

The scholarly lyricist's hits set a standard for pop-aimed country balladry for two decades. Of note, a span that included Judy Collins' 1978-released "Hard Time for Lovers" and Trisha Yearwood's 1993 Nashville Songwriters Association's Song of the Year and Emmy winner "The Song Remembers When" marked the pinnacle of his craft.

A peerless Nashville legacy

"Being creative and getting a response from my songs is very gratifying," Prestwood said in a 2018 interview.

The instant gratification of watching an idea develop into art and art turn into musical expression drove his passion for engaging in what he described as a "labor of love" inspired most often by 1970s Los Angeles-based folk-rock icons like Jackson Browne, the Eagles, Joni Mitchell and James Taylor.

Prestwood's folk-meets-country stylings leaned in an adult-contemporary direction that benefitted artists, including torch song stylists like Crystal Gayle (1983's "Sound of Goodbye"), neo-traditionalists like Randy Travis (1989's "Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart"), country-to-pop radio stalwarts Shenandoah, and traditionalists like Alison Krauss (1999's "Ghost in This House").

His work throughout the 1980s earned him three Grammy nominations and a victory for BMI's Song of the Year with Travis' "Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart." As well, throughout his career, he achieved hits with two-dozen artists, including Country Music Hall of Famers, Rock & Roll Hall of Famers, Grammy winners and Grand Ole Opry members, including Anne Murray, Conway Twitty, the Judds, Kathy Mattea, Shelby Lynne, John Conlee, Jimmy Buffett, Jerry Douglas, James Taylor, Gene Watson, Barbara Mandrell, Sammy Kershaw, Lee Greenwood, Don Williams, and Tanya Tucker.

Folk-defined roots

After graduating from the University of Texas at El Paso, Prestwood's childhood love of music and playing guitar superseded his love of being an elementary school teacher. That led him from moonlighting as a songwriter to uprooting his life wholesale and moving to New York's Greenwich Village in 1972 to pursue the craft.

Five years later, Judy Collins, whose work he admired, cut "Hard Time for Lovers." By the early 1980s, the surge of Los Angeles folkies reviving their careers in Music City combined well with the work of artists like Crystal Gayle, whose softer, adult contemporary country pop played well with songs arranged with those stylings. Alongside R&B-influenced producers like Brent Maher and acts like the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, achieving a decade's worth of Top 10 hits allowed Prestwood's works to earn significant reach and success.

Notable for his work, Prestwood was often a solo songwriter when co-writing was on the rise in Nashville. He was also fond of remaining an outsider to country's hub, moving to Greenport, New York, a fishing community near Long Island, in 1983. While living there, he taught advanced songwriting at Manhattan's New School for two decades.

By 1987, he married photographer Judy Ahrens, who remained his wife for 37 years.

Prestwood's work finds solo success, revived renown

By the turn of the 21st century, Prestwood began to pursue his own career aspirations.

In 1999, he self-released "Ghost in This House." "Fate of Fireflies," his second self-produced album, was released in 2005. In 2007, Skyline Music Publishing released his CD, "All the Way On," his first major studio album.

Four decades after their initial success, Collins teamed up with Prestwood again in 2016 to release his fourth album, "I Used To Be the Real Me," on her Wild Flower Records.

In 2020, the English recording artist Rumer released an album of Prestwood's material, "Nashville Tears: The Songs of Hugh Prestwood."

In a 2020 press statement, Rumer said she was looking for "lost gems" while based in the American South and stumbled upon Prestwood's catalog.

Ruminations on mortality and nostalgia blend well with nature-defined metaphors as, in a note to the timelessness of the magic of his songwriting when paired with acoustic, soulful compositions, Mojo magazine said that Rumer's ability to find "the perfect spot in her vocal range to sit and max out the nostalgic melancholy" of "heart-searching ballads" was noteworthy.

'We're all lucky that Hugh decided to be a writer'

Upon hearing of Prestwood's death, Yearwood offered the following statement via social media:

"Hugh Prestwood was a poet. 'The Song Remembers When' is one of the greatest songs ever written, and I’m the lucky girl who got to sing it. It paints the beautiful picture of the power of music. We’re all lucky that Hugh decided to be a writer. I will miss his voice."

In 2022, Prestwood moved to his wife's family's hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska.She survives him, along with a son Brian Prestwood (wife Lori, of Fort Worth, Texas, their children, Brannon of Fort Worth, son Brett of Houston); daughter Jennifer Bustillos (husband Randy, children Andrew and Adyson, all of Fort Worth); sister-in-law Connie Roberts (husband Ron), of Merriam, Kansas; sister-in-law Cindy Honnens (husband Stuart) of Lincoln; and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his mother, Nadine Prestwood, father, Hugh Prestwood Sr.; and sister, Marvyn Luckett.

A celebration of life is being planned. In lieu of flowers, a donation toward Prestwood's medical expenses is requested via Venmo to @Judy-Ahrens-5.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Hugh Prestwood, top Nashville songwriter of 'The Song Remembers When,' dies at age 82