Melvin Endsley

Arkansan country singer/songwriter Melvin Endsley will forever be known as the man who wrote “Singing the Blues,” a major hit for both Guy Mitchell and Marty Robbins, as well as Tommy Steele in the U.K. The polio-crippled, wheelchair-bound Endsley parlayed the success of “Singing the Blues” into a recording career; Chet Atkins produced his late-'50s RCA records, and Endsley later recorded for other labels. He never hit it big as a singer, but Endsley enjoyed further success with his songs via Andy Williams, Stonewall Jackson, and others. He died in 2004 in his native Drasco, Arkansas.