The Life and Work of Curly Putman ~ Set Me Free

Click here for a full write up on Curly Putman Curly Putman Claude “Curly” Putman was born on November 20, 1930 in Princeton, Jackson County, Alabama. He was a prolific songwriter, based in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. His biggest success was “Green, Green Grass of Home,” a No. 4 hit for Porter Wagoner in 1965, which was covered by Elvis Presley, Johnny Darrell, Gram Parsons, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Roberto Leal, Merle Haggard, Bobby Bare, Joe Tex and Tom Jones. Putman was the son of a sawmill worker, and was raised on Putman Mountain in Alabama. He joined the Navy and spent four years on the aircraft carrier USS Valley Forge. He married Bernice Soon in 1956. Curly tried several jobs in different places in the late 50’s and early 60’s, inspiring his later hit “My Elusive Dreams” (1967), a number one hit for Tammy Wynette and David Huston. Curly wrote his first big hit, “Green, Green Grass of Home,” when working in Nashville plugging songs for Tree Records. In 1980, Putman and fellow Nashville songwriter Bobby Braddock helped revive the career of country legend George Jones with one of the most successful songs of his career, the honky-tonk tearjerker “He Stopped Loving Her Today.” The classic composition was named Song of the Year twice by the Country Music Association (1980 & 1981). Two years later, TG Sheppard scored a number one with Putman’s “War Is Hell on the Homefront Too.” Curly tried to break into the recording business in 1960 when he signed a recording …