We’re looking back at our 2014 interview with the country music great backstage at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium.
On this special day for birthday boy Larry Gatlin — who was born May 2, 1948 in Seminole, Texas — we’re remembering our 2013 chat with the country music star . We spoke backstage at Nashville’s legendary Ryman Auditorium during the CMA Music Festival, for a Live From interview that ran in our April 2014 issue.
Cowboys & Indians: Larry, you’ve always been very open and frank when it comes to discussing – well, let’s say, some of the roadblocks you’ve encountered along your path.
Larry Gatlin: [Laughs] That’s a very delicate way of putting it. You mean the fact that I’m an alcoholic and drug addict? Well, you don’t have to be delicate about it. I like to say that my life’s an open book. By the grace of God, one day at a time, I don’t do that anymore. When I was first here in Nashville, cocaine, booze and pills were the currency of the realm. Everybody – well, almost everybody did it. That’s no excuse, that’s just the fact. I got through that without killing myself, praise be to God and [my wife Janis] and some good friends. And now I have ways to help people, because there are a lot of people who are suffering from the same addictions.
C&I: But a lot of other people who had the same problems as you haven’t been quite so lucky.
Larry: Yeah, they’re pushing up daisies.
C&I: What do you think enabled you to survive what many other folks couldn’t?
Larry: I don’t know. Look, I’m not trying to preach to anybody. I’m not a preacher – I’m a storyteller. I’m a songwriter, an entertainer. But I heard Charles Stanley say one time: “Bad things happen to good people so the unbelievers see how we can handle it.”
C&I: Do you consider yourself blessed?
Larry: There’s no question. It’s like in the song William Gaither and I wrote together -- “Greatly Blessed, Highly Favored” – I’m an imperfect but forgiven child of God. That’s exactly how I feel about it. But that begs the question: Why aren’t others blessed in that way? I don’t know. But I believe God’s big enough for us to ask those questions.
C&I: After all these years performing – as a solo artist, and with your fellow Gatlin Brothers – are you ever surprised by what songs your fans remember, and want to hear during concerts?
Larry: It’s unbelievable. You know the one they call out for most, after “All the Gold in California?” “Midnight Choir.” The song about drunks trying to talk to God that I got into so much trouble about. Some people thought we were using the Lord’s name in vain. But we weren’t. The drunks were praying.
C&I: You’ve appeared as a political and social commentator on Fox News. But you tend to steer clear of politics in your concerts, right?
Larry: Well, let me tell you how we do it. At our shows, we don’t do religion. And we don’t do politics. Yes, I’ll talk about politics on Fox News. But people aren’t paying for that at fifty bucks a head, coming into a show and thinking they’re going to hear “All the Gold in California.” What little politicking we do on stage is both sides, tongue in cheek. We do one song: “Don’t tell my mother I’m in the Congress, that I’m a member of the House Ways and Means. My saintly mother thinks I play piano in a bordello in New Orleans.” That’s all we say: Our mother would rather have us in a house of ill repute than in the Congress of the United States. What an awful indictment. That’s all we do. When they see me on Fox News, they have the right to turn me on or off. But when they pay money to hear the Gatlin Brothers – they’re not going to get politics.
C&I: How many days on the road do you and your brothers average every year?
Larry: [Laughs] As many as people will pay us money for. Back in the day, we made a lot of money. That’s the good news. The bad news is, we didn’t keep any of it. So now the bad news is, we have to work. But the good news is, we love to sing for people – so it ain’t work.
C&I: Sounds like you’re still having fun.
Larry: Sure. Every day’s fun. It’s like the cowboy said: “If you don’t think that every day is precious – trying skipping one.”