Brown talks about his new book that chronicles his journey to becoming a best-selling songwriter without moving to a major industry city
Milton L. Brown may not be a familiar face, but he’s got a familiar name within the songwriting industry. He’s penned songs for recording artists like Kenny Rogers, Smoky Robinson, Anne Murray, Jimmy Buffett, Glen Campbell, Blake Shelton, and many more — all without ever leaving his hometown of Mobile, Alabama. In his new book, Lyrics From Home: The Stories Behind the Songs, Brown talks about the stories that have inspired the songs, including one of his more recent notable tracks, Randy Travis’ “Fool’s Love Affair,” which was lost for 35 years until co-writer and late radio personality Charlie Monk discovered the multi-track demo after clearing his Music Row office building in 2020.
“The mayor of Music Row, Charlie Monk, was called. And Charlie had at one time worked at a country station here in Mobile, Alabama. And he and I got to be friends. He was from a little town called Geneva, Alabama, and had always wanted to be in radio. And so when he was at the country station here, he and I became friends. He moved to Nashville. The friendship endured and we wrote that song with Keith Stegall, who is a terrific producer now… Keith and Charlie and I wrote the song ‘Fool’s Love Affair.'” Brown tells us.
“Charlie had it demoed by a young man called Randy Ray who was working at a nightclub in Nashville. Of course, Randy became Randy Travis. and when he became such a giant beloved artist, Charlie took the little tape that he played on his [SiriusXM] show. He would play that from time to time and people would ask, ‘Where can we buy that?’ And he went back to the studio that had been engineered and who had done the little demo and they kept telling him, ‘Charlie, we need the multitrack.’ He couldn’t find it. But you have to believe in serendipity. He was putting together a bunch of tapes to give to the Nashville Music Hall of Fame, one fell out of his hand, and hit his foot. The tape came out. It was the demo tape, so he took it back to him and they they added, you know, they built it into a master, and 20 years after the release of Randy’s first number one, this was released, and of course, as you know, it turned out to be a hit and that made me feel so good that we could that I could be a part of a love story like that.”
Lyrics From Home chronicles Milton’s journey, from the moment the piano teacher told his parents they were wasting their money to the night at the People’s Choice Awards when “Every Which Way But Loose” won for Best Movie Song, and beyond. From early rejection letters to being presented with the prestigious Music Creator’s Award by the Alabama Music Hall of Fame.
