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EDITOR'S NOTE: This is part of a weekly series on our region's history offered in a collaborative effort by local historical societies.
By CHRISTINE NOVICKY
Vienna Historical Society
Russell "Russ" Eugene Hull was born Dec. 11, 1911, in Warren, the son of Claude Meade Hull and Lulu Mae Nowling. Hull graduated in 1930 from Vienna High School and was the class valedictorian. His parents were the owners of the Hull House, a restaurant that once stood in the center of Vienna. Russell Hull took over operations of the business in 1955 until its closure in 1965.
What is interesting about Russell Hull is that he was a composer of country and gospel music. In 1939, at the age 28, his employer was the Bell Music Company in Columbia City, Ind., according to military draft records.
Hull received monthly royalties on music copyrights that he wrote and had jointly composed. "He told me that he was receiving $75 to sometimes $400 a month in music copyright royalties from all over the country," recalls Attorney Mark Finamore, preparer of Russell Hull's last will and testament.
During his will preparation in the early 1990s, Hull was having trouble determining who to give his music copyrights to since royalties would continue to be paid out after his death. Hull decided, based on a suggestion by Finamore, that he would gift the music copyrights to the Dana School of Music at Youngstown State University. The money would serve as an ongoing donation to the Dana School's General Scholarship Fund.
After Hull's death in 1992, Finamore received a telephone call from the CEO of Bumstead Productions, a recording company that represented the Canadian country singer K. D. Lang. Lang was in the process of recording a new album and wanted to include a song that she heard from a cassette tape recording that was sent in by a fan from Japan. The tape was of poor quality and not all of the lyrics were audible to positively identify the song. An exhaustive search was conducted by Bumstead Producitons that revealed three songs containing the words "sweet little Cherokee woman" in them. One of the songs they narrowed it down to was written by the late Russell E. Hull in 1947.
Bumstead Productions asked if Hull's estate had the original or a copy of his song so that they could determine if it was the correct one. Hull's niece, Audrey Bixler, was able to locate the original music manuscript of a song he wrote called, "Sweet Little Cherokee Woman." The original signed, licensing and registration agreement granting all of the production and royalty rights to Russell Hull was also found. Faxed copies were submitted to the company and they determined that it was indeed the song they were looking for. Approximately $50,000 was paid for the license to use the melody and lyrics.
K. D. Lang's version of the song may be heard on the motion picture soundtrack "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues." Lang covered the song "Sweet Little Cherokee Woman" in 1993, but it was originally recorded years earlier by musician Kenny Roberts and released in 1953.
Another song composed by Hull was "There Stands the Glass," which was first released in 1952 by Blaine Smith. The song was No. 1 on the Billboard country music chart for 12 weeks and spent a total of 27 weeks on the chart. "There Stands the Glass" has been recorded by over 30 different artists. Notable musicians include Willie Nelson, Van Morrison, Loretta Lynn, Conway Twitty, Jerry Lee Lewis and Patty Loveless.
Hull owned or controlled the registration and licensing rights to over 800 pieces of manuscript music. Royalty benefits paid for the use of Russell Hull's copyrighted songs to the Dana School of Music averaged between $35,000 and $40,000 per year for the first few years after the estate was closed.
To learn more about Russell Hull and to listen to his music, visit Viennapedia.