Paul Craft

Paul Charles Craft (August 12, 1938 – October 18, 2014) was an American country singer-songwriter. The Memphis-born Craft was known as the songwriter for Mark Chesnutt's single "Brother Jukebox", and the novelty song "It's Me Again, Margaret", recorded by Ray Stevens, and Craft himself. Between 1977 and 1978, Craft charted three singles on RCA Nashville.

His song "Keep Me From Blowing Away" was originally recorded by The Seldom Scene on their 1973 album Act II and was then recorded by Linda Ronstadt on her 1974 album Heart Like a Wheel, and has since been recorded by Moe Bandy, T. Graham Brown, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Grascals and Willie Nelson. Craft's song "Midnight Flyer" was recorded by the Eagles on their 1974 album On the Border and by himself for his own album Brother Jukebox in 1998. His song "Dropkick Me, Jesus" was a No. 17 country hit for Bobby Bare in 1976. He also wrote Moe Bandy's "Hank Williams, You Wrote My Life" and T. Graham Brown's "Come as You Were" among others.

Craft was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame on October 5, 2014.

Craft died at a hospital in Nashville, Tennessee on October 18, 2014, at the age of 76.

Birth and Death Data: Born Memphis (city in and county seat of Shelby County, Tennessee, United States), Died October 18, 2014 (Nashville (capital and largest city of Tennessee, United States) )

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1961

Roles Represented in DAHR: banjo, vocalist

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Decca NA 11610 7/6/1961 I can, I will, I do believe Jimmy "Timmy" Martin, Jr. instrumentalist, banjo  
Decca NA 11611 7/6/1961 There was a love-1 Jimmy "Timmy" Martin, Jr. instrumentalist, banjo  
Decca NA 11612 7/6/1961 Poor little bull frog Jimmy "Timmy" Martin, Jr. instrumentalist, banjo  
Decca NA 11613 7/6/1961 Steppin' stones Jimmy "Timmy" Martin, Jr. instrumentalist, banjo  
Decca NA 11791 10/30/1961 There ain't nobody gonna miss James H. "Jimmy" Martin instrumentalist, banjo, vocalist  
Decca NA 11792 10/30/1961 Little angels in heaven James H. "Jimmy" Martin instrumentalist, banjo, vocalist  
Decca NA 11793 10/30/1961 Pretending I don't care James H. "Jimmy" Martin instrumentalist, banjo, vocalist  
Decca NA 11794 10/30/1961 Leavin' town James H. "Jimmy" Martin instrumentalist, banjo, vocalist  
Decca NA 11795 10/30/1961 Don't give your heart to a rambler James H. "Jimmy" Martin instrumentalist, banjo, vocalist  
Decca NA 11796 10/30/1961 God guide our leader's hand James H. "Jimmy" Martin instrumentalist, banjo, vocalist  
Decca NA 11797 10/30/1961 Train Forty-Five James H. "Jimmy" Martin instrumentalist, banjo, vocalist  
Decca NA 11798 10/30/1961 Mr. Engineer James H. "Jimmy" Martin instrumentalist, banjo, vocalist  
Decca NA 11799 10/30/1961 This world is not my home James H. "Jimmy" Martin instrumentalist, banjo, vocalist  
Decca NA 11800 10/30/1961 Drink up and go home James H. "Jimmy" Martin instrumentalist, banjo, vocalist  

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Craft, Paul," accessed December 25, 2025, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/202178.

Craft, Paul. (2025). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved December 25, 2025, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/202178.

"Craft, Paul." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2025. Web. 25 December 2025.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/202178

Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license

Feedback

Send the Editors a message about this record.