Newbury, Milton Sim

▪ 2003

“Mickey” 

      American songwriter and musician (b. May 19, 1940, Houston, Texas—d. Sept. 29, 2002, Springfield, Ore.), wrote more than 500 songs. More literate and reflective than much of the music of the time, they were performed primarily by country singers but also by rhythm-and-blues artists and by mainstream musicians. Newbury himself was a singer, with a plaintive tenor voice, and he recorded a number of albums, but it was mainly others who made his songs well known. His most productive period was the late 1960s, when he wrote songs such as “Funny, Familiar, Forgotten Feelings” (1967) and “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)” (1968). One of his best-known works was “An American Trilogy” (1970), consisting of distinctive arrangements of “Dixie,” “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” and “All My Trials,” which Elvis Presley appropriated as a closing number for his concerts.

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