Gene Cotton

Gene Cotton (born June 30, 1944 in Columbus, Ohio) is an American pop and folk singer-songwriter. He is best known for his four Billboard top 40 entries during the years 1976–1978. In the UK, he is most famous for the song "Me and the Elephant," which failed to make the top 40 best sellers, but was an airplay hit. His best known U.S. hit is “Before My Heart Finds Out”, which peaked at #3 on the Adult Contemporary charts.

History Cotton has been a resident of Leiper's Fork, Tennessee since the late 1970s. Between the late 1990s and mid 2000s, Cotton scaled back his career as a singer and songwriter and spent much of his savings on a legal battle against the construction of Interstate 840 which surrounds Nashville, which substantially delayed the completion of the route and led to a partial redesign of one section. Cotton, the father of two adopted children and one biological child, has devoted himself to helping the underprivileged of his area by motivating them in their studies and activities through a program called Kids on Stage (KOS). KOS brings in Nashville artists to run summer classes that open the doors to the arts to kids who might otherwise never see greatness or think about greatness in their arts. Most notably, Grammy Award winner Michael McDonald has performed numerous times to bring awareness and raise donations for this program under Cotton's leadership, besides producing independent films about the plight of the poor around the world.

Cotton was instrumental in 1970s pop singer Michael Johnson's career.

In 2001, Cotton lost a race for a seat in District 63 of the Tennessee House of Representatives, to Republican Glen Casada. Casada won 3,185 votes to Cotton's 1,554 in a special election in which only 13 percent of registered voters cast ballots. Both Casada and Cotton campaigned on strong opposition to proposals for a state income tax.

Discography

Albums Year Title Label 1966 Charity Street Platinum Records 1968 Power to Be Impact 1970 Peace Impact 1973 In the Gray of the Morning Myrrh 1974 Liberty Myrrh 1975 For All the Young Writers ABC 1976 Rain On ABC 1978 Save the Dancer Ariola America 1979 No Strings Attached Ariola America 1981 Eclipse of the Blue Moon Knoll 1982 Best of Gene Cotton People Song 1983 Edgehill File People Song 1985 Gene Cotton Live at Tennessee Tech People Song 1996 Songs for the Journey People Song

Singles

Commercial singles

Year Song Chart positions Album US US AC US Country 1968 "Mandy" – – – Charity Street 1970 "Rhymes and Reasons" – – – Peace 1973 "American Indian Blues" – – –In the Gray of the Morning "Lean on One Another" – – – "The Great American Novel" – – – Liberty 1974 "Sunshine Roses" 79 30 – 1975 "Let Your Love Flow" – – – For All the Young Writers "Damn It All" 73 – – 1976 "Me and the Elephant" (UK only) – – – Rain On "You've Got Me Runnin'" 33 7 92 "Deeper and Deeper" (Germany only) – – – "Sweet Destiny" – – – "Rain On" – – – 1978 "Before My Heart Finds Out" 23 3 78 Save the Dancer "You're a Part of Me (with Kim Carnes)" 36 6 – "Like a Sunday in Salem (The Amos & Andy Song)" 40 35 – 1979 "Ocean of Life" – – – No Strings Attached 1982 "If I Could Get You (Into My Life)" 76 22 – Eclipse of the Blue Moon 1985 "I Will Teach God's People" – – – Single only

Promotional singles

Year Song Album 1978 "Going Through The Motions Of Love" Save The Dancer 1981 "Bein' Here with You Tonight" Eclipse of the Blue Moon "Child Of Peace" Single only