New Country Music Hall of Fame Members Jimmy Dean (l) and Don Williams.

Don Williams and Jimmy Dean, two vocalists who approached their public presence from very different angles, were officially inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame Sunday night in front of family, friends and a rather elite set of peers.

A singer, comic and television pioneer, Jimmy built his career as a multi-faceted entertainer. Don worked several detail-oriented jobs before his breakthrough — he was a co-partner in a furniture store and an office administrator — and he made his public mark in a workman-like manner, eschewing the party circuit and putting his efforts into finding and delivering well-constructed songs.

Neither singer was able to claim his medallion in person. Jimmy died in June, just a few months after he was told in a phone call that he would have a bronze plaque enshrined with his likeness in the Hall of Fame’s Rotunda alongside such fellow performers as Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton and Jimmy’s childhood idol, Gene Autry.

Hall of Famer Bill Anderson recalled during his induction speech that Jimmy phoned him in shock shortly after he’d been informed of his membership in the Hall: “He said, ‘Bill-o, I never thought I’d make it… I figured I’d pissed off too many people down there!’”

Don Williams at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on October 20, 2010.

Don had planned to be on hand for Sunday’s ceremony. In fact, he put together a small concert tour and played Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium twice in the week leading up to the big day. But he “battled through” those shows, manager Robert Pratt told visitors at the induction, and was laid up with a mild case of bronchitis.

“He’ll be very proud and very honored when I give him this [medallion] tomorrow in Texarkana,” Robert said.

The induction was the first held in the Hall of Fame’s Ford Theater since it took in water during the Nashville flood in May. As a result, Sunday’s concluding number — the traditional induction finale, “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” — held extra meaning. That same song was performed by a gaggle of stars when the Grand Ole Opry House reopened in September after nearly five months of closure. All the Hall of Famers who were on hand Sunday delivered an unkempt version of the song with Emmylou Harris and Charlie Louvin trading harmonies during one off-the-cuff moment.

But that song was preceded by some well-thought-out tributes. Don’s catalog was represented by Chris Young’s faithful version of his signature hit, “I Believe In You”; Alison Krauss’ delicate take on “I’m Just A Country Boy”; Joey + Rory’s reverent rendition of “Amanda”; and Del McCoury’s bluegrass rendering of “Lord, I Hope This Day Is Good.”

Don’s legacy is getting additional recognition these days. Keith Urban frequently cites his stomping arrangements as a major influence on the tone of his current recordings. And Josh Turner’s latest single, “I Wouldn’t Be A Man,” is a remake of one of Don’s 1980s ballads.

Jimmy was hailed by Trace Adkins and the Jordanaires teaming up on the million-selling “Big Bad John,” in which the house band’s musical director — Biff Watson, who played guitar on many of Don’s hits — recreated the trademark pick-axe sound by banging a hammer against a percussion block suspended from a hanger. That’s the same way the sound was generated by Hall of Famer Floyd Cramer in the original recording.

Dailey & Vincent turned in a version of Jimmy’s almost-Vaudevillian “Harvest Of Sunshine”; singer-songwriter Shawn Camp folded light swing and country-blues into “Bumming Around”; and Roy Clark botched a few lines — as he warned he might — while taking on the fistful of lyrics in “Little Black Book.” The performance was enhanced by Hall of Famer Charlie McCoy’s gliding harmonica solo.

“Well, I made it to the end,” Roy said, laughing off the challenging rhyme scheme. “If I had-a done it right, it wouldn’t make the papers tomorrow.”

As much cheer as the night encompassed, however, it had its touching moments. Bill Anderson, in particular, got choked up several times as he honored Jimmy with an eloquent speech. Jimmy was known as a strict, demanding character, but Bill recounted numerous acts of generosity the late singer extended to people without fanfare. Bill took note of the words in “Big Bad John,” a song in which a heroic miner is honored as “a big, big man.”

“He didn’t have a thing,” Bill whispered, “on Jimmy Dean.”

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Loretta Lynn photo courtesy of Interscope Records.

Anyone who’s seen the Loretta Lynn biopic Coal Miner’s Daughter knows she earned her first hit single when she and her husband, Oliver “Doolittle” Lynn, drove around the country visiting radio stations in a cramped automobile.

That was in 1960. Almost 50 years later, she’s still working regularly, though she gets to pick and choose when, where and how often she does.

“I don’t have to work, so I work when I want to,” she told The Birmingham News. “I stay home and it bothers me… But I have it good on the road now, not like when I started. I have my bus fixed up just like a home, with five TVs in it. There’s a complete kitchen, a complete bathroom and a half-bathroom. It’s all my own.”

Not that the road is the only place she works. Loretta’s developoing a gospel album, she’s re-recording many of her earlier hits, and she’s been co-writing with Shawn Camp, whose composing credits include Garth Brooks’ “Two Pina Coladas,” George Strait’s “River Of Love” and Josh Turner’s “Firecracker.”

Despite penning such classics as “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” “Don’t Come Home A’Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your Mind)” and “You Ain’t Woman Enough,” Loretta doesn’t just crank the songs out. They undergo numerous drafts before they reach the public.

“I write things, throw it out and put it in the garbage can,” she said. “Sometimes I drag it out again.”

Loretta’s work as a writer paid off with an induction last year into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. She’s also been a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame since 1983.

Her upcoming road work includes shows Friday in Birmingham and Saturday in Columbus, Ga. She takes her homey bus next week to Ontario and Minnesota.

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