Pat Alger
b. 23 September 1947, Long Island City, New York, USA. The 90s country singer and songwriter Pat Alger was raised in LaGrange, Georgia and had two uncles who played bluegrass and taught him the rudiments of country music. He was also inspired by James Taylor and Jimmy Webb. In 1980 he wrote his first hit song with "First Time Love" by Livingston Taylor as well as "City Lights", a duet by Livingston and his brother James. He worked as a graphic designer and wrote songs in the evening, including "Once In A Very Blue Moon" (Nanci Griffith) and "Goin' Gone" (Kathy Mattea). After befriending Don Everly, he opened for his Dead Cowboy Band and then the Everly Brothers when they re-formed. He has made three albums and although he has a pleasant voice, it lacks range and his songs sound better sung by others. He co-wrote a country standard, "Lone Star State Of Mind" for Nanci Griffith, which was an answer to Billy Joel's "New York State Of Mind". However, his greatest successes have been with Garth Brooks, writing four of his number 1 country singles - "Unanswered Prayers", "The Thunder Rolls", "What's She's Doing Now" and "That Summer". Other successful songs include "Eighteen Inches Of Rain" (Ian Tyson), "She Came From Fort Worth" (Kathy Mattea), "Small Town Saturday Night" (Hal Ketchum) and "True Love" (Don Williams). Trisha Yearwood said, "I loved 'Like We Never Had A Broken Heart' from the first time I heard it because it is about real life. Pat Alger writes from the heart, and I believe every word." Alger owns at least half the publishing on all his hit songs, and has taken over from Harlan Howard as Nashville's premier songwriter. However, unlike Howard, relatively few of his songs are known outside of country music circles. He often attends Garth Brooks concerts and has said of them: "It's great to hear about 10,000 people singing 'Unanswered Prayers' - what could be more fun than that?" Alger was awarded ASCAP's Songwriter Of The Year in 1992.
Listen to Pat Alger
at Finetune.
Albums
Top Tracks
- Forever Lovin' You
- For Everyone With A Broken Heart
- Once In A Very Blue Moon
- True Love
- A Few Good Things Remain
Related Artists
Fans