He died suddenly while in an ambulance on the way to hospital.
His 1963 number-one hit song "Talk Back Trembling Lips" was one of the first country songs to cross over to the pop charts. It spent 36 weeks on the country charts.
In the 1950s, he wrote songs that were recorded by country singers including Little Jimmy Dickens, Carl Smith, and Johnny Horton. His song "I Wish" was recorded by pop singer Paul Anka.
Before he found fame as a singer, he worked in an Army missile plant in Alabama.