Skip to content
Artwork for Accidental Legends
Accidental Legends · Tuesday · 32 min

Episode 38 Devil In The Bottle

What do Elvis Presley, a secret identity, eight record label rejections, and a country song nobody wanted have in common?In 1974, a record promotion man named Bill Browder was sitting on a song that Nashville kept turning down. He believed in “Devil in the Bottle,” but convincing anyone else was another story. Even his connections inside the music business couldn't seem to open the right doors. This week on Accidental Legends, Matthew and Dirk explore the remarkable story of T.G. Sheppard, the unlikely circumstances that launched his singing career, and his extraordinary friendship with the King of Rock and Roll. How did a chance encounter change everything? Why did Sheppard need a secret identity? And what happened when Elvis discovered what his longtime friend had been hiding?It's a story of persistence, unlikely opportunities, and one unforgettable song that refused to disappear into Nashville obscurity. This episode includes AI-generated content.

0:00-32:57

transcript

No transcript — this publisher did not publish one.

show notes

What do Elvis Presley, a secret identity, eight record label rejections, and a country song nobody wanted have in common?In 1974, a record promotion man named Bill Browder was sitting on a song that Nashville kept turning down. He believed in “Devil in the Bottle,” but convincing anyone else was another story. Even his connections inside the music business couldn't seem to open the right doors.

This week on Accidental Legends, Matthew and Dirk explore the remarkable story of T.G. Sheppard, the unlikely circumstances that launched his singing career, and his extraordinary friendship with the King of Rock and Roll. How did a chance encounter change everything? Why did Sheppard need a secret identity? And what happened when Elvis discovered what his longtime friend had been hiding?It's a story of persistence, unlikely opportunities, and one unforgettable song that refused to disappear into Nashville obscurity.

This episode includes AI-generated content.

more episodes

All episodes