associated_acts death_place death_date years_active birth_place background birth_date instrument genre article_title name occupation
arthur `` guitar boogie '' smith , snuffy jenkins gaston county , north carolina 02 august 1998 1946 -- 1990s lancaster , south carolina solo_singer september 15 , 1928 guitar country tommy faile
 tommy faile singer , songwriter
tommy faile

tommy faile -lrb- september 15 , 1928 - august 2 , 1998 -rrb- was an american songwriter and singer best known for composing `` phantom 309 '' and singing `` the legend of the brown mountain lights '' .
he was known for his deep voice and comic on-stage banter .
born in lancaster , south carolina , faile got his start on local radio in 1946 with snuffy jenkins , homer sherrill and the hired hands on wis in columbia , south carolina .
faile also appeared on national radio in 1949 on `` philip morris night with horace heidt '' .
in 1951 , he joined arthur `` guitar boogie '' smith 's crackerjacks as a bass player and singer .
faile also sang bass for smith 's gospel group , the crossroads quartet .
faile remained with smith for eighteen years , and later had his own television show in the early 1970s , which aired on wbtv in charlotte , north carolina .
in 1995 , he joined curly howard 's radio program on wkmt .
he died of a heart attack in 1998 .
