New Book to Recount the REAL ‘Murder on Music Row’
30 years ago this March, an employee of country music trade periodical Cashbox Magazine was exiting a recording studio on Music Row in Nashville with up-and-coming country music artist Sammy Saddler when an armed gunman approached them and opened fire. It came to be known as the Murder on Music Row.
Kevin Hughes, who was 23-years-old at the time, was shot three times as he attempted to flee down 16th Avenue, including a fatal shot to the back of the head. The 21-year-old Sammy Saddler was shot in the shoulder and was severely wounded, but was able to run to a nearby building for cover. And just like in the song “Murder on Music Row,” the assailant fled from 16th Avenue without anyone getting a good description of him, and no weapon or fingerprints to trace.
Sammy Saddler would later recover from his wounds, though his career never would as he was held under suspicion for being part of the unsolved murder for many years. It would take until 2004 for Sadler to be vindicated when it was discovered that a Cashbox Magazine employee named Richard D’Antonio was the one who killed Kevin Hughes to cover up a bribery and payola scheme taking place at the publication to inflate numbers on the charts.
Many holes in the Murder On Music Row story have persisted for years, but they’re about to be filled in as Sammy Sadler is getting ready to publish a new book called A Hit with a Bullet: A True Story of Corruption, Greed, and the Real Murder on Music Row, detailing the notorious story featured on Unsolved Mysteries and other national programs.
“You’ve seen the movies that declare they’re ‘based on a true story’ and the television shows that are ‘ripped from the headlines.’ This is one of those stories,” says Larry Holden, former Editor of Country Weekly. “It is a true story of bribery, betrayal, murder, survival and of justice taking a ride on a slow train—a story written in the blood of a rising country music star and in the blood of his friend.”
Taking over 10 years to complete, the 336-page book covers the mystery from the night of the murder on March 9th, 1989 through the 13-year investigation. The book will be released on May 21st in paperback form via Indigo River Publishing.
A Hit with a Bullet is now available for pre-order.
May 9, 2019 @ 7:45 pm
Well I’m sure it will be an interesting read because I’ve never seen any of the TV shows about it. But when I first saw this article and the title of the book I was excited thinking it was a real expose of the demise of traditional country music. Maybe another book ……
May 9, 2019 @ 8:20 pm
I remember watching the Unsolved Mysteries episode on this. If anyone wants to check it out, the whole series is on Amazon Prime Video. I believe it was on the first or second season.
May 10, 2019 @ 4:40 am
Is this an ad? Smells like an ad.
May 10, 2019 @ 9:09 am
No, that’s your jock itch.
May 10, 2019 @ 9:10 am
Saving Country Music was founded 11 years ago to be a watchdog of the country music industry, and a man being murdered on Music Row for threatening to expose a payola scheme involving music charts is just about the most relevant topic that could ever be covered here. This was a news story announcing to the public that this book will is being released, not different than scores of articles published here announcing albums, tours, or festival lineups. Perhaps at some point the book will be reviewed, and that will constitute a more objective piece of journalism. But for now, broadcasting the facts about the release of an important piece of upcoming media is what is warranted. Nobody paid for this article to be published.
May 10, 2019 @ 7:19 am
Now if we could only get the real story about Bobby Fuller’s “accident”.
May 19, 2019 @ 5:32 pm
I am sure if we could find out the truth, The Bobby Fuller story would be a fascinating read. There are even rumors of a mob hit — and he was found dead in his car just a block or two off Franklin Street — where Janis Joplin died.
May 10, 2019 @ 7:25 am
Got the wrong address, it should have been Chet’s office.
May 10, 2019 @ 8:51 am
Yeah, if only the public really knew the dirty politics of Nashville, now that’s a real story. I never heard of Sadler, and can care less. Yeah it’s an ad. Maybe it will make it on Billboard as a song too. LMFAO, nah don’t think so!
May 10, 2019 @ 11:44 am
I just recently watched the UM episode pertaining to this case on YouTube. This book should be a fascinating read.
Incidentally, Cash Box was not specifically a “country music trade periodical.” It was a Billboard competitor, with news and charts from numerous genres of popular music.
May 10, 2019 @ 2:31 pm
Talking of payola, I am curious about streaming. Trig, do you know if labels pay Spotify to have a song in the top 5 of a popular playlist such as their Hot Country playlist? If so, why would they bother with radio if they could just get a song onto a few big playlists every week?
May 10, 2019 @ 5:54 pm
Right now streaming is completely unregulated, and not subjected to oversight like radio is with the FCC. Of course payola is going on for song placement, and I believe we’re living through an asterisk era for charts, where manipulations are what’s resulting in hits as opposed to the appeal of the public.
May 13, 2019 @ 8:33 pm
Trigger–THANK YOU
May 19, 2019 @ 5:07 pm
Want to hear the true story of betrayal? Sammy was in negotiations with a friend of mine to write this story. After meeting with Sammy and his people, a written proposal entitled “Hit With A Bullet” was submitted. At the last minute, Sammy had the contract revised to cut my friend out of his writing money and royalties. Obviously, the deal fell apart — but the book’s title — “Hit With A Bullet” was stolen by Sammy from the submitted proposal. The “true” story of the stolen title may end up being a bigger story than Sammy’s book.
May 19, 2019 @ 5:47 pm
Sounds like something that needs to be litigated privately, not in the comments section of an article.