a DJ friend introduced him to some of the controls. "I thought I was Superman. I knew that night I had to get a job as a disc jockey", he recalled. Anderson graduated from college in 1959. During his first summer out of college, he got a job working as a rock and roll DJ at WGAU in Athens, Georgia. However, he was fired after playing country records over the air and was then hired at WJJC in Commerce, Georgia. Anderson began songwriting again after obtaining the new position. In Commerce, Anderson wrote the song "City Lights". The song ultimately brought him to Nashville where both his songwriting and recording career began. Recording career 1958–1962: Early success Anderson's own recording career began in 1957 after releasing two singles for the independent label, TNT. Both songs (including his own version of "City Lights") attracted little attention. However, the success brought by Ray Price's version of "City Lights" led Anderson to frequent Nashville, Tennessee. In the city, he brought compositions for artists and producers to record. Owen Bradley of Decca Records was impressed by Anderson's writing and decided to sign him as a recording artist to the label. Anderson officially signed with Decca in the summer of 1958. His early Decca singles were entirely self-composed. Anderson's first Decca released was issued in December 1958 called "That's What It's Like to Be Lonesome". The song became a major hit the following year when it climbed to the number 12 position on the Billboard Hot Country and Western Sides chart. He followed this in 1959 with the top 20 hits "Ninety Nine" and "Dead or Alive". In 1960, "The Tip of My Fingers" became his first top ten hit on the country chart, reaching number seven in August 1960. The song would later be recorded and made hits individually by Eddy Arnold, Roy Clark, Jean Shepard and Steve Wariner. In 1961, the single "Po' Folks" reached number nine on the Billboard country songs chart. The success of "Po' Folks" led Anderson to receive an invitation to join the Grand Ole Opry cast. Anderson accepted and joined the program the same year. He is, as of 2022, the longest-standing active Opry member. This was followed by his first number-one hit, "Mama Sang a Song". It was also his first single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching number 89. Although successful, Anderson's early singles