Their love spanned five decades, and Bob and Edana Corbin died the same week.
The music world is mourning both of their losses — Bob Corbin of the Corbin/Hanner Band, and his wife, an author and freelance writer for a country music magazine.
Bob Corbin and Dave Hanner wrote hits for some of the biggest stars in music, including Kenny Rogers, Alabama, Hank Williams Jr. and the Oak Ridge Boys.
Bob Corbin died Monday. He was 75. His wife died Thursday.
Their lives were always in harmony.
Their daughter Jessica posted on social media.
Ford City High School graduates Dave Hanner and Bob Corbin had been musical partners and friends since seventh grade. They thought they were “going to sneak out quietly” when they decided to retire, according to a Tribune-Review story in 2014.
“You can’t say you are part of the Pittsburgh music scene if you don’t know Bob,” said Ron Esser, owner of Moondogs in Blawnox. “He and Dave were the best in country music, and not just in Pittsburgh. When you saw them, especially in the 1980s, they were like royalty. I have been around a lot of musicians, and Bob was one of the best. He didn’t have an ego. He was a wonderful human.”
Al Snyder of Scott Township stood in for Bob Corbin when he was in an accident many years ago. That’s how they got to know each other.
Snyder said Edana Corbin, an author, shared one of her husband’s songs with country music hall-of-famer Mel Tillis during an interview for a country music magazine she was writing for in the 1970s.
Tillis gave the artists their first major break, recording about a dozen of their songs, including “In the Middle of the Night,” on which Corbin and Hanner sang background, “Time Has Treated You Well,” and the Top 10 “Blind in Love.”
They began their careers as Gravel in January 1970 at the Fox Cafe in Shadyside.
Their name changed from Gravel to the Corbin/Hanner Band in 1977. Besides performing in the Corbin/Hanner Band, the two have written hit songs for several major country artists, selling a combined 20 million-plus copies.
Related
• 2014: Country-rock duo Corbin/Hanner ending performance career
• From 2008: Ford City welcomes home Corbin/Hanner
Pittsburgh’s Joe Grushecky told the Trib in 2014 that Corbin and Hanner were the guys to whom he always looked up.
“Gravel was the Pittsburgh club band back in the day. They played original music when it was totally unacceptable to do so and made records when that was an almost impossible dream here in this town,” he said. “They showed me what could be done with determination and talent.”
Grushecky worked and wrote with Corbin on Grushecky’s 1990 “Swimming With the Sharks” album for Rounder Records, which Corbin produced. It was nominated for album of the year in the National Association of Independent Record Distributors honors.
“You hear about these love stories, where the couple dies in the same day or same week,” Snyder said. “I knew both of them. I am shocked. But they had a beautiful relationship.”
Joe Wodarek of Pleasant Hills is with the band The Stickers. He has known Corbin for two decades. Wodarek said Corbin cared about the next generation carrying the torch.
When he met Corbin, Wodarek was a young guy.
“He wanted my input, even though I didn’t have a lot of experience,” Wodarek said. “He treated everyone so well.”
Wodarek said he was about to release a song of Bob’s, “The State I’m In.”
“I loved that song and I wanted to cut that song,” Wodarek said. “But more important than any son was Bob as a human being.”
Funeral arrangements were incomplete Thursday.
Former Tribune-Review staff writer Rex Rutkoski contributed to this story
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact JoAnne by email at jharrop@triblive.com or via Twitter .