Country music singer Leon Payne has died at age 52

Country music singer-songwriter Leon Payne has died from a heart attack at the age of 52 in San Antonio, Texas. Born blind at birth in Alba, Texas, Payne was best known for his songs "I Love You Because," "You've Still Got a Place in My Heart," "Psycho" and the 1948 song made famous by Hank Williams, "Lost Highway."

Eddie Noack recorded Payne's murder ballad, "Psycho" last year. Listen below.

Was Leon Payne behind Bob Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone"?

In D. A. Pennebaker's documentary Don't Look Back, (covering Bob Dylan's 1965 tour of England), there is a scene that is most likely filmed on May 10th, 1965. Dylan is singing in a hotel with Bob Neuwirth and Joan Baez. During a rendition of Leon Payne’s "Lost Highway," Dylan arrives at what he thinks is the end of the song only to be reminded by Neuwirth, "Oh, no no no, there’s another verse." Neuwirth then cues Dylan with the opening line of the missing verse, "I’m a rolling stone..." and Dylan responds, "Oh, yeah," before he continues singing.

Perhaps it's just a coincidence, but this may well have been the moment of inception behind the writing of Bob Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone." Within three weeks, Dylan had written much of "Like A Rolling Stone" and on June 15th the song was recorded. Watch the scene below.

Listen to Leon Payne's original version of "Lost Highway" below.