A Face In The Crowd 

August 21, 2003 News » Features

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Tucked in the row of shops that make up the Green Hills Court, avid readers and rare book collectors have found a haven in Dad’s Old Book Store, which has been around for nearly two decades now. If you’ve ever ventured inside—a quaint space packed wall to wall with crowded bookshelves—chances are you’ve met the owner, Ed Penney, who can usually be found resting in his oversized brown leather chair at the front of the store. But Penney hasn’t always been in this business. Moving from Boston with his wife and seven children, Penney arrived here in 1971 to accelerate his career as a songwriter and producer on Music Row. He worked independently, mainly with country artists, writing successful songs for stars like Glen Campbell, Barbara Mandrell and Anne Murray. Penney suffered from a heart attack in 1985, which indirectly led him to opening Dad’s Old Books. He retired from the music business that same year to avoid the stress of the industry and opened his store. “I’m an avid reader,” Penney says. “It was like a natural evolution.” Eighteen years later, Penney still has the store and many dedicated customers, but the music industry has continued to follow him too. Penney’s Grammy-nominated song, “Somebody’s Knockin’,” recorded by Terri Gibbs in 1980, recently received elevated attention. “Twenty years after writing it, I had a call from a record company. They had a new rap artist named DMX, and they said he wanted to use the song in the background of a rap recitation,” Penney explains. “I asked him why he chose the song, and he told me it was his grandmother’s favorite, and she had talked him into using it.” The rapper’s first album sold over 4 million copies and reached No. 1 on the charts. “That part was great,” Penney says, “but I didn’t particularly enjoy listening to it.” As for his bookstore, Penney’s content. From used books, signed copies and first editions to framed autographs and antique maps, Penney says he’s “in this because I love it.”

By Ann Stewart Banker

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