AM 1070 The Ranch Classic Country

Home The Ranch Hands News and Stories Dugg's Corner of the World Country Music & Western Heroes Western Swing News The Ranch Online Tradin' Post Map E-Mail News and Stories Dugg Collins brings us stories about the stars and legends that made country great! Many thanks to Dick Shuey and Twangtown for your help. Remembering Patsy Cline Patsy Cline Virginia Patterson Hensley Born Sep 8, 1932 in Gore, VA Died Mar 5, 1963 in Camden, TN One of the greatest singers in the history of country music, Patsy Cline also helped blaze a trail for female singers to assert themselves as an integral part of the Nashville-dominated country music industry. She was not alone in this regard; Kitty Wells had become a star several years before Cline's big hits in the early '60s. Brenda Lee, who shared Cline's producer, did just as much to create a country-pop crossover during the same era; Skeeter Davis briefly enjoyed similar success. Cline has the most legendary aura of any female country singer, however, perhaps due to an early death that cut her off just after she had entered her prime. Cline began recording in the mid-'50s, and although she recorded quite a bit of material between 1955 and 1960 (17 singles in all), only one of them was a hit. That song, "Walkin' After Midnight," was both a classic and a Top 20 pop smash. Those who are accustomed to Cline's famous early-'60s hits are in for a bit of a shock when surveying her '50s sessions (which have been reissued on several Rhino compilations). At times she sang flat-out rockabilly; she also tried some churchy tear-weepers. She couldn't follow up "Walkin' After Midnight," however, in part because of an exploitative deal that limited her to songs from one publishing company. Circumstances were not wholly to blame for Cline's commercial failures. She would have never made it as a rockabilly singer, lacking the conviction of Wanda Jackson or the spunk of Brenda Lee. In fact, in comparison with her best work, she sounds rather stiff and ill-at-ease on most of her early singles. Things took a radical turn for the better on all fronts in 1960, when her initial contract expired. With the help of producer Owen Bradley (who had worked on her sessions all along), Cline began selecting material that was both more suitable and of a higher quality than her previous outings. "I Fall to Pieces," cut at the very first session where Cline was at liberty to record what she wanted, was the turning point in her career. Reaching number one in the country charts and number 12 pop, it was the first of several country-pop crossovers she was to enjoy over the next couple of years. More important, it set a prototype for commercial Nashville country at its best. Owen Bradley crafted lush orchestral arrangements, with weeping strings and backup vocals by the Jordanaires, that owed more to pop (in the best sense) than country. The country elements were provided by the cream of Nashville's session musicians, including guitarist Hank Garland, pianist Floyd Cramer, and drummer Buddy Harmon. Cline's voice sounded richer, more confident, and more mature, with ageless wise and vulnerable qualities that have enabled her records to maintain their appeal with subsequent generations. When k.d. lang recorded her 1988 album Shadowland with Owen Bradley, it was this phase of Cline's career that she was specifically attempting to emulate. It's arguable that too much has been made of Cline's crossover appeal to the pop market. Brenda Lee, whose records were graced with similar Bradley productions, was actually more successful in this area (although her records were likely targeted toward a younger audience). Cline's appeal was undeniably more adult, but she was always more successful with country listeners. Her final four Top Ten country singles, in fact, didn't make the pop Top 40. Despite a severe auto accident in 1961, Cline remained hot through 1961 and 1962, with "Crazy" and "She's Got You" both becoming big country and pop hits. Much of her achingly romantic material was supplied by fresh talent like Hank Cochran, Harlan Howard, and Willie Nelson (who penned "Crazy"). Although her commercial momentum had faded slightly, she was still at the top of her game when she died in a plane crash in March of 1963, at the age of 30. She was only a big star for a couple of years, but her influence was and remains huge. While the standards of professionalism on her recordings have been emulated ever since, they've rarely been complemented by as much palpable, at times heartbreaking emotion in the performances. For those who could do without some of more elaborate arrangements of her later years, many of her relatively unadorned appearances on radio broadcasts have been thankfully preserved and issued. Richie Unterberger -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Joe Marion Allison October 3, 1924 August 2, 2002 Back when Country Music was great, when Country Music was really Country andnot Pop flavored crap as we have on the radio today, it was people like Joe Allison who was in charge of the music at the labels. Joe Marion Allison, a giant in the record industry from McKinney, Texas, learned all about his trade before ever making the move to the recording studios or as manager of record labels. He was a commercial artist before entering show-business as a radio broadcaster.He broke into Country Music when he went to work for Tex Ritter in 1945 as a performer.He traveled the United States with Ritter, then again went back to radio as one of the foremost country music disc jockeys in America. While working radio in San Antonio, Texas, he had his first chart success as a songwriter with "When You Leave, Don't Slam The Door," a song Tex Ritter took to number 3 in the nation in 1946. 1947 found Joe on the road to Memphis, Tennessee and WDAI, but in 1949 he made the move to Nashville and WMAK. In 1950, he hosted his own daily show on WSM and WSIX.His show became a vehicle to success for many of country music's future stars like the Everly Brothers,Chet Atkins, Grady Martin, Brenda Lee and Anita Kerr,whom Joe stated many times, to be one of the few musical geniuses he had met.She later formed the Anita Kerr Singers, whom with the Jordanaires, handled the majority of vocal backing involved in the Nashville Sound. Anita was a prolific talent, which proved Joe Allison right again. In 1952, Joe moved to Los Angeles to take over Tennesse Ernie's radio show on KXLA. In the early 50's,Joe became involved with WSM-TV in Nashville, which was just getting it's start,as well at "Town Hall Party" on KTTV in Los Angeles.When 1957 rolled around, Joe Allison had his own TV show, "Country America" on channel 7, the ABC Affiliate in Los Angeles.For three years, this was a highly rated show and ran immediately after Lawrence Welk's Show. The show featured talent like Jerry Wallace,Glen Campbell, Gordon Terry, Dave Burgess and the man Joe considered to be the best singer he was ever involved with, Billy Strange. Billy didn't make it as a singer, but as a guitar player and arranger, he was in a class of his own. During the mid 50's, Joe enjoyed much success as a songwriter. Hit tunes like "Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young,""It's A Great Life, If You Don't Weaken," for Faron Young and teen idol Tommy Sands had his first hit in 1957 with an Allison song, "Teenage Crush." Two years later, Jim Reeves cut "He'll Have To Go," which stayed on the charts for 34 weeks, 14 of those weeks at number one. That tune propelled Joe Allison to super-stardom as a songwriter. A female singer named Jeanne Blackrecorded an answer version of the Reeves hit called "He'll Have To Stay," which went to number six in 1960 and was the only song she ever charted.Jim Reeves also recorded "I'd Fight The World," which was released in 1974, ten years after his death and went to number 19 in the nation, staying on the charts 14 weeks. Roy Clark recorded "Love Is Just A State Of Mind," in 1969 and only took it to number 57 nationally. Artist who have recorded Joe Allison songs include Nat "King" Cole, Patsy Cline, The Limeliters, Elvis Presley, Ray Price, Ray Anthony, the Anita Kerr Singers, Bing Crosby, Tom Jones, Eddy Arnold and Billy Joe Royal. For his songs, he received five BMI awards. While on the West Coast, Joe was the professional manager of Central Songs publishing company, which included writers like Harlan Howard, Bobby Bare, Tommy Collins and Buck Owens.As a talent scout and producer for Liberty Records, Joe developed and ran the first specifically Country Music department at any label andhe did the early recordings of Willie Nelson and Hank Cochran. He also helped revive the career of Western Swing King Bob Wills by producing three outstanding albums on Bob, Tommy Duncan and the Texas Playboys, in my opinion, some of Wills best recording. At Dot Records he produced Roy Clark's "Yesterday When I was Young." Hank Thompson's "Smoky The Bar," and groomed hit makers like Tommy Overstreet, Jody Millerand Joe Stampley. 1972-74, he was with Capitol and brought to the attention of the world cowboy great Red Steagall and produced his old friend Tex Ritter. Joe Allison was influential in spreading commercial country music radio to the big urban markets in America and was one of the founding fathers of the Country Music Association. Joe is the one who sold the networks on the concept of the CMA Awards Show which we enjoy to this day. He was responsible for persuading the City of Nashville to donate the land on which the first Country Music Museum and Hall of Fame was built.He earned their achievement award in 1964. In the late 70's, he was inducted into both The Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. In addition to all this, Joe was featured on Armed Forces Radio, bringing happiness to millions of men and women in the service of our country. As a radio promoter, he took the country music format to cities such as Sacramento, Seattle, San Francisco, Newark, Chicago, Wheeling and other major markets across America. I think I'm safe in saying, "we shall never see the likes of this man again in country music."He was an innovator, a mover & shaker, a salesman, true professional and the best friend a man could possibly have in this world. There was nothing phony about Joe Allison and you always knew where you stood with him. Throughout my radio and music career, I always knew his name, but never knew him personally until 1999 when we met for the first time in Carthage, Texas. The year before, he had been inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame. In 1999, it was my honor to join him, Charlie Walker, Ol' Mike Oatman, Paul Kallinger, Larry Scott, Bill Mack and Tom Perryman in the Texas Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame. From that time, to his recent death, I was on the telephone with him at his home in Nashville to see how he was doing. Joe was in very bad health in 1999. I will treasue those phone calls forever. Joe was a great story teller and I gained hundred of stories by spending time and listening to what I had to say. To me, it was important that you meet this great man and know all he has done for our kind of music and, by the way, I didn't cover everything by a long shot. I have lost a great friend, his wife Rita, [whom he loved with his heart and soul] a great companion, his sons a great father and the country music industry has lost a giant among men. There will neverbe anyone who takes his place and I hope one day soon,we will see his plaque on the wall at the Country Music Hall of Fame. Dugg Collins August 3, 2002 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Johnny Paycheck Donald Eugene Lytle Born May 31, 1938 in Greenfield, OH The first that many people ever heard of Johnny Paycheck was in 1977, when his "Take This Job and Shove It" inspired one-man wildcat strikes all over America. The next time was in 1985, when he was arrested for shooting a man at a bar in Hillsboro, Ohio. That Paycheck is remembered for a fairly amusical novelty song and a violent crime (for which he spent two years in prison) is a shame, for it just so happens that he is one of the mightiest honky-tonkers of his time. Born and raised in Greenfield, Ohio, Paycheck was performing in talent contests by the age of nine, and riding the rails as a drifter by the time he turned fifteen. After a Navy stint landed him in the brig for two years, he arrived in Nashville, where he performed in the bands of Porter Wagoner, Faron Young, Ray Price and George Jones. He recorded several singles under the name Donny Young, then, in 1965, cut his first sides as Johnny Paycheck for the Hilltop label. A year later, he and gadfly producer Aubrey Mayhew started the Little Darlin' label, for which Paycheck recorded his greatest work. Marked by Lloyd Green's knockout steel guitar and Paycheck's broad, resonant vocals (not to mention his rounder's sense of humor) his Little Darlin' records of the 1960s have since become cult favorites. After splitting with Mayhew (and after running his life into the gutter) Paycheck made a celebrated comeback on Epic in the 1970s. "Take This Job and Shove It" was the most famous result, though ballads like "She's All I Got" and "Someone to Give My Love To" are far more indicative of his stylistic range. Born Donald Lytle, Paycheck began playing guitar when he was six, and within three years, he was performing talent contests across the state. When he was 15, he ran away from home, hitchhiking and hoboing his away across the country, singing in honky tonks and clubs along the way. By his late teens, he had joined the Navy, but while he was serving, he assaulted a superior officer and was convicted of court martial. As a result, he spent two years in the brig. Upon his release, he moved to Nashville, where made the acquaintence of Buddy Killen at Decca Records, who offered him a contract. At Decca, Paycheck released two rockabilly singles on the label under the name Donny Young; neither were hits. Shortly afterward, he moved to Mercury where he released two country singles, which were also failures. By that time, he had begun supporting other musicians, playing bass and occasionally steel guitar with Porter Wagoner, Faron Young and Ray Price. He frequently moved between employers because of his short-fused temper. Paycheck finally found his match in George Jones. He stayed with Jones for four years, fronting the Jones Boys between 1962 and 1966, and singing backup on George's hits "I'm a People," "The Race is On," and "Love Bug." Toward the end of his stint with Jones, Donald Lytle refashioned himself as Johnny Paycheck, taking his name from a Chicago heavyweight boxer. Late in 1965, he relaunched his solo career with the assistence of producer Aubrey Mayhew, who produced a pair of singles "A-11" and "Heartbreak Tennessee" for Hilltop Records. Though it only charted at number 26, "A-11" caused a sensation within the country community, earning several Grammy nominations as well as reviews that compared Paycheck to his mentor, George Jones. In 1966, he and Mayhew formed Little Darlin' Records, primarily designing the label to promote Paycheck, but also recording Jeannie C. Riley, Bobby Helms and Lloyd Green. That summer, "The Lovin' Machine" became Johnny's first Top Ten hit. Also that year, he wrote Tammy Wynette's first hit, "Apartment #9," with Bobby Austin and Fuzzy Owen; Paycheck also wrote Ray Price's number three hit "Touch My Heart." All of Paycheck's recordings for Little Darlin' Records rank among his grittiest, hardest country but they weren't necessarily big hits Between 1967 and 1969, Paycheck had eight more hit singles, with each record progressively charting at a lower position than its predecessor "Motel Time Again" reached number 13 in early 1967, which "IfI'm Gonna Sink" climbed to number 73 in late 1968. Though "Wherever You Are" showed signs of a comeback in the summer of 1969, peaking at number 31, the label went bankrupt shortly after its release, partially due to Paycheck's declining commercial performence, partially due to his heavy drinking and erratic behavior. Over the course of the next year, he moved to California and sunk deeply into substance abuse. Meanwhile, Billy Sherrill at Epic Records had been searching for Paycheck with the hopes of producing his records. The label finally tracked him down in 1971 and offered him a contract, provided that he cleaned himself up. Paycheck accepted the offer and with Sherrill's assistence, he kicked his addictions. Like many of Sherrill's records of the early '70s, his Johnny Paycheck recoordings were heavily produced and often layered with stings. Though this was a shift from the hardcore country that Paycheck made on Little Darlin', the new approach was a hit his debut single for the label, "She's All I Got," became a number two hit upon its fall 1971 release. It was quickly followed by another Top Ten hit, "Someone to Give My Love To," and Paycheck was finally becoming a star. During the next four years, he had 12 additional hit singles including 1973's Top Ten singles "Something About You I Love" and "Mr. Lovemaker," and 1974's "For a Minute There" with the more accessible, pop-oriented Sherrill crafted for him, but Paycheck's wild ways hadn't changed all that much. In 1972, he was convicted of check forgery and in 1976, he was saddled with a paternity suit, tax problems, and bankruptcy. Accordingly, he shifted his musical style in the mid-'70s to put him in step with the renegade outlaw country movement. Johnny Paycheck's first outlaw album, 1976's 11 Months and 29 Days (which happened to be the length of his suspended sentence for passing a bad check), featured a photo of him in a jail cell on the cover, signalling his change of direction. Initially, his outlaw records weren't hits, but early in 1977 he returned to the Top Ten with a pair of Top Ten singles, "Slide Off of Your Satin Sheets" and "I'm the Only Hell (Mama Ever Raised)." Later that year, he released his cover of David Allan Coe's "Take This Job and Shove It," which became his biggest hit, spending two weeks at number one; its B-side, "Colorado Kool-Aid," also charted at number 50. Soon, Paycheck's records were becoming near-parodies of his lifestyle, as the title "Me and the I.R.S." and "D.O.A. (Drunk on Arrival)" indicated. Nevertheless, he stayed at the top of the charts, with "Friend, Lover, Wife" and "Mabellene" both reaching number seven in late 1978 and early 1979. Shortly after the twin success of those singles, his career began to crumble due to his excessive, violent behavior. In 1979, his former manager Glenn Ferguson began a prolonged and difficult legal battle. In 1981, a flight attendant for Frontier Airlines sued him for slander after he began a fight on a plane. The following year, he was arrested for alleged rape. The charges were later reduced and he was fined, but by that point, Epic had had enough and dropped him from the label. Paycheck moved over to AMI, where he had anumber of small hit singles between 1984 and 1985. Later in 1985, he had a bar-room brawl with a stranger in Hillsboro, Ohio that ended with Paycheck shooting and injuring his opponent. The singer was arrested for aggravated assault and spent the next four years appealing the sentence, while he recorded for Mercury Records. None of his singles for the label reached the Top 40, and he was dropped from the label in 1987. He spent 1988 at Desperado Records before signing with Damascus the following year, following his conversion to Christianity. In 1989, Paycheck's appeals had expired and he was sentenced to the Chillicothe Correctional Institute. Johnny spent two years at the prison, even performing a concert with Merle Haggard at the jail during his stint, before being released on parole in January of 1991. Following his release, Paycheck kept a low profile, playing shows in Branson, Missouri and recording for the small label, Playback Records. Paycheck is now suffering from health problems and is currently inactive in country music. Dan Cooper -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tammy Wynette Born-Virginia Wynette Pugh May 5, 1942 in Itawamba County, MS Died April 6, 1998 In many ways, Tammy Wynette deserves the title of the First Lady of Country Music. During the late '60s and early '70s, she dominated the country charts, scoring 17 number one hits. Along with Loretta Lynn, she defined the role of female country vocalists in the '70s. After her father, who was a musician, died when she was just eight months old, Wynette was raised on her grandparents' home in Mississippi; her mother moved to Birmingham, AL, to do military work. As a child, Tammy taught herself to play a variety of instruments left behind by her father. When she was a teenager, she moved to Birmingham to be with her mother. At 17, she married her first husband, Euple Byrd, and set to work as a hairdresser and beautician. The marriage was short-lived, but it produced three children within three years. By the time her third child was born, the couple were divorced. Tammy's third child had spinal meningitis, which meant she had several expensive medical bills to pay. In order to gain some extra money, she began performing in clubs at night. In 1965, she landed a regular spot on the television program the Country Boy Eddie Show, which led to appearances on Porter Wagoner's syndicated show. The following year, she moved to Nashville, where she auditioned for several labels before producer Billy Sherrill signed her to Epic Records. "Apartment #9," Wynette's first single, was released late in 1966 and almost broke the country Top 40 early in 1967. It was followed by "Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad," which became a big hit, peaking at number three. The song launched a string of Top Ten hits that ran until the end of the '70s, interrupted by three singles that didn't crack the Top Ten. After "Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad" was a success, "My Elusive Dreams" became her first number one in the summer of 1967, followed by "I Don't Wanna Play House" later that year. During 1968 and 1969, Tammy had five number one hits "Take Me to Your World," "D-I-V-O-R-C-E," "Stand By Your Man" (all 1968), "Singing My Song," and "The Ways to Love a Man" (both 1969). In 1968, she started a relationship with George Jones, which would prove to be extremely stormy. Beginning in 1971, Wynette and Jones recorded a series of duets the first was the Top Ten "Take Me" which were as popular as their solo hits. However, the marriage was difficult and the couple divorced in 1975; they continued to record sporadically over the next two decades. Throughout the '70s, Tammy Wynette racked up number one hits. In the early '80s, her career began to slow down. Although she still had hit singles, she didn't reach the Top Ten as easily as she did in the previous decade. That trend continued throughout the rest of the decade and into the '90s. Even though she didn't have as many hits as she had in the past, Tammy remained a respected star and a popular concert attraction. Since the '80s, Wynette had suffered a variety of health problems, including inflammations of her bile duct. She was hospitalized several times during the mid-'90s before her death on April 6, 1998. Stephen Thomas Erlewine -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Loretta Lynn - The Coal Miners Daughter AKA Loretta Webb Born Apr 14, 1934 in Butcher's Hollow, KY Loretta Lynn is one of the classic country singers. During the '60s and '70s, she ruled the charts, racking up over 70 hits as a solo artist and a duet partner. Lynn helped forge the way for strong, independent women in country music. As her song (and movie and book) says, Loretta Lynn is a coal miner's daughter, born in Butcher Hollow, KY, in 1934. As a child, she sang in church and a variety of local concerts. In January 1948, she married Oliver "Mooney" Lynn. She was 13 years old at the time. Following their marriage, the couple moved to Custer, WA, where they raised four children. After a decade of motherhood, Lynn began performing her own songs in local clubs, backed by a band led by her brother, Jay Lee Webb. It took her a decade of gigging before she was noticed by a record label. In 1959, she signed a contract with Zero Records, which released her debut single, "I'm a Honky Tonk Girl," in 1960. The honky tonk ballad became a hit thanks to the insistent, independent promotion of Lynn and her husband. The pair would drive from one radio station to the next, getting the DJs to play her single, and sent out thousands of copies to stations. All of the effort paid off the single reached number 14 on the charts and attracted the attention of the Wilburn Brothers. The Wilburns hired Lynn to tour with them in 1960 and advised her to relocate to Nashville. She followed their advice and moved to the city in late 1960. After she arrived in Nashville, she signed with Decca Records. At Decca, she would work with Owen Bradley, who had produced Patsy Cline. Lynn released her first Decca single, "Success," in 1962 and it went straight to number six, beginning a string of Top Ten singles that would run through the rest of the decade and throughout the next. She was a hard honky tonk singer for the first half of the '60s and rarely strayed from the genre. Although she still worked within the confines of honky tonk in the latter half of the decade, her sound became more personal, varied and ambitious, particularly lyrically. Beginning with 1966's number two hit "You Ain't Woman Enough," Lynn began writing songs that had a feminist viewpoint, which was unheard of in country music. Her lyrical stance became more autobiographical and realistic as time wore on, highlighted by such hits as "Don't Come Home A-Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind)" (1966), "Your Squaw Is on the Warpath" (1968), "Woman of the World (Leave My World Alone)" (1969), and a tune about birth control called "The Pill" (1974). Between 1966 and 1970, Loretta Lynn racked up 13 Top Ten hits, including four number one hits "Don't Come Home A'Drinkin'," "Fist City" (1968), "Woman of the World," and the autobiographical "Coal Miner's Daughter." In 1971, she began a professional partnership with Conway Twitty. As a duo, Lynn and Twitty had five consecutive number one hits between 1971 and 1975 "After the Fire Is Gone" (1971), "Lead Me On" (1971), "Lousiana Woman, Mississippi Man" (1973), "As Soon As I Hang Up the Phone" (1974), and "Feelins'" (1974). The hit-streak kick-started what would become one of the most successful duos of country history. For four consecutive years (1972-1975), Lynn and Twitty were named the Vocal Duo of the Year by the Country Music Association. In addition to their five number one singles, they had seven other Top Ten hits between 1976 and 1981. Loretta Lynn published her autobiography, Coal Miner's Daughter, in the mid-'70s. In 1980, the book was adapted for the screen, with Sissy Spacek as Lynn. The film was one of the most critically acclaimed and successful films of the year and Spacek would win the Academy Award for her performance. All of the attention surrounding the movie made Loretta Lynn a household name with the American mainstream. Although she continued to be a popular concert attraction throughout the '80s, she wasn't able to continue her domination of the country charts. "I Lie," her last Top Ten single, arrived in early 1982, while her last Top 40 single, "Heart Don't Do This to Me," was in 1985. In light of her declining record sales, Lynn backed away from recording frequently during the late '80s and '90s, concentrating on performing instead. In 1993, she recorded the Honky Tonk Angels album with Tammy Wynette and Dolly Parton. Still Woman Enough was released in mid-2000. Stephen Thomas Erlewine -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roy Clark - Mr. Entertainment Born: Roy Linwood Clark Apr 15, 1933 in Meherren, Va. In the '70s Roy Clark symbolized country music in the US and abroad. Between guest-hosting for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show and performing to packed houses in the Soviet Union on a tour that sold out all 18 concerts, he used his musical talent and his entertaining personality to bring country music into homes across the world. As one of the hosts of TV's Hee Haw (Buck Owens was the other) for more than 20 years Clark picked and sang and offered country corn to 30 million people weekly. He is first and foremost an entertainer, drawing crowds at venues as different as Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and the Opry. His middle-of-the-road approach has filled a national void, with Clark offering country that was harder-edged than Kenny Rogers but softer and more accessible than Waylon Jennings. Among his numerous vocal hits are "Yesterday When I Was Young" and "Thank God and Greyhound." Instrumentally he has won awards, for both guitar and banjo. Clark has also co-starred on the silver screen with Mel Tillis, in the comedy Uphill All the Way. The son of two amateur musicians, Roy Clark began playing banjo, guitar and mandolin at an early age. By the time he was 14, he was playing guitar behind his father at local dances. Within a few years, he had won two National Banjo Championships, with his second win earning him an appearence at the Grand Ole Opry. Despite his success as a musician, Roy decided to pursue an athletic career, rejecting baseball for boxing. At the age of 17, he won 15 fights in a row before deciding that he would rather be a musician than a fighter. Clark found work at local clubs, radio stations and television shows. By 1955, he was a regular on Jimmy Dean's DC-based television show, Country Style. Once Dean left Washington for New York, Clark took over the show and over the next few years, he earned a reputation as an excellent musician and entertainer. In 1960, he decided to leave the East Coast to pursue his fame and fortune out West. That year, he became the leader of Wanda Jackson's band, playing on her hit singles like "Let's Have a Party," as well as touring with the singer and playing concerts with her in Las Vegas. Once Jackson decided to break up her band, Clark continued to play regularly at the Frontier Hotel in Vegas and through his new manager, Jackson's ex-manager Jim Halsey, he landed spots on The Tonight Show and the sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies, where he played both Cousin Roy and Big Mama Halsey. In 1963, Clark signed to Capitol Records, and his first single for the label, "Tips of My Fingers," became a Top Ten hit. Over the next two years, he had a handful of minor hits for Capitol before he switched labels, signing with Dot in 1968. At Dot, his career took off again, through covers of pop songs like Charles Aznavour's "Yesterday, When I Was Young" (number nine, 1969). However, what really turned Clark's career around was not records, it was a television show called Hee Haw. Conceived as a country version of Laugh-In, Hee Haw began its run in 1969 on CBS. Roy Clark and Bakersfield country pioneer Buck Owens were picked as co-hosts. Over the next two years, it was one of the most popular shows on television. In 1971, CBS dropped the show because its corny country humor didn't fit the network's new, urban image, but Hee Haw quickly moved into syndiacation, where it coninued to thrive throughout the decade. While Hee Haw was at the height of its popularity, Clark had a string of country hits that ranged from Top Ten singles like "I Never Picked Cotton" (1970), "Thank God and Greyhound" (1970), "The Lawrence Welk - Hee Haw Counter-Revolution Polka" (1972), "Come Live With Me" (1973), "Somewhere Between Love and Tomorrow" (1973), "Honeymoon Feelin'" (1974), and "If I Had It to Do All Over Again" (1976), to a multitude of minor hits. Though he didn't consistently top the country charts, Clark became one of the most recognizable faces in country music, appearing on television commercials, Hee Haw, and touring not only the United States, but a number of other countries, including a ground-breaking sojourn to the Soviet Union in 1976. Frequently, he played concerts and recorded albums with a wide variety of musicians from other genres, including the Boston Pops Orchestra and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. In 1979, the momentum of his career began to slow down, as he left his long-time label ABC/Dot for MCA. Over the next two years, he had a number of minor hits before leaving the label. He recorded one inspirational album for Songbird in 1981 before signing to Churchill in 1982. Hee Haw's audience was beginning to decline in the early '80s, but Clark diversified his interests by investing in property, minor-league baseball teams, cattle, publishing and advertising. None of Clark's recordings for Churchill were big hits, and his brief stays at Silver Dollar in 1986 and Hallmark in 1989 also resulted in no hits. Nevertheless, Clark had become a country icon by the mid-'80s, so his lack of sales didn't matter he continued to sell out concerts and win awards; he even made the comedy western Uphill All the Way in 1984 with Mel Tillis. In 1987, he was belatedly made a member of the Grand Ole Opry. During the '90s, Clark concentrated on performing at his theater in Branson, Missouri, sporadically releasing re-recordings of his big hits on a variety of small labels, though 2000's Live At Billy Bob's Texas marked his first live release in nearly a decade. Christmas Memories followed that same year. David Vinopal -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jim Ed Brown Born: James Edward Brown Born April 1, 1934 in Sparkman, Arkansas Jim Ed Brown came to fame as a member of the '50s vocal group the Browns, where he was the band's lead male vocalist. In 1965, when the group was still together, he embarked on a solo career that would eventually eclipse the success of the Browns. Brown and his older sister, Maxine, began performing while he was still in high school. In 1954, the duo signed a contract with the Fabor label, where they released five singles. Later that year, their sister Bonnie joined the duo and they became the Browns. From 1956 until 1967, the Browns were signed to RCA records, where they had a number of moderately successful hit singles, highlighted by the 1959 number one "The Three Bells." Brown began his solo career in 1965, two years before the Browns disbanded. Initially, he didn't have much success and just scraped the bottom of the country Top 40. Once the Browns disbanded, Brown began to have more substantial hits, beginning with the number 18 single "You Can Have Her," which was a cover of the Roy Hamilton hit. That was followed by the beer-drinking anthem "Pop A Top," which climbed to number three. Although his next single, "Bottle, Bottle," reached number 13, Brown didn't have any major hits for the rest of the '60s. As his chart performance stagnated in 1968, he formed a backing group called the Gems and began a residency at the Sahara Tahoe's Juniper Lounge. In 1969, he hosted the syndicated television show, The Country Place, which ran until 1970. As The Country Place was ending its run, Brown had his first major hit since "Pop A Top," with the number four single "Morning." Again, he wasn't able to immediately follow "Morning" with another Top 10 hit, but he began charting more frequently. In 1973, he had two Top 10 hits, "Southern Loving and "Sometime Sunshine," which were followed by the Top 10 "It's That Time of Night" in early 1974. Jim Ed Brown had his greatest success in the late '70s, when he regularly dueted with Helen Cornelius. The duo had six Top 10 hits between 1976 and 1980, including their debut single, "I Don't Want To Have To Marry You," which went to number one in 1976. During this time, he had some solo hits, but only two of them broke the Top 40. Brown and Cornelius ended their partnership in 1981, following the number 13 hit "Don't Bother to Knock." After the breakup of his duo with Helen Cornelius, Jim Ed Brown pretty much retired from recording. He made the occasional appearance on the Grand Ole Opry and he sometimes reunited with Cornelius. Brown also hosted TV game shows and talent contests throughout the '80s. Toward the end of the decade, he opened the Jim Ed Brown Theater near Opryland in Nashville, Tennessee, where he performed regularly well into the '90s. Stephen Thomas Erlewine -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Don Gibson Born Apr 3, 1928 in Shelby, NC Singer/songwriter Don Gibson was one of the most popular and influential forces in '50s and '60s country, scoring numerous hit singles as a performer and a songwriter. Gibson's music touched on both traditional country and highly-produced country-pop, which is part of the reason he had such a broad audience. For nearly a decade after his first hit single, "Sweet Dreams," in 1956, he was a reliable hitmaker and his songs have become country classics they have been covered by a wide range of artists, including Patsy Cline, Ray Charles, Kitty Wells, Emmylou Harris, Neil Young, and Ronnie Milsap. Gibson began playing guitar while he was a high school student in North Carolina, playing local radio stations and dances. In 1946, he became a regular with the Tennessee Barn Dance in Knoxville. Around the same time, he began recording western songs with the Sons of the Soil, both on Mercury and RCA Victor Records. In 1950, Gibson assumed control of the band, renaming them Don Gibson and his King Cotton Kinfolks and switching their musical direction to honky tonk. Although their sound was more focused, they remained unsuccessful. Gibson continued to perform on the radio, as well as Esslinger's Club in Tennessee. At the nightclub, Wesley Rose saw Gibson perform and offered him a writing contract. Don would only accept the deal if he was allowed to record. Rose managed to get Gibson a contract with Columbia, which proved unsuccessful. Again, Rose secured him another contract, this time with MGM. Gibson's first single for the label, "Sweet Dreams," became a Top Ten hit and was covered by Faron Young, who took it to number three. Following the success of "Sweet Dreams," Gibson was signed to RCA in 1957 by Chet Atkins, who would become his producer for the next seven years. Released early in 1958, Don's first RCA single, "Oh Lonesome Me," was a blockbuster, spending eight weeks at the top of the country charts and crossing over into the pop Top Ten. Gibson and Atkins developed a pop-friendly style which featured rock & roll flourishes that brought him to a larger audience. In the course of 1958-1961, Gibson had a total of 11 Top Ten singles, including "I Can't Stop Lovin' You, "Blue Blue Day," "Who Cares," "Don't Tell Me Your Troubles," "Just One Time," "Sea of Heartbreak," and "Lonesome Number One." Although his career wasn't as successful in the latter half of the '60s, he still had the occasional Top Ten single, including "(Yes) I'm Hurting" (1966), "Funny, Familiar, Forgotten, Feelings" (1966), "Rings of Gold" (1969), and "There's A Story (Goin' Round)" (1969). During the late '60s, he suffered from alcoholism and drug addiction, but he cleaned up in the early '70s, which led to a comeback in 1971. Switching record labels from RCA to Hickory, Gibson had a Top Ten hit with "Country Green" in 1972. The following summer, he had his last number one single, "Woman (Sensuous Woman)." He also had a series of duets with Sue Thompson between 1971 and 1976, which were all moderately successful. After two Top Ten hits in 1974 "One Day at a Time" and "Bring Back Your Love to Me" he settled into a string of minor hits that ran until 1980's "Love Fires." During the '80s and '90s, he continued to tour and perform at the Grand Ole Opry. He has been honored in the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Red Sovine Born: Woodrow Wilson Sovine July 17, 1918 in Charleston, WV Died April 4, 1980 in Nashville, TN Though he had a long, distinguished career in country music, singer/songwriter and guitarist Red Sovine is best remembered for his earnest, funny and, at times, highly sentimental odes to the life of the American trucker. Born to an impoverished family in Charleston, West Virginia, he was inspired as a child by WCHS radio musicians Buddy Starcher and Frank Welling. Sovine and his childhood friend Johnnie Bailes joined Jim Pike's Carolina Tar Heels and performed as "the Singing Sailors." It was not a particularly successful venture and Sovine later became a factory worker. He also continued to put on a local radio show while his friend Johnnie went on to form the Bailes Brothers. Bailes continued to encourage Sovine to return to music, and in the late '40s, he finally began pursuing a radio career again. He landed a job at KWKH, Shreveport, but they gave him an early morning spot and his performances went unnoticed. Frustrated, he was ready to quit the business when Hank Williams helped him get a better position at WFSA in Montgomery, Alabama, where he soon developed a large following. With Williams' help, Sovine landed a contract with MGM Records in 1949, and over the next four years he recorded 28 singles, mostly honky tonk, that didn't make much of a dent on the charts but did establish him as a solid performer. When not recording, Sovine starred on Shreveport's Louisiana Hayride. In the early '50s, Webb Pierce, one of his fellow Hayride performers, began a string of Top Ten country hits. Pierce convinced Sovine to lead his Wondering Boys band and also helped Red sign to Decca in 1954. He continued recording but had no hits until cutting a duet with Goldie Hill, "Are You Mine?," which peaked in the Top 15 in 1955. The following year, he had his first number one when he duetted with Webb Pierce on George Jones' "Why Baby Why." Also in 1956, Sovine had two other Top Five singles and started a brief stint on the Grand Ole Opry. After producing close to 50 sides with Decca by 1959, Sovine signed to Starday and began touring the club circuit as a solo act. It took him five years to produce a hit for the label with "Dream House for Sale," which reached number 22 in 1964, nearly eight years after his last hit. In 1966, Sovine at last found his niche when he recorded "Giddy-up Go," his very first spoken-word truck driver song. The single spent six weeks atop the country charts and even crossed over to become a minor pop hit. Subsequent truck-driving hits included the ghost story "Phantom 309" and the tearjerking tale of a crippled child's CB-radio relationship with caring truckers, "Teddy Bear." The latter was his biggest hit since "Giddyup Go," spending three weeks at the top of the country charts in 1976 and reaching number 40 on the pop charts. He followed "Teddy Bear" with "Little Joe," the tale of a blinded trucker and his devoted canine friend, which became his last big hit. Sovine died in 1980 as the result of suffering a heart attack while driving his van. Sandra Brennan -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Terry LaVerne Stafford Born: November 22, 1941- Hollis, OK Died: March 17,1996 - Amarillo, Texas Terry Stafford is best-known for his Top 10 1964 hit single, "Suspicion."As a friend, I will always remember him for his great talent and his easy going manner, almost to the point of being shy. He performed for me once during a Listener Appreciation Show in the mid 70's. He was scared to death, hometown audience and all you know. When I introduced him, he walked right out there like the pro he was, flashed that big smile and had 'em before he sang his first note. Never did see Terry get upset about anything. He was a true friend, one I knew I could count on for anything and, there was never an ounce of ego in the mans makeup, even when he was riding high with "Suspicion" at # 3 in the nation, with the Beatles holding down the # 1, 2, 4 & 5 positions, according to Cashbox Magazine. He was born in Hollis, Oklahoma, but was raised in Amarillo. He graduated from Palo Duro High School in 1960 and told his class mates he was leaving for California to make hit records. Those class mates who laughed at his dream were in for a big shock when "Suspicion" hit the radio stations nationwide and became a monster hit. Stafford's voice resembled Elvis Presley's, especially on "Suspicion," which was originally recorded by Presley on his 1962 album Pot Luck. After "Suspicion" peaked at number three early in 1964, he had another Top 40 hit with "I'll Touch a Star" which reached number 23 in the summer of that year. Following "I'll Touch a Star," none of Stafford's singles made the charts. In the late '60s, he turned to professional songwriting and he continued writing songs into the '80s. Two of his best-known songs are Buck Owens' "Big in Vegas" and George Strait's "Amarillo by Morning." Years before Strait cut "Amarillo By Morning," Terry recorded the song for Atlantic Records. It was the "B" side of a pop tune Terry was covering country called, "Has Anyone Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose."[cover tunes were big in the 70's]Well, I can tell you, the "A" side of that record never saw the light of day with me and my radio station in Amarillo.It got such a response, the label soon gave up on "Gypsy Rose" and promoted "Amarillo By Morning."The tune only went to # 31, but a song great enough to get the attention of George Strait later on down the line.To this very day, the song that started in 1973, is a theme song for rodeos and cowboys. Terry always loved coming back home to Amarillo to see his Mother, Father and all his friends.He madehis home in the Los Angeles area because he could find a great deal of work out there. Many young people, can't wait to be rid of their home town once they finish High School.Had the music opportunities been available in Amarillo that awaited him in Los Angeles, I know he would have never left.Getting back home, even for just a short visit, was always on his mind.He loved Amarillo, Texas. Terry did return home late summer of 1995. I had open heart surgery in January of '95. Upon his return, he called me as he always did.He was very excited about a possible deal with a record label in Dallas and said he thought he could get us both on the label if I had any interest in that. Then we talked about how much fun we could have out there doing dates together. I suggested we get together and he kept saying he was about to have some surgery to fix a problem he was having with his shoulder. We talked on a daily basis and the more we talked, I could sense there was something really bad going on with him. By the time October rolled around, mutual friends in the music business from Nashville started calling me asking about Terry's condition.He had been calling them as well, but remaining elusive about what was happening. After hanging up from a call from Terry, I told my wife Joyce, "I know there is something serious happening here and he has come home to die." I called him right back and made him admit he was in trouble health wise. Problem was, his liver was about to stop working and, he had gained an enourmous amount of weight. He wouldn't see me in person because he didn't want me to see him in that condition. By the first of March, 1996, he was hospitalized.I called for him at his Mother's house because I had not heard from him in several days. She told me he was in Intensive Care. I asked if he could have visitors and she said he probably would not know I was there. After a few days of waiting,I just drove to the hospital and found him. He was on a respirator. His eyes were closed as if sleeping and,I took his hand and spoke. He opened his eyes just a little and closed them again. I said, "Terry, I know you can't speak with that thing in your throat, but just wiggle your fingers to let Ol' Dugg know that you know, I came to see you." He did and, I laid his hand back down on the bed and had to walk away. Terry Stafford diedSunday, March 17, 1996. He was laid to rest Tuesday, March 19, 1996 in Llano Cemetery. As I sat there in the Chapel that day, I really didn't hear what the Preacher had to say. I was thinking about that shy man who was my friend for so many years and just remembering all the great times we had together. His own words kept going through my mind. "I haven't got a dime, but what I got is mine, I ain't rich, but Lord I'm free. Amarillo By Morning,Amarillo's where I'll be."- Dugg Collins -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jan Howard Born: Lula Grace Johnson March 13, 1930 in West Plains, MO During the '60s, Jan Howard was one of the hottest female vocalists in country music. Born Lula Grace Johnson in West Plains, Missouri, she moved to L.A. in 1953 and became involved with songwriter Harlan Howard, whom she married a month after they first met. Howard helped her break into country music, sending her demos to various companies. As a result she began singing demos for Tex Ritter and Johnny Bond. In 1959, using the pseudonym "Jan Howard," she recorded "Yankee Go Home." In 1960, the Howards went to Nashville; there, Jan appeared on the Prince Albert Show segment of the Grand Ole Opry. Later that year, the Howards moved to Nashville permanently, where Jan's successful duet with Wynn Stewart resulted in her first solo single, "The One You Slip Around With," which made the Top 15; her next song, another duet with Stewart, reached the Top 30. In 1962, she charted with "I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again" and issued an eponymous album. Although she didn't do well on the charts, she continued to tour extensively. Two years later her career finally caught fire. Her songs of the period reflected her troubled marriage; in 1965, she reached the Top 30 with "What Makes a Man Wander?" Later that year, Howard joined Bill Anderson's touring and television shows. In 1966, she and Anderson scored two hits with "In Know You're Married (But I Love You Still)" and "Time Out." She then scored a Top Five hit with her solo "Evil on Your Mind. " Her next hit was "Bad Seed," and towards the end of the year, she had her only number one hit with "For Loving You," a duet with Anderson. In October 1968, Howard dreamed that her eldest son had been killed in Vietnam, which turned out to be true; shortly thereafter, she released the Top 15 single "My Son." In 1971, Howard became a member of the Grand Ole Opry; two years later, her youngest son committed suicide. She joined the Johnny Cash Show and in 1977 had three minor hits, including "To Love A Rolling Stone." In 1979, she and Tammy Wynette embarked on a tour of the U.S. and Great Britain. In 1984, Howard released the album Tainted Love, followed by Life of a Country Girl Singer in 1987. The same year, she published her best-selling autobiography Sunshine and Shadow. Howard remarried in 1990 and continued to appear on the Opry. Sandra Brennan -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Faron Young The Singing Sheriff Born February 25, 1932 in Shreveport, LA Died December 10, 1996 Originally known as the "Hillbilly Heartthrob" and the "Singing Sheriff," Faron Young had one of the longest-running and most popular careers in , country music history. Emerging in the ea, rly '50s, Young was one of the most popular honky tonkers to appear in the wake of Hank Williams' death, paritially because he was able to smooth out some of the grittiest elements his music. At first, he balanced honky tonk with pop vocal phrasing and flourishes. This combination of grit and polish resulted in a streak of Top 10 hits including "If You Ain't Lovin'," "Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young," "Sweet Dreams" "Alone With You" and "Country Girl" that ran throughout the '50s. During the '60s, Young gave himself over to country-pop, and while the hits weren't quite as big, they didn't stop coming until the early '80s. Through that time, he was a staple at the Grand Ole Opry and various television shows, including Nashville Now, and he also founded the major country music magazine, Music City News. Most importantly, he continued to seek out new songwriters including Don Gibson, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson thereby cultivating a new generation of talent. Faron Young was born and raised outside of Shrevport, Louisiana. While he was growing up on his father's dairy farm, he was given a guitar, and by the time he entered high school, he had begun singing in a country band. Following high school, he briefly attended college, before he left school to join the Louisiana Hayride as a regular performer. While on the Hayride, he met Webb Pierce and in a short time, the pair were touring throughout the south, singing as a duo in various nightclubs and honky tonks. In 1951, he recorded "Have I Waited Too Long" "Tattle Tale Tears" for the independent label Gotham. After hearing the singles, Capitol Records decided to buy Young's contract away from Gotham in 1952. That same year, he was invited to perform regularly on the Grand Ole Opry. Just as his career was taking off, Young was drafted into the Army to serve in the Korean War. Assigned to the Special Service division, he sang for the troops in Asia and appeared on recruitment shows; while on leave, he recorded his debut Capitol, "Goin' Steady." Upon its early 1953 release, it climbed to number two on the country charts and it was followed in the summer by "I Can't Wait (For the Sun to Go Down)," which hit number five. Young was discharged from the Army in November of 1954, releasing "If You Ain't Lovin," his biggest hit to date, shortly after he returned. The single was quickly followed in the spring of 1955 by "Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young," which became his first number one hit, and the number two single, "All Right." As soon as he returned to the States, Faron Young began turning out singles at a very rapid pace, and most of them charted in the Top 10. In addition to recording, he began appearing in films, starting with 1955's Hidden Guns. Over the next few years, he was in no less than ten films including Daniel Boone, Road to Nashville, Stampede, A Gun and a Gavel, That's Country and,Raiders of Old California was featured in many television shows. Upon his first film appearance, Faron earned the nickname the Young Sheriff, which eventually metamorphasized into the Singing Sheriff. Young's career truly began to hit its stride in 1956, as "I've Got Five Dollars and It's Saturday Night" / "You're Still Mine" reached number four and three, respectively, during the spring, followed by the number two "Sweet Dreams" later that summer. "Sweet Dreams" not only was his biggest hit since "All Right," but it gave songwriter Don Gibson his first significant exposure. Soon, Young developed a reputation for finding promising new songwriters, bringing Roy Drusky's "Alone with You" to the top of the charts in the summer of 1958 and taking Willie Nelson's "Hello Walls" to number one in 1961; Young was one of the first artists to record a Nelson song. Young continued to record for Capitol through 1962, when he switched labels and signed with Mercury. In general, Young's Mercury recordings were more pop-oriented than his Capitol work, possibly because "Hello Walls," his last number one for Capitol, reached number 12 on the pop charts. Throughout the early and mid-'60s, Young's music became more polished and produced, yet his audience didn't decline dramatically he may not have been hitting the every top of the charts with the same frequency as he was during the '50s, but he was still a consistent hit-maker, and singles like "You'll Drive Me Back (Into Her Arms Again)," "Keeping Up with the Joneses" and "Walk Tall" climbed into the Top 10. Faron left the Grand Ole Opry in 1965, deciding that it , was more profitable for him to tour as a solo artist instead of being restricted to the Opry. Following his departure from the Opry, Young began to explore a number of different business ventures, including a Nashville-based racetrack and helping to run the country music publication Music City News, which he co-founded with Preston Temple in 1963. By the end of the decade, he began to return to honky tonk, most notably with the hit "Wine Me Up," which reached number two upon its summer 1969 release. For nearly five years, Young continued to reach the Top 10 with regularity, including such hits as "Your Time's Comin'," "If I Ever Fall in Love (With a Honky Tonk Girl), "Step Aside," and "It's Four in the Morning." During this time, Young continued to appear on television shows and he made the occasional appearance on the Grand Ole Opry. During the late '70s, his hits gradually began to fade away. In 1979, he left Mercury for MCA, but none of his singles for the new label reached the Top 40. For most of the '80s, Young performed concerts, maintained his business interests and appeared on television in short, he was acting like the country music statesman he was. In 1988, he briefly returned to recording, signing with the small label Step One, and had two minor hits on the label. After that brief burst of activity, he retreated to semi-retirement, occasionally making concert appearances. During the '90s, Young was stricken with a debilitating emphysema. Depressed by his poor health, he shot himself on December 9, 1996 and passed away the next day. Though he was under-appreciated toward the end of his career, Faron Young was a ground-breaking vocalist during the '50s, and he remains one of the finest honky tonkers of his time. Stephen Thomas Erlewine -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Louvin Brothers Formed July 4, 1940 in Knoxville, TN Disbanded 1963 Group Members: Lonnie Ira Loudermilk Born: April 21, 1924 Died: June 28, 1965 Charlie Elzer Loudermilk Born: July 7, 1927 From the close-harmony brother acts of the '30s evolved Charlie and Ira Louvin, ranking among the top duos in country music history. With Ira's incredibly high, pure tenor and Charlie's emotional and smooth melody tenor, they learned well from the Bolick brothers (the Blue Sky Boys), the Monroe Brothers, the Delmore Brothers and other major family duos of the previous generation, preserving the old-time flavor, while bringing this genre into the '50s, when country music moved to a newer sound. Whatever type of songs they recorded gospel, folk, hillbilly, or '50s pop those songs became the Louvins. Add to the list the many Louvin compositions (for example, "If I Could Only Win Your Love," Emmylou Harris' first hit), and you have an act that is outstanding in country music history. Their career took a while to get going, partly because of interruptions from WW II and the Korean War. In the early '50s, after making a reputation for unexcelled gospel singing, the Louvins broadened their repertoire, recording "The Get Acquainted Waltz" (with Chet Atkins adding another guitar to Charlie's and to Ira's mandolin), a fair hit that showed success was reachable with non-religious music. The electric guitar, with the duo's unique harmony and Ira's exceptional tenor, created a sound that fans asked for in increasing numbers. In 1955, after ten unsuccessful auditions, they finally joined the Opry, where they performed to great acclaim until 1963, when they broke up. They had a number of hits, including the much-covered "When I Stop Dreaming" and "Cash on the Barrel Head." Following the duo's breakup, Ira and Charlie both pursued solo careers. Born and raised in the Appalachian mountains in Alabama, both Charlie (born Charlie Elzer Loudermilk, July 7, 1927) and Ira (born Lonnie Ira Loudermilk, April 21, 1924; d. June 20, 1965) were attracted to the close-harmony country brother duets of the Blue Sky Boys, the Delmore Brothers, the Callahans Brothers and the Monroe Brothers when they reached their adolescence. Previously, they had sung gospel songs in church and their parents encouraged their songs to play music, despite the family's poverty. Ira began playing mandolin while Charlie picked up the guitar, and the two began harmonizing. After a while, they began performing at a small, local radio station in Chattanooga, where they frequently played on an early-morning show. The brothers' career was interrupted in the early '40s when Charlie joined the Army for a short while. While his brother was in the service, Ira played with Charlie Monroe. Once Charlie returned from the Army, the duo moved to Knoxville, Tennessee where they received a regular spot on a WROL radio show; they later moved to WNOX. Around this time, they decided to abandon their given name for Louvin, which appeared to be a better stage name. (Their cousin John D. Loudermilk retained the family name.) Following their stint in Knoxville, they moved to Memphis, where they broadcast on WMPS and cut one single for Apollo Records. After their brief stay in Memphis, they returned to Knoxville. In 1949, the Louvin Brothers recorded a single for Decca Records which failed to make much of an impact. Two years later, they signed with MGM Records and over the next year, they recorded 12 songs. Shortly after their MGM sessions were finished, Charlie and Ira moved back to Memphis, where the worked as postal clerks while playing concerts and radio shows at night. Eventually, they earned the attention of Acuff-Rose who signed the duo to a publishing contract. Fred Rose, the owner of the publishing house, helped the duo sign a contract with Capitol Records. The Louvins' debut single for the label, "The Family Who Prays," was a moderate success (it would later become a gospel standard), yet they were unable to capitalize on its success because Charlie was recalled by the Army to serve in the Korean War. Upon Charlie's discharge from the Army, the Louvins relocated to Birmingham, where they planned to restart their career through appearances on the radio station WOVK. However, a duo called Rebe and Rabe had already carved out a close-harmony niche in the area, using several of the Louvins' own songs. When Charlie and Ira were reaching a point of despe, ration, Capitol's Ken Nelson was able to convince the Grand Ole Opry to hire the duo. Prior to joining the Opry, the duo had been marketed as a gospel artist, but they began singing secular material as soon as they landed a slot on the show, primarily because a tobacco company sponsoring its broadcast told the Opry and the Louvins "you can' sell tobacco with gospel music." While they didn't abandon gospel, the brothers began writing and performing secular material again, starting with "When I Stop Dreaming." The single became a Top Ten hit upon its release in the fall of 1955 and it would eventually become a country standard. It was followed shortly afterward by "I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby," which spent two weeks at number one early in 1956. No less than three of the duo's other singles "Hoping That You're Hoping," "You're Running Wild," "Cash on the Barrel Head" reached the Top Ten that year, and they also released the albums Tragic Songs of Life and Nearer My God to Thee. The Louvins' success in 1956 was particularly impressive when considering that rock & roll was breaking big that year, sapping the sales of many established country artists. However, the Louvins weren't able to escape being hurt by rock & roll. They had two relatively big hits in 1957, "Don't Laugh" and "Plenty of Everything But You," "My Baby's Gone" reached the Top Ten in late 1958, and their classic version of the traditional ballad "Knoxville Girl" was a moderate hit in early 1959, but those were those four hit singles arrived in the space of three years; they charted four songs in 1956 alone. , , , , , , ,, ,, , ,,, , , , , , , , So,, , on, the Louvins were receiving pressure from Capitol to update their sound. They tried to cut a couple of rockabilly numbers, but they were quite unsuccessful. Eventually, Ken Nelson suggested that the duo abandon the mandolin in order to appeal to the same audience as the Everly Brothers. The Louvins didn't accept his advice, but the remark did considerable damange to Ira's ego and he began to sink into alcoholism. The Louvin Brothers continued to record during the early '60s, turning out a number of theme albums including tributes to the Delmore Brothers and Roy Acuff, as well as gospel records like Satan is Real as well as singles. "I Love You Best of All" and "How's the World Treating You" reached numbers 12 and 26 respectively in 1961, the first year they had two hit singles since 1957. However, the duo began fighting frequently, and Ira's alcoholism worsened. Following one last hit single, "Must You Throw Dirt in My Face," in the fall of 1962, the duo decided to disband in the summer of 1963. Charlie and Ira both launched solo careers on Capitol Records shortly after the breakup. Charlie was the more successful of the two, with his debut single "I Don't Love You Anymore" reaching number four upon its summer release in 1964. For the next decade, he racked up a total of 30 hit singles, though most of the records didn't make the Top 40. Ira's luck wasn't as good as his brother's. Shortly after the Louvins disbanded, he had a raging, alcohol-fueled argument with his third wife Faye that resulted in a shooting that nearly killed him. He continued to perform afterward, singing with his fourth wife Anne Young. The duo were performing a week of concerts in Kansas City in June of 1965 when they were both killed in a car crash in Williamsburg, Missouri. After his death, his single "Yodel, Sweet Molly" became a moderate hit. The Louvin Brothers' reputation continued to grow in the decades following their breakup, as their harmonies and hard-driving take on traditional country provided the blueprint for many generations of country and rock musicians. The Everly Brothers were clearly influenced by the duo, while country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons drew heavily from the Louvins' deep catalog of classic songs, recording "The Christian Life" with the Byrds and "Cash on the Barrelhead" as a solo artist. They have now taken their rightful place in the Country Music of Hall of Fame. The Louvin Brothers and their music is truly legendary. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Norma Jean Born Norma Jean Beaser Born January 30, 1938 in Wellston, OK Singer Norma Jean remains best remembered as Porter Wagoner's partner before he was paired with Dolly Parton; she was also known for her many songs about the joys and tribulations of being a blue-collar worker. Norma Jean Beasler was no stranger to poverty herself, born into a hard-working but poor family on a farm near Wellston, Oklahoma. As a child, she wanted to be a country star like Kitty Wells, whom she tried to emulate. She made her professional debut singing "If Teardrops Were Pennies" at age 12 on the radio in Oklahoma City. In high school, she toured with a few Western swing bands, including those of Billy Gray and Merle Lindsay. Her big break came in 1958 when she became a cast member of the Springfield, Missouri-based ABC-TV show Ozark Jubilee, where Red Foley suggested shortening her name to "Norma Jean." The young singer hit Nashville in 1960, where she became a back-up vocalist for Porter Wagoner's touring and television shows, leading to a contract with RCA Victor. She had her first chart single, "Let's Go All the Way," in 1964; the song made the Top 15 and was followed by the Top 25 hit "I'm a Walkin' Advertisement (F, or the Blues)." That year she had her first Top 10 single, "Go Cat Go," which stayed on the country charts for four months and became a minor pop hit as well. Her chart success continued through the mid-'60s with songs such as "I Wouldn't Buy a Used Car from Him" and "The Game of Triangles" (both 1965). On television, Norma Jean presented a wholesome image at odds with her hurtin' and cheatin' songs, yet in her personal life, both images were accurate. Around the mid-'60s, she became romantically involved with her mentor Wagoner, who was separated from his wife at the time. The affair led her to leave Wagoner's organization, although she continued to appear on the Grand Ole Opry and recorded more singles for RCA. In 1967 she had two Top 30 hits, "Don't Let that Doorknob Hit You" and "Heaven Help the Working Girl," an early feminist song. In the late '60s, Norma Jean returned to Oklahoma after marrying Jody Taylor; she had her last chart hit in 1971 with "The Kind of Needin' I Need." She continued to record occasionally on independent labels, and in 1982, she and Claude Gray teamed for a minor hit with a remake of "Let's Go All the Way." Sandra Brennan -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- James O'Gwynn The Smiling Irishman of Country Music Born Jan 26, 1928 in Winchester, MS "The Smilin' Irishman of Country Music," James O'Gwynn was briefly popular between the late '50s and the early '60s. He was born a Mississippi farmboy and raised near Hattiesburg, the son of a mechanic and a talented musician. He learned the guitar as a child from his mother, and his earliest influences were Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams. He dropped out of grade school to help out at his father's business and later served as a U.S. Marine for four years. During his tour of duty, he decided to become a country singer. He made his debut appearance during a campaign rally for a gubernatorial candidate while on leave. The candidate suggested O'Gwynn contact Houston deejay Hal Harris, who in turn introduced the young soldier to Biff Collie, the producer and host of Houston Jamboree. O'Gwynn joined the show in 1954, as did George Jones. Eventually he hooked up with renowned producer Pappy Dailey and in 1956 recorded "Losing Game." O'Gwynn joined the Louisiana Hayride and released two more singles the following year. In 1958, he signed with Dailey's D label, where he finally found chart success with such songs as the Top Ten "Talk to Me Lonesome Heart" and "Blue Memories," which peaked in the Top 30. In 1959, O'Gwynn released two more hit singles, and, with the help of Jim Reeves, debuted on the Grand Ole Opry. He moved to Nashville in 1961 and appeared on the Opry for the next two years. During this time, he scored two more minor hits, including "House of Blue Lovers," and "My Name is Mud," which went to # 7 nationally in 1962,his last chart appearance. During the 1960s, O'Gwynn worked with different major and independent labels, but to no avail; by the end of the decade, he had moved to Arkansas and gone into semi-retirement. In 1971, O'Gwynn tried a comeback, with no success. Sandra Brennan -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Justin Tubb Born Aug 20, 1935 in San Antonio, TX Died January 24, 1998 A fixture on the Grand Ole Opry, singer/songwriter Justin Tubb, the eldest son of the legendary Ernest Tubb, had a style all his own; but for one duet version of "Blue Eyed Elaine" on his 1985 album The Legend and Legacy, he always recorded independently of his famous father. Justin was born in San Antonio, Texas and spent most of his life in the Lone Star State with his mother Elaine, who separated from Ernest in 1948. He got his professional start in local clubs during college, and eventually moved to Nashville. At his father's suggestion, Tubb got a job working as a deejay in Gallatin, Tennessee, where he occasionally performed some of the songs he had written, and made his recording debut in 1953 with "Ooh-La-La." Throughout the 1950s, Tubb recorded steadily, but had only moderate success with his solo efforts. He did a little better singing novelty duets with Goldie Hill; in 1954, they reached the Top Five with their version of Jim Ed and Maxine Brown's "Looking Back to See," followed with the Top 15 "Sure Fire Kisses." In 1955, he joined the Opry, and in 1956, he had his first solo success with the Top Ten hit "I Gotta Go Get My Baby." Tubb signed to Starday in the early '60s, released a few albums, and toured so much that he was temporarily dropped from the Opry for not appearing often enough. After 1963, he signed with RCA and released two duets with Lorene Mann, including "We've Gone Too Far Again." He had one more minor hit with "But Wait There's More," his last chart appearance. He continued to record, tour and appear on the Opry through the '70s. He also continued to write songs, and his "Lonesome 7-7203" was a number one hit for Hawkshaw Hawkins while "Be Glad" became a major hit for Del Reeves. Additionally, his "What's Wrong with the Way We're Doing It Now" became a popular song with fans of the traditional country sound. Tubb also wrote and recorded songs paying tribute to his father, including "Thanks, Troubadour, Thanks" and "Just You and Me, Daddy." He died January 24, 1998. Sandra Brennan -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MARVIN RAINWATER Given Name - Marvin Karlton Percy Born - July 2, 1925 Wichita, Kansas Marvin Rainwater's star rose on the the launching pad of Arthur Godfrey's talent scout show in 1995. Four years as a regular on Red Foley's Ozark Jubilee as well as shows such as Ed Sullivan, Dick Clark, Porter Wagoner and Sunday Night at the Palladium in London insures recognition wherever he goes. He looks and sounds as if he had stepped out of one of Jack London's adventure stories. He is a big man with craggy good looks of his Cherokee ancestors. The songs he sings range from lusty to just plain touching. Several years in the entertainment field, from honky-tonk bars to TV and the London Palladium has given Rainwater a backlog of stories and anecdotes that are highly entertaining. He's appeared on Ed Sullivan's Sunday night saga, was featured on Dick Clark's network TV offering and was a regular on Red Foley's Ozark Jubilee for four years. Marvin's rugged brand of musical feeling stems from a deep desire to communicate the meaning of a song, rather than exercise the simple process of hitting notes and reciting lyrics. This attitude is also evident in his approach to the songs he writes. The words are symbolic of a definite feeling and the music matches the mood. His "Whole Lotta Woman" was number one in England for six weeks, and a big hit throughout Europe and Africa for an even longer time. One of his best known numbers is "Gonna Find Me A Bluebird." This still brings a rousing round of applause from the audience wherever he sings it. Versatility is Marvin's middle name. He has played in parks on stages, at County and State fairs, in dance halls, conventions and night clubs from coast to coast. The ability to adapt to the moods of an audience, is in many cases, the difference between a Happy Crowd and a Bored Crowd. The constant desire to please people coupled with his consistent ability to draw crowds is the reason Marvin Rainwater continually makes money for promoters around the world. Besides his own hits such as "Bluebird", "Whole Lotta Woman", "Running Bear", "Half Breed," Moaning The Blues", "My Brand Of Blues," "The Albino", Pink Eyed Stallion," Henryetta, and City of Angels," Marvin has written many best selling songs for other artists such as "Be Good To Her", for Carl Smith, "I Gotta Find Me A Bluebird." Marvin's song "Whole Lotta Woman" was sung by Vanessa Redgrave in the Academy Award Winning Movie "Georgie Girl." He also penned the hit "I Miss You Already" for Faron Young and Billy Joe Royal has currently taken that same song into the Billboard Charts for over 28 exciting weeks! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Carl Perkins-Mister Rock-A-Billy Carl Lee Perkins Born April 9, 1932 in Tiptonville, TN Died January 19, 1998 While some ill-informed revisionist writers of rock history would like to dismiss Carl Perkins as a rockabilly artist who became a one hit wonder at the dawn of rock & roll's early years, a deeper look at his music and career reveals much more. A quick look at his songwriting portfolio shows that he has composed "Daddy Sang Bass" for Johnny Cash, "I Was So Wrong" ,,f, or Patsy Cline, and "Let Me Tell You About Love" for the Judds, big hits and classics all. His influence as the quintessential rockabilly artist has played a big pa,,, rt in the development of every generation of rocker to come down the pike since, from the Beatles' George Harrison to the Stray Cats' Brian Setzer to a myriad of others in the country field as well. His guitar style is the other twin peak along with that of Elvis' lead man Scotty Moore of rockabilly's instrumental center, so pervasive that modern day players automatically gravitate toward it when called upon to deliver the style, not even realizing that they're playing Carl Perkins licks, sometimes note for note. As a singer, his interpretation of country ballads is every bit as fine as his better known rockers. And within the framework of the best of his music is a strong sense of family and roots, all of which trace straight back to Carl's humble beginnings. He was born to sharecroppers Buck and Louise Perkins (misspelled on his birth certificate as 'Perkings') and was soon out in the fields picking cotton and living in a one country shack with his parents, older brother Jay , and his younger brother Clayton. Working alongside Blacks in the field every day, it's not at all surprising that when Carl was gifted with a second hand guitar, he went to a local sharecropper for lessons, learning first hand the boogie rhythm that he would later build a career on. By his teens, Carl was playing electric guitar and had recruited his brothers Jay on rhythm guitar and Clayton on string bass to become his first band. The Perkins Brothers Band, featuring both Carl and Jay on lead vocals, quickly established themselves as the hottest band in the get hot or go home cutthroat Jackson, Tennessee honky tonk circuit. It was here that Carl started composing his first songs with an eye toward the future. Watching the dance floor at all times for a reaction, Perkins kept reshaping these loosely structured songs until he had a completed composition, which would then be finally put to paper. Carl was already sending demos to New York record companies, who kept rejecting him, sometimes explaining that this strange new hybrid of country with a Black rhythm fit no current commercial trend. But once Perkins heard Elvis on the radio, he not only knew what to call it, but knew that there was a record company person who finally understood it and was also willing to gamble in promoting it. That man was Sam Phillips and the record company was Sun Records, and that's exactly where Carl headed in 1954 to get an audition. It was here at his first Sun audition that the structure of the Perkins Brothers Band changed forever. Phillips didn't show the least bit of interest in Jay's Ernest Tubb-styled vocals, but flipped over Carl's singing and guitar playing. A scant four months later, he had issued the first Carl Perkins record, "Movie Magg" and "Turn Around," both sides written by the artist. By his second session, he had added W.S. Holland a friend of Clayton's to the band playing drums, a relatively new innovation to country music at the time. Phillips was still channeling Perkins in a strictly hillbilly vein, feeling that two artists doing the same type of music (in this case, Elvis and rockabilly) would cancel each other out. But after selling Elvis' contract to RCA Victor in December, Carl was encouraged to finally let his rocking soul come up for air at his next Sun session. And rock he did with a double whammy blast that proved to be his ticket to the bigs. The chance overhearing of a conversation at a dance one night between two teenagers coupled with a song idea suggestion from label mate Johnny Cash, inspired Perkins to approach Sam with a new song he had written called "Blue Suede Shoes." After cutting two sides that Phillips planned on releasing as a single by the Perkins Brothers Band, Carl laid down three takes each of "Blue Suede Shoes" and another rocker, "Honey Don't." A month later, Sam decides to shelve the two country sides and go with the rockers as Carl's next single. Three months later, "Blue Suede Shoes," a tune that borrowed stylistically from pop, country and R&B music, is sitting at the top of all charts, the first record to accomplish such a feat while becoming Sun's first million seller in the bargain. Ready to cash in on a national basis, Carl and the boys headed up to New York for the first time to appear on the Perry Como Show. While enroute their car rammed the back of a poultry truck, putting Carl and his brother Jay in the hospital with a cracked skull and broken neck, respectively. While in traction, Perkins saw Presley performing h, is song on the Dorsey Brother Stage Show, his moment of fame and recognition snatched away from him. Carl shrugged his shoulders and went back to the road and the Sun studios, trying to pick up where he left off. The follow-ups to "Shoes" were, in many ways, superior to his initial hit, but each succeeding Sun single held diminishing sales and it wasn't until the British Invasion and the subsequent rockabilly revival of the early '70s that the general public got to truly savor classics like "Boppin' the Blues," "Matchbox," "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby," "Your True Love," "Dixie Fried," "Put Your Cat Clothes On," and "All Mama's Children." While labelmates Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis (who played piano on "Matchbox") were scoring hit after hit, Carl was becoming disillusioned with his fate, fueled by his increasing dependence on alcohol and the death of brother Jay to cancer. He kept plugging along and when Johnny Cash left Sun to go to Columbia in 1958, Perkins followed him over. The royalty rate was better, and Carl had no shortage of great songs to record, but Columbia's Nashville watch the clock production methods killed any of the spontaneity that was the charm of the Sun records. By the early '60s, after being dropped by Columbia and moving over to Decca with little success, Carl was back playing the honky tonks and contemplating getting out of the business altogether. A call from a booking agent in 1964 offering a tour of England changed all of that. Temporarily swearing off the bottle, Perkins was greeted in Britain as a conquering hero, playing to sold out audiences and being particularly lauded by a young beat group on the top of the charts named the Beatles. George Harrison had cut his musical teeth on Carl's Sun recordings (as had most British guitarists) and the Fab Four ended up recording more tunes by him than any other artist except themselves. The British tour not only rejuvenated his outlook, but suddenly made him realize that he had gone through no maneuvering of his own from has been to legend in a country he had never played in before. Upon his return to the States, he hooked up with old friend and former labelmate Johnny Cash and was a regular fixture of his road show for the next ten years, bringing his battle with alcohol to an end. The '80s dawned with Perkins going on his own with a new band consisting of his sons backing him. His election to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in the mid-'80s was no less than his due. After a long battle with throat cancer, Perkins died in early 1998, his place in the history books assured. Cub Koda -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dolly Parton-International Superstar Born - Dolly Rebecca Parton Jan 19, 1946 in Locust Ridge, TN It's difficult to find a country performer who has moved from country roots to international fame more successfully than Dolly Parton. Her autobiographical single "Coat of Many Colors" shows the poverty of growing up one of 12 children on a run-down farm in Locust Ridge, Tennessee. At 12 years old she was appearing on Knoxville television; at 13 she was recording on a small label and appearing on the Grand Ole Opry. Her 1967 hit "Dumb Blonde" (and she's not) caught Porter Wagoner's ear, and he hired Parton to appear on his television show, where their duet numbers became famous. By the time her "Joshua" reached #1 in 1970, Parton's fame had overshadowed the boss's, and she had struck out on her own, though still recording duets with him. During the mid-'70s, she established herself as a country superstar, crossing over into the pop mainstream in the early '80s, when she smoothed out the rough edges in her music and began singing pop as well as country. In the early '80s, she also began appearing in movies, most notably the hit 9 to 5. Though her savvy marketing, image manipulation her big, dumb blonde stage persona is an act extracurricular forays into film, and her flirtations with country-pop have occasionally overshadowed her music, at her core Dolly Parton is a country gal and a tremendously gifted singer/songwriter. Among her classics are "Coat of Many Colors," "Jolene," "Kentucky Gambler," "I Will Always Love You," "But You Known I Love You" and "Tennessee Homesick Blues," and they give a hint to why her contribution to bringing country music to a wide audience, not only in America but throughout the world, cannot be underestimated. The fourth of 12 children, Dolly Parton was born and raised in Locust Ridge, Tennessee, just next to the Smoky Mountains National Forest. Parton's family struggled to survive throughout Dolly's childhood and often she was ridiculed for her poverty, yet often music soothed their worries. Though her farming father did not play, her half-Cherokee mother played guitar and her grandfather, the Rev. Jake Owens, was a fiddler and songwriter (his "Singing His Praise" was recorded by Kitty Wells). When she was seven, her uncle Bill Owens gave her a guitar and within three years she became a regular on WIVK Knoxville's The Cas Walker Farm and Home Hour. Over the next two years, her career steadily increased, and in 1959 she made her debut on the Grand Ole Opry; the following year, she recorded her first single, "Puppy Love," for Goldband. When she was 14 years old, Dolly Parton signed to Mercury Records but her 1962 debut for the label, "It's Sure Gonna Hurt," was a bomb and the label immediately dropped her. Over the next five years, she shopped for a new contract and did indeed record a number of songs, which were later reissued through budget-line records. She continued to attend high school, playing snare drum , in the marching band. After she graduated, she moved to Nashville where she stayed with Bill Owens. Both songwriters pitched songs across Nashville to no success, and Dolly began singing on demos. Early in 1965, both Parton and Owens finally found work when Fred Foster signed him to his publishing house, Combine Music; Foster subsequently signed her to Monument Records. Dolly's first records for Monument were marketed to pop audiences and her second record, "Happy, Happy Birthday Baby," nearly made the charts. In 1966, Bill Phillips took two of Partons' and Owens' songs "Put It Off Until Tomorrow" and "The Company You Keep" to the Top Ten, setting the stage for Dolly's breakthrough single, "Dumb Blonde." Released early in 1967, the record climbed to number 24, followed shortly afterward by the number 17 "Something Fishy." The two hit Monument singles attracted the attention of country star Porter Wagoner, who was looking to hire a new female singer for his syndicated television show. Parton accepted the offer and began appearing on the show on September 5, 1967. Initially, Porter's audience were reluctant to warm to Dolly and chanted for Norma Jean, the singer she replaced, but with Wagoner's assistance, she was accepted. Wagoner convinced his label, RCA, to also sign Dolly Parton. Since female performers were not particularly popular in the late '60s, the label decided to protect their investment by releasing her first single as a duet with Porter. The duo's first single, "The Last Thing on My Mind," reached the country Top Ten early in 1968, launching a six-year streak of virtually uninterrupted Top Ten singles. Parton's first solo single, "Just Because I'm a Woman," was released in the summer of 1968 and it was a moderate hit, reaching number 17. For the remainder of the decade, none of her solo efforts even "In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad)," which would later become a standard were as successful as her duets. The duo was named Vocal Group of the Year in 1968 by the Country Music Association, but Parton's solo records were continually ignored. Porter and Dolly were both frustrated by her lack of solo success, because he had a significant financial stake in her future as of 1969, he was her co-producer and owned nearly half of publishing company, Owepar. By 1970, both Parton and Wagoner had grown frustrated by her lack of solo success, and Porter had her sing Jimmie Rodgers' "Mule Skinner Blues (Blue Yodel No. 8)," a gimmick that worked. The record shot to number three on the charts, followed closely by her first number one single, "Joshua." For the next two years, she had a number of solo hits including her signature song "Coat of Many Colors" (#4, 1971) in addition to her duets. Though she had successful singles, none of them were blockbusters until "Jolene" reached number one in early 1974. Dolly stopped tr, avelling with Porter after its release, yet she continued to appear on television and sing duets with him until 1976. Once she left Wagoner, Parton's records became more eclectic and diverse, ranging from the ballad "I Will Always Love You" (#1, 1974) and the racy "The Bargain Store" (#1, 1975) to the crossover pop of "Here You Come Again" (#1, 1977) and the disco experiments of "Baby I'm Burning" (#25 pop, 1978). From 1974 to 1980, she consistently charted in the country Top Ten, with no less than eight singles reaching number one. Parton had her own syndicated television show, Dolly, in 1976 and by the next year, she had gained the right to produce her own albums, which immediately resulted in diverse efforts like 1977's New Harvest, First Gathering. In addition to have her own hits during the late '70s, many artists, from Rose Maddox and Kitty Wells to Olivia Newton-John, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt, covered her songs and her siblings Randy and Stella received recording contracts of their own. Though she was quite popular, Dolly Parton became a genuine superstar in 1977, when the Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil song "Here You Come Again" became a huge crossover hit, reaching number three on the pop charts, spending five weeks at the top of the country charts and going gold. Its accompanying album went platinum and the followup, Heartbreaker, went gold. Soon, she was on the cover of country and mainstream publications alike. With the new financial windfall, a lawsuit against Porter Wagoner who had received a significant portion of her royalties ensued. By the time it was settled, she regained her copyrights while Wagoner was given a nominal fee and the studio the duo shared. In the wake of the lawsuit, a delayed duet album, Making Plans, appeared in 1980; its title track hit number two on the country charts. Parton's commercial success continued to grow during 1980, as she had three number one hits in a row: the Donna Summer-written "Starting Over Again," "Old Flames Can't Hold a Candle to You," and "9 to 5." The latter was the theme song to Dolly's acting debut, 9 to 5. Also starring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, the movie became a huge success, establishing Parton as a movie star. The song became her first number one pop single, as well. 9 to 5 gave Parton's career momentum that lasted throughout the early '80s. She began appearing more films, including the Burt Reynolds musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) and the Sylvester Stallone comedy Rhinestone (1984). Dolly's singles continued to appear consistently in th, e country Top Ten: between 1981 and 1985, she had 12 Top Ten hits and half of those were number one singles. Parton continued to make inroads on the pop charts, as well, with a re-recorded version of "I Will Always Love You" from The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas scraping the Top 50 and her Kenny Rogers duet "Islands in the Stream" (which was written by the Bee Gees and produced by Barry Gibb) spending two weeks at number one. However, by 1985 many old-time fans had felt that Dolly was spending too much time courting the mainstream. Most of her albums were dominated by the adult-contemporary pop of songs like "Islands in the Stream" and it had been years since she had sang straightforward country. She also continued to explore new business and entertainment ventures, such as her Dollywood theme park which opened in 1985. Despite these misgivings, she had continued to chart well untl 1986, when none of her singles reached the Top Ten. RCA Records didn't renew her contract after it expired that year, and she signed with Columbia in 1987. Before she released her Columbia debut, Parton joined forces with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris to record the rootsy Trio album. Trio became a huge hit, earning both critical and popular acclaim, selling over a million copies and peaking at number six on the pop charts; it also spawned three Top Ten country singles: "To Know Him Is to Love Him," "Telling Me Lies" and "Those Memories of You." Following the success of the album, she had a weekly variety television show, Dolly, on ABC which lasted only one season. Trio also provided a perfect launching pad for her first Columbia album, 1989's White Limozeen, which produced two number one hits in "Why'd You Come in Here Lookin' like That" and "Yellow Roses." Though it looked like Dolly Parton's career had been revived, it was actually just a brief revival before contemporary country came along in the early '90s and pushed all veteran artists out of the charts. Dolly had a number one duet with Ricky Van Shelton, "Rockin' Years," in 1991, but after that single, she slowly crept out of the Top Ten and later the Top 40. Parton was one of the most outspoken critics of radio's treatment of older stars. While her sales had declined, she didn't disappear. Despite her lack of sales, Dolly remained an iconic figure in country music, appearing in films (the 1991 TV-movie Wild Texas Wind, 1992's Straight Talk), selling out concerts and releasing a series of acclaimed albums including 1993's Honky Tonk Angels, a collaboration with Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn that all sold respectably. Furthermore, "I Will Always Love You" was covered in 1992 by Whitney Houston, who took it to number one on the pop charts; the single spent 14 weeks at number one, becoming the biggest pop hit of the rock & roll era (it was unseated four years later by Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men's "One Sweet Day"). In 1994, she published her autobiography My Life and Other Unfinished Business. Treasures, her 1996 album, was a praised collection of unusual covers, ranging from Merle Haggard to Neil Young. Hungry Again followed in 1998, and early the following year she reunited with Ronstadt and Harris for a second Trio collection in addition to releasing the solo The Grass Is Blue. A solo effort Little Sparrow was issued in early 2001. David Vinopal -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ray Price Cherokee Cowboy Born January 12, 1926 in Perryville, TX Ray Price has covered and kicked up as much musical turf as any country singer of the postwar era. He's been lionized as the man who saved hard country when Nashville went pop, and vilified as the man who went pop when hard country was starting to call its own name with pride. Actually, he was and still is no more than a musically ambitious singer, always looking for the next challenge for a voice that could bring down roadhouse walls. Circa 1949, Price cut his first record for Bullet at the Famous Jim Beck in Dallas. In 1951, he was picked up by Columbia, the label for which he would record for more than twenty years. After knocking around in Lefty Frizzell's camp for six months or so (his first Columbia single was a Frizzell composition) Price befriended Hank Williams. The connection brought him to the Opry and profoundly effected his singing style. After Hank died, Price starting stretching out more as a singer and arranger. His experimentation culminated in the 4/4-bass driven "Crazy Arms," the country song of the year for 1956. The intensely rhythmic sound he discovered with "Crazy Arms" would dominate his and much of country in general's music for the next six years. To this day, people in Nashville refer to a 4/4 country shuffle as the "Ray Price beat." Heavy on fiddle, steel, and high tenor harmony, his country work from the late '50s is as lively as the rock & roll of the same era. Price tired of that sound, however, and started messing around with strings. His lush 1967 version of "Danny Boy," and his 1970 take on Kris Kristofferson's "For the Good Times," were, in their crossover way, landmark records. But few of his old fans appreciated the fact. In the three decades following "For the Good Times," Price's career was often an awkward balancing act in which twin Texas fiddles are weighed against orchestras. Born in tiny Perryville, Texas, Price spent most of his youth in Dallas. It was there where he learned how to play guitar and sing. Following his high-school graduation, he studied veterinary medicine at North Texas Agricultural College in Abilene before he left school to join the Marines in 1942. Price stayed in the service throughout World War II, returing to Texas in 1946. After leaving the Marines, he initially returned to college, yet he began to perform at local clubs and honky tonks, as well as on the local radio station KRBC, where he was dubbed the Cherokee Cowboy. Three years later, he was invited to join the Dallas-based The Big D Jamboree, which convinced him to make music his full-time career. Shortly after joining The Big D Jamboree, the show began to be televised by CBS, which helped him release a single, "Your Wedding Corsage" / "Jealous Lies," on the independent Dallas label Bullet. Price moved to Nashville to pursue a major-label record contract in 1951. After auditioning and failing several time, Ray finally signed to Columbia Records, after A&R representative Troy Martin convinced the label's chief executive Don Law that Decca was prepared to give the singer a contract. Previously, Law was uninterested , in Price he turned him down 20 times and threatened Martin never to mention his name again but he was unprepared to give a rival company a chance at the vocalist. Just before "Talk to Your Heart" became a number three hit for Price in the spring of 1952, Ray met his idol, Hank Williams, who immediately became a close friend. Over the next year, Hank performed a number of favors for Price, including giving him "Weary Blues" to record and helping him join the Grand Ole Opry. Ray also became the permanent substitute for Hank whenever he was missing or too drunk to perform. Following Williams' death in 1953, Price inherited the Drifting Cowboys. Following the success of "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes" in the fall of 1952, Price was quiet for much of 1953. It wasn't until 1954 that he returned to the charts with "I'll Be There (If You Ever Want Me)," a number two hit which kicked off a successful year for Price that also included the Top Ten singles "Release Me" and "If You Don't, Somebody Else Will." Instead of capitalzing on that success, he disappeared from the charts during 1955, as he spent the year forming the Cherokee Cowboys. Over the course of the past two years, he had realized that performing with the Drifting Cowboys had made him sound too similar to Hank Williams, so he decided to form his own group. Originally, most of the members were lifted from Lefty Frizzell's Western Cherokees, but over the years a number of gifted musicians began their careers in this band, including Roger Miller, Johnny Paycheck, Buddy Emmons, Johnny Bush and Willie Nelson. Ray returned to the charts in 1956, first with "Run Boy" and then with "Crazy Arms," a driving honky tonk number that immediately became a country classics. The song was one of the first country records to be recorded with a drum kit, which gave it a relentless, pulsating rhythm. Until Price, most country artists were reluctant to use drums and the instrument was even banned from the stage of the Grand Ole Opry. The blockbuster status of the single helped change that situation. Spending an astonishing 20 weeks at the top of the country charts, "Crazy Arms" not only crossed over into the lower reaches of the pop charts, but it also established Price as a star. After the success of the single, he remained at or near the top of the charts for the next ten years, racking up 23 Top Ten singles between the 1956 and 1966. During this time, he recorded a remarkable number of country classics, including "I've Got a New Heartache" (#2, 1956), "My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You" (#1, 1957), "Make the World Go Away" (#2, 1963) and "City Lights," which spent 13 weeks at the top of the charts in 1958. The momentum of Price's career had slowed somewhat by the mid-'60s; though he was still having hits, they weren't as frequent nor as big. His musical inclinations were also shifting, bringing him closer to the crooning styles of traditional pop singers. Ray abandoned the cowboy suits and brought in strings to accompany him, making him one of the first to explore the smooth, orchestrated sounds of late '60s and early '70s country-pop. While it alienated some hardcore honky tonk fans, the change in approach resulted in another round of Top Ten hits. However, it took a little while for the country audience to warm to this new sound it wasn't until 1970, when his cover of Kris Kristofferson's "For the Good Times" hit number one, that he returned to the top of the charts. Over the next three years, he scored an additional three number one singles ("I Won't Mention It Again," "She's Got to Be a Saint," "You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me"). By the mid-'70s, the appeal of his string-laden country-pop hits had diminished, and he spent the rest of the decade struggling to get into the charts. In 1974, he left his long-time home of Columbia Records to sign to Myrrh, where he had two Top Ten hits over the next year. By the end of 1975, he had left the label, signing to ABC/Dot. Though he hadn't changed his style, his records became less popular around the same time he signed to ABC/Dot; only 1977's "Mansion on the Hill" gained much attention. In 1978, he switched labels again, signing with Monument, which proved to be another unsuccessful venture. In 1980, Price reunited with his old bassist Willie Nelson, recording the duet album San Antonio Rose, which was a major success, spawning the number three hit "Faded Love." San Antonio Rose reignited Ray's career, and in 1981 he had two Top Ten singles "It Don't Hurt Me Half as Bad," "Diamonds in the Stars" for his new label, Dimension. Price left Dimension in 1983, signing with Warner Records. He remained at the label for one year, and by that time, his new spell of popularity had cooled down considerably; now, he was having trouble reaching the Top 40. That situation didn't remedy itself for the remainder of the decade, even though he signed with two new labels: Viva (1983-1984) and Step One (1985-1989). By the late '80s, Ray Price had stopped concentrating on recording and had turned his efforts toward a theater he owned in Branson, Missouri. For most of the '90s, he sang and performed at his theater in Branson, occasionally stopping to record. Of all of his '90s records, the most notable was the 1992 album Sometimes a Rose, which was produced by Norro Wilson. Ray is still touring and has a great new CD out on Audium Records called "Time." He's singing better than ever before and has no plans to retire. Dan Cooper -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Owen Bradley Born October 21, 1915 in Westmoreland, Tennessee Died January 7, 1998 in Nashville, Tennessee One of the architects of the Nashville Sound, Owen Bradley was one of the most influential country music producers of the '50s and '60s. Along with his contemporary Chet Atkins, Bradley helped country music move away from its rootsy origins to a more accessible, radio-radio format by blending pop production and songwriting techniques with country. Bradley's country-pop productions relied on non-traditional country instruments like light, easy-listening piano, backup vocals and strings, using steel guitars and fiddles as flourishes instead of a foundation. This smooth production style helped make Patsy Cline and Brenda Lee into stars during the '50s, and its success often overshadowed Bradley's other musical contributions. Owen wasn't just capable of the lush, detailed Nashville Sound he could also produce bluegrass by Bill Monroe, or hardcore honky tonk by Ernest Tubb and Loretta Lynn. In addition to producing, Bradley was the Vice President of Decca Records' Nashville Division, and in that position he was able to produce a huge variety of artists, including Conway Twitty, Kitty Wells, and Webb Pierce. With his work in country-pop, honky tonk and bluegrass, Bradley left behind a large legacy that proved vastly influential on contemporary country music. Born outside of Westmoreland, Tennessee and raised in Nashville, Owen Bradley began playing piano professionally when he was a teenager, playing in local juke joints, clubs and roadhouses. When he turned 20, he began working at WSM radio, and within five years he had established himself as an integral part of the station. In 1940, he was hired full-time by WSM, working as an arranger and instrumentalist. Two years later, he was made the station's Musical Director, and started playing regularly on the programs Noontime Neighbors and Sunday Down South. During this time, Bradley was also leading his own dance band, which played parties throughout Nashville's high society. The group stayed together until 1964. Bradley began working for Decca Records in 1947 as an assistant to producer Paul Cohen. By working at Cohen's side, Bradley learned to produce, and assisted in making records by Ernest Tubb and Red Foley, among many others. Eventually, Owen began producing records by himself, whenever his mentor couldn't travel to Nashville from New York. Owen and his brother Harold opened a film studio in 1951, moving it, s location to Hillsboro Village within a year. It stayed there for two years, before it was moved again, this time to a house on 16th Avenue South with a Quonset hut attached to the main building. The Quonset Hut was converted into a studio in 1955 it was the first studio on the street that would become known as Music Row. Two years later, RCA built a studio a block away from the Bradley hut; in 1962, the brothers sold the studio to Columbia Records. Cohen left Decca in 1958, and the label offered Bradley a position as Vice President of the label's Nashville Division. At Decca, he began pioneering the Nashville Sound, incorporating orchestration and pop production techniques into country music. Patsy Cline was Bradley's most successful country-pop production. He had worked with her when she was with Four Star, but when she signed with Decca, Cline's music shifted toward country-pop and she began a string of Top 10 hits. Following her success, other artists that he produced in that style, most notably Brenda Lee, became successful as well. During this time, Bradley also produced harder-edged hits during this time by Webb Pierce and Kitty Wells. In addition to his record production, Owen released a handful of records by his instrumental quintet, including the minor 1958 hit "Big Guitar." With his brother Harold, Bradley produced a half-hour television series, Country Style U.S.A, during the late '50s. Bradley bought a farm outside of Nashville in 1961, converting a barn into a demo studio. Within a few years, the barn was upgraded to a first-class recording studio called Bradley's Barn and over the next two decades, it became one of the most popular and legendary studios in country music. In 1980, it burned down, yet it was rebuilt with a few years in the exact same same spot. Throughout the '60s and '70s, Bradley worked with many of Decca's most famous artists, including Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty. In 1974, Bradley was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In the early '80s, he retired from full-time producing, yet he continued to work on the occasional special project. His last major work was k.d. lang's 1988 album, Shadowland. Bradley died January 7, 1998. Stephen Thomas Erlewine -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Skeeter Davis Born - Mary Frances Penick December 30, 1931 in Dry Ridge, KY Skeeter Davis has never gotten a lot of critical attention, but in the '50s and '60s, she recorded some of the most accessible crossover country music, occasionally skirting rock & roll. Born Mary Penick, Davis took her last name after forming a duo with Betty Jack Davis, the Davis Sisters. Their 1953 single "I Forgot More than You'll Ever Know" was a big country hit; its B-side, the remarkable "Rock-A-Bye Boogie," foreshadowed rockabilly. That same year, however, the duo's career was cut short by a tragic car accident in which Betty Jack Davis was killed, and Skeeter was severely injured. Skeeter did attempt to revive the Davis Sisters with Betty Jack's sister, but was soon working as a solo artist. In the early '60s, Davis followed the heels of Brenda Lee and Patsy Cline to become one of the first big-selling female country crossover acts, although her pop success was pretty short-lived. The weepy ballad "The End of the World," though, was a massive hit, reaching number two in 1963. "I Can't Stay Mad at You," a Top Ten hit the same year, was downright rock & roll; penned by Goffin and King, it sounded like (and was) an authentic Brill Building girl group-styled classic. Goffin and King also wrote another successful girl group knockoff for her, "Let Me Get Close to You," although such efforts were the exception rather than the rule. Usually she sang sentimental, country-oriented tunes with enough pop hooks to catch the ears of a wider audience, such as "I Will." Davis concentrated on the country market after the early '60s, although she never seemed too comfortable limiting herself to the Nashville crowd. She recorded a Buddy Holly tribute album in 1967, when Holly wasn't a hot ticket with either the country or the rock audience. But she certainly didn't reject country conventions either: she performed on the Grand Ole Opry, and recorded duets with Bobby Bare, Porter Wagoner, and George Hamilton IV. In the 1980s, she had a mild comeback with the rock crowd after recording an album with NRBQ; she also married NRBQ's bass player, Joey Spampinato. Richie Unterberger -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dorsey Burnette Born December 28, 1932 in Memphis, TN Died August 19, 1979 in Canoga Park, CA Dorsey Burnette is best remembered today as the brother of Johnny Burnette and a member of the Johnny Burnette Trio, and as the father of Billy Burnette. He had a solo career of his own, however, during the early 1960s, and also wrote over 350 songs covered by the likes of Rick Nelson, Jerry Lee Lewis, Waylon Jennings, Glen Campbell, and Stevie Wonder, among many others. Dorsey Burnette was born on Dec. 28, 1932 in Memphis, the older of two sons of Dorsey Sr. and Willy May Burnette. He got his first guitar, a Gene Autry model, from his father at age six, at the same time that his father gave four-year-old Johnny a similar instrument the two immediately smashed them. His father eventually convinced the pair that if they learned to play guitar, they could be like the players on the Grand Ole Opry. Dorsey was a tough kid with a violent te, mper and not a lot of smarts holding it in check, and he was constantly in trouble in school and spending time with the wrong crowd. By the time he was a young teenager, Dorsey was hanging out at the Poplar Street Mission with future recording artist Lee Denson, when he wasn't getting arrested for truancy o