WILLIE NELSON - Key Persons
Barbara Mandrell is one of the most multitalented and widely honored artists in country music. She has a distinctive, throaty, powerful voice, despite her tiny 5-foot, 2-inch frame. In the 1970s and 1980s, she charted a series of top-10 hits. Some were straight country in style, while others had more of a pop or soul groove. Barbara Mandrell plays a range of instruments, and she has starred in a number of television shows. Among her many honors, she was the first artist to win the Country Music Association's (CMA) Entertainer of the Year award twice.
Barbara Ann Mandrell was born in Houston, Texas, on Christmas Day, December 25, in 1948. Her father, Irby, was a police officer and musician. Her mother, Mary Ellen, was also a musician. The couple had two daughters younger than Barbara, named Thelma Louise and Ellen Irlene. All three sisters began playing musical instruments when they were very young children, with Barbara developing skills on accordion, steel guitar, saxophone, banjo, and other instruments.
When Barbara was 11 years old in 1960, her talents were discovered by guitarists Chet Atkins and Joe Maphis while she was attending a music trade convention in Chicago with her father. Maphis made the youngster part of his show in Las Vegas. Barbara's father would serve as her manager for much of her career.
Mandrell began recording for ABC/Dot in 1975 and then MCA Records in 1978. She recorded most of her popular songs with these labels. These included "Standing Room Only," "Sleeping Single in a Double Bed," (her first number-one song, in 1978), "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right" (her only single to crack the top 40 on the pop charts, in 1979), "Crackers," "Wish You Were Here," and "Years." Perhaps her most popular song has been "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool," from 1981. George Jones makes a guest appearance near the end of the song.
The CMA named Mandrell the Entertainer of the Year in 1980 and again in 1981-surprising many people in the industry who had assumed that this award could not be given to the same individual more than once. The CMA awards are only two of about 75 major honors that Mandrell has received during her career. Others have included Academy of Country Music, Grammy, American Music, and People's Choice awards. In 1982, she showed another side of herself by releasing an album of gospel songs titled He Set My Life to Music.
In 1997, Stuart married legendary country singer Connie Smith. Smith, who was 17 years older than Stuart, had long been one of his musical idols. The two first met when Marty's mother took him to a Smith concert in 1970, when he was only 12 years old.
He later remembered telling his mother that night that someday he would marry Smith. Marty created a DVD exclusively for the Willie Nelson and Friends Museum that includes he and Connie telling the great story of how they met and eventually married. It's a great video and visitors really love it.
Stuart and Smith eventually fell in love as their paths crossed in the music business, and they dated about three years before marrying. Marty's childhood prophesy indeed came true.
In 1998, Marty produced her album Connie Smith. The couple have since recorded and performed together many times.
Connie Smith is a singer's singer-a veteran country music performer whose distinctive phrasing, wide range, and powerful delivery are widely admired by fellow performers ranging from Dolly Parton to Merle Haggard to Keith Richards. She has been influencing other artists since launching her own recording career in Nashville in the early 1960s. This influence, as well as her artistic accomplishments, were recognized with her induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2012.
Most of Smith's hit songs were in the vein of traditional country music, though her jazz influences could be heard in some of her emotional, moody phrasing. Many of her songs were also characterized by a prominent pedal steel guitar, usually played by Weldon Myrick. In addition to performing on records and in live shows, Connie Smith also sang in a number of movies and on television programs in the 60s and 70s, including the films Las Vegas Hillbillys (1966), Hell on Wheels (1967), and The Road to Nashville (1967).
In the late 60s and early 70s, Smith began to concentrate less on her country music career and more on gospel music recordings, as well as religious-theme road shows. Her road shows also featured her evangelist third husband, Marshall Haynes. Her 1978 country album, New Horizons, would be her final musical release for many years. It included the popular single, "I Just Want to Be Your Everything."
Smith then took a long break in her recording career during which she focused on her family and her faith. Her daughters, Julie, Jeanne, Jodi, and her sons, Darren and Kerry, all share their mother's love of singing.
Smith did not release another album of new material until 1998's Connie Smith, which was produced by country singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist Marty Stuart. Stuart had become Smith's fourth husband the previous year. The marriage was unconventional in the sense that Smith is 17 years older than Marty Stuart. But the marriage has been one of the great real-life love stories of country music ever since.
When you visit the Willie Nelson and Friends museum you'll see a great exhibit that was actually put together by Marty and Connie when they brought all the memorabilia for the exhibit. It even includes a great video Marty made for the museum that features Marty and Connie describing how they met on stage at her concert in Marty's hometown when he was only twelve years old and ultimately married some 25 years later. It's a great video and one you don't want to miss!
The couple's musical collaborations yielded a number of songs that Smith and Stuart wrote together. The writing allowed Smith to pursue an aspect of her creativity that she had previously neglected. Most of her classic recordings were written by others, including such preeminent writers as Bill Anderson, Harlan Howard, Johnny Russell, and Dallas Frazier. Smith was a regular performer on her husband's television show, The Marty Stuart Show, from 2008 to 2014.
Connie Smith is a great talent and very nice lady. Be sure to read more about her at the following links. If you're in Nashville be sure and catch her performing at the Grand Ole Opry, you'll be glad you did!
Constance June Meador was born in Elkhart, Indiana, on August 14, 1941. Her parents were migrant farm workers. When Connie was a little girl, her mother divorced her abusive father and remarried. Her stepfather was an amateur musician. Connie grew up in West Virginia and Ohio in a large family of 14 brothers and sisters. Despite the financial struggles of her family, she applied herself at school and graduated as salutatorian of her high-school class.
While growing up, she developed a great love of music-not only of such country singers as Kitty Wells and Jean Shepard, but also of the renowned jazz stylists Sarah Vaughn and Nancy Wilson. She sang at local events as well as on regional television programs, even after becoming a young housewife and mother in the early 1960s.
As part of winning a talent competition in August 1963, she won the chance to perform with stars from the Grand Ole Opry at a show in Columbus, Ohio. During that show and during a show a few months later in Canton, Ohio, Opry singer Bill Anderson was so impressed with her that he invited her to come to Nashville and record some demos. In June 1964, guitarist and music executive Chet Atkins signed her to a recording contract at RCA Records.
David Allan Coe is a man of stark personal contrasts, a highly creative artist, and one of the most unique, eccentric personalities in the history of country music. A large man with long hair, tattooed arms and tough-guy demeanor. Coe spent several years spent in prison and obtained membership in the Outlaws motorcycle club.
David Allan Coe was born in Akron, Ohio, on September 6, 1939. He was a rebellious, misbehaving boy who, beginning at age 9, spent much of his youth in reform schools and correctional facilities.
As a young man in his 20s, he repeatedly got into serious trouble with the law for such crimes as burglary and auto theft, and he spent about five years serving time in Ohio State Penitentiary and Marion Correctional Institution. Coe later claimed that he was on death row for killing a man in prison. It should be noted, however, that Coe has always had a habit of telling fascinating stories that embellish his biography while not necessarily being true.
He also later claimed that while in prison, he met singer Screamin' Jay Hawkins (of "I Put a Spell on You" fame), who urged him to write songs and pursue a career in music. (Yet another claim was that Coe taught Charles Manson how to play guitar.)
David Allan Coe became identified with the outlaw movement of the 1970s. However, while Waylon, Willie, and the other "outlaws" were known for rebelling against the Nashville music establishment, Coe often seemed to be rebelling against social convention in general with his outlandish (for that time in country music) behavior.
With his mysterious rhinestone cowboy persona, he sometimes performed wearing a gaudy black rhinestone-studded suit, big black cowboy hat, and black mask over his eyes, accessorized with a pair of silver skull earrings. He sometimes rode his Harley onstage as he shouted cuss words at the audience, which cussed back at him.
He was the first country singer to regularly perform on stage with an all-female backup vocal group, called Ladysmith. In the 80s, he began incorporating magic into his stage shows. At one point, Coe owned seven Cadillacs. He also once claimed to have the same number of wives, saying that he was a Mormon who believed in polygamy.
Coe performing "Long-Haired Redneck" in his flashy rhinestone suit on stage in 1975.
Other highly charted songs for Coe as a singer included "The Ride" (1983), about meeting the ghost of Hank Williams; "Mona Lisa Lost Her Smile" (1984); and "She Used to Love Me a Lot" (1985).
David was not only the younger brother of Lefty; he was the older brother of Allen Frizzell, who had played guitar in Dottie's band. Shelly and Allen married each other in 1977, so David was Shelly's brother-in-law. After their marriage, Shelly and Allen left Dottie's show to perform with David, who was then touring clubs mainly in the Southwest.
In 1980, David and Shelly recorded a couple of songs together for a small label, including one titled "You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma." Clint Eastwood heard the song and liked it so much that he featured it in his comedy film Any Which Way You Can, which was released in late 1980.
Audiences also loved the song, and country radio stations began to play it. The song's popularity then prompted Warner Brothers to sign West and Frizzell to a duet recording contract. The first result was the 1981 album Carryin' On the Family Names, which included the hits "You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma," "A Texas State of Mind," and "Husbands and Wives."
David Frizzell is a highly respected traditional country singer who charted a number of hits in the 1980s. He was a frequent duet partner of Shelly West, the daughter of country star Dottie West. He himself is the younger brother of the late, legendary Lefty Frizzell, the great honky-tonk singer who achieved the peak of his popularity during the 1950s. Lefty died in 1975. David's expressive voice has often been compared with that of his brother.
David Frizzell has been honored with several awards from the Country Music Association (CMA), Academy of Country Music (ACM), Billboard, and Music City News during his career. He continues to perform as well as to be engaged in various other creative projects today.
David Frizzell was born on September 26, 1941, in El Dorado, Arkansas-13 years after his famous big brother. When Lefty was a major star in the mid-‘50s to early ‘60s, the youthful David would often perform as part of his brother's stage show. David also began recording his own country and rockabilly songs for various labels in the late ‘50s.
David Frizzell and Shelly West discussing a song during a break at a reception held at the Willie Nelson Museum in Nashville, TN at the opening of the Frizzell-West exhibit.
During the Vietnam War era of the 1960s, David served in the U.S. Air Force for four years. Afterward, he returned to his music career, seeking success as a solo artist. In 1970, he broke into the country top-forty for the first time with "I Just Can't Help Believing" (the same song with which B. J. Thomas had a pop hit that same year). That would be Frizzell's last highly charted song for several years. However, he kept making records, touring, and appearing on country television shows, hoping for his big break.
Before becoming a radio hit, "You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma" initially was known from being featured in Clint Eastwood's movie Any Which Way You Can. The song's popularity from the film is what prompted Warner Brothers to sign West and Frizzell to their recording contract. Other duet hits from their 1981 album included "A Texas State of Mind" and "Husbands and Wives."
More duets of Frizzell and West were released in the early 1980s with The David Frizzell & Shelly West Album; the album Our Best to You; and the album In Session. Their most popular duets from this time included "Another Honky-Tonk Night on Broadway," "I Just Came Here to Dance," "Please Surrender," "Silent Partners," and "It's a Be Together Night."
David Frizzell's book titled "I Love You a Thousand Ways" about his famous musician brother named Lefty Frizzell.
David's recording productivity declined after the ‘80s, though he has released several albums since then and he continues to perform concerts across the country. Moreover, he has been involved with numerous other creative ventures.
In 2011, David's tribute book to his big brother, I Love You A Thousand Ways: The Lefty Frizzell Story, was published by Santa Monica Press. CMT named it as one of the best music books of the year. The audio version of the book features David's heart-felt and emotional narration, along with some of Lefty's music.
His Frizzell and Friends series of CD, DVD, and television collaborations have brought together some of country music's top performers. Guests have included Merle Haggard, Jeannie Seely, Crystal Gayle, Bobby Bare, Gene Watson, Johnny Rodriguez, Johnny Lee, Joe Stampley, T. Graham Brown, Lacy J. Dalton, Helen Cornelius, Amy Clawson, and others.
David and Buddy Hyatt perform "Say Hello to Heaven" on one of the Frizzell and Friends TV specials. The song, written by Hyatt, is meant to raise awareness of the dangers of drunk driving.
David organized a special project for the Buddy Holly Educational Foundation, a charitable group dedicated to music education. The project culminated in the 2014 release of The Buddy Holly Country Tribute, a 21-track collection (on CD and DVD) that pays homage to the rock'n'roll pioneer. The collection includes cuts from Frizzell as well as Merle Haggard, Helen Cornelius, Jimmy Fortune, T. Graham Brown, and Sonny Curtis.
David often stops in to see us here at the Willie Nelson and Friends Museum when he and his wife, Jo, are in town. Although they have been keeping the road very hot lately playing dates all around the country. And the Frizzell family tradition of music continues. David's youngest brother, Allen, who was married to Shelly West from 1977 to 1985, is a guitarist and country-gospel singer. Tess Frizzell, the daughter of Allen and Shelly, is a Nashville-based country singer.
Job Titles:
- Hank Cochran: Humble Captain. American Songwriter. January 13, 2009
Rogers began his long, successful singing partnership with Dolly Parton in 1983 with "Islands in the Stream" (written by the Gibb brothers, better known as the Bee Gees).
Dolly Parton is probably the most famous female country singer throughout the world, as well as an American cultural icon. She is instantly recognized for her distinctive tremulous voice, blonde wigs, large bosom, and sparkly sequin dresses.
From her beginnings as a country singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist in the 1960s, she has expanded her career into television and movie acting, record producing, book writing, various business ventures, social advocacy, and philanthropy.
Her many accomplishments have been recognized with numerous awards and other honors, including induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Dolly Rebecca Parton was born on January 19, 1946, in Sevier County in eastern Tennessee. Her father, Robert, was a farmer and construction worker. He and his wife, Avie, had a total of 12 children. The family was "dirt poor," in Dolly's words, and she and her siblings were raised in a rustic one-room cabin in the tiny rural town of Locust Ridge in the Great Smoky Mountains. She began singing as a young girl in a church where her grandfather was a pastor.
With the help and encouragement of her musician uncle, Bill Owens, she also sang on local radio and television shows as a child. When she was 13 years old, she made her first record, titled "Puppy Love," for a small label called Goldband, leading to an appearance on the Grand Ole Opry.
Parton's first album, Hello, I'm Dolly, was released by Monument Records in 1967, yielding a couple minor hits. Her first major break occurred that same year when Porter Wagoner hired her as a regular performer on his popular television and touring shows. Wagoner persuaded his label, RCA Victor, to sign Parton. In 1968, a duet by the two singers, "The Last Thing on My Mind," became Parton's first top-10 hit. Porter and Dolly would have much additional success with their duets until Dolly left his organization in 1974.
Watch Dolly performing "Love is Like a Butterfly" around 1974.
Parton's second movie role was as the madam of a brothel in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, a 1982 movie also starring Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise. She won praise for that role, as well as for her performance in Steel Magnolias, a 1989 comedy-drama about a group of female friends (who also included Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, and Julia Roberts) and for her portrayal of a radio talk-show host in Straight Talk, a 1992 comedy. Parton has since appeared in numerous additional movies and TV shows.
In her music during the 1980s, Parton charted a series of duet hits with Kenny Rogers, including "Islands in the Stream" and "Real Love.". She found success in 1987 with an album collaboration titled Trio, recorded with her friends Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt. The three friends released two follow-up albums, in 1999 and 2016.
Parton is a long-time advocate for HIV/AIDS research and gay rights. Her involvement in LGBT advocacy has included "Travelin' Thru," a song she wrote for the 2005 movie Transamerica. And she has been described by the New York Times as "a patron saint of drag queens."
Dorothy Marie Marsh was born on October 11, 1932, outside the city of McMinnville, Tennessee. She had a troubled childhood in which her alcoholic father sexually abused her-a crime for which he was sent to state prison. Her mother, Pelina, owned and operated a small restaurant, where young Dottie worked as a waitress.
In high school, she sang and played guitar in a school band. She then studied music at Tennessee Technological University. There, she met a steel guitarist and songwriter named Bill West, whom she married in 1952. The couple would have four children together.
Dottie West was a singer and songwriter who was one of the most influential female figures in country music. A trailblazing pioneer for female artists in the 1960s, she enjoyed a successful career into the 1980s. She became best known for her "Country Sunshine" television commercial for Coca-Cola, her duets with Kenny Rogers, and her glamorous stage persona. Tragically, her life was cut short in a car accident in Nashville at age 58.
The year 1973 brought West a wide new audience when she wrote and sang "Country Sunshine" for a Coca-Cola television commercial. Following the positive reaction to the song in the commercial-"I was raised on country sunshine, I'm happy with the simple things, a Saturday night dance, a bottle of Coke, and the joy that the bluebird brings…"-she released the tune as a single. It climbed near the top of the country charts and also made a showing on the pop charts. Furthermore, the popularity of the song led to two Grammy nominations for West and a Clio Award for commercial of the year.
Dottie's award-winning 1973 TV commercial for Coca-Cola featuring her song "Country Sunshine."
By the late 1970s, West shifted her career from traditional country toward country-pop. She took on a more sensual stage persona, trading in her simple country dresses for tight-fitting Bob Mackie-designed sequin-and-satin outfits, and doing her red hair and makeup in sexier styles. She debuted her new image in 1977 with the album When It's Just You and Me, which produced the hit title song.
But her career truly began to reach new heights in 1978 with her first duet release with Kenny Rogers, "Every Time Two Fools Collide." The song became the first chart topper for West. Other Rogers-West hits included "Anyone Who Isn't Me Tonight" (1978), "All I Ever Need Is You" (1979), and "What Are We Doin' in Love" (1980). The pair were honored by the Country Music Association with Best Duo of the Year in 1978 and 1979.
The album West released in 1984, Just Dottie, would be her last and produced only a couple minor hits. Meanwhile, she dipped her toes into acting. During the ‘80s, she performed in the stage productions The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and Bring It On Home, as well as in the movie The Aurora Encounter.
The ‘80s also saw Dottie's daughter Shelly achieving her own country hits, with such songs as "You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma" (with David Frizzell), "Jose Cuervo," and "Flight 309 to Tennessee."
Ernest Tubb, known as the "Texas Troubadour," is among the most influential artists in the history of country music. One of the first country singers to prominently feature an electric guitar in his live performances and recordings, he led to way to both the honky-tonk sounds of the 1950s and 1960s and the outlaw revolution of the 1970s.
His deep, gravely, sometimes slightly off-key singing voice remains one of the most distinctive and recognizable voices in any genre of music.
The Nashville record shop and broadcast studio that he founded and that still bears his name is itself a historic country music institution on lower Broadway alongside the many downtown honky tonks.
Ernest Dale Tubb was born in February 9, 1914, on a cotton farm near the town of Crisp, Texas. His father was a sharecropper and farm overseer, and Ernest and his four siblings picked cotton and did other farm chores as children. His mother was an amateur singer and piano and organ player who often performed in church.
Young Ernest was a big fan of cowboy movies, with such stars as Tom Mix and Buck Jones. But the thing that really grabbed his interest was the singing and guitar playing of Jimmie Rodgers, the "father of country music." Ernest listened to Rodgers' records as often as he could and tried to imitate his singing, yodeling, and guitar stylings.
In 1933, the 19-year-old Tubb got a job as a singer on a radio program in San Antonio. The young man also worked at various other jobs, including a clerk in a drug store, a beer-truck driver, and a ditch digger for the federal government's Works Progress Administration. After phoning Carrie Rodgers, the widow of Jimmie Rodgers, to ask for an autographed photo of his idol in 1936, Tubb became friends with her.
She helped him get a recording contract with RCA Victor, which had been Rodgers' label, and guided him on a tour of regional theaters to promote his first records. However, Tubb's initial recording efforts were too similar in sound to Rodgers and failed to generate much notice.
In 1940, he landed a contract with Decca, which resulted in his first minor hits, "I'll Get Along Somehow" and "Blue Eyed Elaine," which he wrote about his wife. (Justin, the son of Tubb and Elaine, would become a country singer himself.
Tubb opened his famous "Ernest Tubb Record Shop" on lower Broadway in Nashville in 1947. Not only did the shop sell records, but it also broadcast a live show called the "Midnight Jamboree" on WSM immediately after the Opry broadcast on Saturday nights. Both the shop and the show have continued to the present day. In another milestone of 1947, Tubb presented the first Grand Ole Opry show at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Tubb also acted in a number of Western movies in the 1940s.
Tubb's hits lessened in frequency during the 1950s and 1960s as Hank Williams, Hank Snow, Patsy Cline, Skeeter Davis, George Hamilton IV, Jack Greene, Cal Smith, Johnny Cash, and other artists whom Tubb had helped get started (such as by giving them exposure on the Midnight Jamboree or using them as musicians in his band) became the new stars of country music.
Following a long battle with emphysema, Tubb died at Baptist Hospital in Nashville on September 6, 1984, at age 70. During his lengthy career, Tubb had a total of 91 songs on the country charts. But his enormous legacy lies not only in his music, but also in the way he changed the music industry.
Job Titles:
- Country Music Hall of Fame Members
Faron Young was one of country music's great honky tonk singers. Known as the "Singing Sheriff," he charted a series of hits from the early 1950s into the 1980s. He personified a generation of country singers who often lived wild lifestyles similar to those they sang about-and whose music contained an authenticity that many regular folks could instantly relate to.
Faron Young was also a successful businessman and the co-founder of Music City News, which was the top trade publication in country music for 37 years until its closing following the publication of the February 2000 issue. (Music City News had been previously purchased by the Gannett news organization). And many writers and singers who went on to their own fame received early career boosts from the big-hearted Young.
Faron Young was born on February 25, 1932, in Shreveport, Louisiana. He grew up on his father's dairy farm just outside the city. He started playing guitar while still a boy, and he was singing in a local country band by the time he was in high school.
After briefly attending Centenary College in Shreveport, he decided to make a career out of music. His first widespread exposure came after he became a regular performer on the popular Louisiana Hayride radio program on KWKH.
Young's big recording break came after an independent label called Gotham released his "Have I Waited Too Long" and "Tattle Tale Tears" in 1951. Upon the strength of those sides, Capital Records bought out his contract in 1952. His first hit for Capital came that year with "Goin' Steady."
That same year, he began performing on the Grand Ole Opry, substantially raising his public profile. He was drafted into the Army in late 1952, and he served two years in the Entertainments Unit, performing for U.S. troops.
Young had his first number-one single in 1955 with "Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young," which was followed up with the number-two "All Right." The mid-‘50s through mid-‘60s also saw Young, who was then something of a country sex symbol, acting in several movies with western or country-music themes. In two early films, he played a deputy and a marshal. Hence, the origin of his nickname, which was originally the "Young Sheriff."
In 1956, Young scored major hits with "I've Got Five Dollars and It's Saturday Night," "I Miss You Already (and You're Not Even Gone)," and "Sweet Dreams." The latter tune, which was the first big success for songwriter Don Gibson, scaled up the charts to the number-two position.
Young's knack for tapping into new songwriting talent showed again in 1958, when he had a number-one hit with Roy Drusky's "Alone With You"; in 1959, when he topped the charts with Drusky's "Country Girl"; and in 1961, when he went to the top of the country charts and entered the pop charts with Willie Nelson's "Hello Walls."
That song became the first #1 hit ever produced by Willie Nelson when he was a young, struggling Nashville songwriter. Watch and listen as Willie and Faron are telling the story behind the #1 hit, "Hello Walls".
Faron also helped another unknown, young songwriter/janitor named Kris Kristofferson by hiring him as a laborer. Roger Miller and Johnny Paycheck also played in Faron's band early in their careers helping them to get noticed and gain exposure to a broad base of country music fans.
Faron Young, bluegrass legend Mac Wiseman and Faron's long time booking agent Billy Deaton.
Garland Perry Cochran was born on August 2, 1935, in Isola, Mississippi. His parents divorced when he was nine years old, and he was then sent to live in an orphanage in Memphis. After he repeatedly ran away from the orphanage, he was sent to live with his grandparents in Greenville, Mississippi. He learned to play guitar from his uncle Otis.
As a teenager, Cochran worked in New Mexico oil fields, in California olive groves, and at Sears & Roebuck in Los Angeles. In California in the mid-1950s, he changed his name to "Hank" and formed a rockabilly duo with Eddie Cochran (who was not related to Hank). The "Cochran Brothers" played in area bars and once backed Lefty Frizzell.
By this time, Hank was focusing increasingly on songwriting. He was inspired in his writing by the songs of Hank Williams. In the late ‘50s, he was hired as a songwriter for Pamper Music in California.
In the 2000s, West has appeared on a number of television specials, including episodes of RFD-TV's Country Family Reunion. Around 2011, she began to perform again with David occasionally, mainly in Branson, Missouri.
Shelly and David perform "Husbands and Wives" together on stage in 2011-thirty years after they had a hit with the song.
Shelly's daughter Tess Frizzell, whom she had with Allen, is a Nashville-based country singer.
George Jones first hit the charts in the 1950's and became arguably the king of country music singers. His songs of heartbreak, hard drinking and hard living were echoed in his own life.
In April 1999, he celebrated the 40th Anniversary of his first Number One record, White Lightning. It was also the year that Jones won his second Grammy as Best Male Country Vocalist for his performance on the single "Choices." His only previous Grammy was in 1981 for his performance of "He Stopped Loving Her Today."
George Jones' Gold-selling 1999 COLD HARD TRUTH CD reminded fans and critics alike why he's considered "the greatest living country singer." "Choices," the first single from that album marked his 164th charted record. The Keith Stegall produced project earned Jones some of the best reviews of his already illustrious career and ensured his place in the new millennium of country music.
Whether the times have favored honky tonk songs or lushly produced "pop" offerings, George Jones has continued to make his brand of country music, which has produced hits in every decade of the second half of the 20th century. In fact, Jones has had more charted singles than any other artist in any format in the history of popular music.
After recovering for several months, Jones resumed his career with the release of Cold Hard Truth and his never-ending touring schedule. But… this was a new George Jones who had finally turned his life around. Not only did he give up liquor, he stopped smoking and drinking coffee.
"That accident put the fear of God into me," said Jones. "I realized I was getting to the age that I had to quit all that mess and smoking was hurting my lungs and affecting my voice. So, I just quit it all. Within months I was hitting higher notes than I ever hit before and wishing I had done it years ago."
George Glenn Jones was born in Saratoga, in East Texas. As a kid, he sang for tips on the streets of nearby Beaumont. By age 24, he had been married twice, served in the Marines and was a veteran of the Texas honky tonk circuit. On a recording session in 1955 for Starday Records, producer Pappy Dailey suggested he quite singing like his idols, Lefty Frizell, Roy Acuff and Hank Williams, and try singing like George Jones. The result was "Why Baby Why," his first Top Five hit.
At Starday, Jones made rockabilly records as Thumper Jones and had his first country #1 at Mercury Records in 1959 with "White Lightning." In 1961 he hit #1 again with "Tender Years" and "She Thinks I Still Care," which held the #1 spot for six weeks and let to Male Vocalist of the Year awards from the Country Music Association in 1962 and again in 1963. Later in the '60s, on the Musicor label, his singles consistently hit the Top 10 and he hit #1 again in 1967 with "Walk Through This World With Me."
However, in April of 2015 George's wife Nancy opened a great new George Jones entertainment complex and museum located in the heart of downtown Nashville. It has since been sold to another ownership group and continues today as "The George Jones". So be sure and visit it if you're in town or visit them online at GeorgeJonesMuseum.
Hank Cochran was one of country music's most prolific and admired songwriters. He penned hundreds of songs, including numerous top-ten hits and some of the greatest classics in the history of country music.
Many of songs were also hits for pop singers. Despite his astonishing success as a songwriter, his name is not as well known among the general public as those of many of his contemporary writers, such as Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, and Roger Miller. That is because his exposure as a singer remained limited. Cochran's motto as a writer was, "Make it short, make it sweet, and make it rhyme."
Cochran moved to Nashville in January 1960 to work for Pamper's headquarters there. Once in Music City, he met a lot of other aspiring young writers, such as Nelson, Miller, Kristofferson, Tom T. Hall, Mel Tillis, and Harlan Howard. A major gathering spot was Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, where the young writers shared ideas and performed their compositions.
Cochran and Howard collaborated to write "I Fall to Pieces," which Patsy Cline had a number-one hit with in 1961. Cline also scored major hits in 1962 with Cochran's "She's Got You" and "Why Can't He Be You." In 1964, Eddy Arnold's recording of Cochran's "Make the World Go Away" went to the top of the country charts. Over the coming decades, Elvis Presley and many others would also record that classic song.
It is an understatement to say that Cochran did not have the most admired voice in country music. Nevertheless, several recordings by him made their way onto Billboard's country charts from about 1962 to 1980, including three in the top 40. His highest-charting recording was 1962's "Sally Was a Good Old Girl," which was written by Harlan Howard. It went as high as number 20.
In 1997, a 14-song album written and recorded by Cochran and Billy Don Burns-Desperate Men: The Legend and the Outlaw-became number-one on the Americana music chart. Cochran's final album was the 14-song collection Livin' For A Song, released in 2002.
During Cochran's life, he was honored with more than 40 B.M.I. awards in both the country and pop categories. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1974, and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2014. At the 2014 induction ceremony, Bobby Bare reminisced about his old friend: "He could feel things that nobody else could feel [and] he was shameless when it came to getting his songs recorded. … He was like a heat-seeking missile. He knew you were hot [as a recording artist] or going to be hot before you did."
Although Hank Jr.'s chart successes began to slow down in the 1990s, he has continued to produce some artistic gems. In 1996, the Three Hanks: Men with Broken Hearts album featured a collection of songs in which Hank Jr. sang with both his father and his son-Shelton, known as Hank Williams III. Hank III has since become an accomplished and unique artist who can easily move from hard-core honky-tonk country to heavy metal. Hank Jr.'s daughter Holly is also a successful singer and songwriter.
In addition to performing music, Hank Jr. continues to speak out on political issues he cares about, often involving Southern pride or the rights of gun owners. He is a frequent performer at National Rifle Association meetings.
At age 13, Mandrell appeared on the television program Five Star Jubilee, drawing much attention to her musical abilities. During this time, she also toured and played steel guitar with The Johnny Cash Show, giving her the opportunity to back up such singers as Patsy Cline and George Jones. Mandrell, her sisters, and their parents next formed the Mandrell Family Band. The band's drummer, Ken Dudney, married Barbara in 1967. The couple would have three children.
With fellow Opry member Jack Greene, Jeannie scored another chart topper in 1969 with "Wish I Didn't Have To Miss You" which launched one of the most popular duos and road shows in country music. Jeannie and Jack performed together for over a decade at venues including New York City's Madison Square Garden and London's Wembley Arena.
Willie Nelson recorded "Senses", a song that Jeannie co-wrote with Glen Campbell, and it was included on his 1970 album Laying My Burdens Down and on his 1998 box set Nashville Was The Roughest. In 1972, Faron Young took "Leavin' And Sayin' Goodbye" to the No. 1 position, earning Jeannie a BMI Songwriter's Award.
In addition to Willie and Faron, other Country Music Hall of Fame members that have recorded Jeannie's compositions include Ernest Tubb, Merle Haggard, Ray Price, and Little Jimmy Dickens. Artists including Dottie West, Tex Williams, Jack Greene, Norma Jean, Lorrie Morgan, Johnny Carver, Connie Smith, Irma Thomas, Doyle Lawson, Hank Williams Jr., Chris LeDoux, and many others have recorded Jeannie's songs as well.
In 2006, the Reunion of Professional Entertainers (R.O.P.E.) named Jeannie their "Songwriter of the Year", and the following year she received their "Entertainer of the Year" award.
Jack Greene was a talented singer, musician, and songwriter who scored several top-ten country hits in the 1960s and 1970s. Known as the "Jolly Greene Giant" because of his pleasant demeanor and tall stature.
He was a long-time favorite of Grand Ole Opry audiences and also recorded a series of popular duets with Jeannie Seely. Jack was also the Country Music Association's first male vocalist of the year in 1967.
Jack Henry Greene was born near the Smoky Mountains in Maryville, Tennessee, on January 7, 1930. He developed an interest in music when still a boy. As a teenager, he worked as a disc jockey on a small local radio station.
After gaining performing experience on the Tennessee Barn Dance radio program, Greene moved to Atlanta to pursue his musical dreams after high school. There, he played in a series of country bands in which he sang and played guitar or drums.
Greene moved his music dreams to Nashville after Ernest Tubb "discovered" him. In 1962, Greene left his own band to become a part of Tubb's Texas Troubadours.
He sharpened his musicianship with Tubb's band, singing as an opening act as well as playing drums and, sometimes, guitar. He also was occasionally forced into mechanic's duty for Tubb's troubled tour bus. Tubb liked Greene's singing-often introducing him as "my big-eared singing drummer"-and urged him to pursue a solo career.
Tubb's label, Decca, released Greene's first single, "The Last Letter," in 1964. He stayed with the Troubadours until 1967.
Greene began recording and touring with Jeannie Seely, best known for her 1966 hit "Don't Touch Me," in 1970. The duo charted hits with a number of their recordings in the early 1970s.
Some of those hits included "Wish I Didn't Have to Miss You," "Much Oblige," and "What In The World Has Gone Wrong With Our Love." They worked together for about a dozen years and remained close friends for the rest of Greene's life.
After his chart success ended, Greene continued to record, tour, and perform regularly on the Grand Ole Opry, where he first became a member in 1967.
His last album, Precious Memories, Treasured Friends, was released in 2010. It consisted of duets with numerous artists, including George Jones, Merle Haggard, Charley Pride, Larry Gatlin, Vince Gill, Jeannie Seely, and Lorrie Morgan.
Greene retired in 2011. He struggled with the effects of Alzheimer disease during the last couple years of his life. He was also a great lover of dogs, especially Shih Tzu's, as he had five of them and would bring them to the museum when he stopped in. Unfortunately Jack passed away on March 14, 2013, in Nashville.
Jan Howard was one of the most popular female vocalists in country music during the 1960s. She is best known for her 1966 hit "Evil on Your Mind," written by the legendary songwriter Harlan Howard, with whom she was married at the time.
She is also known for her spunky, blunt, no-nonsense personality. Long a mainstay of the Grand Ole Opry, Jan remains a highly respected singer and songwriter who has influenced many younger artists, especially women.
Jan Howard was born as Lula Grace Johnson on March 13, 1930, in West Plains, Missouri. She was the eighth of eleven children born to a poor farm family.
She married when only 15 years old and had three sons before she was 20. After that marriage and another failed, she moved with her children to Los Angeles in 1955. There, she picked up jobs as a waitress and secretary. In 1957, she met a young, talented songwriter in LA named Harlan Howard, who was on the verge of early success in the music business. The two married one month after meeting.
Unlike most country artists, Jan initially did not have ambitions to be a singing star. She sang merely to pass the time while doing chores around the house, like many regular folks. However, Harlan encouraged his new wife to pursue a career as a country singer, convinced that she had an outstanding voice.
During the late 1950s, Jan sang demo recordings of songs that Harlan wrote. Harlan used these tapes to pitch his songs to other singers, such as Patsy Cline, Kitty Wells, and Buck Owens. Some of these eventually classic songs included "Pick Me Up On Your Way Down," "Heartaches By the Number," "I Fall to Pieces," and "She's Got You."
Jan has continued to sing on the Grand Ole Opry stage and occasionally in other concert venues, including performances with her longtime friends Jeannie Seely and, until her death in 2016, Jean Shepard.
Jan and Bill revisit "Dis-Satisfied," their hit from the early 1970s, in the 2000s. The song was written by the duo along with Jan's son Carter.
Jan's first new recording in several years came in 2017, when she appeared with Seely and Jessi Colter on a remake of the song "We're Still Hangin' In There, Ain't We Jessi." The song, which Seely originally recorded in 1977, was included in its new version on Seely's album Written In Song.
Johnny Bush had a hit with "Undo the Right" in 1968. Merle Haggard's 1972 recording of "It's Not Love (But it's Not Bad)" remains a honky-tonk favorite. Willie Nelson included "Can I Sleep in Your Arms" on his revolutionary Red Headed Stranger album in 1975. In the early ‘60s, Cochran had helped Willie get a job as a songwriter with Pamper Music. In 1980, Willie had Cochran appear in his music-on-the-road movie Honeysuckle Rose.
Kenny Rogers is one of the few artists who had a successful career in rock and pop music before achieving success-of even greater magnitude-in country music. He was the lead singer of The First Edition in the 1960s, producing such rock/pop hits as "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)."
His country superstardom began with "Lucille" in 1977 and progressed through numerous other hits on both the country and pop charts, including several duets with Dottie West, Dolly Parton, Kim Carnes, Sheena Easton, and other singing partners.
He is considered a pioneer of mainstream, crossover country, which is as popular with pop fans as country fans. Rogers also had many achievements in acting and business before announcing his retirement from performing in 2015.
Kenneth Donald Rogers was born on August 21, 1938, in Houston Texas. His father, Edward, was a carpenter, and his mother, Lucille, was a nurse's assistant. Kenny had seven brothers and sisters. They grew up in a federal housing project in a poor part of town. Kenny was the first member of his family to graduate from high school, where, in 1956, he formed his first musical group. The group performed doo-wop and rockabilly.
Rogers' singing partners were not limited to women. In 1987, he had a successful collaboration with Ronnie Milsap titled "Make No Mistake, She's Mine."
Rogers and Richie released a duet of "Lady" in 2012. Also in 2012, Rogers released his autobiography, titled Luck or Something Like It: A Memoir (published by William Morrow and Company).
Kris Kristofferson is one of the greatest songwriters in the history of American music, though he may be better known to much of the public as a movie actor.
From "Me and Bobby McGee," made famous by Janis Joplin, to "Help Me Make It Through the Night," "Sunday Morning Comin' Down," and many other songs, the intelligent and insightful lyrics of classic Kristofferson contrast with the depressingly frivolous content of much of today's country and pop music.
Most of Kris's songs became known through recordings by other singers, but he has recorded fine albums of his own material through the years. American music-especially country music-is indeed fortunate to have had Kris Kristofferson.
Kris is the first to admit that he does not have the world's greatest singing voice, noting, "Every performer that's performed my songs has done them better than I did." Nevertheless, his voice has an honest, sincere quality that is very appealing, and many of his own recordings have done quite well.
Other popular movies in which Kris has starred or played character roles include Semi-Tough(1977) with Burt Reynolds; Convoy(1978) with Ali MacGraw; Lone Star(1996) with Matthew McConaughey; and the Bladeseries of movies (1998, 2002, 2004) with Wesley Snipes. In the Texas Risingtelevision miniseries of 2015, he portrayed President Andrew Jackson.
In 2004, the Country Music Hall of Fame honored Kris with membership. Well-received albums that he has released in the 2000s have included This Old Road(2006), Closer to the Bone(2009), and Feeling Mortal(2013). Lou Reed and Kris Kristofferson: In Their Own Words with Vin Scelsa, released in 2017, is a fascinating live album recorded with the late Lou Reed in 1994.
Kristoffer Kristofferson was born on June 22, 1936, in Brownsville, Texas. His father rose through the ranks of the U.S. Air Force to become a major general. The family moved to San Mateo, California, when Kris was in his early teens.
He studied creative writing and poetry at Pomona College in Claremont, California, from which he graduated with honors in 1958. Upon being awarded a Rhodes scholarship, he moved to England to pursue a master's degree in English literature at Oxford University.
In his spare time, he wrote songs, sang at local clubs, and made some early recordings. After obtaining his master's in 1960, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and was stationed in West Germany as a Ranger and helicopter pilot.
In 1965, Captain Kristofferson was given a position as an English instructor at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York. It seemed that the young man had achieved success in both the academic and military worlds.
Lefty Frizzell was one of the most influential singers in the history of country music. Charting most of his self-penned hits during the 1950s, his singing and musical stylings served as templates for later stars ranging from George Jones, Merle Haggard, and Willie Nelson to Randy Travis, George Strait, and Daryle Singletary.
He is sometimes described as the "greatest honky tonk singer," though his music covered a much wider range than just honky tonk.
Lonnie Melvin Tillis was born on August 8, 1932, in Tampa, Florida. While growing up in the town of Pahokee, near Lake Okeechobee, Tillis contracted malaria. The disease left him with a speech impediment in the form of a stutter. But when he sang, his stutter suddenly vanished.
Loretta Lynn had her own hits in 1977 with re-recordings of "She's Got You" and "Why Can't He Be You," which had originally been recorded by her idol, Patsy Cline. In 1980, Mickey Gilley achieved success with "That's All That Matters." George Strait charted high with "The Chair" in 1985 and "Ocean Front Property" in 1986. Keith Whitley had a big hit with "Miami, My Amy" in 1986.
Mae Axton wrote hundreds of songs during her life, but she will always be best known for one-"Heartbreak Hotel." That song, which she co-wrote with Tommy Durden, was the first major hit for Elvis Presley, in 1956.
The multitalented, high-energy Mae also worked as a music promoter, disc jockey, and high-school teacher. Mae is further known for being the mother of songwriter, singer, and actor Hoyt Axton.
By the early to mid-1950s, Mae had developed a number of connections in the music industry. The best-known of these connections was music executive, song publisher, and songwriter Fred Rose (famous for his work with Hank Williams). She also became a songwriting partner with Jacksonville musicians named Tommy Durden and Glen Reeves.
Marty Stuart is an endlessly creative singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, and record producer. Starting his career as a backup musician for other singers, including Johnny Cash, he is considered one of the world's most talented guitarists and mandolin players.
Stuart launched his own successful singing career in the 1980s, merging traditional and contemporary country with bluegrass, rockabilly, rock, and gospel.
The gifted country musician with the flashy rhinestone suits and distinctive spiky pompadour has been honored with several Grammies and other awards. Extremely knowledgeable about the history of his profession, Stuart is also a great protector and preserver of the heritage of country music.
Job Titles:
- Keeper of Country Music 's Cowboy Couture. National Public Radio. October 1, 2014
John Marty Stuart was born on September 30, 1958, in Philadelphia, Mississippi. His mother, a huge fan of country music, borrowed his middle name from Marty Robbins
He started playing guitar, mandolin, and other instruments as a very young child, around age five. He had a special love for bluegrass music, such as Flatt & Scruggs and Bill Monroe. By the time he was 12, he was playing mandolin professionally with the Sullivan Family, a bluegrass-gospel group that toured throughout the South.
When he was 13, he quit school to play mandolin with Lester Flatt and The Nashville Grass. After Flatt died in 1979, Stuart worked as a session musician, playing on the records of several country, pop, and rock acts.
Michael Streissguth. Marty Stuart on country music's long history of popping pills. Rolling Stone. July 14, 2017.
Mel Tillis was one of country music's greatest songwriters, having penned more than 1,000 songs, many of them hits. He was also a much-admired singer and all-around entertainer with an endearing personality.
During the 1960s, a wide range of other singers found success with songs written by Tillis, and he became one of Nashville's most sought-after writers. Brenda Lee had a pop hit with Tillis's "Emotions" in 1961. Bobby Bare's recording of "Detroit City" scored on both the country and pop charts in 1963.
Tillis used his gift for comedy during the ‘70s and ‘80s in several movies, many of them starring Burt Reynolds. The Reynolds' movies included W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings (also starring Jerry Reed, 1975), Smokey and the Bandit II (again with Reed, 1980), The Cannonball Run (1981), and Cannonball Run II (1984). Tillis appeared with Clint Eastwood in Every Which Way But Loose in 1978, and with Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Villain in 1979. In Uphill All the Way (1986), Tillis teamed with fellow country artist Roy Clark to play a couple of con men.
Mel also appeared in a number of TV shows during this time, such as Love, American Style; The Dukes of Hazzard; The Dean Martin Christmas Special; and The Love Boat. And he was a frequent guest on such talk shows as The Tonight Show (with Johnny Carson), The Merv Griffin Show, and The Mike Douglas Show.
Mel Tillis, with Walter Wager. Stutterin' Boy: The Autobiography of Mel Tillis. Rawson Associates, 1984.
Merle Haggard was a free-thinking individualist long before the "Outlaw Movement" shook up the country music establishment. He never let stop signs of any kind get in the way of what he wanted to do.
Moreover, unlike virtually all of the singers labeled as "outlaws" in the 1970s, "Hag" was a genuine outlaw. He spent more than two-and-a-half years in San Quentin State Prison for attempted burglary in the late 1950s.
Merle Ronald Haggard was born on April 6, 1937, in Oildale, California-just outside Bakersfield. His father, James, worked as a carpenter for the Santa Fe Railroad, and the family called a converted boxcar its home. James, who also played guitar and fiddle, died from a stroke when Merle was only nine years old.
While his mother worked as a bookkeeper, Merle was raised partly by his great aunt and uncle. During the next few years, the rebellious boy often got into trouble by running away, skipping school, and committing petty crimes. Consequently, he spent much of his youth in reform schools.
Merle inherited his dad's love of music. He especially liked the Western swing of Bob Wills and the honky-tonk sounds of Lefty Frizzell. He began playing music at local events when a teenager. He also began committing more serious crimes, like stealing cars and writing bad checks. At age 15, he and a friend were arrested for robbery, leading to a short spell in jail.
But he kept getting into trouble after his release and was in and out of reform facilities and jails. By the age of 20, he was serving time in San Quentin for attempted burglary of a restaurant and escape from county jail. While in San Quentin on New Year's Day 1959, Haggard attended a prison concert by Johnny Cash. Seeing the Man in Black helped inspire Merle to pull his life together.
Haggard had become a household name among country fans by 1967, when he had three number-one hits: "The Fugitive," "Sing Me Back Home," and "Branded Man." He wrote the latter two songs based on his prison and post-prison experiences. Hag was personally encouraged to write and record such songs by Johnny Cash, who was a strong advocate for prison reform and the rights of ex-convicts.
Merle Haggard leads Bob Wills' Texas Playboys in a tribute to Wills.
His charted singles slowed in the ‘80s, though popular songs in that decade included "I Think I'll Just Sit Here and Drink" (1980), "Rainbow Stew" (1981), "Pancho & Lefty" (from a 1982 album of that name with his friend Willie Nelson), and "Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Star" (his last number one, in 1987).
Throughout his career, Haggard had 38 songs reach the number-one spot on the country charts. A 1982 duet album with George Jones, A Taste of Yesterday's Wine, included the Nelson composition alluded to in the title. And a second duet album with Willie, Seashores of Old Mexico, was released in ‘87.
In 1994, the Country Music Hall of Fame inducted Haggard as a member. He had been named to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1977.
During the 2000s, Hag's musical stylings rambled from acoustic roots and bluegrass to pop standards and jazz. After touring with Dylan in 2005, Haggard planned to record an entire album of material written by "The Voice of a Generation." Although that project never happened, Hag said of Dylan in 2013, "You know, he's just the greatest songwriter, I think, of our time. It would be a toss-up between him and Kris Kristofferson."
Merle Haggard with Tom Carter. Merle Haggard's My House of Memories: For the Record. HarperCollins Publishers, 1999.
Norma Jean is a country singer who had several hit songs in the 1960s. Known as "Pretty Miss Norma Jean" during her heyday, she is probably best remembered for being Porter Wagoner's female singing partner before Dolly Parton took her place.
Although Dolly eventually achieved worldwide pop-culture fame in her singing and acting career, Norma Jean remained a lesser-known favorite among devoted fans of traditional country music.
Her name recognition has also been partially hampered by the fact that many people associate "Norma Jean" with the birth name of actress Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jeane Mortenson). In addition, "Norma Jean" is the name of a metal band, which based its name on that of Marilyn Monroe. Despite all this name confusion within American pop culture, Norma Jean the country singer has maintained her loyal fan base through the decades.
Norma Jean Beasler was born on January 30, 1938, near Wellston, Oklahoma. Her parents were farmers. The family moved to Oklahoma City when Norma Jean was a little girl.
She took a liking to country music as a child, especially the records of Kitty Wells. She tried to sound like Wells when she first began singing. She also liked the Western swing of Bob Wills. Before she entered her teens, she already had performed on radio shows in the Oklahoma City area.
In her teens, she sang with local Western-swing and country bands. She also met and performed with a few well-known acts during the 1950s, such as rockabilly/country singer Wanda Jackson. Norma Jean and Wanda became life-long friends.
In the late ‘50s, Norma Jean performed repeatedly on the Missouri-based Ozark Jubilee television program. While working on that show, she met Red Foley, who suggested she use "Norma Jean" (without her last name) as her stage name. She also met Porter Wagoner on the show. Wagoner launched his own weekly country-music TV program in 1960 and invited Norma Jean to be a regular act on it. She joined the show, often singing duets with Wagoner, and she soon became very popular with fans.
Norma Jean reduced her focus on her music career after she got married in 1967. She left Wagoner's TV and stage shows that year. Wagoner replaced her with an unknown singer named Dolly Parton. (Actually, Jeannie Seely replaced Norma Jean but left abruptly following the success of her big hit, "Don't Touch Me") Parton was initially unpopular with fans who were used to Norma Jean. But Dolly's popularity increased after 1968, when a duet by her and Porter, "The Last Thing on My Mind," became a top-10 hit. Porter and Dolly would have much additional success with their duets until Dolly left his organization in 1974.
Norma Jean's last major country hits came later in 1967, with "Don't Let That Doorknob Hit You" and "Heaven Help the Working Girl." After that, her presence on the country charts and radio stations was minimal. Nevertheless, she continued to release albums regularly through the early ‘70s. She began to release new albums again in the 2000s, including Loneliest Star in Texas (2005), Norma Jean's Cowboy Church Gospel (2012), and Aged to Perfection (2014).
Norma Jean has continued to perform live shows occasionally, including some reunion concerts with Wagoner before his death in 2007 and, since the early 2000's, concerts at the Cowboy Church in Branson, Missouri.
Patsy Cline was one of the greatest singers in the history of country music. She also helped blaze the trail for other female singers in the male-dominated Nashville country music industry during the late 50's and early 60's. She was not alone in this regard; Kitty Wells also had become a star several years before Patsy Cline's big hits in the early '60s.
However Patsy Cline has the most legendary aura of any female country singer, perhaps due to an early death that cut her off just after she had entered her prime.
Cline began recording in the mid 1950s, 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. She couldn't follow up "Walkin' After Midnight," however, in part because of an bad record deal that limited her to songs from a single publishing company.
But things took a radical turn for the better in 1960 when that initial contract expired. With the help of legendary producer Owen Bradley (who had worked on her sessions all along), Patsy began selecting material that was both better suited to her abilities and of a higher quality than her previous recordings.
Her great song, "I Fall to Pieces," was cut at the very first session where Patsy was at liberty to record what she wanted, and it 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.
Porter Wayne Wagoner was born August 12, 1927 of Irish-German heritage in the Ozarks of Missouri near the Arkansas border. In 1949, Porter visited Nashville and witnessed Hank Williams singing "Lovesick Blues" at the Grand Ole Opry.
By 1950, he was working in Vaughn's butcher shop on the town square and singing (and reading commercials) on a 15-minute early morning show over local radio KWPM in his hometown. Executives from Springfield, Missouri's KWTO radio station then recruited him for their station in September 1951.
Recognize the singer in the middle? Yes, it's Hank Williams, Jr. prior to his tragic mountain climbing accident. Pictured alongside Porter Wagoner and comedian Speck Rhodes.
In 1952, Porter found himself recording his first RCA release, Williams' "Settin' The Woods On Fire". 1953 brought Porter his first songwriting success with the Carl Smith hit, "Trademark". During this time the Porter Wagoner Trio, with Don Warden (steel guitar) and Herschel "Speedy" Haworth (electric guitar) was formed and began touring.
1954 brought Porter his first top 10 hit with "Company's Comin'". "A Satisfied Mind" came next and went to number one for 4 weeks and stayed on the charts for over 8 months. In 1954, Porter became a part of the "Ozark Jubilee" and on February 23, 1957 he joined the "Grand Ole Opry" where he remains one of its most popular stars.
Television has also been a major part of Porter's time in the public eye. He started the syndicated "Porter Wagoner Show" in 1960 and it remained on the air for an amazing 21 years airing in close to two hundred markets and seen by an estimated 3.5 million viewers. The "Porter Wagoner Show" was a key factor in popularizing country and gospel music across the United States.
Throughout the 1960's, there were lots of hit recordings and television work. In 1967, after seven magical years together, Pretty Miss Norma Jean left Porter's show to get married. Early September of that year brought a fledging female singer named Dolly Parton as Norma's replacement. You can still view these great shows each week on the RFD-TV network.
In the next few years "Carrol County Accident" became a standout country hit and crossed into the pop charts, earning Porter a Grammy nomination and 1969 CMA "Song Of The Year" honors. Porter and Dolly duets became increasingly popular, earning nominations and awards from the Grammys, CMA, ACM, MCN and a host of other awards shows.
In 1965, he helped create another country and pop standard, "Green, Green Grass Of Home". There have been over 500 versions, but Porter's was the first hit. Porter's career was on a definite upswing in 1969, when he won his third Grammy for "Best Gospel Performance" with the Blackwood Brothers.
Porter Wagoner singing with his great partner Dolly Parton during the peak of their duet career together.
The 1970's brought more hit records (with Dolly and alone) and more television. In 1979, he hosted "The Godfather Of Soul", James Brown at the Grand Ole Opry. In the 1980's Porter landed a role in the movie, "Honkytonk Man" with Clint Eastwood. he 1990's brought the Nashville Network and even more television work and appearances on the Grand Ole Opry for Porter.
With the new millennium under way, Porter received his highest accolade with his induction into the Country Music Hall Of Fame in 2002.
Porter has been awarded four Grammy awards. Three of which were won for his work in gospel music. Gospel music has, in fact, always been at the heart and soul of his legacy. January 2006 brought the third installment in the highly successful recordings with a country/gospel flavor. "Gospel 2006" and the first single, "The Dream (A True Story)" is getting great reviews, charting positions and airplay from many top Classic and Christian Country radio stations all across America.
Porter was not one to brag, but he is widely acknowledged by new country performers as the epitome of showmanship. Those who are truly trying to learn the business, watch him to see how he puts on a total show, making everyone in the audience feel special. He wouldn't say he's doing anything special, he's just being himself.
Unfortunately, Porter became ill in early October, 2007, and was admitted to the hospital on October 15. He was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer, and passed away peacefully on October 28, 2007. Country music lovers and the Grand Ole Opry will miss not only Porter's music, but also his stage presence and his infectious smile.
Hank Williams, Jr. spent his early career in the long shadows of his late father, the most legendary figure in the history of country music. Pressured to imitate his father's sound, the young Hank Jr. found himself personally and artistically frustrated. It took intense personal struggles and a nearly fatal accident to set him on a new course in which he boldly expressed his own musical vision.
Combining traditional country with Southern rock and blues, he has crafted a highly original sound that has garnered him 10 number-one singles, 20 gold albums, 6 platinum albums, 4 Emmy awards, and 5 Entertainer of the Year awards.
Randall Hank Williams was born on May 26, 1949, in Shreveport, Louisiana. His father was Hank Williams, the 25-year-old country-music sensation who was enjoying a huge hit at the time with "Lovesick Blues." His mother was Hank's wife and sometimes singing partner, Audrey.
Hank Sr. was a regular performer on the Louisiana Hayride radio program, based in Shreveport, during this period. He took to calling his baby boy "Bocephus" after the ventriloquist dummy used by Grand Ole Opry comedian Rod Brasfield.
In the early hours of New Year's Day 1953, Hank Sr. died in the back seat of a Cadillac on his way to a show. His death was most likely caused by a combination of alcohol and painkillers, which he took for back pain. The deeply troubled but truly brilliant singer and songwriter was only 29. His son was not yet 4.
Bobby Bare is one of country music's most unique artists, with a laid-back vocal style and a free, creative approach that he has used for traditional country ballads, rowdy rockers, folk-story songs, and even children's tunes. Between 1962 and 1983, he charted almost five dozen top-40 country hits. Since then, he has continued to record a variety of compelling material and perform live shows across the nation.
Robert Joseph Bare was born on April 7, 1935, in Ironton, a river town in far southern Ohio. His mother died when he was five years old. His father was unable to care for him and his two sisters, so the younger sister was given up for adoption and the older sister was sent to live with relatives.
Young Bobby stayed mostly with his dad, growing up on a farm. He developed an early interest in music and made a crude guitar out of a coffee can, a stick, and screen wires, using his imagination to improve the sound. Bobby's musical tastes were not limited to country music. Besides listening to the Grand Ole Opry on the radio, he also enjoyed listening to big band music and rhythm and blues.
In his early teens, Bobby left home because he didn't get along with his stepmother, and he went to live with different relatives. He also formed his first band (with a real guitar by this time). His group got a job performing on a radio program that was broadcast in the area around Springfield, Ohio. Later, in the early 1950s, he performed on a bigger radio program based in Wilston, Ohio.
Bobby Bare singing with Willie Nelson and bluegrass great Mac Wiseman. All three are now members of the Country Music Hall of Fame.
In 1953, Bare got a ride to California, playing music to earn tips to pay for gas. His driver said that he knew two famous country instrumentalists there, and he really did.
He introduced them to Bare. One of the instrumentalists, a steel guitarist and record producer named Speedy West, hired Bare to write songs and helped him get a record deal with Capital. Bare had little luck with his recordings there, or with his next label, Challenge. He found more success playing in nightclubs in California-until he was drafted into the Army.
He introduced them to Bare. One of the instrumentalists, a steel guitarist and record producer named Speedy West, hired Bare to write songs and helped him get a record deal with Capital. Bare had little luck with his recordings there, or with his next label, Challenge. He found more success playing in nightclubs in California-until he was drafted into the Army.
In 1959, while in Ohio waiting to get inducted into the Army, Bare recorded a demo of a self-penned song about his induction, called "The All-American Boy," for Fraternity Records. The demo was released, under the name of Bare's friend Bill Parsons, and reached number two on the pop charts.
After getting discharged from his two years in the service, Bare recorded without success for Fraternity for a short while before getting signed by Chet Atkins at RCA in Nashville in 1962. There, he soon scored two hits with "Shame On Me" and "Detroit City." The latter song was his first top-10 country hit, and it won a Grammy Award for best country and western recording. These early songs had something of a country-folk feel to them.
During the rest of the 1960s, Bare had additional hits with "500 Miles Away From Home," "Miller's Cave," "Four Strong Winds," "The Streets of Baltimore," and "(Margie's at) The Lincoln Park Inn." The latter song, written by Bare's former bass player Tom T. Hall, was controversial because of its frank presentation of adultery. In 1965, Bare used his success and influence at RCA to help get his friend, Arizona-based singer Waylon Jennings, signed by the label.
Although not usually associated with the "outlaw" country music of the 1970s (to the same extent as Jennings and Willie Nelson), Bare was actually much in tune with the outlaw philosophy. In fact, he fought for the right to record in his own way long before Waylon and Willie did the same. Bare recorded albums in his own unique style, often using unusual instrumentation and material by non-country artists, such as Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones. His songs received quite a bit of airway on FM rock radio.
Bobby Bare on stage at the George Jones Tribute Concert along with Stonewall Jackson, John Conlee, Jim Ed Brown, Bobby, Jimmy C. Newman and the great "Whispering Bill" Anderson.
Bare's 1980 album Down & Dirty sounded like a live concert album, but it was actually recorded in a studio with a live audience. This fun, rowdy, rockin' collection included such tunes as "Numbers," "Tequila Sheila," "Qualudes Again," "Goin' Back to Texas," and "Some Days are Diamonds (Some Days are Stone)."
From 1983 to 1988, Bare hosted his own music talk show on TNN titled Bobby Bare and Friends. The popular show focused on interviews with songwriters.
Bare performing a live version of "Tequila Sheila."
In 1998, Bare recorded an album of Silverstein songs titled Old Dogs with his friends Jennings, Jerry Reed, and Mel Tillis. Most of the songs focused on the idea of aging.
By the 2000s, Bare was mostly in retirement, doing a lot of fishing. But he still plays a number of live shows each year. And he has recorded some great albums. In 2005, he released The Moon Was Blue, produced by his son Bobby Jr. In 2012, he released the album Darker Than Light, a collection of folk songs and a cover of U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For."
The album Things Change, a collection of country songs featuring a duet with Chris Stapleton on a new version of Bare's classic "Detroit City," was released in 2017. This album also includes "Trophy Girl," the last song written by much-admired Texas songsmith Guy Clark.
Bobby Bare was elected into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013 and continues making great music and of course, fishing… Bobby also sometimes joins his son, Bobby Bare Jr, on the younger Bare's alternative rock/country albums.
Bobby Bare's official website, his Country Music Hall of Fame induction and his discography.
Ronnie Milsap overcame both childhood poverty and lifelong blindness to become a highly successful singer and pianist. In the 1970s and 1980s, he had an extraordinarily long series of hits on the country and pop charts that garnered him multiple awards. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2014.
Milsap's compelling music-fusing country, R&B, pop, and rock-and exuberant personality has won him many loyal fans who continue to buy his records and attend his live performances.
Ronnie Lee Milsap was born on January 16, 1943, in a poverty-stricken rural community in Robbinsville, North Carolina. He was born blind as the result of congenital glaucoma. Sadly, his condition caused his mother to shun him, because she thought his blindness was a punishment from God.
After his parents divorced, he was raised by his grandparents. When he was five, his grandparents enrolled him in the Governor Moorhead School for the Blind in Raleigh. There, he was schooled in classical music and learned how to play the piano, violin, guitar, and other instruments.
In his teens, influenced by the piano stylings of Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard, he formed a rock'n'roll band. After studying political science at a Georgia junior college, he was offered a law-school scholarship at Emory University. But he turned it down, deciding instead to follow his love of music to wherever it would take him. Milsap was encouraged to pursue his musical dreams by none other than fellow blind musician Ray Charles, whom he met backstage at a concert in Atlanta in 1963.
While playing with a rhythm-and-blues band in the Atlanta area in 1965, Milsap scored a minor R&B hit with the Ashford & Simpson song "Never Had It So Good." Also that year, he married a woman named Joyce, and the couple has stayed together through the decades. They have a son named Todd.
Ronnie Milsap and Joyce Milsap attend the Ronnie Milsap Exhibit Opening Reception at the Country Music Hall of Fame And Museum at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on February 5, 2015 in Nashville.
By the late 1960s, Milsap had moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where he fronted an R&B band and worked as a session musician. Working with producer Chips Moman, Milsap played piano on Elvis Presley's recording of Eddie Rabbitt's "Kentucky Rain" and sang harmony on Elvis's "Don't Cry Daddy." Both of those songs were hits in 1970.
Milsap had another minor R&B hit with "Loving You is a Natural Thing" in 1970. His first album, released in 1971, met with little attention. During this time, he also played clubs in Los Angeles, where he met country star Charley Pride, who suggested he try his luck with country music in Nashville. He took Pride's advice and moved to Nashville in late 1972. There, he got a job singing in Roger Miller's King of the Road Motor Inn; he signed with Pride's manager, Jack D. Johnson; and he landed a record deal with RCA.
Ronnie later recalled that when he was playing piano for Elvis's recording of "Kentucky Rain," Elvis instructed him, "Hey, more thunder on the piano, Milsap!"
Ronnie Milsap's performance jacket, hit song and braille Playboy magazine on display at the Willie nelson and Friends Museum.
Although Milsap hasn't cracked the top-ten since 1992, he has continued to regularly release quality albums, as well as to keep a busy touring schedule. His 1993 album True Believer yielded the title song as his last top-forty country single. Since then, his musical journey has taken him through different genres.
In 2004, he released an album of pop and jazz standards titled Just For a Thrill. In 2009, he released a double album of gospel songs called Then Sings My Soul. Country albums have included My Life in 2006 and Country Again in 2011.
Summer Number 17, released in 2014, featured an eclectic collection of pop, R&B, and country standards. The album was meant to showcase the diverse musical influences that Milsap had as a teenager.
Shelly West had a string of country hits in the 1980s, both as a solo artist and as the duet partner of David Frizzell. Shelly and David each have a renowned musical heritage-Shelly is the daughter of the late, great Dottie West, and David is the younger brother of the late, legendary Lefty Frizzell.
Her mom
Shelly West was born on May 23, 1958, in Cleveland, Ohio. Her mother, Dottie, was in the early phase of her singing career at the time, performing in local clubs and on television.
Her father, Bill West, was a steel guitarist and songwriter. Dottie and Bill would have four children together. Shelly and her family moved to Nashville in 1961. There, Dottie's career began to take off in the mid-1960s, and it peaked in the late 1970s and early 1980s when she was Kenny Rogers' duet partner.
Dottie and Shelly's father divorced in the early ‘70s. A tragic car accident claimed Dottie's life in 1991 as she was on her way to a performance at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.
Shirley Collie made a name for herself on television before she hit country radio, as she appeared on ABC's ‘Ozark Jubilee'a country music variety show in the late '50s.
George Jones alongside Patsy Cline and long time band member George Riddle.
Jones, the top male singer in country music, married country music's hottest new female artist Tammy Wynette in 1969. He soon joined Wynette's label, Epic, where he enjoyed a successful 20-year association with producer Billy Sherrill. He hit #1 in the '70s with "The Grand Tour" and "The Door," both in 1974.
His marriage to Wynette was stormy but in the recording studio they were the perfect duet partners, hitting #1 with "We're Gonna Hold On" in 1974 and, coinciding with their 1976 divorce, "Golden Ring" and "Near You."
Tanya Tucker achieved top-ten success as a country singer when she was only 13 years old in 1972. That year, her distinctive, tremulous, powerful voice was heard singing the memorable tale of a woman who was "forty-one and her daddy still calls her baby. All the folks around Brownsville say she's crazy, ‘cause she walks downtown with a suitcase in her hand, looking for a mysterious dark-haired man…"
The unusual story song was "Delta Dawn," written by Larry Collins and Alex Harvey. After the public's shock wore off when they learned that the powerful vocal delivery came from a 13-year-old girl, Tucker went on to have a long successful career in country music, developing a sexy rebel image. The never-married star also had, in the early 1980s, one of the most famous and gossiped-about romances in country-music history-with fellow singer Glen Campbell.
Tanya Denise Tucker was born on October 10, 1958, in Seminole, Texas. Her father was a construction worker and did other jobs, moving around the country a great deal for work. Tanya and her three siblings lived in Texas, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada while growing up. Tanya showed an early interest and ability in singing, which her parents encouraged. One of her first performances was at the Arizona State Fair. After the family moved to Nevada, she sang at Las Vegas venues.
A demo tape recorded by Tucker and sent to Nashville in 1971 found its way to Columbia Records producer Billy Sherrill. Sherrill liked what he heard and signed the youngster to a contract. Their first release was "Delta Dawn," which rose to number six on the country charts in 1972 and also entered the pop charts. In 1973, Helen Reddy had a number-one pop hit with her version of the song.
In 1991, Jones signed with MCA Records, an event MCA Nashville President Tony Brown said was "like signing Elvis." In 1992 the CMA recognized Jones' monumental career by induction him into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He recorded High-Tech Redneck and the highly acclaimed acoustic album The Bradley Barn Sessions for MCA. In 1995, Jones and Tammy Wynette were reunited for a new CD entitled One and toured together for the first time in twenty years.
Thankfully, George and Tammy had found friendship and peace in their relationship before the First Lady of Country Music unexpectedly passed away in 1998.
In 1996, Jones told his life story in the book I LIVED TO TELL IT ALL, which went to #6 on The New York Times bestseller list. As country fans were reading about his infamous past, he drew from his musical past in putting together his last CD for MCA, also entitled I Lived To Tell It All.
His COLD HARD TRUTH project proved that George Jones is still "hotter than a $2.00 pistol" and is poised to continue his amazing music legacy with the BNA/BAndit release, THE ROCK.
In addition to his country music legacy, George Jones and his wife Nancy are well-known around Music City for brightening up the holiday season with a dazzling display of Christmas lights and decorations on their farm just south of Nashville.
At a time when the country music industry was dominated by the "Nashville Sound," in which record companies required singers to adhere to a rigid convention of using session musicians playing certain established, commercially safe styles, Waylon and Willie demanded on doing things their own way.
Waylon Arnold Jennings was born on June 15, 1937, in the small town of Littlefield in West Texas. His father, William, was an amateur musician who held various jobs, including working on a farm, driving a truck, and running a creamery and gas station.
His mother Lorene, who also knew how to play music, bought Waylon his first guitar when he was a young boy. He learned his first songs from his parents. Young Waylon enjoyed listening to such music as Hank Williams, Ernest Tubb, and Bob Wills, and he liked watching cowboy movies, especially those starring Gene Autry.
When he was 14 years old, he got a part-time job at a local radio station spinning records and singing and playing music with a country band he formed. After quitting high school at age 16, he worked in different jobs, including stocking shelves in a dry goods store, picking cotton, and driving a truck. He also played music at local shows with his band, the Texas Longhorns.
In the mid- to late 1950s, Waylon often visited Lubbock, about 35 miles from Littlefield, to play on KDAV's Sunday Party music show, which featured area bands. He also got a job as a disc jockey at Lubbock radio station KLLL, where he spun country and rock'n'roll. While performing music and working as a DJ in Lubbock, Waylon Jennings became good friends with Buddy Holly. The two young men would often talk and play music together during Waylon's radio shows.
By the late 1950s, Holly had become a huge, nationally known rock'n'roll star. In 1958, he arranged Waylon's first recording session. Waylon sang the Cajun classic "Jole Blon" (in which he faked his way through the French words) and "When Sin Stops (Love Begins)." Holly hired King Curtis to play saxophone on the songs. The single would be released by Brunswick in 1959, but it failed to generate much notice.
Waylon Jennings in 1958 singing "When Sin Stops (Love Begins)" and "Jole Blon," produced by Buddy Holly. King Curtis is playing saxophone.
In late 1958, Holly hired Waylon to play electric bass with his band on his "Winter Dance Party Tour," which began in January 1959. In February, Jennings was scheduled to fly on a small plane with Holly from Clear Lake, Iowa, to their next show in Moorhead, Minnesota.
At the last minute, however, Jennings gave up his plane seat to J.P. Richardson (better known as the "Big Bopper"), because Richardson was sick with the cold and didn't want to take the long bus ride with the rest of the performers. That flight crashed on February 3, killing Holly, Richardson, Ritchie Valens, and the pilot. The tragedy was immortalized by Don McLean as "the day the music died" in the 1971 song "American Pie."
After arriving in the "capital of country music," Waylon Jennings moved into an apartment with Johnny Cash, and the two rebel musicians began a life-long friendship. They also shared a wild hell-raising lifestyle, including addictions to amphetamines.
Waylon's first single for RCA, "That's the Chance I'll Have to Take," became a minor hit in mid-1965. His first album for RCA, Folk-Country, was released in 1966. With his second single, "Stop the World (And Let Me Off)," he charted his first top-40 country hit.
His first top-10 hit came with "(That's What You Get) For Lovin' Me" from his second album, Leavin' Town. His third album, Nashville Rebel, was notable for the title song and for a moving ballad called "Green River." The album was the soundtrack to an independent 1966 movie that Waylon Jennings, who had never acted in his life, surprisingly landed the lead role in after a spur-of-the-moment audition.
Waylon Jennings became increasingly frustrated with the direction of his career during this period. RCA forced him to work with standard session musicians rather than his own band, and he was not always allowed to record the type of material that he wanted. Thus, the resulting records did not fully reflect the sound and style that he had in his mind.
He began to exercise a little more control over his recordings with the albums The Taker/Tulsa (1971), Good Hearted Woman (1972), and Ladies Love Outlaws (1972). Some of the songs on these albums hinted at the harder-edged, rock-influenced sound that he would later develop.
Waylon Jennings took on a new look to go with his new sound. Gone was the slicked-back hair and clean-shaven face. The new Waylon sported shaggy shoulder-length hair and a beard.
Waylon Jennings and his Waylors, including Ralph Mooney on steel guitar, performing "Lonesome, On'ry and Mean" live in Texas in 1975.
Although much of the Nashville establishment predicted that Jennings would flop with the radical changes he was making, he soon proved them wrong. His 1974 album This Time featured his first number-one song with the self-penned title number. Another highlight was the J.J. Cale song "Louisiana Women."
He followed that up with The Ramblin' Man in 1974, highlighted by "I'm a Ramblin' Man," "Rainy Day Woman," "Amanda," and a cover of the Allman Brothers' "Midnight Rider." Many of these songs prominently featured Waylon's extraordinary and unique guitar skills more than ever before.
Dreaming My Dreams, in 1975, featured the incredibly touching and sad title ballad and the semi-autobiographical "Waymore's Blues." But standing out the most was "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way," a pounding rock anthem with lyrics in which Waylon sharply contrasted the lame modern-day Nashville establishment with the legendary Hank Williams.
Are You Ready For The Country, in 1976, highlighted Waylon's special version of country-rock, anchored by covers of Neil Young's title song and the Marshall Tucker Band's "Can't You See." There was also a tribute to Buddy Holly called "Old Friend."
While Jennings was riding high in his career as a country music superstar, he was also spending much of his time high on drugs. Years of addiction to amphetamines and cocaine, as well as decades of womanizing, were taking a serious toll on his marriage and family life as the 1970s stretched into the 1980s.
The birth of his and Colter's only child together, Waylon Albright "Shooter" Jennings, in 1979 began to prompt him to turn his life around. (Jennings had six older children from previous marriages.) After retreating to Arizona to force himself to detox, he finally succeeding in quitting drugs in 1984.
Webb Pierce remains one of the legends of country music and was one of the most popular honky tonk vocalists of the 1950's, racking up more #1 hits than similar artists like Hank Williams, Eddy Arnold, Lefty Frizzell or Ernest Tubb.
As a child in West Monroe, LA, Pierce became infatuated with Gene Autry films and his mother's hillbilly records, particularly those of Jimmie Rodgers and various Western swing and Cajun groups. He began to play the guitar before he was a teenager.
In late 1949, Webb accepted a spot on the Louisiana Hayride, a radio program on KWKH that was instrumental in launching the careers of many country artists.
Webb began to assemble a band of local Shreveport musicians, which included recruiting pianist Floyd Cramer, guitarist/vocalist Faron Young, bassist Tillman Franks and vocalists Teddy and Doyle Wilburn. The Wilburns and Franks all wrote songs, which provided the basis for Webb's initial set list. Webb's second single, "Wondering" became his breakthrough hit, climbing to number one early in 1952.
Webb Pierce and Willie Nelson sharing a cold one on Willie's bus the "Honeysuckle Rose" during a stop in Nashville. Pictured in background is Willie's harmonica player, Mickey Raphael.
After the single became a hit, Pierce left Louisiana for Nashville, and had his second number one single with "That Heart Belongs to Me." The following September, the Grand Ole Opry needed to fill the vacancy left by the firing of Hank Williams, so they invited Pierce to join the cast. After Williams' death, Pierce became the most popular singer in country music.
For the next four years, every single he released hit the Top Ten, with a total of ten reaching number one, including "There Stands the Glass" (1953), "Slowly" (1954), "More and More" (1954), and "In the Jailhouse Now" (1955).
Pierce continued to have hits until the end of the '50s primarily because he kept in close touch with DJs across the country allowing him to keep his streak of 34 consecutive Top Ten hits running into the year of1957.
Throughout the 60's and 70's, Pierce continued to record, but most of his income came from his highly lucrative financial investments.
Pierce left Decca Records in 1975, making a handful of records for Plantation Records that didn't experience much chart success. His last hit came in 1982, when his duet on "In the Jailhouse Now" with Willie Nelson scraped the bottom of the country charts.
Webb often stopped by the Willie Nelson store just to sit and talk with Frank and Jeanie Oakley. He always had his good friend along as well, Max Powell. It was never dull with the two of them around.
Sadly, Webb Pierce died of pancreatic cancer in Nashville, Tennessee on February 24, 1991. In Webb's honor, we've created a special display in the Willie Nelson museum dedicated to Webb Pierce. We also have a lot of photos of him scattered throughout the store and museum. So be sure and stop in - you'll love it.
William Orville Frizzell was born on March 31, 1928, in Corsicana, Texas. His family travelled a lot, from Texas to Oklahoma to Arkansas, as his father sought work as an oil driller. When still a boy, Frizzell came to idolize country music pioneer Jimmie Rodgers, listening to his records and trying to duplicate his sound on a guitar that his uncle gave him.
When he was 12, he began singing on a radio show in Texas. He reportedly got his nickname "Lefty" in his early teens after impressing his peers in a schoolyard fight.