Lynn Anderson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 This article does not cite any references or sources. (March 2008)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.
Lynn Anderson

Background information
Birth name Lynn Rene Anderson
Born September 26, 1947 (1947-09-26) (age 60)
Origin Grand Forks, North Dakota, U.S.
Genre(s) Country pop
Occupation(s) Singer, actress, horsewoman
Years active 1966 – present
Label(s) Chart (1966 – 1970)
Columbia (1970- – 1980)
Permian (1983 – 1984)
MCA (1986 – 1989)
DI
Associated acts Liz Anderson, Jerry Lane, Gary Morris, Ed Bruce
Website The Lynn Anderson Show

Lynn Rene Anderson (born September 26, 1947) is an American country music singer-songwriter. She was a consistent hit maker and one of country music's leading ladies throughout the 1970s. Her signature tune, "(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden", topped the country and pop charts around the world in 1970, becoming one of the biggest selling records in country music history. Her sophisticated image and Countrypolitan sound helped her to become one of the first female country artists to achieve mass crossover appeal. Billboard currently ranks Lynn Anderson among the top ten most successful female country artists for all-time record sales.

In 1971, she won a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. She continued to have major success on the country charts and national television, regularly appearing alongside such legendary stars as Dean Martin and Bob Hope. She served as an ambassador for country music, broadening its appeal and taking it to new levels. In 1974, Anderson became the first female country performer to win an American Music Award for Favorite Female Vocalist. In addition to a Grammy and an American Music Award, her list of major awards includes an Academy of Country Music Award for "Top Female Vocalist" (twice) and a CMA Award for "Female Vocalist of the Year". In a career that spans over four decades, Lynn Anderson has racked up eight No. 1 records, 18 Top 10s, over 50 Top 40 hits, and 17 Gold albums.

During the 1970s, when Hollywood needed a country act for variety shows, benefits, talk shows and even television dramas, Anderson was usually the choice. She was the first female country star to do the Tonight Show circuit, as well as the first to headline and sell out Madison Square Garden in 1974. Other well-known hits by Lynn Anderson include "Rocky Top", "Top of the World" (a No. 1 record for her before the Carpenters), "You're My Man", "How Can I Unlove You", "Keep Me in Mind" and "Cry". Her song, "Rocky Top", is now one of two official state songs for Tennessee. Today, she continues to be a popular concert attraction to country and pop music fans around the world, headlining major casinos, performing arts centers, fairs and festivals.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Anderson was born in Grand Forks, North Dakota, to songwriters Casey and Liz Anderson and grew up in Sacramento, California. Liz Anderson is an accomplished songwriter, writing some of Merle Haggard's early hit songs, including "All My Friends Are Gonna Be Strangers" and "The Fugitive". Liz was signed to RCA Records and had her own brief recording career in the mid 1960s, charting the Top 5 hit "Mama Spank" in 1966. She had another Top 5 hit with Bobby Bare and Norma Jean, "The Game of Triangles".

Lynn started performing at the age of 6, but her first successes were in horse shows. Her quarter amassed 700 trophies, and she won major awards as a rider at shows all over California. She earned the California Horse Show Queen title in 1966. [1] Anderson's first foray into the music world was when, as a teenager, she entered a singing contest sponsored by the Country Corners program in Sacramento.[2] At an early age, Anderson took an interest in singing. Her family took serious interest in horse shows, and Anderson began competing professionally in the mid-60s, while still a teenager. In 1966, she won the California Horse Show Queen title. Anderson then started working as a secretary for KROY Radio in Sacramento, California.

While her mother was rising to fame as a country singer and writer, Anderson took the ride to Nashville with her mother and participated in an informal hotel room sing-a-long with country singers, Freddie Hart and Merle Haggard, among others. Slim Williamson, who was the owner of a small Nashville record label, Chart Records, was present at the informal jam session.

[edit] Rise to Fame and Success in the Late 60s

Anderson's first foray into the music world was when, as a teenager, she entered a singing contest sponsored by the Country Corners program in Sacramento.[1] At an early age, Anderson took an interest in singing. Her family took serious interest in horse shows, and Anderson began competing professionally in the mid-60s, while still a teenager. In 1966, she won the California Horse Show Queen title. Anderson then started working as a secretary for KROY Radio in Sacramento, California. While her mother was rising to fame as a country singer and writer, Anderson took the ride to Nashville with her mother and participated in an informal hotel room sing-a-long with country singers, Freddie Hart and Merle Haggard, among others. Slim Williamson, who was the owner of a small Nashville record label, Chart Records, was present at the informal jam session. He invited Anderson to record for the label in 1966, where she would remain until 1969. Unlike some of her contemporaries who, in search of fame, packed up everything they owned and headed to Nashville knocking on doors, Anderson simply seemed to be in the right place at the right time.

Anderson briefly left the equestrian world to pursue her professional recording career. Her first single released under Chart Records, "In Person", was released in early 1966 and was moderately successful. It would be the end of the year before Anderson would score a Top 40 hit on the Country charts with "Ride, Ride, Ride". Penned by her mother, the song peaked at No. 36 on the country charts in early 1967. An album of the same name was also released. Anderson released another song from the album, "If I Kiss You (Will You Go Away)", also written by her mother, which became a major country hit. "If I Kiss You (Will You Go Away)" peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Country charts.

Anderson joined the cast of The Lawrence Welk Show during the 1967-1968 season, becoming the first country act to regularly perform on the show. She was the show's resident country singer and toured with the "Welk Road Show". Anderson's exposure on national television helped her attract a wider audience early on, which would later serve her well. It was also during this time that Anderson would win her first major industry award, the Academy of Country Music's "Top Female Vocalist". At the time, Anderson was the only female country singer receiving regular exposure on national television. In 1968, as her recording career was becoming top priority, she gave up her regular spot on the show in favor of sporadic guest appearances.

Anderson was now becoming a major player in the country market, achieving success on the charts between 1968 and 1969. She would have another big hit in early 1968 with "Promises, Promises", which hit the Billboard top 5, and Cashbox No. 1. Other hits by Anderson during this period were "No Another Time" (1968), "Big Girls Don't Cry" (1968), "Flattery Will Get You Everywhere" (1968), and "That's a No No" (1969). Anderson's success helped pave the way for future female country singers to assert themselves in the male-dominated (country) music industry. Around this same time (1968), Anderson married her first husband, legendary, Grammy Award-winning songwriter and producer Glenn Sutton. Sutton wrote the Grammy Award-winning country hit "Almost Persuaded", as well as many of Tammy Wynette's early hit songs. He also wrote and produced several number ones and top tens for Anderson during her tenure at Columbia Records.

Before signing with Columbia in 1970, Chart released several singles by Anderson that year which became Top 20 hits, including "Rocky Top", the biggest hit version of the song. Other hits included remakes of "I've Been Everywhere" and Kitty Wells' "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels".

[edit] Success of Rose Garden

In 1970, Anderson moved to Nashville with her husband, writer/producer Glenn Sutton, and signed with Columbia. She quickly scored the biggest hit of her career with the Joe South-penned "(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden," which topped the country charts and went all the way to number three on the pop side. It won her a Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance, and proved a hit in 15 countries. [3] The song was written by Joe South, who recorded his own version for his 1969 Introspect album. South's recording was far from a commercial success. Anderson loved the song and was determined to record it. Her record company did not think the song appropriate for a female, as it contained the line "I could promise you things like big diamond rings".

Lynn Anderson accepting her award for Female Vocalist of the Year from the CMA Awards in 1971.
Lynn Anderson accepting her award for Female Vocalist of the Year from the CMA Awards in 1971.

With extra studio time remaining and no songs left to record during this particular session, according to Anderson, she ran home and got the Joe South album that contained "Rose Garden". Reluctantly, her producer let her record the song. After hearing the finished product, Clive Davis insisted the song be her next single release. Unlike many of today's country artists, Lynn Anderson did not set out to achieve pop success. Nobody expected that "Rose Garden" would become such a monster hit. The song topped the country charts (staying at the No. 1 spot for five consecutive weeks), reached No. 3 on the Billboard Pop charts, and hit No. 1 on the Cashbox Pop charts, something that was virtually unheard of at the time. The song was also a hit in fifteen countries around the world and made Anderson a household name.

In 1971, Anderson was presented a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for "Rose Garden". Joe South also won a Grammy Award for writing the song. Lynn Anderson became the sixth person to ever win the Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. In addition to the coveted Grammy Award, Anderson won the Academy of Country Music's "Top Female Vocalist" award in 1970 (her second) and the CMA Awards' Female Vocalist of the Year award in 1971. The album Rose Garden was released in 1971. The album went gold around the world, as well as being certified RIAA Platinum in the United States. Lynn Anderson's crossover success was the beginning of what was in store for other country artists. Other artists who subsequently enjoyed crossover success during the decade included Eddie Rabbitt, Crystal Gayle, Olivia Newton-John, Kenny Rogers and Anne Murray. In 1971, Anderson released a Christmas album, simply entitled The Christmas Album, which featured re-makes of big holiday hits from the 1950s and 1960s. That same year she was chosen as Ambassador for the Christmas Seal Campaign. In 1972, she released a Greatest Hits album, one of many she would release in her career.

[edit] A Leading Female Vocalist in the 70s

Lynn Anderson's success did not end with the song that made her a househould name and brought her international acclaim. "You're My Man" was a No. 1 hit for Anderson in 1971 and proved to be a successful follow-up to her monster hit, "Rose Garden". It also reached the Top 60 on the pop charts and even hit the Adult Contemporary Top 10, peaking at No. 6, giving Anderson another mainstream hit. She would follow "You're My Man" with another No. 1, "How Can I Unlove You". In addition, Anderson had other Top 10 country hits in 1972, including a remake of "Cry", which hit No. 3 on the Billboard Country charts ("Cry" also hit No. 1 on the Cashbox Country charts). Other hits that made the Top 5 in 1972 include "Fool Me" and "Listen to a Country Song".

In 1973, Lynn Anderson released "Top of the World". Anderson's version of the song placed atop the Cashbox (No. 1) and Billboard (No. 2) charts. Although Richard Carpenter wrote the song, it was not until Anderson's version became a country hit that the Carpenters released their version as a pop single. As "Top of the World" became a big hit for Anderson on the country charts, it crossed over and started climbing the pop charts. It has often been speculated "Top of the World" would have been as big a pop hit for Anderson as "Rose Garden", had the Carpenters' version not replaced hers on the pop charts. Even with the Carpenter's pop chart success, the song is still largely identified with Anderson being her version was the first hit. Her other hits that year included "Sing About Love" and another No. 1, "Keep Me In Mind". By now most of Anderson's releases were Pop tinged.

Lynn Anderson was regularly seen on mainstream television throughout much of the 1970s, often appearing on shows where country artists were not regularly seen. She was a staple on the variety show circuit in the 1970s.

In the summer of 1974, Anderson had another country Top 10 with "Talkin' to The Wall", originally a hit for Warner Mack. She would have her last No. 1 hit on the country charts at the end of the year with "What a Man My Man Is", which was Anderson's final entry on the pop charts at No. 93. That same year, Anderson became the first female country artist to headline and sellout Madison Square Garden, as well as the first to win the American Music Award.

In 1975, Anderson enjoyed two Top 15 hits with "He Turns It Into Love Again" and "I've Never Loved Anyone More". Although her chart success was beginning to fade, she remained a constant on national television. In 1977, she was a main character on an episode of "Starsky & Hutch", promoting the song "Wrap Your Love All Around Your Man". The song reached the country Top 15, peaking at No. 12 on the Billboard Country charts. Anderson achieved another Top 20 hit in 1977, "He Ain't You". After a one-year hiatus, Anderson returned to the charts in 1979 with the Karla Bonoff penned hit "Isn't It Always Love", putting her back in the Top 10. The single was from the Outlaw Is Just a State of Mind, which also spawned the Top 20 hit, "I Love How You Love Me".

[edit] Brief Retirement and Return to Country Music

Anderson left Columbia Records in 1980. Her last single with Columbia was the Top 40 hit "Blue Baby Blue", from the Even Cowgirls Get the Blues album. The album cover showed Anderson in sexy cowgirl attire. After the success of the Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, she went into brief retirement to start a new family with her second husband, oil tycoon Harold "Spook" Stream. She had two children with Stream (Anderson and first husband Glenn Sutton had one child and divorced in 1977).

Anderson would make a comeback on the small Permian Records label with the album "Back". Her comeback single, "You're Welcome to Tonight", a duet with Gary Morris, put Anderson back in the Top 10, peaking at No. 9. Another single from the same album, "What I've Learned from Loving You", reached No. 18 on the Hot Country Songs chart in 1983, and brought Anderson back as a solo artist. After leaving Permian, Anderson would sign with MCA and Mercury Records, recording singles on and off again throughout the '80s. She released a cover version of the song "Under the Boardwalk" in 1988, which reached No. 24 on the Billboard Country list. Anderson's last charting record was in 1989 with "How Many Hearts

[edit] Career Today

In 1999, Lynn Anderson was asked to be a presenter at the Academy of Country Music's annual award show. She performed her signature song and presented the "Top Male Vocalist" Award on the show that night.

In addition to being one of the most successful country female singers of all time, Lynn Anderson has remained equally popular in the equestrian world. She has won 16 national championships and eight world championships, as well as several celebrity championships. Her most recent championships are the "Chevy Truck Cutting Horse Championship" in 1999, the "National Cutting Horse Association Championship in 1999, and the "American U.S. Open Invitational Championship" in 2000. She also produced a TNN television special, American Country Cowboys. This program helped many handicapped groups around the country, and her dedication to helping disabled children has remained constant over the years. She recorded sporadically in the late 1980s and 1990s. In recent years, Anderson has worked with the "Special Riders of Animaland", a horseback-riding therapy program for children.

Because of her outstanding achievements in country music, in 2000, Governor Don Sundquist proclaimed June 15 "Lynn Anderson Day" throughout the state of Tennessee.

She began recording again and released a new album in 2004, The Bluegrass Sessions. This release earned Anderson her first Grammy Award nomination in over 30 years. Lynn's signature song has been covered in recent years by k.d. lang, Kate Campbell and Martina McBride. McBride released her version of "Rose Garden" as a single in 2005, and it became a Top 20 hit, peaking at No. 18. Anderson was a special guest on Martina McBride's "Timeless" special, taped at the Grand Ole Opry in 2005, where they sang a duet of "Rose Garden". Anderson's version of the song has also been featured in a few major theatrical releases, including Monster's Ball and Zodiac. Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton released respective cover versions of Anderson's song "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues".

In 2006, Anderson released her latest CD, Cowgirl, comprised of all original songs penned by her mother. Today, Lynn Anderson continues to record and remains a popular concert attraction. Her records have sold in the multi-millions and are still selling.

In June 2007, as part of the annual CMA Music Festival, Lynn Anderson did an outdoor concert at the Riverfront Stage in downtown Nashville, Tennessee. At this concert, Anderson sang many of her hits and performed a duet with Mentor Williams on his famous composition, "Drift Away".

[edit] Personal life

Lynn Anderson has had two marriages, both ending in divorce, and has three children. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, she received much press for her custody disputes with her ex-husband, Harold "Spook" Stream. She currently lives in Taos, New Mexico with her boyfriend of many years, singer-songwriter Mentor Williams and, during Christmas 2006, they announced their engagement to be married.

[edit] Scandal

On Thursday, December 2, 2004, Anderson was charged with a DWI for drunk driving in Denton, Texas. Another driver called the police after Anderson's car was weaving. The driver followed Anderson's car until she pulled over on the shoulder. Upon arrival, the police officer woke Anderson up, performed a field sobriety test, then arrested her. She was released on $1,000 bond. [2]

On May 3, 2006, Anderson was arrested again for a DWI charge for drunk driving. Police said Anderson, a resident of Taos, N.M., failed field sobriety tests and refused to take a breathalyzer test after her vehicle ran into the back of a car. No one was injured in the collision. [3]

Since these arrests, Anderson spent two months in the Betty Ford Center for alcohol rehabilitation. She has since not committed any other offenses.

[edit] Career Milestones

  • Lynn Anderson was one of the first female country singers to have a hit single on the country top 5, the pop top 5 and the adult contemporary Top 5.
  • Lynn Anderson's "Rocky Top" has been designated as one of two official state songs for Tennessee, the other being "The Tennessee Waltz" by Patti Page.
  • Per his request, Lynn Anderson sang for former U.S. President Jimmy Carter at his 75th birthday celebration.
  • In 2000, Governor Don Sundquist proclaimed June 15 "Lynn Anderson Day" throughout the state of Tennessee

[edit] Awards & honors

Year Award Category
1967 Academy of Country Music Awards Top Female Vocalist of the Year
1970 Academy of Country Music Awards Top Female Vocalist of the Year
1971 Grammy Awards Best Female Country Vocal Performance - "Rose Garden"
1971 Country Music Association Awards Female Vocalist of the Year
1974 American Music Awards Favorite Female Country Artist
1980 Record World Artist of the Decade - (1970 – 1980)
1980 Billboard Artist of the Decade - (1970 – 1980)
1999 American Country Music Association Hall of Fame Inducted into the Hall of Fame
2002 CMT's 40 Greatest Women of Country Music Rank - #29
2007 Academy of Western Artists Best Western Song
2007 Academy of Western Artists Best Western CD - Cowgirl
2007 Academy of Western Artists Best Western Swing CD - Cowgirl
2007 Academy of Western Artists Best Female Vocalist

[edit] Discography

Main article: Lynn Anderson discography

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Lynn Anderson at CMT.com
  2. ^ Lynn Anderson Biography at Countrypolitan.com
  3. ^ Lynn Anderson biography at All Music Guide
  • Bufwack, Mary A. (1998). "Lynn Anderson". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 14.

[edit] External links