Tammy Wynnette Part II

In the 1960’s women were becoming more noticed in the country music world as songwriters and artists, rather than just as “pretty girl singers” or support acts. The young Dolly Parton had moved to Nashville, and started a song writing career as well as singing. Country music was still like the rest of America, a sexist world but there was a beginning of recognition. So it was ironic that Tammy’s best known hit “Stand by Your Man” was seen by many budding feminists as a highly controversial and reactionary song. But the message of the song was somewhat two edged... in that men were apt to stray and make mistakes but that a woman was strong enough “if she loved him” to forgive him and tolerate them. Tammy divorced her second husband, Don Chapel in 1968 and married George Jones; who was by then a successful artist. The couple were married for several years and were seen as a successful glamorous “country couple” like Johnny Cash and June Carter. However, due to George’s alcoholism and difficult behaviour they divorced in the 1970's. George adopted her daughters. Tammy was a woman of her time...She was independent and willing to work hard to support herself.. And in other ways she was often submissive. There were rumours that she suffered domestic violence. But in spite of the "Stand By your Man" song.. she did not stick around all the time.. She walked out on various men to follow her dreams. She left her first husband, Euple, because he had laughed at her belief that she could be a music star. However she always renewed her beauty operator’s license every year, just in case she had to go back to earning a living in a day job. After the divorce from George Jones, she and he continued to work together.. duetting. She had numerous health problems, including scarring from a hysterectomy.. She had to have several major surgeries, though she managed to keep on touring. In the 1980s, due to her many ailments, she had developed an addiction to painkillers, which further weakened her health. She sought treatment in the Betty Ford Clinic. At the age of 55, she died from a blood clot, asleep on her couch….

Tammy Wynnette Part I

Tammy Wynnette was born in Mississippi in 1941, the daughter of a farmer.  Her birth name was Virginia Wynnette Pugh.

Her father died when she was a baby so her mother was left badly off-  Mildred Pugh  had to leave her daughter in the care of her own parents, while she took a job in a defence plant.
Tammy grew up without much in the way of material comforts.  Her mother remarried a farmer called Foy Lee.

Tammy attended high school but married young, to a construction worker Euple Byrd, who was not very good at holding down a job. She had to take low paying jobs to help support herself and their children.  She worked at jobs like waitress, and barmaid, but then went to Beauty College and trained as a hairdresser. She had dreams of becoming a singer but her husband was far from supportive and she left him after the birth of their third child.

In 1965, she appeared briefly on TV and then in 1966 she moved with her three daughters to Nashville. She finally succeeded in getting a recording contract and had a hit with a Johnny Paycheck song “Apartment Number 9”. She changed her name, using her middle name Wynnette and called herself Tammy after the heroine of a film with Debbie Reynolds.  Her first hit was followed by "Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad” which did even better on the country charts. 

Buck Owens

Buck Owens was born in Texas in 1929… and his real name was Alvis Edgar Owens. His family were farmers and they moved to Mesa, Arizona, during the Depression, looking for a better life…The Dust Bowl devastated farmlands in middle America in the 1930s, causing a lot of farmers to move west in hopes of jobs.. There were severe droughts and dust storms that eroded the soil…and destroyed their homes and farms...Buck loved music and co-hosted a radio show in 1945….In the later 1940s, he was aged about 20 and took a job as a truck driver in California. His first wife was country singer Bonnie Owens, who later married Merle Haggard. He decided to settle In Bakersfield, where many southerners who had moved out west had chosen to live. He became a session musician working for various country artistes, in Hollywood… Buck veered between country music and the up and coming rock and roll of the 1950s. He met Don Rich in 1958... and Rich became a close friend. In the early 60s Don became the leader of Buck’s support band, the Buckaroos… and he persuaded Buck to record the song “Act Naturally” which was one of his biggest hits. In 1965 they had another huge hit with “Tiger by the Tail”. Ringo Starr of the Beatles took a liking to Act Naturally and rerecorded it making the song even more popular in the UK. In the later 1960s Buck’s career took off, with Don Rich working with him. They did a tour of Japan and played at the White House for Lyndon Johnson, and Buck became a host of the country music and comedy show Hee Haw…In 1974, Don Rich was tragically killed in a motorbike accident. Buck had been trying to persuaded failed to do so. He continued to work after his good friends’ death but he never felt the same joy in his music again…Buck was a shrewd businessman and in the 1970s he bought up several radio stations. He did less recording and spent more time managing his business interests. His health began to decline in the 1990 and 2000s…In March 2006, he had a meal at his own restaurant but did not feel very well and began to consider cancelling his show that evening. But he met some fans who told him they had driven a long way to see him, so he decided to perform. He took the stage that night and died in his sleep afterwards of a heart attack…<

Patsy Cline Part IV

In March 1963, Patsy was still working hard but a little depressed. Some friends later thought that she had had premonitions about dying...She performed at a benefit in Kansas, together with George Jones and Dottie West. Dottie offered her a ride back to Tennessee, in her car but Patsy did not want to go on the long 16 hour drive. She decided to fly, though the weather was not good. The plane flew to Dyersburg Tennessee and landed there, but the airfield manager suggested they stay the night as the weather was increasingly bad. Patsy’s pilot preferred to go on. But he was not trained on instruments flying. The plane took off again at 6.07 but crashed in woodlands outside Camden Tennessee, about 90 miles from Nashville. Roger Miller, her friend and others scoured the woods when they heard that the plane was missing. They found the plane... but there were no survivors.  Patsy was dead at the age of 30. Her death was particularly tragic as she had been working so hard and trying to fulfil her early promise…Her powerful voice and ability to portray emotion in her singing had lifted her above many of the “girl singers” of her time and made her a seminal artist. She came along when women singers were beginning to overcome the notion that they were just eye candy. Her legacy has been nurtured by her daughter Julie Fudge and her husband Charlie who have produced documentaries and shows in her memory…

Patsy Cline Part III

Very soon after the accident Patsy returned to work. She was ready to choose a follow up song to “I Fall to pieces”.  She was not keen on the song her husband suggested - “Crazy” by Willie Nelson, but after much persuasion she agreed to record the song in her own way. She began to be noticed for the emotional power of her voice –She had more successes with songs like  “She’s Got you”, which was a major hit..  and there were other hits like "When I Get Through with You", "So Wrong" and "Imagine That".

 Shortly after her accident, she became great friends with the young singer Loretta Lynn who was starting out in Nashville.  Other good friends were Jan Howard and Dottie West both of whom noticed her generosity and warmth.  She was good to her friends and helped them with gifts of money and in other ways. She was good friends with male artists too, including Roger Miller and Faron Young.  She tended to call her male friends by the name “Hoss”… 

By the 60s she was finally beginning to reap the rewards of her hard times when she was younger.  Her songs were doing well though she often seems to have disliked songs that turned out to be her greatest hits.

 The accident left her with problems but she was determined to continue with her work.  She had purchased a large house outside Nashville, and she needed to keep on earning to finance her lifestyle.  In 1962, she was supposed to make a country music movie.. But the producer took the money and the film was never made.  Patsy began to worry about her finances….She did a singing engagement in Las Vegas..which was a first for her. But she began to experience stage fright and to worry about being away from her children. She had had a second child, a son called Randy and there was some strain in her marriage to Charlie Dick, though they loved each other.  There were fights and both of them were heavy drinkers. 

Patsy Cline Part II

In 1954, Patsy’s friend and lover Bill Peer sent some tapes to a Nashville record company. Her voice was very powerful for a woman and she sang with great emotion, (which was one of the reasons she became such an influence on other singers) She got a recording contract but it was not on very favourable terms...She would not make much money from it, and the record company would reap the benefits. She sang in different styles in the early days, Rockabilly, gospel, pop, and country... But she was still finding her feet musically. She worked in 1955 and ‘56 around Nashville but her records did not sell all that well. Then she met her second husband, Charlie Dick. She got a place on a TV talent show called Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts...and she decided to sing “Walking after Midnight” at the recording in New York in early 1957. Her song enabled her to win the contest that night and was the start of her becoming famous. She appeared at the Opry and began to get noticed on TV. But she was not as successful as she had hoped. She married Charlie Dick in September – he was in the military... Patsy gave birth to her daughter Julie and she moved to Nashville to try to concentrate on her career….By 1960, she had a new manager and things began to improve. In 1961, she recorded a song by the talented writer Harlan Howard- “I Fall To Pieces”...which would become one of her great hits. Tragedy was waiting in the wings... though and in June 1961, she was involved in a serious car crash.  Some of her family had moved to Nashville to be with her... and she (together with her brother Sam) was in a car which was struck by another vehicle. Patsy suffered severe head and facial injuries. The people in the other car did not survive and she herself was so badly hurt that she was not expected to live. Her husband Charlie Dick rushed to be with her. She was left with serious scarring on her face, which needed plastic surgery. Even so she had to wear heavy make up and suffered from bad headaches.

Patsy Cline Part I

Patsy Cline was one of the country singers who died tragically in a plane crash... like Jim Reeves…Travelling around the country in small planes, could be dangerous in bad weather or with inexperienced pilots…but country singers had to keep in touch with their public by playing as many concerts as they could, it was a hard but inevitable part of country music life...
She was born in 1932, as Virginia Patterson Hensley... and her family were poor. Her mother was only 16, at the time of Virginia, or “Ginny’s” birth. The Hensley family moved around a lot, in their home state of Virginia... and tried to make a living… in the hard times of the 1930s. She said later, that her father sexually abused her. Patsy developed a strong throaty and booming voice after an illness in her teens. Her mother was her ally, in trying to get a musical career started… Her father had deserted the family, and Patsy left school and took a job to try and help keep them. In her teens, she succeeded in getting an audition for the Grand Old Opry and journeyed to Nashville… but she didn't hear from them and then returned to her Virginian home… She continued to perform locally near her home… and made a living... SHe got married in 1953 to Gerald Cline. The marriage was short lived. She worked for Bill Peer, who had a small country band. And she and he became good friends and then lovers. But both of them were married to other people. She changed her first name to Patsy, from her middle name.. and used her husband’s surname Cline…

Eleanor of Aquitaine Part II

In spite of his piety, Louis did have disputes with the Pope. One such dispute was over the appointment of a Bishop, which often caused problems between rulers and the Pope. In addition, Louis went to war with Count Theobald of Champagne…when Theobald’s sister was repudiated by her husband Raoul of Vermandois, in order to marry Petronella, Eleanor’s younger sister.Louis was not a very successful warrior, and also felt guilt about a massacre which took place during the war with Theobald. Eventually, peace was made and Eleanor produced her first child. But it was a daughter, Marie.. and Louis needed a son. In 1145, the Pope requested that Louis should lead a Crusade to the Holy Land... The young King decided to do so in penance for his sins. However since Louis had never been a talented military leader, the Crusade did not achieve much. Eleanor took the unusual step of deciding that she too would “take the Cross” and join the Crusade. This was not something that women usually did but she was a vigorous healthy woman, accustomed to activity and sport and she had also been trained as a ruler. It was this independence of mind that drove her into conflict with Louis and with other male rulers... particularly churchmen who felt that women should not take active roles and should defer to their husbands or fathers, in matters of politics. She was blamed for many of the disasters of the Crusade. It was said that her baggage train and her ladies held up the soldiers. She and Louis were beginning to argue more and more... She was accused of flirting with her uncle, Raymond, Prince of Antioch, whom she hoped to assist with her Crusade... It is unlikely that she did have an affair with him, but she was flirtatious and lively and it was something to attack her for. It was now clear that her marriage to Louis was a failure. She had only had one child, a daughter and Louis needed a son. The couple retreated from their foray into th East. She began to work towards getting an annulment of her marriage but her husband was angered by this show of independence… On their way back, they had an arduous journey, but decided to visit the Pope, Eugene III. The Pope was unwilling to grant an annulment and tried to bring about reconciliation between Louis and Eleanor.. . Their brief coming together resulted in another pregnancy. However, the second child born in 1150, was another daughter, Princess Alix. Louis now began to realize he had no choice but to get the marriage dissolved. He needed a male heir and his wife was clearly hostile to him and there seemed to be no prospect of their having more children.. She was unpopular with many of his vassals. So he finally sought an annulment and the couple parted in 1152. She left the French court for her own lands, in the South, and was almost kidnapped by two princes who wanted to marry her. She sought out Henry Duke of Normandy, who would become King of England… and asked him to marry her.

Eleanor of Aquitaine Part I

Eleanor is unusual in that she is the only Queen of England who was also Queen of France. She was born in Aquitaine, in south western France in 1142 or 44. She was a very wealthy woman, as unusually she was an heiress in her own right. She inherited the Duchy from her father William X of Aquitaine. She had an excellent education for a girl though she learned female skills of housekeeping, sewing, and embroidery as well as academic subjects. She was trained in music and literature and also in upper class sports such as riding, falconry, and hunting. She had one brother William, who died in childhood, and one sister Petronella… so she became heiress to the Duchy >Her father tried to ensure that his daughter should inherit. But he died in 1137. Heiresses to wealth and property were often kidnapped and forced into marriage... so Eleanor was in a vulnerable positon as a young girl, if her father died. King Louis VI of France was appointed her guardian... But he was eager to have the young heiress married to his son, Louis. The Younger Louis was the second son of the King and had been intended for a church career and he was extremely pious. ELeanor had been reared in the South and had had a broad education...but the couple was married in July, soon after William’s death. Eleanor and Louis were very much incompatible as a married couple. Even allowing for the nature of upper class marriage at the time, they were a mismatched pair. Very soon after the wedding, King Louis died and his son became King of France. At that juncture Louis VII was in love with his beautiful lively young wife and was willing to tolerate her spirited behavior. For the first years of their marriage, Eleanor’s independent minded nature and her Southern ways did not endear her to the French court nor to her husband’s family. They considered her improper and almost scandalous.... She was used to warmer weather and found the North of France very cold. She found her husband overly pious, it was said that he would have made a better monk than a King…

Anne of Cleves Part III

Anne’s life after the divorce was comfortable if restricted. Although she had been brought up in the German “hausfrau” tradition, she took to English customs and seemed to like her new home. She seems to have missed Cleves but got reasonable enjoyment out of the life she had in England. She took to dancing and card playing, wore elegant clothes and was a kindly mistress to her staff. After Katherine Howard's death, her brother, the Duke of Cleves, seems to have suggested that Henry should re marry his sister but Henry refused. Probably Anne preferred being her own mistress in England to returning to Cleves where she might have been seen as a woman who had failed to maintain her marriage... or to produce a son. As the former wife of the King, it was unlikely that she would be able to marry a nobleman in England, or that foreign royals would choose her as a wife... So she was not to have another marriage or children. She seems to have been a warm hearted maternal woman so this was probably a sadness to her but she accepted it. She does not seem to have liked Katherine Parr, Henry’s last wife... and in her later years, she may have wished to go home to Cleves. However she had a friendship with the children of her former husband and was kindly treated by them. She was invited to Court by Mary I, though Mary became suspicious of her friendship with Elizabeth,whom she regarded as a heretic. So in later years, Anne seems not to have gone to court. In 1557, her health was declining. She lived in Chelsea, in Katherine Parr’s old home. Anne made her Will and asked Mary and Elizabeth to remember her servants and to take them into their households. She died in July 1557, at the age of 41.

Anne of Cleves Part II

Holbein’s portraits were sent to Henry and negotiations went on to marry him to Anne. At New Year, 1540, she travelled to England for the wedding. Henry visited her, dressed as an ordinary gentleman and startled her by kissing her, which was an English custom that shocked many Continentals. Anne did not realise he was the King and lacked the sophistication to respond to his advances. She knew nothing of the tradition of courtly love...and had had little experience of men. Henry was put off by her lack of skill at the game of courtship and complained that she was much plainer than her portrait. He did not wish to go ahead with the marriage but political necessity dictated that he had to marry Anne. He was angry with Cromwell whom he blamed for the arrangement of the marriage and the alliance with Cleves. But they could not find a way out of the marriage. The wedding went ahead, but Henry could not get over his aversion to Anne. He told Cromwell that he liked her even less once they were married and that the marriage was not consummated. Anne was very naive about sexual relations and seems not to have worried over much about Henry's lack of interest in her in that respect. She knew nothing about the various arts that were usually taught to ladies and princesses, such as music or dancing and this meant that Henry could not find any common ground with her. German princesses were taught housewifely skills and not the lighter recreations..A few months went by but Henry ignored his wife and was apparently unwilling or unable to make love to her. He claimed to some of his intimates that he could not believe she was a virgin and began to try and find a way out of the marriage. It is highly unlikely that he really believed this but Henry was always good at self-deception. He decided to ask for an annulment, based on the fact that it was not consummated and that Anne had had a previous engagement to a Prince of Lorraine. This was often a way of getting a marriage annulled, looking at a former pre contract which had something of the force of a marriage vow. Henry had by now got his eye on another woman, the very young and pretty Katherine Howard, one of Anne’s maids. She was a daughter of Lord Edmund Howard, son of the Duke of Norfolk and Anne Boleyn's cousin. Anne agreed to an annulment. She was probably grateful that she had not been sent back to Cleves or come to a worse end, like Anne Boleyn. Henry made a generous settlement, and Anne had several properties to live in. She was given precedence over all women in England; except the King's wife and daughters. She and Henry seem to have become good friends once the marriage was over and she also got on well with Katherine Howard and was often at Court.

Anne of Cleves Part I

Anne of Cleves is one of the overlooked wives of Henry VIII. His marriage to her was very short, only lasting about 6 months. She was the daughter of the ruler of a German principality and was born in Dusseldorf in 1515. Christendom was beginning to split apart - with various reformers trying to fight against the abuses and problems in the Church, and in some cases splitting away from it. Anne’s father supported moderate reform which put him at odds with the Emperor Charles V.. Her sister Sybilla was married to the Elector of Saxony who was the head of the military alliance of Lutheran rulers. Anne’s brother William became a Lutheran but most of the family were still Catholics, including Anne. Her mother was a Catholic. Henry was urged by Cromwell to seek an alliance with a German princess… and negotiations began to marry him to either Anne or her sister Amalie. Henry having twice married English gentlewomen for love was by now keen to remarry and sent a painter, Hans Holbein, to produce portraits of the 2 sisters so he could choose a wife.

Names girls and boys

I haven’t blogged about names for quite a while... but one of my favourite forms of names, are “girls names that derive from boys names. In medieval times, these names were often still pronounced in the masculine way, informally. Philippa was said as “Philip” or Jacqueline as “Jake”…Feminine endings in French are usually formed by adding “e” or “ette” to a male name… such as Henriette, or Antoinette… or Martine, for the feminine of Martin... or Simone for the feminine version of Simon. In English a name is often feminised by adding an “a” to it... such as “Alexandra”, or Alberta. Others are Cecilia, Claudia, Martina, Michaela, Roberta….Other feminisations are made by adding “etta” as in Henrietta, or Harriet… for Henry or Harry…Another way of feminising a name is to add “ine” or “ina” to the name, such as Geraldine, Georgina, Christina, Josephine. Caroline is a feminine version of Charles, from the Latin version of Charles, “Carol” with “ine” added. Other female versions of Charles are “Carole”, or Carola, which had some popularity in Victorian times. And the French feminine, “Charlotte” passed into English. The usual female version of Stephen, is Stephanie, which is also a French and German name.. but which became popular in English. An unusual and occasionally used “female name” is Richmal for Richard.The author Richmal Crompton, famous for her “Just William” stories, had this name, which was a mixture of Richard and the feminine “mal” for Mary….Other female versions of Richard which have cropped up in recent years are “Richenda”, and “Richelle”. In modern times, it has become more common to give girls names which were originally boys’ names… such as “Jamie” or “Jaime” as a version of James.. or Charlie for Charles.

Oak Ridge Boys

The Oak Ridge Boys are a country band who has had a long and unusual history. They were founded as the Oak Ridge Quartet in the 1940s and did largely gospel songs. Initially the band was called Wally Fowler and the Georgia Clodhoppers. They were asked to perform in Oak Ridge Tennessee... because the nuclear research plant based there during the War, had workers who were not allowed to go out because of the secrecy of the operation. So entertainment was provided for them. Wally’s group performed also at the Grand Old Opry. There were personnel changes in the band but in the 50s it consisted of Fairchild at the piano, Wynn, Smitty Gatlin (singing lead), baritone Ron Page, and bass Herman Harper. Over time the lineup changed but the group went on. In the 1970s, Richard Sterban joined the group. He had a very deep bass voice and in their big crossover hit “Elvira”... he was famous for doing the “oom-pa-pa-oom-pa-pa-mow-mow" bass solo. Joe Bonsall from Philadelphia also joined the group in the 70s and sang tenor. In the 1980's they moved away from Gospel and were more mainstream or country pop. They appeared twice on the “country themed” comedy show, the Dukes of Hazzard, performing at the Boars Nest.

Grandpa Jones Singer and banjo player

Louis (Grandpa) Jones was born in 1913 in Kentucky. Like most country singers of his time he was born into a country lifestyle... His father was a poor share cropper farmer. He grew up in Akron, Ohio, where he began to sing. He met a musician, Bradley Kincaid, who gave him the nickname “Grandpa” because Jones was grumpy in the mornings. Jones began to live up to the nickname, creating a character who was an old man, and who played guitar and banjo. Jones joined the US Army during World War II, and put his singing career on hold. When he left the Army in 1946 he moved to Nashville Tennessee and started to perform on the Opry. He married Ramona Higgins who became part of his act. She was a talented singer and musician herself. In the 1960s Grandpa became part of the comedy country show “Hee Haw” which ran for many years, and where his talents as a comedian and musician were showcased. He often played banjo with the tall “Stringbean” Dave Akerman. Stringbean was a well known comedy performer who was killed with his wife in a robbery in 1973. Grandpa who lived near Stringbean and his wife just outside Nashville, was the one who discovered the bodies). Grandpa had a long and productive life and died soon after doing a show at the Opry at the age of 84.

Tom Brown Part II

Tom Brown’s Schooldays was the first “school novel”, which spawned a genre of serious and entertaining literature for boys and girls, about school-life. Thomas Hughes -like his character Tom - had been to Rugby and admired Dr Arnold, who had reformed the school...He had raised educational standards and broadened the curriculum which had been initially mostly based on studying the classics. Being a very morally minded man, he had also tried to make the boarding schools where the upper and middle class males received their education more moral and worthy places..There was an emphasis on games, but also on learning about team work and about using one’s social position to guide and improve the lives of others.The prefect system gave a lot of responsibility to older boys, who were supposed to mentor and even to punish their juniors. They would learn to guide and lead others as they would have to do in their adult roles as landowners, military officers, lawyers, judges, politicians, and generally as leaders of men. Hughes admitted that the novel was rather “preachy”; he had written it when one of his sons was due to go to school and he wanted to advise and warn him about the dangers of school life and its good points. PG Wodehouse, who started his writing career with school stories, said that the first half of “Tom Brown” was an excellent novel about boys... But the second half was too heavily moralistic and too determined to preach a lesson….