Kitty Wells

In 1952, Kitty Wells - whose real name was Muriel Deason - had decided to shuck performing. After all, she was 33 and had not really hit the big time on the Country and Western circuit. Besides, her husband Johnnie Wright - one half of the dynamic duo of "Johnnie and Jack" - was having success. So she could keep as close to the business as much as she wanted while raising her three kids.

But then she got a call from Decca records. Would she would be willing to cut another platter? Jay Miller had written a song "God Didn't Make Honky Tonk Women" as a response to Hank Thompson's "The Wild Side of Life". Hank's song, it seems, was faulting the ladies, claiming their rather loose morals were leading men astray from their relationships that God had monogomously joined together.

Kitty took umbrage with Hank's rather grumpy lyrics:

Kitty's record, to put it mildly, was a hit, and quickly shot to #1 on the Country Charts. The irony was that Hank's song had also hit #1 and was bumped out by Kitty's.

So there, Hank.

Suddenly Kitty was not just famous, but iconic as the first woman to have a #1 solo Top Country hit. It wasn't just that Kitty could keep performing. She said she there was no way she could stop.

How many songs Kitty recorded seems a bit hard to pin down as different sources give different numbers. So you might read in one place that Kitty charted 81 records and ended up with 35 in the Top 10. Or maybe it was 84 records and 38 in the Upper Decad. Others count 51 charted songs and 14 breaking the Ten Spot. Another source said Kitty had over 20 #1 Hits¹!

Part of the difficulty in toting Kitty's shellacs and how they fared is that Kitty also recorded with other country stars (her duet with Red Foley, "One By One", reached #1). So how many hits she had and which records made the upper echelons depends on whether you count only her solo records or include those she made with others.

If you listen to the performances from the Grand Ole Opry from the 1950's, you'll note some major differences compared to later shows. For one thing the terminology differs. Instead of everyone singing "Country" or "Country and Western" music, you'll still hear them call their songs "hillbilly" or more generically (and politely) as "folk". The humor can also seem way over-the-top, particularly when it plays up the hillbilly characters. To today's audiences the comedy can certainly come off as rather tiresome and not all that funny.

But regarding the musicianship, it was generally first class although there was a noted avoidance of bluegrass which only really became popular in the 1960's. On the other hand the timbre of many of the singers is rather high and to the listeners to whom country music isn't their cup of chicory sounds rather harsh. True, the predominance of the high frequencies can be related to the audio technology of the time. But Kitty sings with a milder and less strident tone which blended well with other singers.

Kitty's output was certainly impressive. A (sort of) random sampling of Kitty's recordings includes - and to skip this rather lengthy list, click here - Meanwhile Down at Joe's, After Dark, Leave All the Heartaches to Me, Four Walls, Gloryland March, Looking Over Our Shoulder, It's Four in the Morning, Together Again, It's Written All Over Your Face, Delta Dawn, What Locks the Door, You'll Never Be Mine Again, This Old Heart, Pledging My Love, Touch and Go Heart, I'm Living in Two Worlds, I Don't Love You Anymore, I Gave My Wedding Dress Away, You're No Angel Yourself, Step Aside, The Easy Part's Over, Touch and Go Heart, When I'm With You, Ole Kris Kringle, My Used to Be Darling, Open Up Your Heart, Dear Heart, I'll Never Find Another You, The Ring (That Should Have Been), If My Heart Had Windows, Searching (for Someone Like You), Talk Back Trembling Lips, a Wound Time Can't Erase, The Will to Forgive Him, Ashes of Love, Try a Little Kindness, Everybody's Reaching Out for, Coming on Strong, Just Beyond the Moon, Heavenly Sunshine, Sincerely, I'm Counting on You, (I' Ll Always Be Your) Fraulein, Lonely Street, There Must Be Another Way to Live, There's Only One, I Can't Seem to Say Goodbye, I Can't Stop Loving You, Beautiful Brown Eyes, Slowly Dying, Sinner, Kneel Down and Pray, Divided by Two, Hangin' on, Hello There Sweet Man, Your Steppin' Stone, Less Than a Baby, Mother of Your Child, Thank You for Loving Me, I' Ll Love You Till the Day I Die, Triangle, The Best of All My Heartaches, Burning Memories, (I Didn't Have to) Break Up Someone's Home, C-h-r-i-s-t-m-a-s, Hello Walls, Three Ways (to Love You), Old Records, Slowly, Shake My Mother's Hands for Me, Stubborn Heart, Your Wild Life's Gonna Get You Down, I'd Rather Stay Home, We Made a Mistake, Lonely Side of Town, Cold and Lonely, Begging to You, Don't Forget to Say I Love You, Living as Strangers, Blue Christmas, Leave All the Heartache to Me, J.j. Sneed, Standing Room Only, Gathering Flowers for the Master, There Won't Be Any Tree This Christmas, Dancing With a Stranger, Wasting My Time, a Bridge I Just Can't Burn, I Was Wrong, He's Lost His Love for Me, Cryin' Time, How Can I Believe in You, Daddy Sang Bass, My Heart Echoes, Paul's Ministry, Heartbreak Waltz-1, She'll Have to Go, If Not for You, I've Got Him Fooled, Love Makes the World Go Round, Dasher (With the Light Upon His Tail), Who at My Door Is Standing, Leavin' Town Tonight, After Dark, Heart Over Mind, Love Takes Care of Me, on and on and on, He Don't Make Me Cry, Only the Lonely, This Is It, Busted, It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels, a Wedding Ring Ago, Billy Bayou, Watch It Heart, Don't Fall, I Wanna Live, They're Stepping All Over My Heart, Midnight Til' Dawn, (With My Friends at) Old Country Church, a Heartache for a Keepsake, Heaven, Need You, White Christmas, God Put a Rainbow in the Clouds, My Cold, Cold Heart Is Melting Now, Beside You, Lonely Is a Word, Queen of Honky Tonk Street, My Bible, I'm Down to My Last I Love You, You Left Your Mark on Me, The Ways to Love a Man, a Hundred Thousand Times, Away in a Manger, Just When I Needed You, It Was Waiting to Happen, I Can't Help Wondering, Repenting, We'll Stick Together, Where Is My Castle, Here Comes Santa Claus, She's No Angel, Once I Tried, The Winner of Your Heart, Walk Through This World With Me, Am I Losing You?, There's a Big Wheel, You're Not So Easy to Forget, Heartbreak Waltz, Rise and Shine, Amigo's Guitar, Most of All, Left to Right, Bonaparte's Retreat, I'm on My Way, Release Me, My Loved Ones Are Waiting for Me, Touch My Heart, If Teardrops Were Pennies, I'm in Love With You, Every Step of the Way, Lord, I'm Coming Home, Jesus Take a Hold, The Hands You're Holding Now, Once a Day, All I Ever Give Is in, More Love Than Sense, Honky Tonk Waltz, She's No Angel, I Can't Tell My Heart That, a Thing Called Sadness, Love Me to Pieces, Tennessee Waltz, Let Me Help You Forget, I Never Once Stopped Loving You, Baby's Back Again, Heaven Will Be My Home, Everybody Loves Somebody, Goodbye Mister Brown, Cheated Out of Love, Gypsy King, As Usual, I Hope I Can Do as Much for You, Bimbo, Blues Are Sittin' In, This White Circle on My Finger, If God Is Dead (Who's That Living in My Soul), Dust on the Bible, I Won't Forget You, Candy Kisses, Password, As Long as I Live, The Man I Used to Know, It's Gonna Take a Little Bit, Too Far From God, Half as Much, Whose Shoulder Will You Cry on, The Hurtin's All Over, I Don't Want Your Money, Will Your Lawyer Talk to God, You Can't Love Me When I'm Gone, You Don't Love Me, Cheatin' Is Catching, Stand by Your Man, I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know, That's a No-No, My Hangup Is You, My Big Truckdrivin' Man, in the Misty Moonlight, Paper Mansions, Truck Driver's Sweetheart, Holding on to Nothing, I Heard My Savior Call, I Heard the Jukebox Playing, No One But You, Unloved, Unwanted, I Can't Stop Loving You, B.J. The D.J., Once, All for the Love of Sunshine, Send Me the Pillow You Dream, Gonna Find Me a Bluebird, Carmel by the Sea, Memory of a Love, My World's Losing You, Another Chance to Fall in Love, You Can't Conceal a Broken Heart, The Race Is on, You and Me, Destroyed by Lies, When the Moon Comes Over the Mountain, Searching for a Soldier's Grave-1, I Gave My Wedding Dress Away, All the Time, Is There Something I Should Know, It's All Over But the Crying, and (of course) It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels. (To return to the top of the list click here.)

Although mega-stars like Loretta Lynn have cited Kitty as one of their inspirations, Kitty still isn't that well known to modern audiences as she only occasionally appeared on the mainstream television shows like The Johnny Cash and Jimmy Dean Shows. But she was one of the three country musicians to be given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Only Roy Acuff and Hank Williams were the other C&W singers so honored. Kitty's relatively low number of appearances was likely her personal choice since she and her husband Johnnie focused on their own syndicated television show starting in 1968. And yes, Kitty did appear on Hee Haw.

Unlike many celebrity partnerships (no names, of course), Johnnie and Kitty remained happily married - for 74 years, no less - and in later years their kids would joined them in their act. Finally as the Millennium turned Kitty decided to retire.

But although many baby boomers may never have heard of Kitty, they likely know her son, John (also known as Bobby). Although he did perform with his folks, he preferred acting, and from 1962 to 1966 he was seen each week as Seaman Willie Moss - the crewmember who often sported the cap with the upturned bill - on Mchale's Navy.

References

Queen of Country Music: The Life Story of Kitty Wells, A. C. Dunkleburger, Ambrose Printing Company, 1977.

The Honky Tonk Angels: The Life and Legend of Kitty Wells, Johnny Wright, and Chronicling the Career of Johnny Wright & Jack Anglin, Walt Trott, Nova Books, 1993.

"Kitty Wells", Anne-Leslie Owens, Tennessee Encyclopedia.

"Kitty Wells: The Queen Of Country Music", Linda Wertheimer, Morning Edition, October 11, 2010, National Public Radio.

"Kitty Wells Chart History", Billboard.

"Country Star Kitty Wells: 1919-2012", Billboard.

"Kitty Wells, Pioneering Country Singer", Rolling Stone.

"100 Greatest Country Artists of All Time", David Browne, Jon Dolan, Jon Freeman, Chris Parton, Stephen Betts, Andrew Leahey, Joseph Hudak, Kory Grow, Marissa R. Moss, Maura Johnston, Joe Levy, Will Hermes, David Cantwell, and Jonathan Bernstein, Rolling Stone.

Country Kitchen Cook Book, Kitty Wells, Kitty's Cook Book Company, 1964.

Kitty Wells Official Home Page.

"100 Greatest Country Artists of All Time ", Rolling Stone.

"Kitty Wells; Country Music Trailblazer", Randy Lewis, Los Angeles Times, July 17, 2012.

"Kitty Wells; Country Music Trailblazer", Randy Lewis, The [Utica New York] Observer Dispatch, July 18, 2012.

"Kitty Wells", Discography of American Historical Recordings, University of California - Santa Barbara.

"Kitty Wells Discography", Discogs.

"Kitty Wells", Internet Movie Data Base.

Memories: Grand Ole Opry Stars of the Fifties, Vols. 1 -12, Gannaway Productions, 1996.