Kitty Wells
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Back in 1952, Hank Thompson proclaimed to the world that he didn’t know God made honky tonk angels in the William Warren song, The Wild Side Of Life. He also didn’t know that, in so doing, he was creating a golden opportunity for a girl singer from Nashville to emerge as country’s first female mega-star.
Up until that time, Kitty Wells had been performing with her husband’s band, Johnny and Jack and the Tennessee Mountain Boys. She was on the cutting edge even then. In those days, it wasn’t considered the proper thing to do for a girl singer to travel with a band. Typically, if a band wanted or needed a girl singer while on the road, they would hook up with a local chanteuse in the town where they had the gig. But Kitty’s being married to the bandleader lessened the impropriety of the whole thing to a suitable level of acceptability.
Kitty was born Muriel Deason on August 30, 1919 in Nashville, making her one of a surprisingly small number of Nashville stars who are actually from Nashville. While still in her teens, she sang regularly on Nashville radio station WSIX with her cousin in a duo they called The Deason Sisters. In 1937, she married Johnny Wright and four years later, they were playing music full time. It was during that time that Johnny suggested to Muriel that she adopt a stage name after an old song he knew, Sweet Kitty Wells.
They played the Grand Ole Opry for a year in 1947 then went to Shreveport and were featured on the Louisiana Hayride on KWKH for about the next four years. Shortly after they came back to the Opry at the beginning of 1952, the Hank Thompson song hit the airwaves. Hearing the song on his car radio, sometime songwriter, Jay Miller pulled a pad of paper out of the glove compartment and wrote an answer, It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels. Miller recorded a local girl singing the song and a friend, visiting from Nashville, heard it and took a copy back with him and it ended up in a recording studio with one Kitty Wells. The rest, as they say, is history.
Kitty’s recording of the musical retort to Thompson’s song propelled her to immediate prominence. The attention wasn’t all exactly favorable at first. After all, women weren’t supposed to talk back! There was many a raised eyebrow among the good ol’ boys of country music. But, on the other side of the aisle, there were a good many somewhat muffled "ya-hoos" going up from country music fans of the female persuasion. One of their own had finally taken a stand and had spoken out!
Honky Tonk Angels hit number one on Billboard’s country chart, the first female recorded song ever to do so, and Kitty was on her way. She was now a headliner in her own right. Although never again quite so outspoken, she did record at least one other "answer" song, Paying For That Back Street Affair, in response to the Webb Pierce hit, Back Street Affair. She also recorded duets with the flamboyant Pierce and many with the renowned, Red Foley. But she is best known, and rightfully so, as a solo artist with a track record much longer than most. She turned out an impressive list of great songs including, her great classic, Makin’ Believe, Searching, Repenting, She’s No Angel, Left To Right and, although not well known, a personal favorite of this writer, Amigo’s Guitar.
She was the first female artist to sell a million records and, for 14 years running, she was chosen as #1 Female Country Artist by not only Billboard, but Cashbox, Record World and Downbeat as well. In 1976 she was inducted into CMA’s Country Music Hall of Fame. Other awards include the Academy of Country Music's Pioneer Award in 1985, NARAS' Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1991, NARAS Governor's Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Recording Industry in 1981 and the Music City News' Living Legend Award in 1993. There was even a special award created just for her. It is the Tennessee Womanhood Award which was created in her honor in 1954 by then Governor, Frank Clement. And, I think, one of the finest honors anyone could ever dream of was something Roy Acuff once said of Kitty Wells. "There will be a lot of water over the dam before country music will be blessed with a finer lady."
Still working after five decades and into the sixth, Kitty, her husband, Johnny and their son, Bobby Wright will retire at the end of this year’s tour. It is being appropriately called The Millennium - 2000 - Farewell Tour Of The Kitty Wells Family Show. We thank them for all they’ve given us and wish them well.
Cal Adams
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