Liz Anderson
Encyclopedia
Liz Anderson was an
American
country music
singer/songwriter
who was one of a wave of a new generation of female vocalists in the genre during the 1960's to write and record her own songs on a regular basis. Writing in The New York Times
Bill Friskics-Warren noted, "Like her contemporary Loretta Lynn
, Ms. Anderson gave voice to female survivors, inhabiting their struggles in a soprano at times alluring, at times sassy." http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/03/arts/music/liz-anderson-who-wrote-hit-country-songs-dies-at-81.html
Anderson received two Grammy Award
nominations in 1967, for "Best Female Country Vocal Performance" for her Top 5 hit, the self-penned "Mama Spank
" and with Bobby Bare
and Norma Jean
for "Best Country Vocal - Group" for another top 5 hit "The Game of Triangles".
Anderson also wrote many of the early hits for her daughter, Lynn Anderson
, and several hits for other artists, notably Merle Haggard
, "(My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers
" and "I'm a Lonesome Fugitive
". Haggard later named his band "The Strangers" after the hit, "All My Friends Are Gonna Be Strangers".
, she played the family mandolin as a child and also sang in the local church
. At age 13, the family moved west to Grand Forks, North Dakota
. At the age of 16, Liz was married to Casey Anderson and then had her daughter Lynn
a year later. She studied at the Redwood City Business College in Redwood City, California
, and worked as a secretary.
. The limited popularity at the time of country music in California led Anderson to start writing songs. Casey was a member of the Sherrif's Posse, which was going to take part in the National centennial Pony Express Celebration. Casey convinced his wife to write a song in honor of the Pony Express
. The song was named the official song.
Anderson began publishing her songs and made friends within the burgeoning country music community in Bakersfield during the early 1960s. Some of the first hits from her pen were "Be Quiet Mind" by Del Reeves and "Pick of the Week", which was recorded by Roy Drusky
in 1964. In 1965, Merle Haggard
recorded her song "All My Friends Are Gonna Be Strangers". She won a BMI
award for the song. Anderson published over 260 songs during her career and earned five BMI awards. Many major country artists of the 1960s recorded at least one of her songs on their albums, including Charley Pride
, Tammy Wynette
, Ernest Tubb
, Loretta Lynn
, George Jones
, Skeeter Davis
, Waylon Jennings
, Kitty Wells
, Connie Smith
and Bill Anderson.
Anderson demo vocals were noticed by RCA
producer Chet Atkins
who signed her to RCA in 1965. Almost forty at the time, Anderson's year of birth was slightly lowered to 1930 in publicity materials of the era. Anderson's two initial singles fared well and her third, "Game of Triangles", with Bobby Bare
and Norma Jean
became a Top 5 hit. In April 1967, Anderson again had a Top 5 Country hit, "Mama Spank". Among Anderson's most popular recordings were "Go Now Pay Later" (1966), "The Wife of the Party" (1967), "Tiny Tears" (1967), "Thanks A Lot For Tryin' Anyway" (1968) (one of her few hits written by someone else), and "Husband Hunting" (1970).
Around this same time her only child, daughter Lynn, was rising as a country singer. Anderson wrote a number of her daughter's early hits, including her 1967 debut single "Ride, Ride, Ride", as well as her first big hit, the Top 5 "If I Kiss You (Will You Go Away)
" (also in 1967). Liz and Lynn had a Top 25 duet with "Mother May I" in 1968, and appeared together on a Mother's Day episode of the Lawrence Welk Show that May. Lynn would later have her biggest success in the 1970s, becoming one of Country Music's most successful female vocalists.
, and released the four charting singles produced by then son-in-law Glenn Sutton
which went no higher than the Country Top 60. One of those singles was a cover version
of "I'll Never Fall In Love Again
". In 1974 she released a Christmas single, the self-penned "Christopher the Christmas Seal" on the small Hobby Horse Records label.
Anderson did not record again until she released a single for the Scorpion Records label in 1978 that did not chart. She continued to write, however, and one of her songs was a top 40 country success for Faron Young
in 1977. In 1979, Lorrie Morgan
had one of her first charted songs with an Anderson composition, "Tell Me I'm Only Dreaming".
Anderson's lone 1980's recording was the album "My Last Rose" for Tudor Records which contained original material and covers of well-known songs. In the mid 1990's, Anderson started her own record company, Showboat Records. The Cowgirl Way was her first album in over a decade. In 2006, Lynn Anderson released an album for the label entitled Cowgirl, composed entirely of songs penned by her mother.
, from complications of heart and lung disease.
awards. She also served as Vice President
of the Nashville Songwriters Association International. The following is a list of some of her most popular songs which made the top 40 on Billboard
s country chart.
American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
singer/songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
who was one of a wave of a new generation of female vocalists in the genre during the 1960's to write and record her own songs on a regular basis. Writing in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
Bill Friskics-Warren noted, "Like her contemporary Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn is an American country music singer-songwriter, author and philanthropist. Born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky to a coal miner father, Lynn married at 13 years old, was a mother soon after, and moved to Washington with her husband, Oliver Lynn. Their marriage was sometimes tumultuous; he...
, Ms. Anderson gave voice to female survivors, inhabiting their struggles in a soprano at times alluring, at times sassy." http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/03/arts/music/liz-anderson-who-wrote-hit-country-songs-dies-at-81.html
Anderson received two Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nominations in 1967, for "Best Female Country Vocal Performance" for her Top 5 hit, the self-penned "Mama Spank
Mama Spank
Mama Spank is the title of a song written and recorded by American country music artist Liz Anderson. The song peaked at number five on U.S. Billboards Hot Country Singles chart and became the most successful record of Anderson's recording career and went on to earn Anderson a Grammy nomination...
" and with Bobby Bare
Bobby Bare
Robert Joseph Bare is an American country music singer and songwriter. He is the father of Bobby Bare, Jr., also a musician.-Early career:...
and Norma Jean
Norma Jean (singer)
Norma Jean Beasler , better known as Norma Jean, is an American country music singer who was a member of The Porter Wagoner Show from 1961–1967. She had a number of country singles in the Top 10 and Top 20 between 1963 and 1967, including "Go Cat Go" and "The Game of Triangles", and was...
for "Best Country Vocal - Group" for another top 5 hit "The Game of Triangles".
Anderson also wrote many of the early hits for her daughter, Lynn Anderson
Lynn Anderson
Lynn Rene Anderson is an American country music singer and equestrian known for a string of hits throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, most notably her Grammy Award-winning, worldwide mega-hit, " Rose Garden." Helped by her regular exposure on national television, Anderson was one of the most...
, and several hits for other artists, notably Merle Haggard
Merle Haggard
Merle Ronald Haggard is an American country music singer, guitarist, fiddler, instrumentalist, and songwriter. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band The Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound, which is characterized by the unique twang of Fender Telecaster guitars, vocal harmonies,...
, "(My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers
(My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers
Strangers is the title of a song written by Liz Anderson. Best remembered as American country music artist Merle Haggard's first national top ten record, it was also a top ten song concurrently for Roy Drusky. The song is also known as All My Friends Are Gonna Be Strangers, All My Friends Are...
" and "I'm a Lonesome Fugitive
The Fugitive (song)
"The Fugitive is a 1966 single by Merle Haggard which was written by Liz Anderson and Casey Anderson, parents of country star Lynn Anderson. "The Fugitive" was Haggard's sixth release to reach the U.S. country singles chart and his first number one on the chart. The single spent one week at...
". Haggard later named his band "The Strangers" after the hit, "All My Friends Are Gonna Be Strangers".
Biography
Born Elizabeth Jane Haaby in Roseau, MinnesotaRoseau, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,756 people, 1,157 households, and 713 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,153.6 people per square mile . There were 1,229 housing units at an average density of 514.4 per square mile...
, she played the family mandolin as a child and also sang in the local church
Local church
A local church is a Christian congregation of members and clergy.Local church may also refer to:* Local churches , a Christian group based on the teachings of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, and associated with the Living Stream Ministry publishing house.* Parish church, a local church united with...
. At age 13, the family moved west to Grand Forks, North Dakota
Grand Forks, North Dakota
Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Grand Forks County. According to the 2010 census, the city's population was 52,838, while that of the city and surrounding metropolitan area was 98,461...
. At the age of 16, Liz was married to Casey Anderson and then had her daughter Lynn
Lynn Anderson
Lynn Rene Anderson is an American country music singer and equestrian known for a string of hits throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, most notably her Grammy Award-winning, worldwide mega-hit, " Rose Garden." Helped by her regular exposure on national television, Anderson was one of the most...
a year later. She studied at the Redwood City Business College in Redwood City, California
Redwood City, California
Redwood City is a California charter city located on the San Francisco Peninsula in Northern California, approximately 27 miles south of San Francisco, and 24 miles north of San Jose. Redwood City's history spans from its earliest inhabitation by the Ohlone people, to its tradition as a port for...
, and worked as a secretary.
Early career
In 1957, the family moved to Sacramento, CaliforniaSacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
. The limited popularity at the time of country music in California led Anderson to start writing songs. Casey was a member of the Sherrif's Posse, which was going to take part in the National centennial Pony Express Celebration. Casey convinced his wife to write a song in honor of the Pony Express
Pony Express
The Pony Express was a fast mail service crossing the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains, and the High Sierra from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, from April 3, 1860 to October 1861...
. The song was named the official song.
Anderson began publishing her songs and made friends within the burgeoning country music community in Bakersfield during the early 1960s. Some of the first hits from her pen were "Be Quiet Mind" by Del Reeves and "Pick of the Week", which was recorded by Roy Drusky
Roy Drusky
Roy Frank Drusky Jr., was an American country music singer popular from the 1960s through the early 1970s. Known for his baritone voice, he was known for incorporating the Nashville sound. His highest-charting single was the No. 1 "Yes Mr. Peters", a duet with Priscilla Mitchell.-Early life and...
in 1964. In 1965, Merle Haggard
Merle Haggard
Merle Ronald Haggard is an American country music singer, guitarist, fiddler, instrumentalist, and songwriter. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band The Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound, which is characterized by the unique twang of Fender Telecaster guitars, vocal harmonies,...
recorded her song "All My Friends Are Gonna Be Strangers". She won a BMI
Broadcast Music Incorporated
Broadcast Music, Inc. is one of three United States performing rights organizations, along with ASCAP and SESAC. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed...
award for the song. Anderson published over 260 songs during her career and earned five BMI awards. Many major country artists of the 1960s recorded at least one of her songs on their albums, including Charley Pride
Charley Pride
Charley Frank Pride is an American country music singer. His smooth baritone voice was featured on thirty-nine number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. His greatest success came in the early- to mid-1970s, when he became the best-selling performer for RCA Records since Elvis...
, Tammy Wynette
Tammy Wynette
Virginia Wynette Pugh, known professionally as Tammy Wynette , was an American country music singer-songwriter and one of the genre's best-known artists and biggest-selling female vocalists....
, Ernest Tubb
Ernest Tubb
Ernest Dale Tubb , nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, was an American singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of country music. His biggest career hit song, "Walking the Floor Over You" , marked the rise of the honky tonk style of music...
, Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn is an American country music singer-songwriter, author and philanthropist. Born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky to a coal miner father, Lynn married at 13 years old, was a mother soon after, and moved to Washington with her husband, Oliver Lynn. Their marriage was sometimes tumultuous; he...
, George Jones
George Jones
George Glenn Jones is an American country music singer known for his long list of hit records, his distinctive voice and phrasing, and his marriage to Tammy Wynette....
, Skeeter Davis
Skeeter Davis
Mary Frances Penick , better known as Skeeter Davis, was an American country music singer best known for crossover pop music songs of the early 1960s. She started out as part of The Davis Sisters as a teenager in the late 1940s, eventually landing on RCA Records. In the late '50s, she became a solo...
, Waylon Jennings
Waylon Jennings
Waylon Arnold Jennings was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. Jennings began playing at eight. He began performing at twelve, on KVOW radio. Jennings formed a band The Texas Longhorns. Jennings worked as a D.J on KVOW, KDAV and KLLL...
, Kitty Wells
Kitty Wells
Ellen Muriel Deason , known professionally as Kitty Wells, is an American country music singer. Her 1952 hit recording, "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", made her the first female country singer to top the U.S. country charts, and turned her into the first female country star...
, Connie Smith
Connie Smith
Connie Smith is an American country music artist. She began her career in 1963 after winning a local talent contest near Columbus, Ohio, which attracted the attention of country songwriter Bill Anderson...
and Bill Anderson.
Anderson demo vocals were noticed by RCA
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
producer Chet Atkins
Chet Atkins
Chester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...
who signed her to RCA in 1965. Almost forty at the time, Anderson's year of birth was slightly lowered to 1930 in publicity materials of the era. Anderson's two initial singles fared well and her third, "Game of Triangles", with Bobby Bare
Bobby Bare
Robert Joseph Bare is an American country music singer and songwriter. He is the father of Bobby Bare, Jr., also a musician.-Early career:...
and Norma Jean
Norma Jean (singer)
Norma Jean Beasler , better known as Norma Jean, is an American country music singer who was a member of The Porter Wagoner Show from 1961–1967. She had a number of country singles in the Top 10 and Top 20 between 1963 and 1967, including "Go Cat Go" and "The Game of Triangles", and was...
became a Top 5 hit. In April 1967, Anderson again had a Top 5 Country hit, "Mama Spank". Among Anderson's most popular recordings were "Go Now Pay Later" (1966), "The Wife of the Party" (1967), "Tiny Tears" (1967), "Thanks A Lot For Tryin' Anyway" (1968) (one of her few hits written by someone else), and "Husband Hunting" (1970).
Around this same time her only child, daughter Lynn, was rising as a country singer. Anderson wrote a number of her daughter's early hits, including her 1967 debut single "Ride, Ride, Ride", as well as her first big hit, the Top 5 "If I Kiss You (Will You Go Away)
If I Kiss You (Will You Go Away)
"If I Kiss You " is the name of a popular 1967 song by country singer Lynn Anderson.-Summary:"If I Kiss You" became Anderson's first top-ten single, paving the way for eight number ones and 18 top tens to come. Anderson's first single "Ride, Ride, Ride", also released in 1967, made the Country Top...
" (also in 1967). Liz and Lynn had a Top 25 duet with "Mother May I" in 1968, and appeared together on a Mother's Day episode of the Lawrence Welk Show that May. Lynn would later have her biggest success in the 1970s, becoming one of Country Music's most successful female vocalists.
Later career
In 1971, she moved to Epic RecordsEpic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
, and released the four charting singles produced by then son-in-law Glenn Sutton
Glenn Sutton
Glenn Sutton was a country music songwriter and producer. Born Royce Glenn Sutton in Hodge, Louisiana, he was one of two chief architects of the countrypolitan sound .Sutton wrote or co-wrote many of Tammy Wynette's early hits including, "You're Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad",...
which went no higher than the Country Top 60. One of those singles was a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of "I'll Never Fall In Love Again
I'll Never Fall in Love Again
"I'll Never Fall In Love Again" is a popular song by composer Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David. Originally written for the 1968 musical Promises, Promises, it soon became one of Bacharach and David's most enduring songs. It was nominated for Song of the Year in the 1969 Grammy awards...
". In 1974 she released a Christmas single, the self-penned "Christopher the Christmas Seal" on the small Hobby Horse Records label.
Anderson did not record again until she released a single for the Scorpion Records label in 1978 that did not chart. She continued to write, however, and one of her songs was a top 40 country success for Faron Young
Faron Young
Faron Young was an American country music singer and songwriter from the early 1950s into the mid-1980s and one of its most successful and colorful stars...
in 1977. In 1979, Lorrie Morgan
Lorrie Morgan
In 1996 Morgan married Jon Randall, a singer/songwriter now credited with writing the 2004 Brad Paisley/Alison Krauss hit "Whiskey Lullaby"; they divorced three years later in 1999....
had one of her first charted songs with an Anderson composition, "Tell Me I'm Only Dreaming".
Anderson's lone 1980's recording was the album "My Last Rose" for Tudor Records which contained original material and covers of well-known songs. In the mid 1990's, Anderson started her own record company, Showboat Records. The Cowgirl Way was her first album in over a decade. In 2006, Lynn Anderson released an album for the label entitled Cowgirl, composed entirely of songs penned by her mother.
Death
Liz Anderson died on October 31, 2011, in Nashville, TennesseeNashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, from complications of heart and lung disease.
Billboard Top 40 Country Hits written by Liz Anderson
Liz Anderson enjoyed her greatest success as a songwriter, receiving many prestigious awards for her work, including several BMIBroadcast Music Incorporated
Broadcast Music, Inc. is one of three United States performing rights organizations, along with ASCAP and SESAC. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed...
awards. She also served as Vice President
Vice president
A vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...
of the Nashville Songwriters Association International. The following is a list of some of her most popular songs which made the top 40 on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
s country chart.
- "All My Friends Are Gonna Be Strangers" a hit in two versions, one by Merle HaggardMerle HaggardMerle Ronald Haggard is an American country music singer, guitarist, fiddler, instrumentalist, and songwriter. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band The Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound, which is characterized by the unique twang of Fender Telecaster guitars, vocal harmonies,...
and one by Roy DruskyRoy DruskyRoy Frank Drusky Jr., was an American country music singer popular from the 1960s through the early 1970s. Known for his baritone voice, he was known for incorporating the Nashville sound. His highest-charting single was the No. 1 "Yes Mr. Peters", a duet with Priscilla Mitchell.-Early life and... - "Be Quiet Mind" a hit in two versions, one by Del ReevesDel ReevesFranklin Delano Reeves , better known as Del Reeves, was an American country music singer, best known for his "girl-watching" novelty songs of the 1960s including "Girl on the Billboard" and "The Belles of Southern Bell"...
and one by Ott Stephens - "Big Girls Don't CryBig Girls Don't Cry (Lynn Anderson song)"Big Girls Don't Cry" is a single by American country music artist Lynn Anderson. Released in July 1968, it was the first single from her album Big Girls Don't Cry. The song peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. It also reached number 1 on the RPM Country Tracks chart in...
" recorded by Lynn AndersonLynn AndersonLynn Rene Anderson is an American country music singer and equestrian known for a string of hits throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, most notably her Grammy Award-winning, worldwide mega-hit, " Rose Garden." Helped by her regular exposure on national television, Anderson was one of the most... - "Flattery Will Get You Everywhere" recorded by Lynn Anderson
- "Go Now Pay Later" recorded by Liz Anderson
- "Guess My Eyes Were Bigger Than My Heart" recorded by Conway TwittyConway TwittyConway Twitty , born Harold Lloyd Jenkins, was an American country music artist. He also had success in early rock and roll, R&B, and pop music. He held the record for the most number one singles of any act with 55 No. 1 Billboard country hits until George Strait broke the record in 2006...
- "Husband Hunting" recorded by Liz Anderson
- "I Cried All the Way to the Bank" recorded by Norma JeanNorma Jean (singer)Norma Jean Beasler , better known as Norma Jean, is an American country music singer who was a member of The Porter Wagoner Show from 1961–1967. She had a number of country singles in the Top 10 and Top 20 between 1963 and 1967, including "Go Cat Go" and "The Game of Triangles", and was...
- "I'm a Lonesome FugitiveI'm a Lonesome FugitiveI'm a Lonesome Fugitive is an album by American country singer Merle Haggard, released in 1967. "Life in Prison"-Reissues:* In 1996, I'm a Lonesome Fugitive was reissued by BGO along with Mama Tried.-Track listing:...
" recorded by Merle Haggard - "If I Kiss You" recorded by Lynn Anderson
- "Just Between the Two of Us" recorded by Merle Haggard and Bonnie OwensBonnie OwensBonnie Owens , born Bonnie Campbell, was an American country music singer who was married to Buck Owens and later Merle Haggard.-Biography:...
- "Mama SpankMama SpankMama Spank is the title of a song written and recorded by American country music artist Liz Anderson. The song peaked at number five on U.S. Billboards Hot Country Singles chart and became the most successful record of Anderson's recording career and went on to earn Anderson a Grammy nomination...
" recorded by Liz Anderson - "Mother May I" recorded by Liz & Lynn Anderson
- "Pick of the Week" recorded by Roy Drusky
- "Ride Ride Ride" a hit in two versions, one by Lynn Anderson, pop hit for Brenda LeeBrenda LeeBrenda Mae Tarpley , known as Brenda Lee, is an American performer who sang rockabilly, pop and country music, and had 37 US chart hits during the 1960s, a number surpassed only by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Ray Charles and Connie Francis...
- "The Wife of the Party" recorded by Liz Anderson
- "Tiny Tears" recorded by Liz Anderson