#Kitty wells movie
#Kitty wells full

#Kitty wells movie

Her 1955 hit “Making Believe” was on the movie soundtrack of “Mississippi Burning” that was released 33 years later. “As far as what she meant to country music, my God, just look at the hit songs she had,” Shepard said. It was Well's true-to-life songs that were modern in perspective and heartfelt in delivery that defined her career. 1 female country singer until Wynette finally dethroned her. From 1953 to 1968, various polls listed Wells as the No. She recorded approximately 50 albums, had 25 Top 10 country hits and went around the world several times. Billboard magazine had been charting country singles for about eight years at that time. 1 hit by a solo female artist with “It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels.” Her success dashed the notion that women couldn't be headliners. She was always the most gracious, kind and lovely person to be around,” Mandrell said in a statement. She led the way for all of us and I feel very grateful and honored to have known her. “Kitty Wells was every female country music performer's heroine. A country superstar in her own right, Barbara Mandrell, said she appreciated Wells being a mentor.

#Kitty wells full

All but three were for Decca.Ī blues-flecked 1974 single, “Forever Young,” featured members of The Allman Brothers Band, and her final chart appearance was a 1979 remake of “The Wild Side of Life,” which brought her chart career full circle.For those who knew Wells, she was a powerful presence. In all, she hit the Billboard country chart 81 times, the third-most of any female singer. Her singing career peaked again in 1961 with “Heartbreak U.S.A.,” which was No. With her unpretentious stage persona and controversy-free family life, Wells remained firmly in the spotlight - and the charts. When she couldn’t beat Pierce, she joined him - for the hit duets “Oh So Many Tears” and “One Week Later.” 2 in 1955 only Pierce’s classic “In the Jailhouse Now” kept her from the penthouse. “Makin’ Believe” spent an incredible 15 weeks at No. Her restrained but emotional, gospel-tinged vocals struck a chord with country fans nationwide, and the honky-town hit ballads kept coming, often backed by a mournful steel guitar. Wells followed up with another answer record, “Praying for That Back Street Affair,” a reply to Webb Pierce’s “Back Street Affair.” It became the second of a half-dozen consecutive Top 10 country singles, culminating with her second chart-topper, “One by One,” in 1954. “They get away with a lot more today,” Wells told The Associated Press in 1986. The song was controversial enough that the Grand Ole Opry asked Wells not to perform it, and some radio stations were reluctant to spin it. Miller, went: “It wasn’t God who made honky-tonk angels/As you said in the words of your song/Too many times married men think they’re still single/That has caused many a good girl to go wrong/It’s a shame that all blame is on us women.” The chorus to Thompson’s record was: “I didn’t know God made honky-tonk angels/I might have known you’d never make a wife/But you gave up the only one that ever loved you/And went back to the wild side of life.” PHOTOS: Academy of Country Music Awards Red Carpet Arrivals In the postwar/pre-rock ’n’ roll early ’50s, the 33-year-old wife and mother became an overnight sensation. In May 1952, she recorded an answer song to the Hank Thompson hit “The Wild Side of Life.” Now billed as Kitty Wells, her Decca single “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” was an out-of-the-box smash, topping Billboard’s Top Country Songs chart for six weeks and selling more than 800,000 copies. Wells recorded some sides for RCA, but it wasn’t until Johnnie & Jack caught fire in 1951 - with a slew of hit singles and gigs at the Grand Ole Opry - that she got her big break. The act split up when Anglin served in the Army during World War II but later reunited, with Wells - whom Wright dubbed “Kitty Wells” after an old folk song revived by the Pickard Family in the early ’30s - traveling with them. He teamed with Jack Anglin and toured the South as Johnnie & Jack, with Wells often performing with them. She was 18 when she married singer Johnnie Wright. During the Depression, Wells performed on radio with her two sisters and a cousin as The Deason Sisters. Her mother was a gospel singer, while her father and uncle plied the country genre. 30, 1919, in Nashville, Wells was part of a musical family.