Dottie West
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| Dottie West
<tr style="text-align: center;"><td colspan="3">Image:DottieWestWildWest2.JPG Dottie West in the 80s, proving Country singers could have sex appeal. </td></tr>
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| Background information
<tr><td>Birth name</td><td colspan="2">Dorothy Marie Marsh</td></tr><tr><td>Born</td><td colspan="2">October 11, 1932</td></tr><tr><td>Origin</td><td colspan="2">McMinnville, Tennessee</td></tr><tr><td>Died</td><td colspan="2">September 4, 1991</td></tr><tr><td>Genre(s)</td><td colspan="2">Country music/Pop music</td></tr><tr><td>Occupation(s)</td><td colspan="2">country singer/Pop singer</td></tr><tr><td>Instrument(s)</td><td colspan="2">guitar/singing</td></tr><tr><td>Years active</td><td colspan="2">1963-1991</td></tr><tr><td style="padding-right: 1em;">Label(s)</td><td colspan="2">RCA Records, United Artists Records</td></tr><tr><td textalign="top" style="padding-right: 1em;">Associated |
Dottie West or Dorothy Marie Marsh (October 11 1932 – September 4 1991) was a country music singer and a pop singer, widely hailed as one of its greatest pioneers and controversial stars.
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[edit] Rise to Fame
Born in McMinnville, Tennessee, Dottie West was one of country music's most popular female vocalists for more than three decades. She began her career in local venues in Cleveland, Ohio in the mid 1950s. She and her husband, steel guitarist Bill West, moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1959 and she began recording and making personal appearances with a number of major stars including Patsy Cline, who became her closest friend. It was not until 1963, however, that West's career took off when she signed to RCA Records.
[edit] Her 60s Career
She made the top ten twice in 1964, a duet with Jim Reeves titled "Love is No Excuse" and a solo "Here Comes My Baby" which won her a Grammy award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. West would eventually earned 16 Grammy nominations including further Best Female Country Vocal nominations in 1965, 1967, 1968, 1973, and 1974. Dottie was the first woman in Country Music history to ever win a Grammy Award.
West was also an accomplished songwriter, penning almost 100 songs including several of her own hits as well as "Is This Me", one of Jim Reeves' final hits during his lifetime. She earned three BMI awards for her songs.West remained with RCA through 1975, chalking up such hits as "Let Me Off at the Corner" (1965), "Would You Hold It Against Me" (1966), "Paper Mansions" (1967), "Country Girl" (1968), "Careless Hands" (1971), "If It's All Right with You" (1973), "Country Sunshine" (1973), and "Last Time I Saw Him" (also a pop and R&B hit for Diana Ross) (1974). "Country Sunshine" became her theme song and was used in a popular Coca-Cola commercial; the song won the 1973 Clio Award as the year's best advertising song. During the late 1960s, West recorded a series of duets with singer-songwriter Don Gibson. Their two biggest hits were "Rings of Gold" (1969) and "There's a Story Goin' 'Round" (1970).
[edit] The Height of Her Career In the 70s
She moved to the United Artists Records label in 1976, where she changed musical directions. She exchanged her signature Nashville sound for a decidely MOR, pop-influenced sound.
After a series of modest hits with her new musical direction, her pairing with Kenny Rogers helped shoot West to new levels of superstardom. Starting in 1978, she and Rogers amassed five hit singles and two top 10 albums, as well as multiple awards including the Country Music Association's Duet of the Year award. So popular was the duo that they reportedly played sold-out shows in superdomes and stadiums with crowds numbering over 100,000. Along with the Oak Ridge Boys, they played the Pontiac Silverdome in 1978, which was then billed as the "Largest Indoor Country Music Show", with a record crowd of over 65,000. The concert was later broadcast nationwide on NBC.
West's solo work finally caught on by late 1979, reaching the top 10 for the first time in five years in December with "You Pick Me Up (And Put Me Down)." The follow-up release - 1980's "A Lesson in Leavin'" - was even more successful; the song was her first solo No. 1 hit and was successfully covered nearly two decades later by Jo Dee Messina.
She reached No. 1 again in 1981 with "Are You Happy Baby" (1981).
In 1981, age 48, Dottie West reached the peak of her career with two No. 1s - her solo "Are You Happy Baby" and another duet with Rogers in "What Are We Doin' in Love." The latter song was also their biggest pop hit, reaching the top 15 of the Billboard magazine Hot 100 chart. Her duet relationship with Rogers came to an end after he switched labels, moving from Libery/United to RCA (the label West herself had enjoyed her first major hits with).
Around this same time, West updated her image, trading in her conservative gingham checked dresses for a "sexier" look that included skintight spandex jumpsuits. West was ahead of her time proving that women could have sex appeal. This act was taken on later by another Country/Pop superstar Shania Twain. At this time she went from being known as "Little Miss Fireball" to "Lady Airbrush" virtually overnight. She became overly excessive during this time with her wardrobe, designed by famed Hollywood fashion king Bob Mackie, and bought a Nashville mansion that included over five bedrooms, a ballroom with a stage and a bowling alley. Her electric bill was in the excess of thousands a month reportedly.
West's daughter, Shelly West, also became a country music star during this period (her first hit was "Jose Cuervo" about the morning after drinking too much tequila), and a number one hit duet with singer David Frizzel "You're The Reason God Made Oklahoma" but Shelly has not recorded since the mid-1980s [1].
[edit] Decline, Scandal & Death
Dottie West's recording career started a downward spiral with the release of 1982's "Full Circle", produced by her one-time protege Larry Gatlin which was poorly received. Her last chart hit, "We Know Better Now",(from the "Just Dottie" LP-1984) reached only #53 in 1985. Her later years were marked by alcoholism, career setbacks, vocal problems, and personal tragedy. Mounting debts (due to poor investments on behalf of a shady manager) forced the singer to file for bankruptcy in 1990. But West — ever the survivor — vowed to fight her way back to the top. She might well have accomplished just that had she not been killed in a car accident on August 30th, 1991 in Nashville, Tennessee. She remained in intensive care for nearly a week, and reportedly lost over 35 units of blood. Her liver and spleen were damaged beyond repair, and she died on September 5th during surgery. A huge funeral followed, and she was later buried in her hometown beside her mother.
Later that year, Family Feud did a week of shows as a tribute to her.
[edit] Hall Of Fame Campaign
There is considerable debate among Country Music fans as to why West-who became the very first female Country singer to win a Grammy-has not been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. And it isn't a surprize, that there have been previous and current campaigns to try and get her elected, and there is a petition being circulated on the web which will be presented to the CMA once the appropriate number of signatures has been collected.
But what might be surprising is that one of these efforts is being spearheaded by a 17-year-old Englishman by the name of Paul Potter. His campaign has gone to higher heights then any previous campaigns or internet petitions. He took his campagin to McMinville, which resulted in both newspaper and radio coverage and got thousands of petition forms signed and the county official board members and Mayor sent out a request to the Hall Of Fame urging them to induct Dottie.
[edit] Trivia
- In 1995, West was portrayed by actress Michele Lee in the hit TV Movie titled Big Dreams and Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story, which reportedly was one of the highest rated movies ever for CBS.
- West appeared as a guest in a Season 3 episode of The Dukes of Hazzard - "By-line, Daisy Duke."
- Dottie West was very good friends with Country/Pop superstar Patsy Cline, whom West credits for inspiration.
- Dottie West was one of the pioonering women of Country's move into Pop music.
- Kenny Rogers praised her as one of the best duet partners he ever worked with.
- West was ranked #23 in CMT 40 Greatest Women in Country Music in 2002.
- Elvis Presley was very fond of Dottie and the two were close friends.
- Dottie West was the first person to ever win the Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. She won it in 1965.
- Appeared in the motion picture "Aurora Encounter"(1986), also starring Spanky McFarland and Jack Elam.
- Had two highly successful Showtime TV concerts: "Special Delivery"(1980) and "Full Circle"(1982).
[edit] Discography
[edit] Selected Hit Singles
| Year | Single | Album | U.S. Country | U.S. Hot 100 | |
| 1963 | "Let Me Off At the Corner" | Here Comes My Baby | #29 | - | |
| 1964 | "Here Comes My Baby" | Here Comes My Baby | #10 | - | |
| 1964 | "Love Is No Excuse" (with Jim Reeves) | - | #7 | - | |
| 1966 | "Before the Ring On Your Finger Turns Green" | Suffer Time | #22 | - | |
| 1966 | "Would You Hold It Against Me?" | Suffer Time | #5 | - | |
| 1967 | "Like a Fool" | I'll Help You Forget Her | #13 | - | |
| 1967 | "Paper Mansions" | With All My Heart and Soul | #8 | - | |
| 1967 | "What's Come Over My Baby?" | With All My Heart and Soul | #17 | - | |
| 1968 | "Country Girl" | Country Girl | #15 | - | |
| 1968 | "Reno" | The Best | #19 | - | |
| 1969 | "Rings of Gold" (with Don Gibson) | Dottie and Don | #2 | - | |
| 1970 | "There's a Story Goin' Around" (with Don Gibson) | Dottie and Don | #7 | - | |
| 1970 | "Forever Yours" | Forever Yours | #21 | - | |
| 1971 | "Slowly" (with Jimmy Dean) | Country Boy and Country Girl | #29 | - | |
| 1973 | "Country Sunshine" | Country Sunshine | #2 | #49 | |
| 1973 | "If It's All Right With You" | If It's All Right With You | #28 | #97 | |
| 1974 | "Last Time I Saw Him" | House of Love | #8 | - | |
| 1974 | "House of Love" | House of Love | #21 | - | |
| 1977 | "When It's Just You and Me" | When It's Just You and Me | #19 | - | |
| 1978 | "Come See Me and Come Lonely" | Dottie | #17 | - | |
| 1978 | "Every Time Two Fools Collide" (with Kenny Rogers) | Every Time Two Worlds Collide | #1 | - | |
| 1978 | "Anyone Who Isn't Me Tonight" (with Kenny Rogers) | Every Time Two Worlds Collide | #2 | - | |
| 1979 | "All I Ever Need Is You" (with Kenny Rogers) | Classics | #1 | - | |
| 1979 | "Til' I Can Make It On My Own" (with Kenny Rogers) | Classics | #3 | - | |
| 1979 | "You Pick Me Up and Put Me Down" | Special Delivery | #12 | - | |
| 1980 | "A Lesson In Leaving" | Special Delivery | #1 | #73 | |
| 1980 | "Leavin's For Unbelievers" | Special Delivery | #13 | ||
| 1981 | "Are You Happy Baby?" | Wild West | #1 | - | |
| 1981 | "What Are We Doin' In Love?" (with Kenny Rogers) | Wild West | #1 | #14 | |
| 1981 | "I'm Gonna Put You Back On the Rock" | Wild West | #16 | - | |
| 1982 | "It's High Time" | High Time | #16 | - | |
| 1983 | "Tulsa Ballroom" | New Horizons | #40 | - | |
| 1984 | "Let Love Come Lookin' For You" | Just Dottie Again | #67 | - | |
| 1985 | "We Know Better Now" | Just Dottie Again | #53 | - |
[edit] Selected Albums
| Year | Album | U.S. Country | |
| 1965 | Here Comes My Baby | #12 | |
| 1966 | Dottie West Sings | #12 | |
| 1966 | Suffer Time | #2 | |
| 1967 | With All My Heart and Soul | #8 | |
| 1968 | Country Girl | #18 | |
| 1968 | I'll Help You Forget Her | #11 | |
| 1968 | What Im Cut Out to Be | #18 | |
| 1969 | Feminine Fancy | #39 | |
| 1969 | Dottie and Don (with Don Gibson) | #21 | |
| 1969 | Dottie Sings Eddy | - | |
| 1970 | Forever Yours | #40 | |
| 1971 | Country Boy and Country Girl (with Jimmy Dean) | #42 | |
| 1971 | Careless Hands | - | |
| 1973 | If It's All Right With You | #37 | |
| 1974 | Country Sunshine | #17 | |
| 1975 | Carolina Cousins | #45 | |
| 1977 | When It's Just You and Me | #44 | |
| 1978 | Dottie | #47 | |
| 1978 | Every Time Two Worlds Collide (with Kenny Rogers) | #1 | |
| 1979 | Classics (with Kenny Rogers) | #3 | |
| 1979 | Special Delivery | #13 | |
| 1981 | Wild West | #5 | |
| 1981 | High Time | - | |
| 1983 | New Horizons | #65 | |
| 1984 | The Best | - | |
| 1985 | Just Dottie Again | - | |
| 1985 | Colllector's Series | - | |
| 1992 | Dottie West: Greatest Hits | - | |
| 1996 | The Essential Dottie West | - |
[edit] Awards
[edit] Grammy Awards
- 1965: Best Female Country Vocal Performance for "Here Comes My Baby"
