Tammy Wynette
Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998)[1][2] was an American country music singer, considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Lynn, Wynette helped bring a woman's perspective to the male-dominated country music field that helped other women find representation in the genre. Her characteristic vocal delivery has been acclaimed by critics, journalists and writers for conveying unique emotion. Twenty of her singles topped the Billboard country chart during her career. Her signature song "Stand by Your Man" received both acclaim and criticism for its portrayal of women's loyalty towards their husbands.
Tammy Wynette
April 6, 1998 (aged 55)
- Singer
- songwriter
- author
- actress
1965–1998
-
Euple Byrd(m. 1960; div. 1965)
-
Don Chapel(m. 1967; ann. 1968)
-
Michael Tomlin(m. 1976; ann. 1976)
4
- Vocals
- guitar
- piano
Wynette was born and raised near Tremont, a small town in Itawamba County, Mississippi, by her mother, stepfather, and maternal grandparents. During childhood, Wynette picked cotton on her family's farm but also had aspirations of becoming a singer. She performed music through her teen years and married Euple Byrd at age 17. Wynette enrolled in cosmetology school and later appeared on a local country music television program. Wynette then divorced and moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue a country music career in 1965. She soon met her second husband, Don Chapel, and eventually signed with Epic Records. Under the production of Billy Sherrill, her first single, "Apartment No. 9", was released in 1966. In 1967, she had her first commercial success with the single "Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad". In the late sixties, Wynette's career rose further with the number one Billboard country singles "I Don't Wanna Play House", "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and the self-penned "Stand by Your Man".
As her career entered the 1970s, Wynette was among country music's most popular artists and regularly topped the charts. During the same time, she met and married fellow country artist George Jones. The pair had a recording career together that resulted in several number one country singles and a successful touring act. However, their relationship was tumultuous and they divorced in 1975. Following their separation Wynette returned as a headlining solo performer. She also continued to have singles regularly make the upper reaches of the country charts into the 1980s. During this time, she also acted on several television shows, including Capitol (1986). Wynette had several more high-profile relationships before marrying her final husband, George Richey, in 1978. Several intestinal health problems led to hospitalizations and addictions to prescription pain killers, the latter of which was said to have led to her death in 1998.
Wynette has sold an estimated 30 million records worldwide. She has received two Grammy Awards, three Country Music Association awards, and two Academy of Country Music Awards. Wynette was also among country music's first female performers to have discs certify gold and platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Her influence as a country music artist led to several inductions into music associations. This includes inductions into the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Career[edit]
1964–1966: Early career in Alabama and the move to Nashville[edit]
Wynette moved to Birmingham in 1964 and lived with her paternal grandparents, uncle, and cousins. She discovered that her cosmetology license wouldn't transfer to Alabama, so she enrolled at a beauty college. Her paternal family also encouraged Wynette's musical talents. Her uncle worked for the WBRC television station in Birmingham and helped his niece secure an audition for the Country Boy Eddie country music television show.[21] The show's headliner, Eddie Burns, was impressed and agreed to have her on the program. On her first show, she sang a cover of Patsy Cline's "Sweet Dreams" while the camera pointed above her waist to avoid showing Wynette's pregnant body.[22] Wynette performed on the program from six to eight o'clock each morning before going to school, then went to work at the Midfield Beauty Salon. She received 45 dollars per week.[5] She befriended the show's pianist, David Vest, who helped record demos. The pair often performed together, playing piano bars in the Birmingham area.[23]
Wynette started visiting a local radio station called WYAM and met disc jockey Fred Lehner. She accompanied Lehner on a trip to Nashville, Tennessee, which inspired her to pursue a country music career.[5][24] Meanwhile, Euple Byrd continued returning to Birmingham. Not officially divorced, the couple agreed to give their marriage one final chance and they lived in a Birmingham housing project near the steel industry. Byrd secured a new job but did not return to their residence, according to Wynette. She decided to make the move to Nashville in January 1966 with her three children and all their belongings in their car.[25]
After she arrived in Nashville, Wynette moved into the Anchor Motel while she attempted to secure a recording contract. She met her future husband, musician Don Chapel, at the motel.[26] They eventually moved into an East Nashville apartment and put together a road show. For several months the pair performed in several states, including Georgia and Pennsylvania. Chapel attempted to help Wynette secure a country recording contract with the Musicor, Hickory, Kapp, and Decca labels, but Wynette was turned down by every company. Nashville producer Kelso Herston helped her arrange a meeting with new Epic Records producer Billy Sherrill.[27] Wynette went into Sherrill's office and pitched him several songs.[28] Sherrill was impressed by her voice and signed her to a recording contract with Epic in 1966.[29]
On her first recording session, Wynette cut Bobby Austin's "Apartment No. 9".[30][29] At that point Sherrill changed her stage name from Wynette Byrd to Tammy Wynette. "You look like a Tammy to Me," Sherrill told her in reference to the film Tammy and the Bachelor.[31] "Apartment No. 9" was released as Wynette's debut single and reached number 44 on the American Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.[32] Although she had a charting single, Wynette still had little income.[30][33] Sherrill arranged for booking agent Hubert Long to set up tour dates for her. Most promoters did not want to book Wynette because she was a female performer. "I had begun to realize I was working in a man's world, and most of them looked down on women in the business", she later explained.[30]
1967–1975: Breakthrough, "Stand by Your Man" and recordings with George Jones[edit]
In 1967, Epic released "Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad".[32] It climbed to number three on the Billboard country singles chart and was Wynette's first chart success.[8][28] Her debut album of the same name was also released in 1967 and reached number seven on the Billboard Country LPs chart.[34] They were followed by a duet with David Houston called "My Elusive Dreams", which was her first number one country single.[8] Its follow-up was the solo single "I Don't Wanna Play House" which topped the Billboard country chart in 1967.[32] It later won Wynette the Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance.[35] Her next singles topped the country charts through 1968: "Take Me to Your World" and "D-I-V-O-R-C-E".[32] The latter was her second to make the Billboard Hot 100 and also her first to top Canada's RPM country chart.[36][37] The recordings appeared on Wynette's third studio disc, Take Me to Your World / I Don't Wanna Play House, which reached number three on the Country LPs chart in 1968.[34][38]
Other works[edit]
Other works by Wynette have also appeared outside of music. In 1979, she published a book about her life with author Joan Dew. Released by Simon & Schuster, it was titled Stand by Your Man: An Autobiography.[104] Dew toured with Wynette in the 1970s and wrote down what Wynette told her verbatim.[105]
Wynette's career also took shape through film and television. In 1981, CBS aired a television film about her life, also called Stand by Your Man. Directed by Jerry Jameson, the film featured Annette O'Toole as Wynette while George Jones was portrayed by Tim McIntire. Both actors did their own singing for the roles.[106] It was reviewed unfavorably by newspaper critics. The New York Times commented, "The rags-to-riches sagas, presumably meant to be inspiring, tend to get trapped under a cloud of dreariness," wrote John O'Connor. "Suspicious viewers may legitimately conclude that the whole Tammy Wynette story has yet to be told."[107] Richard Harrington of The Washington Post wrote, "It seems to capitalize on the creative achievement and financial success of the Loretta Lynn film bio, 'Coal Miner's Daughter.' Unfortunately, television will be television, and the results are lackluster and somewhat misleading."[108]
In 1986, Wynette joined the cast of the CBS soap opera Capitol, playing the role of a hair stylist-turned-singer, Darlene Stankowski. It was her first major acting role.[109] In 1987, BBC released a documentary about her life called Stand by Your Dream. A film crew followed Wynette while on the road and at home with her husband.[110] The documentary was directed by Rosemary Bowen-Jones, who commented on it years later: "When you're someone like that, you've kind of rehearsed your life."[111] Throughout her life, Wynette enjoyed cooking, and repeatedly cooked pinto beans on a range on her tour bus. This would inspire her to compile her 1990 cookbook Tammy Wynette's Southern Cookbook, issued by the Pelican Publishing Company.[112][113] The book featured southern American-inspired recipes used routinely in Wynette's family.[114]
In the 1990s, Wynette received more exposure on television. In 1994, she guest-starred on Burt Reynolds's CBS television program Evening Shade. Fellow country artist K. T. Oslin also appeared on the show.[115] She made a cameo on the sitcom Married... with Children in 1996.[116] Wynette later voiced a role for the animated television show King of the Hill. She portrayed Hank Hill's mother between 1997 and 1998.[117]
Further works about her were released posthumously. Among them were three books that appeared in the years following her death. The first was written by Wynette's daughter, Jaclyn Daly, titled Tammy Wynette: A Daughter Recalls Her Mother's Tragic Life and Death. Daly collaborated on the book with country music biographer Tom Carter.[118] The second was written by Jimmy McDonough and titled Tammy Wynette: Tragic Country Queen.[111] The book offered a detailed account of both Wynette's life and career told through his own words and interviews he gave of those close to Wynette.[119] A second was published by Wynette's fourth child, Georgette Jones, and was titled The Three of Us. The book was focused on Georgette's own account of being Wynette's daughter and living her life with her father, George Jones. It was said Georgette wrote the book in response to the unfavorable portrayal of her mother in Jimmy McDonough's book.[120] A limited series that will focus on Wynette and Jones's marriage began production in mid-2022. Titled George and Tammy, it features Jessica Chastain in the role of Wynette and Michael Shannon as Jones. The series is based on Georgette Jones's memoir and aired its first of six weekly episodes on Showtime December 4, 2022.[121]
Personal life[edit]
First marriage[edit]
Wynette married Euple Byrd (who was five years her senior) when she was 17, one month before her high-school graduation.[143][5] She originally intended to marry his brother, D.C., but the relationship ended when he remarried his first wife. Wynette was not yet of legal age so her mother was required to sign the marriage paperwork, however she refused and instead forced her daughter to leave the family home; her grandfather signed the papers that legalized their marriage.[144] Byrd and Wynette fought throughout their relationship. Many of their marital conflicts stemmed from Byrd being unable to hold down a steady job. After becoming pregnant again, Wynette asked Euple to leave but he kept returning. After one argument, Wynette suffered a "nervous breakdown", according to biographer Jimmy McDonough, and her family took her to a psychiatric hospital. Doctors diagnosed her with depression and gave her 12 rounds of electric shock treatment.[17]
Upon returning from the hospital, she still insisted on filing for divorce. However, her mother disapproved and Wynette secretly moved with her children to Birmingham, Alabama.[20] While in Birmingham, Byrd returned and Wynette agreed to give their marriage one more chance. However, their problems continued and they eventually divorced in 1965.[145] In one of their final encounters, Wynette told Byrd her ambitions of becoming a country performer. He then replied, "Dream on baby, dream on." A decade later, Byrd appeared at one of her concerts. When he asked for her autograph, she signed it, "Dream on, baby. Love, Tammy".[146][147] Wynette and Byrd would later see each other at family functions when he began attempting to re-establish his relationship with their three daughters. In 1996, Byrd was killed in a car crash.[148]
Second marriage[edit]
Wynette met her second husband, Don Chapel, upon moving to Nashville in 1965. Chapel was a front desk attendant at the Red Anchor Motel in Nashville where Wynette was staying. The pair developed a romantic relationship through their day-to-day interactions at the motel. Chapel was also an aspiring songwriter and musician.[149] He would later write several popular country songs, including one made commercially successful by George Jones titled "When the Grass Grows Over Me".[150] The couple married in 1967.[151] Her growing affection for George Jones would lead to the couple's divorce in 1968.[40][150] She later claimed in her autobiography that Chapel had taken and traded nude photographs of her to other male colleagues. Chapel denied the allegations and later filed a lawsuit against her for $37 million.[152][153] The couple had no children and Chapel died in 2015.[154]
Artistry[edit]
Musical styles[edit]
Wynette was marketed as a country artist throughout her career and considered the genre to be the roots of her musical style.[213] While Billy Sherrill served as her producer, he imparted his style of Nashville sound, also called "countrypolitan", a style of country characterized by heavy use of string sections and backing vocals.[214][215] Jon Pareles of The New York Times called her "the standard-bearer of an elaborately orchestrated Nashville sound."[85] Marcus K. Dowling of CMT commented that "the birth of the blend of blue-collar roots and countrypolitan flair that defined four decades of female country stars can be associated with Wynette."[216] She also released music in country's sub-genres honky tonk and country pop.[85][217]