Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Johnnie Wright Passes Away

Country music has suffered another great lost as Johnnie Wright, 97, the husband of Kitty Wells and one half of the recording duo Johnny & Jack, died today at 97 at his home in Madison, Tennessee.

Born in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, Wright first performed with Jack Anglin in 1936. In 1937, he married Wells, who was 18. The two, along with Wright's sister Louise, performed as Johnny Wright & the Harmony Girls. In 1939, Wright and Anglin formed Johnnie & Jack. They teamed up full-time in the 1940s and, except for the time Anglin spent overseas during World War II, remained together for more than two decades.

In 1952, Johnnie & Jack's "Poison Love" led to tem being on the Grand Ole Opry, where they and Wells were invited to join and stayed for 15 years. They continued having hits in the 1950s, including "Stop the World (And Let Me Off)". Following Anglin's in a car accident in 1963 on his way to the funeral for Patsy Cline, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Cowboy Copas and Randy Hughes, Wright continued performing and releasing records.

In 1964, he and his Tennessee Mountain Boys had a Top 25 hit with "Walkin', Talkin', Cryin', Barely Beatin' Broken Heart". The following year, he had a big hit with "Hello, Vietnam", which went to number one. In 1968, he and Wells recorded an autobiographical duet, "We'll Stick Together" and continued playing live shows together through the early 1980s.

In 1992, the couple and their son Bobby began playing together again. On December 31, 2000, the duo performed their farewell concert at the Nashville Nightlife Theater in Nashville.

Wright and Wells had three children, two daughters Ruby, who died in 2009, and Carol Sue and a son, Bobby. Each had minor success individually as recording artists. Both Bobby and Ruby performed as part of their parents' road tour for many years. (from wire reports).

Johnnie & Jack first joined the Opry in 1947. They spent a year at the Opry and then left to move to Shreveport and be a part of the Lousiana Hayride. In 1952, they returned to the Opry, where the remained members as a duo until Jack passed away in the car accident in 1963. Johnnie Wright, along with Kitty Wells, remained Opry members until both were fired on December 6, 1964, for failing to meet the Opry's attendance requirements. While the Opry announced they were fired, Johnnie would maintain that they quit and the reason had to do with paying the 5% commission to the WSM Artists' Service Bureau.

I saw Kitty Wells and Johnnie Wright perform once. They put on a great family show. Johnnie had been retired and in declining health for a number of years. In retirement, they still lived in the same house in Madison that they had lived for most of their married life. And out front in the driveway, their tour bus was still parked and ready to go, "just in case."

It seems like everytime a legend dies, we lose a part of country music's history and legacy. In the last several months, we have lost, in addition to Johnnie, Wilma Lee Cooper, Billy Grammer and Charlie Louvin. All have been missed.

All of our prayers go to Kitty and the family.

18 comments:

  1. What a glorious life they had together! At their 72nd anniversary, Eddie Stubbs said a lot of celebrity marriages don't last 72 DAYS. The solace for his family, as I am sure it is for all of us, is that the greats we have lost did indeed have long lives with their loved ones.

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  2. I heard there was about a dozen Country acts let go in 1964 by the Opry. Any idea who they all were? I noticed Ray Price, Faron Young, Carl Smith, Johnny Cash, Ferlin Husky...all vanished from Opry membership. Was this during 1964?

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  3. Yes, they did have a glorious life together.

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  4. Byron here, because I am having trouble commenting on my own blog tonight:

    12 acts were were dropped from Opry membership, which was announced in the Nashville papers on December 6, 1964. Those 12 were George Morgan, Don Gibson, Billy Grammer, Johnny Wright, Kitty Wells, the Jordanaires, Faron Young, Ferlin Husky, Chet Atkins, Justin Tubb, Stonewall Jackson and Ray Price. In additon, it was announced that Minnie Pearl was taking a one year leave of absence from the show, but was allowed to retain her Opry membership.

    Of the 12, Chet Atkins was not even an Opry member, which brought more bad publicity to the Opry as comments were made about the quality of the Opry's management if they didn't even know who was a member and who was not.

    Of those dismissed, 5 eventually came back and rejoined the Opry. Those were George Morgan, Don Gibson, Billy Grammer, Justin Tubb and Stonewall Jackson.

    Johnny Cash was not a part of the purge as he was not a part of the Opry at this time, having previously been fired from the show.

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  5. Byron, AKA briefly anonymous, was Cash fired, or did he leave and eventually was banned from the show for the night he busted all of the house lights?

    I think it's kind of interesting. If I'm correct, the Opry allowed anyone who wanted to do so to come back in 1965 and make the appearances, and of the five who returned, only Don Gibson did not, but Hal Durham invited him back as a member in 1976. I know that George Morgan had left the show before, some say over the Denny-Kilpatrick controversy, some say to host a show on WLAC.

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  6. Byron again, as I try to fix the cookie setting on my computer....

    Anyways, the Johnny Cash incident took place in 1965 and he was not a member at that time. He had joined the Opry in the 1950s and stayed as a member about 2 years until he left and moved to California. He did however, appear on the Opry whenever he was in town, and usually if June Carter was scheduled.

    On the night he knocked out the stage lights, it was Ott Devine who told him, "We can't use you on the Opry anymore, John." Of course, John would come back and do the Opry again, but it would be several years down the road.

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  7. And finishing the thought on those who were welcomed back after being let go, you are right about Don Gibson. He did come back but never fulfilled his requirements as a member. Why him and not the others, I don't know. And, considering that the others who were let go, all of them would come back and appear on the Opry again as guest artists, and some of them would appear more times than Don.

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  8. What about Leroy Van Dyke. When did he leave the opry?

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  9. Leroy joined the Opry in 1962 and was gone within a couple of years. He just moved on with his career and as he became a bigger star, he didn't want to be held back by the Opry's appearance requirements.

    (Byron)

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  10. I have one of the Opry CD's from Crackerbarrel and there's one where he introduces Bill Monroe as in his 26th year at the Opry, which presumably would be 1965.

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  11. Byron, this got me to thinking. So far as I know, Johnnie Wright was the oldest current or former Opry member--I haven't heard of anyone older who is still with us. So I thought it might be interesting to ponder this. Rollin "Oscar" Sullivan is, so far as I know, next on the list. He is about seven months older than Kitty Wells. Then would come The Potato. I think.

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  12. I just found out the other day that "Oscar" Sullivan was still alive. Is is still performing? Wonder why he's never been invited back to perform on the Opry as a guest?

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  13. David, if you go on You Tube, he recently performed at a county fair of some kind--last year or so. He looked and sounded normal, or abnormal, depending on how we think of Lonzo and Oscar. Some years ago, he sold the rights to a friend, Billy Henson (I believe), and he and another perform as Lonzo and Oscar. It seems to me it would be very nice if they invited them all to the Opry for an appearance. They are older, but they are not members, so they may be acceptable to Pete Fisher.

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  14. Right Michael. Going through my list of former members, Oscar Sullivan is the oldest, followed by Kitty Wells. And, Jimmy Dickens is the oldest current Opry member.

    One more note regarding Rolin Sullivan. When I was at the Opry in April, Jean Shepard introduced him. He was sitting up on the stage and stood up and waved. He looked pretty good.

    I agree. There should be a reunion show. You could have former members Willie Nelson, Leroy Van Dyke, Ray Price, Margie Bowes, Holly Dunn, The 4 Guys, The Jordanaires, Sonny Osborne, Bobby Bare, Everly Brothers, Don Williams, BJ Thomas and Kitty Wells. (I think that is everyone still living and no longer an Opry member.

    (Byron)

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  15. Just another Leroy Van Dyke thought. I have a 1966 Grand Ole Opry History Picture Book and he is not listed in it as a member, so he was gone by then.

    (Byron)

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  16. Byron, I think you have a great list there. I could add one or two, I think. Jim Glaser still performs now and then and was a member, of course, with his brothers. Earl Scruggs might be willing to come out and pick a little. Norma Jean was a member on her own (not just with Porter Wagoner). Doug Kershaw was briefly a member with his brother. And I'd like to make a case for a couple of sidemen. Curly Seckler, who played mandolin with Flatt & Scruggs and headed the Nashville Grass after Lester Flatt's death, is in his early nineties and still performs. So does Kayton Roberts, who earned combat pay with over 30 years with Hank Snow.

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  17. How could I forget those? The Glaser Brothers were fine Opry members, as was Earl Scruggs and Norma Jean. I also read a while back in an interview that Norma Jean did that she was sorry she ever gave up her Opry membership.

    And, let's not forget Joe Edwards and the other Opry Staff Band musicians. I would make them a part of any reunion show. There must be at least a dozen of those still alive and around.

    (Byron)

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  18. Will miss you forever, you were one of my favorites.

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