The Life and Work of Kitty Wells: The Original Honky-tonk Angel: Careless Love

The Life and Work of Kitty Wells: The Original Honky-tonk Angel

Kitty Wells was one of the original female artists to break ground in a field that was then dominated by male singers. Kitty was a dominate force in country music with a string of hits that charted for a decade beginning in 1952. In part, that success earned her the title, Queen of Country Music. Kitty was inducted into the Country Music Hall of fame in 1976.

Kitty Wells was born on August 30, 1919 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Kitty began singing as a child, learning guitar from her father. As a teenager, she sang with her sisters, performing under the name of The Deason Sisters. In 1936, Kitty made her radio debut performing on Nashville's WSIX, where she met her future husband, Johnnie Wright of Johnnie & Jack. Wells sang with Johnnie and his sister Louise Wright and they toured as Johnnie Wright and the Harmony Girls. Johnnie Wright met Jack Anglin, who married Louise and became part of the band. Anglin was drafted into the Army in 1942. Following his departure, Wright and Wells began performing as a duo. When Anglin returned from the Army, he and Wright formed the Johnnie & Jack duo.

In 1947, Kitty made some gospel recordings for RCA before switching to Decca in 1952. Paul Cohen, an executive with Decca Records, was looking for a female singer to record an answer to Hank Thompson's hit, The Wild Side of Life. Paul approached Kitty with the idea and she accepted and recorded, It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels (No.1, 1952). The song catapulted Wells to the top of the charts, making her the first female to achieve a number one single on the Billboard country chart. It sold more than 800,000 copies in its initial release. Later that year, she joined the Grand Ole Opry.

The following year, Kitty charted two more major songs, Paying for That Back Street Affair (No. 6, 1953) and Hey Joe (No. 8, 1953). For the rest of the 1950s, she remained in the top-ten racking up a total of twenty. Makin' Believe (No. 2, 1955) held the number chart spot for an astounding fifteen weeks, but was unable claim the top chart position because of her label mate, Webb Pierce. That year, Pierce dominated the charts with, In the Jailhouse Now (No. 1, 1955), where it remained at number one for an astounding twenty-one weeks. Contemporary themes were highlights of her songs like, Searching (No. 3, 1956), Three Ways (No. 7, 1957), her rendition of I Can't Stop Loving You (No. 3, 1958), Jealousy (No. 7, 1958), Amigo's Guitar (Mo. 5, 1959).

Kitty Wells recorded several answer songs, including:

My Cold Heart Has Melted. Though it borrows its title from Hank Williams' Cold, Cold, Heart (No. 1, 1951), this song is set to the tune of Hank's classic, Your Cheatin' Heart (No. 1, 1953). Here Wells is singing from the affronted person's perspective; I go to bed but only weep, my cold, cold heart won't let me sleep...my tears pour down like falling rain, through restless sleep I call your name.

Hey Joe (No. 8, 1953) is a companion to Carl Smith's, Hey Joe (No. 1, 1953), with Wells' filling in the lady's thoughts as she sings; Hey Joe, go put on your dancin' shoes, and I'll help you forget your blues, I've simply got to have you for my own.

I'll Always Be Your Fraulein (No. 10, 57) was a response to Bobby Helms' chart topper Fraulein (No. 1, 1957). Here Wells is singing from the perspective of that old German's daughter, who's an ocean away from her true love.

Paying for That Back Street Affair (No. 4, 1953) is in response to Webb Pierce's, Back Street Affair (No. 1, 1952), Wells laments over getting involved with a married man singing; The love I gave so free, Is left to torture me.

It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels (No. 1, 1952) was Kitty's response to Hank Thompson's The Wild Side of Life (No. 1, 1952), which catapulted Wells to the top of the charts that year and helped establish Kitty as the Queen of Country Music.


In the early '60s, her career waned slightly, but she continued to have upper chart hits sporadically with such songs as, Left to Right (No. 5, 1960), her second and final solo number one, Heartbreak U.S.A (No.1, 1961, Password (No. 4, 1964) and Meanwhile, Down at Joe's (No. 9, 1965), which was her final top-ten, although she continued to place songs on the charts until 1979. Kitty had one other number one song, One by One (No. 1, 1954), a duet with label mate Red Foley.

As the top female country star of her generation Kitty accumulated forty-five Billboard top twenty records. Wells garnered the Academy of Country Music's Pioneer Award in 1985. Ultimately, Kitty's vast achievements defied the accepted country music notion of her time, which warned that women couldn't sell records or headline shows. Kitty's success prompted the country music industry to open their doors to other women and thereby indelibly changed country music forever. ~ RJB: Nashville

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Music

[hagblay]

ty so much flashbell--for this older song that makes nashville look sick today

[jtls8]

Grew up on her music and I am partial to her!!!!!