Great Voices of Bluegrass VI: Wilma Lee Cooper, (1921-2011) "You Tried To Ruin My Name"

Wilma Lee Cooper was born in Valley Head, West Virginia, in 1921 and just recently passed away, at age 90. In 1934, she formed the band Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper and The Clinch Mountain Clan. She joined the Grand Old Opry in 1957. Heavily involved with traditional mountain music from the beginning, she was invited to record for the Library of Congress in 1939, at the beginning of her career. The drive and energy in Wilma Lee Cooper's music is noteworthy. She sings with great energy and very long phrases. She often lengthens phrases to the point where she covers what for most singers would be two phrases in a single breath, something that can easily be heard in this song. Her singing is generally characterized by up-tempo intensity, loud and clearly articulated. Like many country and Bluegrass singers of her era, she did not always have microphones to lean on.

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Music

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• Wilma
• Lee
• Cooper
• Bluegrass
• singer

[dreadnought45]

@ EdmundSTAustell: Born - 1921. Died 2001? That would make her 80. Should that be "died in 2011"?

Ken, Toronto

[EdmundStAustell]

@dreadnought45 Ouch! Thanks for catching that. Hit the wrong damned key!

[dreadnought45]

I met Wilma Lee in 1956 when I was fourteen when she, Stoney, and Carol Lee were appearing at the Birchmount Arena in Scarborough Ontario. She was buying coffee at the concession stand when I and my two buddies walked into the arena. I walked up to her and introduced myself. She talked to us for about ten minutes. What a gracious lady she was, and cute, too. I had a crush on her. I used listen to her and Stoney every Saturday night over WWVA radio when they were on the Wheeling Jamboree.

Ken

[EdmundStAustell]

@dreadnought45 You were lucky. She was one of the greats. Interesting, isn't it, how the truly great are usually down to earth and pleasant. I guess it's just that they have nothing to prove.

[EdmundStAustell]

@kawikahob1 OK. If you're sure of that, I'll change the picture. Thanks for the heads-up.

[kawikahob1]

@EdmundStAustell Thanks for the post. The picture is Carol Lee and the voice is her mother's - Wilma Lee. We are grateful for this post. Thanks for keeping it Coutry.

[WoozworldLiker]

Rip wilma :) my dad loves and misses you!

[EdmundStAustell]

@ariadne2956 Dunno. It's supposed to be a young Wilma Lee, according to the info on the picture. I'll double check it.

[ariadne2956]

It sounds like Wilma Lee, but it looks like Carol Lee

[EdmundStAustell]

@unpodimusica1  Wilma is great. Some of her recordings have been put into the Library of Congress as a historical treasure. She sang some songs that went back as far as America does.