Black Pearls

On Jolene, Beyonce & Country Music's Secret Black History

Although it feels fabulously exciting and revelatory that Beyonce is taking country music by the horns and telling it who’s boss, which I LOVE to see, let us not forget the long history of Black women and men hiding in plain sight, trying their best to engage and/or disrupt an industry that has held a very particular set of rules and parameters for… well, forever really. Which is crazy, because like most modern music, the seeds of today’s country music originated from European and African immigrants who brought their folk songs, traditions and instruments with them to North America. Beyonce is giving America a history lesson and a wake up call.

Candi Staton - the First Lady of Southern Soul - also covered Jolene way back in 1974, at the famed Fame Studios with the trailblazing genius Southern soul producer Rick Hall, less than a year after Dolly released it - and a year before she released her career defining Young Hearts Run Free (notably written especially for her using her own words and experiences, and recorded in a single take). These Fame sessions weren’t released until 2011, to little fanfare, by an English label called Kent Records who specialised in obscure soul music that deserved a far better reception than what it got. The album is called ‘Evidence’ and features a fairly wistful, slightly bummed out looking Candi on the cover. She also covers ‘Stand By Your Man’, ‘He Calls Me Baby’ and the great Donnie Fritts’ ‘We Had It All’ (also covered by Tina Turner, but more on that later). I mean, jeez, if that ain’t country I don’t know what is. Candi was brought up dirt poor in Alabama with an alcoholic dad, married at least as many times as Tammy Wynette to a similar bunch of abusive cads, and grew up steeped in church music. She brings the greatest authenticity and strength and sweetness to songs of hurting and transcending and enduring love and pain.

While promoting her album ‘His Hands’ in 2006, produced by Lambchop’s Mark Nevers and featuring a title track written for her by Will Oldham and songs by country luminaries like Merle Haggard and Jason Isbell, she said "I've been making country music way back to recording Stand By Your Man by Tammy Wynette, and even beyond that. So to me, making this record and working with people like Jason, John and Mark feels like the most natural thing in the world." In this deep and fascinating conversation (it’s so good!) recorded with Rick Hall’s son Rodney, who still keeps Fame Studios fires burning and studio cooking, Candi says ‘When I tell stories, you can see pictures’.

She also reveals how she was whispering the lyrics in Clarence Carter’s ear as he recorded Patches, because Clarence was blind and couldn’t read lyrics for himself. Although Patches is as country as country gets, and Rick Hall - who is white - wanted to get Clarence to sing it because it reminded him so much of his own dirt poor upbringing - it won the Grammy for Best Rhythm and Blues Song in 1971. Its a brother in song to Loretta Lynn’s Coalminer’s Daughter, (also released in 1970) and if this song was recorded by Waylon Jennings, there’s no doubt it would have been a giant country hit. Which of course proves the very point that Beyonce is striving to make - genre is a stupid construct, music is music, and if you want to call your kind of music ‘country’ or ‘soul’ or ‘R&B’ cos that’s how you feel about it, then you should be able to go for it because everybody has the same rights to make use of those reductive genre categories.

My papa was a great old man
I can see him with a shovel in his hands, see
Education he never had
He did wonders when the times got bad
The little money from the crops he raised
Barely paid the bills we made

For, life had kick him down to the ground
When he tried to get up
Life would kick him back down
One day Papa called me to his dyin’ bed
Put his hands on my shoulders
And in his tears he said

He said, Patches
I’m dependin’ on you, son
To pull the family through
My son, it’s all left up to you

But let’s get back to Jolene on Beyonce’s new album Cowboy Carter. The shift in attitude is evident from the opening line where instead of I’m begging you, please don’t take my man she sings I’m warning you, don’t come for my man, and makes the strength of her take no prisoners stance clearer with each line. Candi Staton did a similar thing back in 1971, starting her version with I’m telling you, don’t you take my man, I’m warning you, don’t you take my man but when she sings I can hardly keep from crying when he calls your name Jolene all the hurt beneath the bravado is exposed via the crack in her voice. Except nobody heard it because it didn’t get a release when it was recorded. I don’t know what the reason behind that was.

What I’ve always loved about the original Jolene is the emotional honesty and forthright vulnerability of it, that our protagonist goes straight to the source of the trouble in her relationship and appeals to the decency of the woman who is causing it. That’s some deep humanity going on there. And maturity. And while my instinct is that I’m not generally a fan of too much self aggrandising posturing in song (with an exception for Bo Diddley constantly name checking himself) in this setting I can understand the drive behind it - especially as a woman who has also loved the same partner for 21 years. It’s not always easy or to be taken for granted. Beyonce is standing strong, defending and holding up the metaphorical forts of her family and her rights while kicking down the doors for everybody, and especially for all the Black women that have been made to feel invisible or unwelcome. Though her cover of Jolene doesn’t really break any boundaries besides stirring up a little lyrical controversy, sometimes you need to use low hanging fruit to lure in the lowest common denominators and get your voice heard far and wide.

In her statement following the release of the far more interesting Texas Hold ‘Em she said ‘I feel honored to be the first Black woman with the number one single on the Hot Country Songs chart. ... My hope is that years from now, the mention of an artist’s race, as it relates to releasing genres of music, will be irrelevant. This album has been over five years in the making. It was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed…and it was very clear that I wasn’t. This ain’t a Country album. This is a “Beyoncé” album’.

For those unaware, Beyonce performed her song Daddy Lessons with the Dixie Chicks at the Country Music Awards in 2016. With lyrics like With his right hand on the rifle he swore on the Bible, my Daddy said shoot about her daddy teaching his daughter to protect their family, it sure sounds like it would appeal to country demographics but the combination of a pop star and left wing ‘traitors’ Dixie Chicks left some of the more traditional puritans in the country world fuming - Alan Jackson walked out in protest and Travis Tritt tweeted his disapproval. The Dixie Chicks, who have since changed their name to The Chicks so as not to evoke past Southern racist imagery, after the Black Lives Matter movement “definitely lit a fire in us to be on the right side of history" were cast out of favour in the country world after making an onstage comment protesting George Bush’s involvement in the Iraq war back in 2003. This was their first return to the fold since then. Despite the fantastic performances from all involved and the segment boasting the highest ratings in years, it also saw much outrage voiced that Beyonce was pop not country and simply did not belong there. Troublemakers, outsiders. No thank you.

The year before Beyonce’s polarising performance at CMA’s, the same awards show showcased what has become Chris Stapleton’s gigantic soulful country hit ‘Tennessee Whiskey’, in a live duet with pop artist Justin Timberlake. Chris Stapleton also won Male Vocalist of the Year. Now I don’t begrudge Christ Stapleton anything, he’s an immensely talented singer and songwriter, but I defy anyone to listen to the mashup below of Etta James singing her R&B hit I’d Rather Go Blind with Chris Stapleton’s self produced version of Tennessee Whiskey and tell me it isn't a blatant steal from the vocal stylings and production of Etta’s song. It’s in the same key, same time signature, same exact feel. Chris Stapleton hasn’t give any credit to Etta’s version as far as I can find, just tells the story that he started singing along when his band started jamming on this groove at soundcheck , using the lyrics of the old 1970’s David Allan Coe then George Jones hit, and it morphed into a favourite part of their set. That may well be true but I find it hard to believe he hasn’t since noted the similarity and I can’t see why he wouldn’t give some credit where it’s obviously due.

I don’t think there is a great, soulful singer alive who hasn’t knelt at the hem of Etta James’ remarkable voice and valiantly tried to sing along; learning her unique phrasing, aping the raw power of her hard earned power and strength, striving for her vulnerability and passion - including Beyonce, Adele and Amy Winehouse who have all claimed her as a great influence - and lets not forget Beyonce even played her in the film Cadillac Records!.

When Etta accepted her 1993 Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame award she said ‘I don’t know what category I am, I don’t care’ and recounted Jerry Wexler from Atlantic Records calling her up and telling her ‘Hey Etta, you know what your problem is, you’re neither fish nor fowl’. In other words; stay in your lane. Or choose a lane and stay in it. In modern parlance, what’s your brand? She quipped ‘we know what I am now, don’t we, I’m rock’n’roll!’.

Etta, who has always cited Ray Charles as her greatest influence (alongside Billie Holiday), desperately wanted to make a country album and play the Grand Ol’ Opry. Ray Charles made Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music recorded in New York City and Hollywood in 1962, which Amanda Shires recently called ‘the greatest country album ever made’. Etta recorded her first live album Etta Rocks The House , a blazing collection of R&B hits, in Nashville in 1963 and has said she pushed her entire life to make a proper country album but her labels just wouldn’t let her, until 1997 when she finally recorded Love’s Been Rough On Me in Nashville, which featured her tearing up on some country classics like ‘If I Had Any Pride At All’ and ‘Don’t Touch Me’.

She loved it but was frustrated when her label insisted on putting bluesy guitar solos and horns on it. She wanted to be all sassy in a cowboy hat on the cover and the label used a pensive shot she hated where she felt she looked like an old woman stirring a pot of spaghetti. In the liner notes she stated "I made this record for everybody but especially the women. You can call it country, you can call it country blues, you can call it country soul - call it whatever you like, It is just me." She never did make it to the Opry stage.

But the truth is, Etta sung any genre and made it her own. Country, soul, blues, rock, jazz, doo-wop, gospel, they all rubbed up against each other into her great big melting pot of a voice and came out sounding like an Etta James song. She knew it, but nobody else seemed to. In this interview she gave in 1991, while still sweating and catching her breath after performing at the Newport Jazz Festival, with laryginitis, she tells the reporter the only difference between blues and jazz is blues is downtown and jazz is uptown. She describes blues as being a spiritual feeling with a down home message. You could say exactly the same about soul and country - it’s all interplay, interchangeable. We’re all digging in the same dirt, fishing in the same sea. We all bleed red. Genre is as malleable and mixed up as we are.

Its not spoken about much, but there are other Black female artists with a love of country music who slipped in and out of that world, but failed to take hold. I remember falling in love with a truck stop cassette copy of Tina Turner singing country songs. In ‘Tina Turns The Country On!’ Tina Turner sung the hell out of country and folk classics penned by Dolly Parton, Kris Kristofferson and Bob Dylan in her 1974 debut solo album and wresting every molecule of pain and authenticity from each song. Although it received a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female (why R&B not country when its clearly a country album???) it was pretty much a flop but my first teenage heartbreak was soundtracked by Tina singing the heart wrenching Long Long Time over and over and We Had It All (from the same sessions but not on the actual album, although it appears on the many variations of Tina country comps).

The Pointer Sisters recorded their self written straight up country Fairуtale during sessions for their second album, which was pop material. Ruth Pointer says their regular band didn’t even want to record it, it was too weird and country for them, so their manager suggested they go to Nashville to record with country musicians. Bonnie Pointer told the Youngstown Vindicator in 1974 “People think because we're always trying something different we're not sincere. Like country music. For us, it's no joke...Our folks came from Arkansas and we grew up singing country songs. It's part of us.”

The track was used as a B-side to a more contemporary pop number but somehow the single got turned over by radio DJs and they fell in love with it, making the song a hit and leading the Pointer Sisters to be invited to perform on the Grand Ole Oprу as well as winning them Grammу Awards for Best Countrу Vocal Performance bу a Duo or Group.

How did it go over when уou guуs debuted “Fairуtale” at the Grand Ole Oprу on Oct. 25, 1974?

It was interesting because our song had been a hit for the longest time No. 13 Pop, No. 37 C&W, No. 13 Adult Contemporarу, and the audience didn’t know that the group singing the song was black women. It was quite the surprise when we showed up, but theу just received us and it was great. These gals are black, and we like them (laughs).

Did уou experience anу prejudice when уou were in Nashville?

The South is what the South is, and theу have endured a long, long historу of segregation, racism, and all that stuff. We weren’t aware of it, even though we are California girls.

We had a partу that was planned for us in Nashville. We got to the partу, and theу led us around through the back into the kitchen. We thought that theу were doing that because we were supposed to be surprising the guests that were there.

Turns out theу thought we were the hired help. Our manager was, of course, livid and so angrу about it all. But we didn’t know anу different. We thought it was hуstericallу funnу that theу thought we were the help.

We finallу had to walk out after the partу and saу, “Oh no, we’re not the help, we are the people that wrote this song and we’re performing at the Grand Ole Oprу tomorrow night.” I thought it was funnу, and I still think it is funnу.

Did the Pointer Sisters record anу other countrу songs besides “Fairуtale?”

We returned to Nashville for another session to record a follow-up single that Anita and Bonnie wrote called “Live Your Life Before You Die.”

That one didn’t go over as well No. 89 Pop, Januarу 1975, although we received a Grammу nomination in the Best Countrу Group Performance categorу. To mу memorу those were the onlу two that we did…or released anуwaу

Some critics argue that Elvis stole his music and dance moves from African Americans. Does that theorу hold water?

I love the diversitу of the world. I love the diversitу of musical artists, and we all steal from one another. I know I do. When I see someone that has a move that I like—if I can do it—I want to do it. I don ’t see anуthing wrong with that. You see Usher, Chris Brown, and all of them stealing Michael Jackson ’s moves. That’s what уou do—уou learn from уour peers.

from Newspaper Post 24 June 2015

Elvis - who always had an ear for a great song - covered Fairytale, suggested to him by his girlfriend Linda Thompson, and it remained one of his favourite songs to sing until the end. In 2015 Anita Pointer reflected “When we started, you couldn’t find a woman producing or even writing their own songs. We were some of the first to write their own songs.” In a somewhat meta scenario, she wrote the song about a cheating radio DJ who broke her heart, inspired by listening to a James Taylor song staying in a shonky Motel 6 singing backup on tour for Dave Mason from Traffic.

Linda Martell - who makes a minor but meaningful appearance on Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter album - was the first Black female solo performer to appear at the Grand Ole Opry. She recently stated on her Instagram ‘I’ll never forget what it was like to play at the Opry for the first time. I was the first Black woman to perform there, and when I looked into the audience for the very first time, it was just a sea of faces that I feared. But then, with the first chord of the guitar, I knew it was going to be alright. That was the highpoint of my career’.

She has been nicknamed Country’s Lost Pioneer and at 82, is finally getting her dues. She was driving a school bus until recently, after leaving the industry in 1974, tired of the Confederate flags and racism and being virtually blacklisted when her final single Bad Case of the Blues failed to chart. Her website states ‘She released one album, but courage is her legacy.’

Her granddaughter has made a documentary about her experiences, coming soon. You can donate to it here and see the trailer which points out ‘Its pretty extraordinary that she existed at the same time as Charley Pride, but no-one ever talks about it…’

In better news, cultural paradigms are finally shifting, more diverse voices are being heard and welcomed and more chairs are being brought in to the existing tables. The Country Music Hall of Fame has curated AMERICAN CURRENTS: STATE OF THE MUSIC showcasing the full breadth of the current rising Americana and country scene, and I found it moving to watch some footage of the artists all milling around seeing their contributions celebrated in such a venerated institution, something I doubt many of them had ever imagined.

Now I’m no scholar, nor an academic or any kind of authority, I’m just a white girl from Australia who happens to have a deep abiding love for country music, soul music, country soul music, genre bending music, genre shifting artists, great songwriters, trailblazers, outsiders and cultural history. I’ve been surprised not to have read more about these many inroads by Black artists into country music over the years that were one offs or ignored or unreleased and I’m excited to see the conversation breaking open and firing up and I hope it helps unearth other artists that have always been there hiding in plain sight or that never got a chance to do what they love and celebrate them.

As the Pointer Sisters say in Fairytale… it’s time to move on.

Read more from Andrea Williams, opinion columnist for The Tennessean and curator of the Black Tennessee Voices initiative.:

Check out The Black Opry

Listen to Color Me Country radio with Rissi Palmer.