Country Music Legend of the Week, Dottie West [VIDEOS]

Dottie West (October 11, 1932 – September 4, 1991) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Along with her friends and co-recording artists Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn, she is considered one of the genre's most influential and groundbreaking female artists.

Country Sunshine

In the early 1970s, West wrote a popular commercial for the Coca-Cola company, titled “Country Sunshine”, which she nearly brought to the top of the charts in 1973.

Lesson In Leaving

In the late-70s, she teamed up with country-pop superstar, Kenny Rogers for a series of duets, which brought her career in directions it had never gone before, earning Platinum selling albums and No. 1 records for the very first time. Her duet recordings with Rogers, like “Every Time Two Fools Collide,” “All I Ever Need Is You,” and “What Are We Doin’ In Love,” eventually became country-music standards.

In the mid-1970s, her image and music underwent a major metamorphosis, bringing her to the very peak of her popularity as a solo act, and reaching No. 1 for the very first time on her own in 1980 with “A Lesson in Leavin’”.

You Pick Me Up (And Put Me Down)

During the 1980s, West continued to generate solo hits, most notably “A Lesson in Leavin’.” Her popularity as a featured performer on the Grand Ole Opry endured as well. “A Lesson in Leavin’” was West’s first #1 solo hit. It also peaked at #73 on the pop charts. A week before “A Lesson in Leavin’” reached the No. 1 spot, it was part of a historic Top 5 in country music, when all women held the Top 5 spots. The album that included this song, Special Delivery, included two other Top 15 Country hits from 1980, “You Pick Me Up (And Put Me Down)” and “Leavin’s for Unbelievers”.

Here Comes My Baby

West earned her first Top 40 hit in 1963 with “Let Me Off at the Corner,” followed a year later by the Top Ten duet with Jim Reeves “Love Is No Excuse”. Also in 1964, she auditioned for producer Chet Atkins, the architect of the Nashville sound, who agreed to produce her composition “Here Comes My Baby”. The single made Dottie the first female country artist to win a Grammy Award (Best Female Country Vocal Performance), leading to an invitation to join the Grand Ole Opry. “Here Comes My Baby” reached #10 on Billboard Magazine’s Country charts in 1964.

Last Time I Saw Him

In 1974, West notched a number of Top 40 hits including the Top 10 “Last Time I Saw Him,” “House of Love,” and “Lay Back Lover.” Before signing with United Artists Records in 1976, her final album under RCA, Carolina Cousins, was released in 1975.

On August 30, 1991, West was scheduled to perform at the Grand Ole Opry. Shortly after leaving her apartment at Nashville’s Wessex Towers, West’s car, a Chrysler New Yorker that Kenny Rogers had given her following the loss of her possessions at the IRS auction, stalled in front of the old Belle Meade theater on Harding Road. West’s 81-year-old neighbor, George Thackston, spotted her on the side of the road and offered to drive her to the Opry for her scheduled appearance. Frantic about getting to the Opry on time, she had urged the man to speed.

He lost control of his vehicle while exiting at the Opryland exit on Briley Parkway at a speed of 55 miles per hour. The car left the ramp, vaulted in the air and hit the central division. West did not believe she was injured as badly as her neighbor had been and, reportedly didn’t seem harmed by officers who responded to the scene. She insisted he be treated first.

West, though she thought she was unharmed, suffered severe internal injuries and proved to have suffered both a ruptured spleen and a lacerated liver. Her spleen was removed that Friday and, the following Monday, she underwent two more surgeries to stop her liver from bleeding; these ultimately failed in that effort. Doctors said that West knew the extent of her injuries and even visited with Kenny Rogers shortly before her last operation. On September 4, 1991, during her third operation, West died on the operating table at 9:43 a.m., aged 58.

Her funeral was held at Christ Church on Old Hickory Boulevard. There were 600 friends and family attendees, including Emmylou Harris, Connie Smith, Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash and Larry Gatlin. Her friend and fellow artist, Steve Wariner, whom she had helped make it to Nashville as a young man, sang “Amazing Grace”. A couple of weeks later, President George H.W. Bush, a longtime fan for whom she had performed at the White House, expressed his condolences at the CMA Awards. Her hometown of McMinnville, Tennessee dedicated Highway 56 to her memory, naming it the Dottie West Memorial Highway.

Family Feud dedicated a week of shows in the fall of 1991 with the stars of the Grand Ole Opry in her memory.