Bobbie McKee Will Forever Be Grateful

Category: News/Obituary

For the third time this year, we need to pause and remember a Country Music Hall of Fame great.  

Fred Foster, the guiding force behind Monument Records, died Wednesday (2/20) in Nashville.  He had been in weak health for a number of years.

The greatest legacy of Fred Foster is his ear for talent.  While he worked for Mercury Records in the mid-50s he heard a young man who was on the rockabilly Sun label and begged his superiors to sign the singer.  Mercury passed on Elvis Presley, and the rest is history.

Maybe that failure led Foster to believe he could run a label better, so in 1958 he took every penny he had and formed Monument Records, with the logo showing a replica of the Washington Monument.  Determined not to let the same mistake happen again, Foster signed another fledgling artist on Sun:  Roy Orbison.  From there, Foster's skills helped launch or improve the career of a number of country (Billy Walker, Billy Grammer) and rock (Tony Joe White) acts.  

His two biggest successes, however, came with the discovery of an east Tennessee songbird named Dolly Parton and a Texas Army veteran named Kris Kristofferson. 

Parton's early hit "Dumb Blonde" was released on Monument and produced by Foster.  After her first two albums on Monument she moved on to RCA Victor and international superstardom.

Kristofferson's legacy may be linked to the infamous story about him landing a helicopter on Johnny Cash's lawn to pitch "Sunday Morning Coming Down" to Cash, but it was Fred Foster who first signed Kristofferson to a publishing, and later recording, deal.  Foster was also the one who suggested that Kristofferson incorporate the name of one of the secretaries in the building, Bobbie McKee, into a song.  Kristofferson's "Me and Bobbie McGee" is one of the most important songs in country and rock (thanks to Janis Joplin's cover).

Foster never slowed down, producing the Grammy-winning Last of the Breed album with Willie Nelson, Ray Price, and Merle Haggard in 2007.  In 2016 Foster produced a tribute album to Ray Price.  That year Foster was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in the rotating "non-performer" category for his decades of service to country music as a producer, publisher, and promoter.  

"I am heartbroken that my friend, Fred Foster, has passed on," Dolly Parton said in a statement.  "Fred was one of the very first people to believe in me, and gave me chances no one else would or could."

Fred Foster was 87.

Here's to Dolly!

Category: News

Like millions of Americans, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park holds a treasured place in my heart.  I've had countless great vacations and memories there.  As a result, the tragic news about the wildfires that started Monday night (11/28) and roared through the Smokies foothills town of Gatlinburg, Tennessee hit me quite hard.

Two towns over is the town of Sevierville, the county seat of Sevier County.  In addition to the nearby attractions, both natural and man-made, it's known as the birthplace of Dolly Parton.  

The statue of Dolly Parton in front of the
county courthouse in Sevierville, TN.
c.2016 K.F. Raizor

Several of Dolly's songs speak of her humble roots in this small town, including the iconic "Coat of Many Colors."  Although she's gone on to worldwide acclaim as a singer, songwriter, actor, and multi-instrumentalist, she has never forgotten her roots.  

In 1986 Parton purchased an interest in what was then Silver Dollar City in Pigeon Forge (the town between Sevierville and Gatlinburg), and the park was renamed "Dollywood."  Other entertainment attractions bearing Parton's name include a sister water park (Dolly's Splash Country) and the Dixie Stampede, a dinner-and-a-show theater.  Dollywood is the largest employer in Sevier County.

With these deep roots, it is no surprise that Parton released a statement Tuesday saying how hard the fires in and around Gatlinburg are hitting her emotionally.  "I am heartbroken," she said.

Unlike so many others who have a part of the lovely towns in their hearts and memories thanks to vacations there, however, Parton's name ensures she can do much, much more.

Last last night (11/30) she announced the creation of the "My People" Fund (named after a play, Dolly Parton's My People, that ran at the theme park).  The fund, she announced, will give $1,000 a month for six months to every family in the area who lost their homes to the wildfires.  

"We want to provide a hand up to those families who have lost everything in the fires," Parton said in a video released to Knoxville news stations.  "I know it has been a trying time for my people, and this assistance will help them back on their feet."

What can you say but "Wow."

Here's to Dolly!  Thanks for being a positive light in the world (not just the entertainment world).