Singing came as naturally as breathing to Crystal Gayle, born Brenda Gail
Webb in Paintsville, Kentucky. Raised in the small
town of Wabash, Indiana, Gayle recalls with a laugh, “My mother said I could
sing before I could walk. Music was a form of
entertainment. People would sit on their porches and play their guitars,
mandolins, banjos, and that’s what we did to pass the
time.”
Gayle’s sister, Loretta Lynn, 19 years her senior, helped with her career
development. Lynn not only helped to negotiate Gayle’s
first record deal, she also wrote her first single and created her new name.
“When I started recording, Brenda Lee was on the
same label and they didn’t want two Brendas, so Loretta thought of Crystal,”
says Gayle. “She saw it on that Southern hamburger
chain, Krystal’s, although she also said it was because I was bright and
shiny. I didn’t care what they called me if I was going to
get to record. They could have called me John.”
The Lynn-penned “I’ve Cried (The Blue Right Out Of My Eyes)” was produced by
Owen Bradley in a production that is reminiscent
of his Patsy Cline masterpieces. Decca put her on the road with her sister
but Gayle lasted only a week. “That was about
enough,” she laughs. “I think she and her husband Moony wanted me to be a
part of it, but Moony wanted me to stand in a certain
place on stage, she wanted me to be another place and it was, ‘Okay, I need
to do my own thing.’.”
Gayle’s career built slowly with a smattering of Top 10’s and a few songs
that charted in the thirties. In 1976, she had her first #1
with “I’ll Get Over You,” by Richard Leigh, who also wrote her signature
hit, “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue.” The song, with
jazz undertones, won Gayle countless accolades, including a Grammy Award for
Best Female Country Performance. The song
also brought her widespread crossover attention when it rose to #1 on Pop
charts all over the world. The album, We Must Believe
In Magic, was the first album by a female country artist to reach platinum
sales status. Gayle, the beautiful artist with the long
hair, was suddenly an international star.
“A lot of people think I had ‘Brown Eyes’ right out of the box, and I don’t
know how I would have handled things if that had
happened,” says Gayle. “Having the songs build and then having a song like
that was a great way for it to happen.”
“Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue” also marked a major shift in Gayle’s
career. Most of her subsequent singles through the
mid-’80s reached #1 or came close on the Country charts, with many making a
showing in the Pop or Adult Contemporary charts,
as well.
“Ready For The Times To Get Better,” the follow-up to “Don’t It Make My
Brown Eyes Blue,” is one of Gayle’s personal favorites. “I
love that you can sing it about love or you can sing it about life. I like
songs that you can take in different ways,” she explains.
The purity of Gayle’s vocals on “Talking In Your Sleep” took the song to the
top of the Country chart and to #18 on the Pop chart.
Her duet with Eddie Rabbitt, “You And I,” reinforced the country/pop appeal
of Gayle and her duet partner, another crossover artist.
“Eddie had already recorded the song with his vocals and asked me to do
harmony on it. But when I heard it, I told him I could do
a little more than harmony if he liked,” she laughs. “And it turned into a
duet. It is a really special song. I love singing it and I miss
being able to sing it with Eddie,” she says of the artist, who passed away
in 1998.
Looking back on the body of her work, it’s clear that Gayle’s values and
motives for making music haven’t strayed from the young
girl who entered the business just after high school. “I don’t really think
about the success I’ve had,” she says. “I enjoy singing,
and having the success I’ve had has been the icing on the cake. It’s opened
so many doors. I’ve gotten to travel the world, I’ve
met so many wonderful people and made so many friends, and I have been able
to touch so many people with the songs.”
All of the above was written by
Crystal's PR team. Being pressed for time (and my last few brain cells) I
was already late in getting this review posted so in order to bring y'all
the CD as quickly as possible, I chose to use their words and create a
presentation to go with it. I did take enough time to make 12 song clips for
y'all to hear from the CD. The simple truth is... it doesn't matter
who says what or how it's stated... all that matters is that this is a
perfect album from a perfectly beautiful lady whose perfect voice matches
her "shiny" name... Crystal.
© Marlene Slater (Marli)
My Kind of Country
10-22-2007
