Dottie West was sat backstage at the Grand Ole Opry April 13, 1985, Fabulously attired, as always, she tossed her trademark titian tresses as she laughed and gossiped with her fellow Opry cast members., When bluegrass king Bill Monroe approached , she stood and embraced the patriarch warmly. As if on cue, Ed Bruce began singing the lilting, lovely ‘’(When You Fall In Love) Everything’s a Walz’’ out on the stage. Dottie and Bill immediately melted into each others’ arms and began quietly swaying to the music together. Dorothy Marie Marsh West drifted into dreamland as they danced. Her thoughts carried her through 25 years of country stardom, through countless one nightstands, through thousands of autographs, through dozens of little tragedies and triumphs. That night
Dottie West was celebrating yet another milestone in her remarkable career. She’d been chosen, along with such greats as Roy Acuff and Minnie Pearl, to perform on that historic night that began regular Opry weekly live telecasts. For the first time her beloved Grand Ole Opry is being shown coast-to-coast, just as it happens in Nashville. The Nashville Network kicked it’s half-hour weekly Opry shows with a special one0hour segment that night. And there was Dottie West on stage to sing ‘’A Lesson In leaving,’’ ‘’Here Comes My Baby’’ and her other great hits before fans from New York to California. ‘’I’ve been spending more time here lately,’’ she said backstage. ‘’I’ve realized how much I’ve missed it.’’
To a poor farm girl growing up south of Nashville in little mcMinnville, Tennessee, The Grand Ole Opry was the ultimate show business accomplishment. The singer/songwriter could not have ever predicted that the Opry would be just one stop on her road to multimedia super stardom. Indeed, this spring’s history making telecast was just one stop during a hectic, booming schedule this year that has become a normal way of life. It’s work pace that would have worn a lesser woman out years ago. Not Dottie West. She’s made out of tough stuff. ‘’I think my strength came from my mother, ‘’she reflects. ‘’She was very determined; and I’ve always had determination. Maybe that comes from being the oldest of 10. We were very poor, but I was always too proud to ask for a
handout.’’ Dottie developed the guts and drive to become a music major at Tennessee Tech while most of her brothers and sisters remained rural. Then she took off for parts unknown in search for signing fame. She and her first husband Bill West landed jobs at the Cleveland, Ohio, country TV show, Landmark Jamboree. ‘’Now during this TV show I would get to work with Opry singers and Nashville talent because they came up to guest star. I’d get to talking’ to them and have them over to my house to cook for them, you know’’ she cites Mother Maybelle Carter & The Carter Sisters, Minnie Pearl, her duet partner Kathy Dee, child star Brenda Lee, country queen Patsy Cline and other female stars of the day as important teachers during this period of her life. ‘’I think I feel especially close to all the girls in the business. We have a lot in common. We have the work on the road, plus our families. You’re a little piece of all those friends because you learn from everyone of them.
She became educated in how to be determined yet ladylike, a personality trait that has remained with her to this day. During one of the west’s many commutes between Nashville and Cleveland, Dottie paused north of Nashville long enough to land her first record contract, using her newly-acquired self-confidence. ‘’I guess I have to tell the truth on this one: It was 1959 (I was going to say I was only 10 or 1 at the time!) but anyway, one day when Bill and i were headed back to Cleveland, going north on Dickerson Road, I said when we got to the Starday records building,’ Just pull in right here. I’m going in
there and I hope they’ll listen to me.’ I waslked in and said, ‘I am really going to make hit records. I am gonna be a singer in Nashville. Here’s a scrap book of the TV show I do.’ And then I auditioned live with my guitar.’’ It worked. ‘’It’s funny. Looking back, I don’t even think I realized how tough it might have been. I had absolutely no doubt that I could be a top singer. I was just going for it, that’s all. I’m still that way.’’ She began writing songs in 1961 when she became buddies with such fellow struggling country youngsters as Willie Nelson, Roger Miller and Hank Cochran. Her very first songwriting effort, ‘’Is This Me,’’ became a chart-topping hit for Jim Reeves in 1063. That led to a recording contract on Reeves’ label RCA, and the beginning of her own hit-making career. They called them ‘’girl singers’’ when Dottie West began her Big Time Country career; and there weren’t many of them around. Unwittingly, Dottie West was about to become a pioneer in establishing females as songwriters and solo signing stars in Music City. She helped change the status from mere ‘’girl’’ stage decoration to woman headliner.
She steeped into the solo limelight in 1964 with ‘’Here Comes My Baby.’’ The self-composed single garnered her the first Grammy Award ever given to a country music woman. It became one of over two dozen top-selling hits she enjoyed during the succeeding decade. They made her an Opry cast member in ’64, for she’d been hanging around the show hopefully for several years. ‘’It was a lifelong dream.’’ It was also an eye-opener: ‘’I remember one night in ’62 or’63 when Patsy Cline wore this gorgeous Nudie-designed pants suit. The Opry manager (Ott Devine) told her she couldn’t wear it. Told her she had to wear a dress! And I’m still shy to of pants for that reason.’’ Woman had an uphill fight; and Dottie was one of the ones in the trenches. ‘’It’s not like I don’t have a mind of my own,’’ She helped lead the way in shedding the
ginghams –and-crinolins country-girl image I favour of svelte., sexy look. Her striking appearance even led to an offer to do a spicy Qui magazine layout three years ago. ‘’But that’s not really my image. And I was very unhappy doin’ those pictures. I did it because they kept pestering me for a whole year.’’ In true classy West fashion the photos suggest far more than they reveal. The overall effect is that of a blueblood who’s consented to show the masses a shoulder, a thigh, a wink. It’s a tasteful peek at Dottie but she’s still sorry she did it. ‘’I’d love to be a sophisticate. I don’ know that I am or ever will be … I have a healthy attitude about sex, about the body. I do. ‘’And you know what? I never had one bad letter about it. Not one. In fact, now I get all theses new love letters!’’
West signed with United Artists Records in 1976 and promptly began topping all she’d done before. Her debut disc on the label, When It’s Jut You & Me, became the biggest selling of her career to that point. In 1978 she teamed up with Kenny Rogers for a series of #1 duets that included ‘’Every Time two Fools Collide’’ ‘’Anyone Who isn’t me Tonight’’ ‘’All I Ever Need Is You’’ Till I Can Make It On My own’’ and ‘’What Are we doing In love.’’ The country Music Association honoured them with Duet of The Year accolades in 1978 and 1979. The pair toured together successfully; then West launched one of the flashiest, splashiest stage shows on the road and became a Las Vegas/Atlantic City showroom star. Reaching ever higher, she scored her first and second solo #1 singles in 1980 with ‘’A Lesson in leavin’ ‘’and ‘’ Are You Happy Baby.’’ Now she’s signed the fourth major record contract of her illustrious career. Dallas-based Permian Records, distributed by MCA, is her new home. The 1984 LP Just Dottie was the first product of this association.
and counselling to youngsters. She remembers vividly all the help she got when she started, so she’s given her wisdom to junior stars like Barbara Mandrell. Dottie was instrumental in launching the careers of Larry Gatlan and Steve Wariner. And she’s certainly shared her ocean of experience with daughter Shelly West, also a country hit maker. She’s all woman, but she still has the enthusiasm of a girl. Her energy level is astounding. ‘’You have to feel healthy and self-confident”, she advises. ‘’I don’t mean to sound self-centered at all. I’m talking about determination and self-improvement. I’m just not lazy. Never have been. When Dolly Parton backed out of this year’s exhausting tour with Kenny Rogers, Dottie stepped in to fil the dates. She’s still doing that, week after week. She’s making her silver screen debut this year as an actress in Aurora, a true story about extra-terrestrials reported in turn-of-the-century Texas. The theatre is beckoning, too. In 1983 she toured in the lead role of the stage musical The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas; and this has led to on-going negotiations to co-star with Mary Martin in an upcoming Broadway show. ‘’I love a challenge,’’ she laughs. But this spring she was back on her ‘’home stage at the Opry House in Nashville. And she will no doubt be there this fall when the world’s oldest continuously-broadcast radio show celebrates its 60th anniversary before a crowd of luminaries in Nashville and before millions of network watchers.