On March 8, 1975 Olivia Newton John had the #1 song in the country with “Have You Never Been Mellow.” Many of her early hits started out on the country charts and she seemed to be on her way to becoming a big country artist. This was a surprise to Olivia. “Appalachia? I’ve never heard of it. I sing easy listening, middle of the road music…I sing new songs, old songs, country songs. I didn’t think I would be considered a country singer. I was hoping for a hit record, no matter what it was.” This is what she was telling interviewers back then. It was quotes like this that angered some members of the Country Music Association who had just voted her the 1974 Female Vocalist of the Year over Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette and Tanya Tucker. Johnny Paycheck said “We don’t want someone out of another field coming in and taking away what we’ve worked so hard for.” He and some others left the CMA over this to form the Association of Country Entertainers.
This upset Olivia but she continued on by opening shows for Charlie Rich and playing livestock and rodeo shows. It was later that she concluded she was really a scapegoat. Dolly Parton told Olivia that the press blew the whole thing out of proportion.
Her next album really started out as a single. She was going to Nashville to record 4 songs and one of them would be the single. However, on the way she and her producer found 3 more great songs and the single turned into the album ‘Don’t Stop Believin.’ The title track was the single and a top 40 hit. The album was her 6th gold record.
Olivia had wanted to do a TV special and ABC helped make the dream come true. When she had one broadcast on November 17, 1976. She had lots of singing and dancing and her guest were big stars of the day such as Elliot Gould, Lee Majors, Rona Barrett, Ron Howard, Tom Bosley and Lynda Carter.
This upset Olivia but she continued on by opening shows for Charlie Rich and playing livestock and rodeo shows. It was later that she concluded she was really a scapegoat. Dolly Parton told Olivia that the press blew the whole thing out of proportion.
Her next album really started out as a single. She was going to Nashville to record 4 songs and one of them would be the single. However, on the way she and her producer found 3 more great songs and the single turned into the album ‘Don’t Stop Believin.’ The title track was the single and a top 40 hit. The album was her 6th gold record.
Olivia had wanted to do a TV special and ABC helped make the dream come true. When she had one broadcast on November 17, 1976. She had lots of singing and dancing and her guest were big stars of the day such as Elliot Gould, Lee Majors, Rona Barrett, Ron Howard, Tom Bosley and Lynda Carter.
Click on the video below and see her preform the song live back in the 70's.
No comments:
Post a Comment