Molly O'Day - Tramp On The Street
So many people have sent me info on Molly O'Day, so thought I'd post a song by her. If ya'll like, I'll post another one or two later. Here's a little bio on her:A pioneering vocalist whose soulful, gut-wrenching performances helped redefine the role of the female country solo artist, Molly O'Day's career was relatively brief, but her lasting influence has proven massive. Born Lois LaVerne Williamson on July 9, 1923, to a coal mining family living in a remote Appalachian community in eastern Kentucky, she spent her childhood enamored of cowgirl singers like Patsy Montana, Lulu Belle Wiseman, Texas Ruby Owens, and Lily May Ledford and eventually began singing and playing guitar in a string band with her brothers Cecil ("Skeets") on fiddle and Joe ("Duke") on banjo. In 1939, Skeets began playing on a radio station in Charleston, WV, and his sister soon followed, adopting the stage name "Mountain Fern." A year later, now under the name "Dixie Lee Williamson," she joined guitarist Lynn Davis' band the Forty Niners, and in 1941, she and Davis married.
Over the next five years, the Forty Niners extensively toured the South, building a substantial fan base along the way. By the time the group settled in for an extended stay in Louisville, KY, in 1946, the name "Molly O'Day" was firmly entrenched. While Davis and O'Day's duets were popular withaudiences, it was her deeply felt solo performances of inspirational songs which had the biggest impact and which led writer/publisher Fred Rose to sign the singer to Columbia Records. There, O'Day performed a number of songs written by a young Hank Williams, whom she had already known from their days on the radio circuit; in fact, it was Williams who taught O'Day her best-loved song, "Tramp on the Street," one of eight tunes she cut during her first studio session in late 1946. Backed by Davis, her brother Skeets, bassist Mac Wiseman, and George "Speedy" Krise on the Dobro, the recordings gave a further boost to O'Day's surging popularity, but already she was having trouble coping with her success.
O'Day and Davis spent much of 1947 out of music, but in December of that year she returned to the studio, where she recorded her crowd-pleaser "Matthew Twenty-Four." She and Davis spent much of the next several years on the road, where she began performing religious material almost exclusively; in mid-1949, she cut another session, recording songs like "Teardrops Falling in the Snow," "Poor Ellen Smith," and Williams' "On the Evening Train." In the latter half of the year, O'Day suffered a nervous breakdown and was hospitalized; although she did record again in 1950 and 1951, she largely turned her back on show business afterward, instead focusing on performing in churches. In 1954, Davis became an ordained minister, and in the decades following, the couple preached throughoutthe coal mining communities of West Virginia. O'Day did record for a few small gospel labels in the 1960s, and in 1973 she and Davis began hosting a daily gospel program on a West Virginia radio station. She died of cancer December 5, 1987. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
Channel: Music
Uploaded: August 29, 2008 at 9:45 pm
Author: MoJoPiano
Length: 00:02:49
Rating: 5.00
Views: 2040
Tags: Molly Folk Mountain Country Bluegrass O'Day Gospel
Video Comments:
2ndfret (November 24, 2008 at 3:10 am)
I agree the singers today all sound the same I listen to very little of whatever it is they call country music today glad I got to listen to the real country music by the way I am an old timer.
MoJoPiano (November 22, 2008 at 12:32 am)
Thanks for listening and glad you enjoyed it. I agree with your comment 100 percent! Mike
Suppe1961 (November 21, 2008 at 10:32 pm)
very interesting music - the vocals are extremely - well - real, nothing compared to present day machine enhanced performances. keep up the good work :-)
MoJoPiano (November 14, 2008 at 1:31 pm)
Thanks for the information. He is great with the Dobro and his playing fits and enhances her singing perfectly. Thanks for commenting! Mike
2ndfret (November 14, 2008 at 1:54 am)
Speedy Krise doing the Dobro work on this he wrote Goin like Wildfire but Molly is the star here thanks for posting this.
MoJoPiano (November 12, 2008 at 1:54 am)
You are most welcome and I thank you for taking the time to stop and listen and especially for your kind comment. I don't have that song, but the title alone makes me WANT TO HEAR IT! I'm trying to get my hands on some more of Molly's recordings, and I'll sure post that one if it's on any of those. Thanks again for listening! Mike
MoJoPiano (November 12, 2008 at 1:51 am)
Shirley, I'm so happy that you like it. Yes, "Tramp On The Street" has been around for a long, long time. My Mom use to sing this to us kids at home. Thanks my dear friend for stopping by and for the stars. God bless ya Shirley! Mike
usquequo (November 12, 2008 at 1:07 am)
Thank you so much for helping keep alive the music that was the heart of an entire culture and region. Do you have Molly singing "I'll Face Nobody's Record But Mine?"
broncose1 (November 12, 2008 at 12:53 am)
Thank you so much Mike for these great Molly songs. I have looked for this song on here for a long time.5*****'s.I use to sang this song and so many more old country songs to my sister's babies,LOL.Shirley
MoJoPiano (September 14, 2008 at 4:01 am)
Well she certainly SHOULD BE recognized. I've been to the Opry many times and heard the late Stoney Cooper and Wilma Lee. Yes, now that I think about it, I can really hear Molly's influence in the way Wilma Lee sang. Kitty Wells also says that she listened to Molly's recordings a lot in the beginning of her career. How cool that you are related. She had a very strong, clear and distinctive voice. I plan to post more in the future. Thanks again for the interesting info, and God bless you! Mike
wmoday (September 14, 2008 at 2:55 am)
Thanks so much for posting these recordings. I am hopeful that the CMA will someday recognize Molly's contribution. Perhaps the person who was influened most by Molly was Willma Lee Cooper. Molly left the business at the height of her career and with the coming honky tonk sound, she was forgotten. Growing up in E. Kentucky and being related to Lynn and Laverne (Molly), we had a lot of her old 78's. Just about everyone was related in this area.
MoJoPiano (September 13, 2008 at 2:40 pm)
Thanks! Happy that you stopped by to listen and please check back. Mike
jtls8 (September 13, 2008 at 5:48 am)
Wonderful!!!!!
deskyles (September 11, 2008 at 11:41 pm)
MIKE, Now that mentioned it, U know I do hear the similarity of our good friend ZELLA MAE. I thought when I was listening to it that it sounded like some one that I had heard before. U R exactly right. So glad that U bought this to my attention. THANK U so very much.Darlene
MoJoPiano (September 11, 2008 at 10:32 pm)
Darlene, I failed to mention this to you. Our good friend Zella Mae Cox who has sung country gospel on radio out of St. Louis for many years says that Molly O'Day was one of her early idols and influences. Can't you hear the BIG similarity in their voices and style? Mike
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