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Dottie West: Raised on Country Sunshine

Holley Snaith | Historian
Music Voices
Published in
10 min readSep 5, 2022

How Dottie West went from the fields of Frog Pond to the stage of the Grand Ole Opry and made country music history along the way.

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“When It’s Just You and Me” (1977) was Dottie West’s 21st solo album and her first with United Artists. Source: Spotify

“I’ve loved to sing. I’ve loved living itself, but I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t get to sing.” ~ Dottie West

On the night of April 13, 1965, hundreds of eager entertainers and music industry professionals gathered in Los Angeles for the 7th Annual GRAMMY Awards. That year, they introduced new categories in the country music genre, including Best Female Country & Western Vocal Performance. The nominees were: Skeeter Davis, Connie Smith, Jean Shepard, Dottie West, and Wanda Jackson. The women waited with bated breath for the winner’s name to be announced: Dottie West for “Here Comes My Baby,” written by Dottie and her husband, Bill West.

It was a long way from the rolling hills of McMinnville, Tennessee to the fashionable Beverly Hilton Hotel, and Dottie had traveled more than a few arduous roads to get there. On that crisp, spring night, it seemed she had reached the pinnacle of success by making history as the first female in country music to claim a GRAMMY, but Dottie’s journey was just beginning.

“Country Girl”

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Music Voices
Music Voices

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Holley Snaith | Historian
Holley Snaith | Historian

Written by Holley Snaith | Historian

Holley Snaith is a historian who has worked at presidential libraries & been published on such platforms as PBS American Masters. Visit www.holleysnaith.com.

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