While June Carter Cash may be best known for singing and
songwriting, she was also an author, dancer, actress, comedian, philanthropist
and humanitarian. Director Elia Kazan saw her perform at the Grand Ole
Opry in 1955 and encouraged her to study acting. She studied with Lee Strasberg
and Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York. Her
acting roles included Mrs. "Momma" Dewey in Robert
Duvall's 1998 movie The Apostle,
Sister Ruth, wife to Johnny Cash's character Kid Cole, on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993–1997), and
Clarise on Gunsmoke
in 1957. June was also "Momma James" in The Last Days of Frank and
Jesse James. As a singer, she had both a solo career and a career singing with
first her family and later her husband. As a solo artist, she became somewhat
successful with upbeat country tunes of the 1950s like "Jukebox
Blues" and, with her exaggerated breaths, the comedic hit "No
Swallerin' Place" by Frank Loesser. June also recorded "The
Heel" in the 1960s along with many other songs. She won a Grammy award in
1999 for her solo album, Press On. Her last album, Wildwood Flower, was
released posthumously in 2003 and won two additional Grammys. It contains bonus
video enhancements showing extracts from the film of the recording sessions,
which took place at the Carter Family estate in Hiltons,
Virginia,
on September 18 20, 2002. The songs on the album include "Big Yellow
Peaches," "Sinking in the Lonesome Sea," "Temptation"
and the trademark staple "Wildwood
Flower". Her autobiography was published in 1979, and she wrote
a memoir, From the Heart, almost
10 years later.
After a tour of duty in the Air Force, Nesmith was given a guitar as a
Christmas present from his mother and stepfather. Learning as he went, he
played solo and in a series of working bands, performing folk,
country,
and occasionally rock and roll. His verse poems became the basis
for song lyrics, and after moving to Los Angeles with Phyllis and friend John London,
he signed a publishing deal for his songs. Nesmith's "Mary, Mary" was
recorded by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, while "Different
Drum" was recorded by Linda
Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys. "Pretty Little
Princess," written in 1965, was recorded by Frankie Laine
and released as a single in 1968 on ABC Records.
Later, "Some of Shelly's Blues" and "Propinquity (I've Just
Begun to Care)" were made popular by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band on their 1970 album
Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy.
Nesmith began his recording career in 1963 by releasing a single on the
Highness label. He followed this in 1965 with a one-off single released on Edan
Records followed by two more recorded singles; one was entitled "The New
Recruit" under the name "Michael Blessing," released on Colpix
Records, coincidentally also the label of Davy Jones, though they did not meet until The Monkees
formed.
Tee Set was a
pop rock
band
formed in 1966 in Delft,
Netherlands.
The group recorded a single in 1969 entitled "Ma Belle Amie",
which was a hit
in their native country, selling over 100,000 copies. The group released an album in the United States
on Colossus Records in 1970 entitled Ma Belle Amie
(the single of the same name listing the artist as 'The Tee Set'), which
reached number 158 on the Billboard 200 chart,
just as the single took off in America,
eventually reaching number 5. The single sold over one million copies, and was
awarded a gold disc. In the
Netherlands, the next single "She Likes Weeds" attained number 1 there.
However, the track was banned in the U.S., because it was said to refer to
using drugs. However, the title was taken from the film The Ipcress File. A follow-up single,
"If You Do Believe in Love", hit number 81. The group disbanded in 1975,
but briefly reunited in 1979 and 1983. Their former lead singer Peter Tetteroo died in September
2002 from liver cancer, at the age of 55
Interesting.-Grandma Linda
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