James E. Akenson
Some things and some people manage to keep finding ways to make your life interesting and worthwhile. You never know for sure exactly when and where they will appear. Dottie West is one of those persons. She’s the first woman to write and record a Grammy winning Country Music song. Not bad. I can’t remember the first time I became aware of Dottie West, but she has found lots of ways to be part of my life.
In no perfect chronological order, I’ll try to make sense of Dottie West and me. Tennessee is no longer completely ‘dry’ and alcohol free. Since Jesus turned the water into wine let’s say that my Dottie West journey is a harvest, a vintage that adds a great deal to my life. As a fine wine, my Dottie West experience gets better with time. It’s more complex, has greater depth, and keeps lingering.
Probably the first time Dottie West entered my life had to do with Coca Cola. Yes. I no longer drink carbonated drinks, but I certainly have a memory of Dottie West’s Coca Cola commercial. She was raised on country sunshine with the joys of the simple life including a bottle of Coke. The Coca-Cola commercial modified Dottie’s hit song “Country Sunshine” to include Coca-Cola. I knew “Country Sunshine” before the commercial since it immediately resonated with me when the commercial appeared.
Since this isn’t a chronology let’s further connect my current life to Dottie and “Country Sunshine.” There are two connections in recent years in my work at Tennessee Tech University. First, I’ve had the privilege of supervising student teachers in four different elementary, middle, and secondary schools in Dottie’s hometown McMinnville, Tennessee. Warren County Middle School is located within a few hundred meters of Mt. View Cemetery where Dottie West is buried. I visit her grave and pay my respects every time I visit a school in McMinnville. Take a look at some pics. Notice the “Country Sunshine” connection on her tombstone.
I developed a Dottie West lesson to teach in McMinnville at Warren County High School for a former student. Joe Collier invited me to teach his special class on U.S. Popular Music. I taught about Dottie West. The lesson focused on Dottie West changing during the time of 1960s and 70s Second Wave Feminism. We analyzed pictures of album covers of Dottie West from early in her career. Students placed post-it notes with arrows pointing to conservative, traditional feminine traits….high necklines, frilly lace, and crossed legs. We watched the “Country Sunshine” Coca Cola commercial, circled Coca Cola products that they had consumed, and discussed if the commercial benefited Dottie West.
Pics of Dottie West from later in her career that showed the impact of 2nd Wave Feminism. Students placed post-it notes with arrows pointing to plunging necklines, tight slacks, and bent legs not crossed. They then watched a video of a major duet by Dottie West and Kenny Rogers Every Time Two Fools Collide. In the video, Dottie wore more flamboyant, revealing dress than in her early career.
I also have the Dottie West lesson as part of my teaching in a methods course for future social studies teachers. It fits perfectly with the content for 11th grade U.S. History in the post-World War 2 era of the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, and 2nd Wave Feminism of the Women’s Movement. I’ve also used the Dottie West in my graduate Country Music course. The graduate Country Music course even included a presentation by Mike Vinson of McMinnville. As a journalist, scholar Mike Vinson presented a convincing argument that Dottie West represented important contributions and changes in Country Music history. And…I used the Dottie for an Introduction to Education class to demonstrate how a lesson can be put together.
Dottie West and how to use Dottie West in teaching also made it into presentations at professional conferences. The International Country Music Conference provided an opportunity to show important teaching ideas to Country Music scholars. Dottie West also served as my presentation to teachers from all over the nation at the 2023 Annual Conference of the National Council for the Social Studies. Dottie West and teaching goes national and even global.
Well, how else has Dottie West entered by life? Just recently, the Appalachian Studies Association national conference took place at Tennessee Tech. A major event concluded the Appalachian Studies Association conference featured a community event. The focus? A remarkable number of national musical stars performed in Tech’s Memorial Gymnasium from the late 1950s to the mid 1970s. Take a look at a couple pics. How about everybody from the Harry James orchestra for a military dance, the Dick Clark Caravan, The Platters, the Smothers Brothers, and the Temptations to Iron Butterfly, The Letterman, and the Allman Brothers. Impressive, huh? It couldn’t happen in today’s music business. I got to participate by creating a Power Point, introduce the speakers, make some comments about slides, and have audience members tell their memories about Memorial Gym concerts.
Yes, indeed. Dottie West also performed in Memorial Gym. Dottie West’s career included being a student at Tennessee Tech for two years before she entered the music business. Her success included writing Here Comes My Baby, recording it, having a top Country Music hit with it, and a Grammy. Not bad for a ‘Country Girl’ from small town McMinnville, Tennessee. That deserves recognition from her Alma Mater. Tennessee Tech declared April 26 1966 as Dottie West Day. Take a look at the pics. Note how the pic out front of the administration building….now known as Derryberry Hall…with Dottie West dressed as a proper middle class demure woman. Second wave feminism hadn’t taken hold yet in rural Middle Tennessee.
Most importantly, Dottie West Day included performances in Memorial Gym. You should be impressed that Memorial Gym saw Dottie West perform as well as Faron Young and Waylon Jennings and the Waylors. That’s some kind of line-up. There were lots of pics from Dottie West Day. Take a look at some pics. Click on Australian Paul Potter’s Dottie West Remembered link for LOTS more Dottie West Day pics. Paul Potter’s web site also includes collections of other Dottie West devotees. It’s interesting how people even outside the United States become “True Believers”…a term coined by Eric Hoffer….and want to expand the legacy of an artist such as Dottie West.
That brings us to another Dottie West juncture. It wasn’t until just recently that I learned about Aussie Paul Potter. Of course, it happened because Tennessee Tech Archivist Megan Atkinson and I worked on Memorial Gym concerts. Megan Atkinson previously interacted with Paul Potter about Dottie West and Tennessee Tech. I’ve now had exchanges with Paul Potter. He knows his Dottie West in Spades, Diamonds, Hearts, and Clubs. He wants to see Tennessee Tech appropriately honor Dottie West. No telling where the Paul Potter Dottie West connection will lead. Paul Potter could be the cause, the catalyst, or at very least a contributor to my Dottie West activities in the future.
Once more with feeling. Recently, I’ve become aware of Tess Frizzell, Dottie West’s Granddaughter. Tess Frizzell’s mother is Shelly West Frizzell famous for a duet with partner David Frizzell for You’re The Reason God Made Oklahoma. What a song! A classic, for sure. Tess is on social media posting pics and memories of Dottie West and interacting with other devoted Dottie West fans.
Equally important, Tess Frizzell furthers the Dottie West legacy by providing an annual Dottie West Memorial Concert in McMinnville, Tennessee. Electronic Billboards in Cookeville, Tennessee proclaimed Dottie West Memorial Concert at the busiest intersection. I couldn’t attend, but the very act of a Dottie West Memorial Concert offers symbolic and literal impact. Keeping the legacy of Dottie West alive, growing, and visible proclaims a lasting impact and contribution to the culture.
What might future interaction, if any, with Tess Frizzel look like? Can’t say. I suspect though that it will be predictable and unpredictable. Unpredictable in that contact with Tess Frizzell might result in my involvement with an event of which I’ve never heard. I might make a presentation dealing with Dottie West’s significance. As a Professor, I might be interesting and knowledgeable, but also lend some higher education status to the event. Predictable in that Tennessee Tech University might have a special Archives collection display based on Dottie West and I might make contributions. Also predictable would be a seminar about Dottie West presented at Tennessee Tech for the community and online as a companion to a Dottie West exhibit. I can even see the seminar being shared internationally on YouTube.
Anything else, you say. Hard to say. It’s all predictable that if I keep dealing with Dottie West’s legacy I’ll likely stumble into some interesting opportunities for involvement. Unpredictable in terms of exactly when, where, and who might combine to involve me in some type of Dottie West experience. My money is on a variety of seemingly random items that will all be predictable in hindsight.
Once you labor in a vineyard the harvest and vintage come home. I’m looking for some more fine Dottie West vintage harvests spread over time. The vintner’s description may read “Dottie West. A powerful yet subtle bottling of country sunshine rooted in Middle Tennessee hill side cultural soil, tinged with a modern assertive urban fair that adds depth and complexity to an apparently simple yet already multilayered chorus of graceful notes.” I’m looking forward to some predictably unpredictable Dottie West vintages.
