Johnny Wright died at his home in Nashville on September 27 at the age of 97. Wright was a country music fixture for the better part of the 20th century and had a number of hit records, including ‘Ashes of Love’, while performing as half of the singing duo, Johnnie and Jack. After his singing partner and brother-in law Jack Anglin was killed in an automobile accident in 1963, Wright had a solo hit with ‘Hello Vietnam’ and later he changed the spelling of his name to ‘Johnny’.
Married to Kitty Wells
Johnny Wright had been married to country music legend Kitty Wells for nearly 74 years at the time of his death and had devoted much of his own career to promoting hers. Kitty Wells is best known for her mega hit, ‘It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels’, recorded in 1952. At the age of 92 Kitty Wells is still known as the undisputed Queen of Country Music. Johnny Wright was one of the few remaining pioneers of country music and many see his passing as the end of an era.
Check Out Our Article on The Living Legends of the Golden Age of Country Music
Many of us became aware that country music began to change about 25 years ago, parting ways with the stars and style that brought it into the mainstream of public appreciation in the 1960s and 70s. Beginning with a yodeling Jimmy Rogers strumming his guitar back in the 1920s and continuing on to Tanya Tucker in the early 1990s, the Nashville sound held its own as a truly American art form for the better part of the 20th century. While borrowing from our Irish heritage, much of what makes country music great is that it is a uniquely American phenomenon. After all, what could be more American than Kitty Wells, Little Jimmy Dickens or Bluegrass music!
We Love the ‘New Country’, Too!
Don’t get me wrong. We love the country music of today and the many stars who make it so popular. Many of them are solid patriotic Americans who cherish our Judeo-Christian heritage, like one of our favorite newcomers, Justin Moore. While we firmly support their contribution to the world of entertainment, we still must recognize that the ‘new country’ is different than the music from the Golden Age of Country Music. It seems that without the soulful voice backed up by a fiddle and steel guitar, something is lost in the translation.
Living Stars from the Golden Age of Country Music
Thankfully, many of the great performers of the Golden Age of Country Music are still living today. In fact, you might be surprised to know some of the ones who are still with us. With the help of our readers, we are compiling a list of these stars to which we will add as more are brought to our attention. Please help us add to this list by submitting the names of living stars directly as a comment on this posting. We salute the following Living Stars from the Golden Age of Country Music (golden stars of country music indicated accordingly) and thank them for the years of great entertainment they have provided us. They are truly part of What Makes US Great!
Bill Anderson
Lynn Anderson (1947-2015)
Moe Bandy
Bobby Bare
Jim Ed Brown (1934-2015)
Glen Campbell
Roy Clark
John Conlee
Mac Davis
Little Jimmy Dickens (1920-2015)
Mickey Gilley
Jack Greene
Merle Haggard
Tom T. Hall
Emmylou Harris
Jan Howard
Alan Jackson
Wanda Jackson
Sonny James
George Jones (1931-2013)
Claude King (1923-2013)
Kris Kristofferson
Jerry Lee Lewis
Loretta Lynn
Barbara Mandrell
Ronnie Milsap
Melba Montgomery
Anne Murray
Willie Nelson
Marie Osmond
Dolly Parton
Ray Price (1926-2013)
Charley Pride
Jeanne Pruett
Johnny Rodriguez
Kenny Rogers
Earl Scruggs (1924-2012)
Jeannie Seely
Jean Shepard
Ricky Skaggs
Connie Smith
George Strait
Mel Tillis
Randy Travis
Tanya Tucker
Kitty Wells (1919-2012)
Slim Whitman (1924-2013)
Don Williams
Hank Williams, Jr.
Johnnie Wright (1914-2011)
On a personal note, I have had the good fortune to see a number of the great country music artists in concert, including Ernest Tubb, Tammy Wynette, George Jones, Willie Nelson, Ronnie Milsap, The Judds, Roy Clark, and Buck Owens with Buckaroo greats Don Rich and Doyle Holly.
There are a surprising number of Hollywood stars who have made their conservative views known. Many are now actively challenging the liberals who have wormed their way into tinsel town and tightened their grip on many aspects of hiring, production and financing. The slow, agonizing death of Hollywood over the past several decades has almost certainly been hastened by these liberals who criticize the United States and attack everything it stands for, never mind the many personal benefits they have reaped from the opportunities made available to them by this great country. One cannot help but have pity for these and the many other unfortunate individuals suffering from that strange malady known as ‘liberal guilt syndrome’.
With the help of our readers we are compiling a list of Hollywood stars, past and present, who love America and courageously speak out about its greatness. For the purposes of this listing we will use a loose interpretation of ‘Hollywood stars’ to include entertainers of the stage, movies and television. Please help us add to this list by submitting the names of conservative stars directly as a comment on this posting. We salute the following Hollywood stars from the past and the present who unabashedly love this country and contribute to What Makes US Great.
It’s difficult to pinpoint the actual year that the Golden Age of Hollywood ended. Nonetheless, most astute observers today would agree that there are but a few remaining signs of the halcyon days of this uniquely American institution, other than perhaps the Hollywood sign itself. At one time there were hundreds and hundreds of stars of the stage and screen, each a unique personality with their own special talents. Sadly, the movie industry in Los Angeles today has been reduced to a second-rate summer stock theatrical team of about twenty mediocre players who seem to be recycled through every movie that is being cranked out.
The Iconic Hollywood Sign
In recent years it has been painful to see who has been dubbed as the greatest actor or actress (we still prefer to make this gender distinction) or the most beautiful woman or the best looking man (Julia Roberts and George Clooney? Give me a break!). The new players suffer greatly when being compared to those from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Who is the Bette Davis of today? Or the Jimmy Stewart or the Ethel Merman, Red Skelton or Donald Meek of today? We could go on and on!
Thankfully, there are yet a few of the greats still living and we are privileged to share the air with these towering icons of entertainment. With the help of our readers, we are compiling a list of these stars to which we will add as more are brought to our attention. For the purposes of this listing we will use a loose interpretation of ‘Hollywood star’ to include all entertainers of the stage, movies and television.
Please help us add to this list by submitting the names of living stars directly as a comment on this posting. Sadly, we lost one of the great entertainers of the 40’s and 50’s, Jane Russell, as we were preparing this initial list. Now there was a real beauty! Her performance as Calamity Jane with Bob Hope in Paleface will live on as a classic forever. We salute the following Living Stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood (golden stars of Hollywood indicated accordingly) and thank them for the years of great entertainment they have provided us. They are truly part of What Makes US Great!
