Elizabeth Jane Anderson (née Haaby; January 13, 1927
Anderson received two Grammy Award nominations in 1967, one for "Best Female Country Vocal Performance" for her self-penned, top-five hit "Mama Spank", and the other for "Best Country Vocal Group" for the top-five hit "The Game of Triangles", with Bobby Bare and Norma Jean. As a songwriter, she scored 26 top-50 hits in the 1960s, more than any other female songwriter that decade in the country music industry.
Anderson also wrote many of the early hits for her daughter, Lynn Anderson, whose recording career began less than a year after her mother's. She wrote several hits for other notable artists, including Merle Haggard. Haggard had his first top-10 and number-one hits, respectively, with "(My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers" and "I'm a Lonesome Fugitive", both penned by Anderson. He named his band "The Strangers", after the hit "(My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers".
Biography
Born Elizabeth Jane Haaby in Roseau, Minnesota, or March 13, 1930,
Early career
In 1957, the family moved to Sacramento, California. The limited popularity at the time of country music in California led Anderson to start writing songs. Casey was a member of the sheriff's posse, which was going to take part in the National Centennial Pony Express Celebration. Casey convinced his wife to write a song in honor of the Pony Express. The song was named the official song.
Anderson began publishing her songs and made friends within the burgeoning country music community in Bakersfield during the early 1960s. Some of the first hits from her pen were "Be Quiet Mind" by Del Reeves and "Pick of the Week", which was recorded by Roy Drusky in 1964. She won a BMI award for the song. Anderson published over 260 songs during her career and earned five BMI awards. Anderson also wrote Conway Twitty's first country hit, "Guess My Eyes Were Bigger Than My Heart".
Her lone 1980s recording was the album My Last Rose for Tudor Records, which contained original material and covers of well-known songs. In the mid-1990s, Anderson started her own record company, Showboat Records. The Cowgirl Way was her first album in over a decade. She also recorded an album of Christmas songs and another one of children's songs, most of them written by her. In 2006, Lynn Anderson released an album for the label entitled Cowgirl, composed entirely of songs penned by her mother.
Anderson died aged 84 years in Nashville on October 31, 2011.
Discography
- The Game of Triangles (1967)
- Liz Anderson Sings (1967)
- Cookin' up Hits (1967)
- Liz Anderson Sings Her Favorites (1968)
Major country hits written by Liz Anderson
Anderson enjoyed her greatest success as a songwriter, receiving many awards for her work, including several BMI awards. She also served as vice president of the Nashville Songwriters Association International. The following is a list of her songs which made the top 50 on Billboards country chart (with chart rankings). In 1966 and 1967, Anderson had six top-50 hits as a songwriter each year, likely a record still to this date among female country music songwriters.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Artist(s)
! Billboard
|-
|1961
|"Be Quiet Mind"
|Del Reeves
| 9
|-
|rowspan=2| 1963
| "Robert E. Lee"
| Ott Stephens
| 15
|-
| "The Way it Feels to Die"
| Vernon Stewart
| 17
|-
|rowspan=3|1964
| "Just Between The Two of Us"
|Merle Haggard and Bonnie Owens
| 28
|-
|"Pick of the Week"
|Roy Drusky
| 13
|-
| "Be Quiet Mind"
| Ott Stephens
| 23
|-
|rowspan=4|1965
|"All My Friends Are Gonna Be Strangers"
|Merle Haggard
| 10
|-
|"I Cried All The Way To The Bank"
| Norma Jean
| 21
|-
| "I Keep Forgettin' That I Forgot About You "
| Wynn Stewart
| 43
|-
|"(From Now on All) My Friends Are Gonna Be Strangers"
| Roy Drusky
| 6
|-
|rowspan=6|1966
| "Go Now Pay Later"
| Liz Anderson
| 23
|-
| "Guess My Eyes Were Bigger Than My Heart"
| Conway Twitty
| 18
|-
| "So Much for Me, So Much for You"
| Liz Anderson
| 45
|-
| "Ride Ride Ride"
| Lynn Anderson
| 36
|-
| "Ride Ride Ride" (pop Billboard Hot 100 cover)
| Brenda Lee
| 37
|-
| "The Wife of The Party"
| Liz Anderson
| 22
|-
|rowspan=6|1967
| "I'm a Lonesome Fugitive"
| Merle Haggard
| 1
|-
| "If I Kiss You"
| Lynn Anderson
| 5
|-
| "Mama Spank"
| Liz Anderson
| 5
|-
| "Tiny Tears"
| Liz Anderson
| 24
|-
| "Keeping Up Appearances"
| Lynn Anderson and Jerry Lane
| 49
|-
| "The Words I'm Gonna Have To Eat"
| Bill Phillips
| 10
|-
|rowspan=4|1968
|"Big Girls Don't Cry"
| Lynn Anderson
| 12
|-
| "Like A Merry Go Round"
| Liz Anderson
| 43
|-
| "Mother May I"
| Liz & Lynn Anderson
| 21
|-
| "Here's To You and Me"
| Tex Williams
| 45
|-
|rowspan=1|1969
| "Flattery Will Get You Everywhere"
| Lynn Anderson
| 11
|-
| 1970
| "Husband Hunting"
| Liz Anderson
| 26
|-
| 1977
|"Crutches"
|Faron Young
| 25
|}
Awards and nominations
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| Year || Award program || Award || Result
|-
| 1967 || Grammy Awards || Best Female Country Vocal Performance for "Mama Spank" || Nominated
|-
| 1967 || Grammy Awards || Best Country Duo/Group Vocal Performance for "The Game of Triangles" (with Bobby Bare and Norma Jean) || Nominated
|-
|}
References
External links
- Liz Anderson profile at Lynn Anderson's official website