ARTIST SPOTLIGHT = Dottie West (4 songs)
This McMinnville TN-native singer-songwriter-guitarist also acted in the movies ‘2nd Fiddle To A Steele Guitar’ & ‘There’s A Still On The Hill’ & is Shelly West’s mother. She died 09/04/1991 from injuries suffered in an 08/30/1991 car crash in Nashville TN at the Opryland exit off Briley Parkway.
#1
This song debuted 03/12/1966, spent 21 weeks on the charts & peaked at #5, her 1st Top 5. She’d had 2 prior Top 10s: 1964’s “Love Is No Excuse” (#7; with Jim Reeves) & 1964’s “Here Comes My Baby” (#10; Country Female Vocal Grammy award). None of 4 songs she released in 1965 reached the Top 20.
#2
In the late 1960s, she had success with such tunes as 1967’s “Paper Mansions” (#8) & 1969’s “Rings Of Gold” (#2). While she released 11 songs between 1970 & early 1973, none of them cracked the Top 20. Then, this song debuted 09/15/1973 (4 days before I was born!), spent 15 weeks on the charts & reached #2. The follow-up, 1974’s “Last Time I Saw Him”, also reached the Top 10, peaking at #8.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PniqG3DQ5MM
#3
Dottie again fell off the Top 15 of the charts in the mid 1970s, with only 1 of 9 releases between mid 1974 & late 1977 reaching the Top 20 (1976-7’s “When It’s Just You & Me”, #19). Then, in the late 1970s, a string of Top 5 duets with Kenny Rogers sparked a resurgence for her: 1978’s “Every Time 2 Fools Collide” (#1, 2 weeks), 1978’s “Anyone Who Isn’t Me Tonight” (#2), 1979’s “All I Ever Need Is You” (#1) & 1979’s “Til I Can Make It On My Own” (#3). This song, the follow-up to the last duet, hit the airwaves 10/20/1979, spent 15 weeks on the charts & peaked at #12.
#4
This song, her 1st release in 1980, debuted 02/09/1980, spent 15 weeks on the charts & claimed #1. (19 years later, Jo Dee Messina reached #2 with this song, 1999.) For West, this sparked a stretch in which 3 of 4 songs (including this tune) hit the top of the country charts. The other 2 chart toppers were 1980-1’s “Are You Happy Baby?” & 1981’s “What Are We Doin’ In Love” (duet with Kenny Rogers). The other song in that string was 1980’s “Leavin’s For Unbelievers”, which notched at #13. Of 11 releases between mid 1981 & mid 1985, only 3 reached the Top 20.