From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Liz Anderson (born Elizabeth Jane Haaby January 13, 1930 in Roseau, Minnesota) is an American Country Music Singer-Songwriter. She is also the mother of singer Lynn Anderson.

While not reaching the superstardom in country music that her daughter would, Anderson was also a successful country singer with two Grammy Award nominations in 1967, for "Best Country Vocal - Female" for her Top 5 hit, the self-penned "Mama Spank" and with Bobby Bare and Norma Jean for "Best Country Vocal - Group" for another top 5 hit "The Game of Triangles". Anderson also wrote the Merle Haggard hits "All My Friends Are Gonna Be Strangers" and "The Lonesome Fugitive". Haggard named his band "The Strangers" after the hit "All My Friends Are Gonna Be Strangers".

Biography

Born Elizabeth Jane Haaby in Roseau, Minnesota to a poor, religious family, at the age of 8, her family had a mandolin, which Anderson played. She also sang in the local church. At age 13, the family moved west to Grand Forks, North Dakota. At the age of 16, Liz was married to Casey Anderson and then had her daughter Lynn a year later. She studied at the Redwood City Business College in Redwood City, California, and worked as a secretary.

Early career

In 1957, the family moved to Sacramento, California, and, due to her husband's encouragement, Anderson started to write songs. Casey was a member of the Sherrif'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's song, "I Watched You Walking", was recorded by country singer Del Reeves. Reeves recorded many other songs by Anderson, including "Be Quiet Mind" and "I Don't Wonder".

Anderson wrote "Pick of the Week", which was recorded by Roy Drusky in 1964. The song became a Top 15 Country hit for Drusky. In 1965, Merle Haggard recorded her song "All My Friends Are Gonna Be Strangers". She won a BMI award for the song. Anderson published over 260 songs during her career and earned five BMI awards. Many major country artists of the 1960s recorded at least one of her songs on their albums, including Charley Pride, Tammy Wynette, Ernest Tubb, Loretta Lynn, George Jones, Skeeter Davis, Waylon Jennings, Kitty Wells, Connie Smith and Bill Anderson.

Anderson was noticed by RCA producer Chet Atkins who signed her to RCA in 1966, around the same time her daughter Lynn Anderson was signed to Chart Records. Anderson's two initial singles fared well, but it was her third, "Game of Triangles", with Bobby Bare and Norma Jean that became a Top 5 hit. In April 1967, Anderson again had a Top 5 Country hit, "Mama Spank". Anderson's own top 40 hit list, as a singer, includes "Go Now Pay Later" (1966), "The Wife of the Party" (1967), "Thanks A Lot For Tryin' Anyway" (1968), and "Husband Hunting" (1970).

Around this same time her only child, daughter Lynn, was rising as a country singer. Anderson wrote some of her daughter's early hits, including her 1967 debut single "Ride, Ride, Ride", as well as her first big hit, the Top 5 "If I Kiss You (Will You Go Away)" (also in 1967). She had a Top 25 duet with daughter Lynn in 1968, "Mother May I", and appeared with Lynn on a Mother's Day episode of the Lawrence Welk Show that May. Lynn Anderson would later have her biggest success in the 1970s, becoming one of Country Music's most successful female vocalists of all time.

Later career

Liz Anderson's own chart success began to fade from view by the start of the 70s. In 1971, she moved to Epic Records, where she had very little chart success. She charted four singles under Epic that went no higher then the Country Top 60. One of those singles was a cover version of "I'll Never Fall In Love Again". Anderson was most successful as a songwriter, receiving many prestigious awards for her work, including several BMI awards. She also served as Vice President of the Nashville Songwriters Association International. In the 1990s, she started her own record company, Showboat Records'. The following year, she produced an album for her record company entitled The Cowgirl Way. In 2006, daughter Lynn Anderson released an album entitled Cowgirl, which were all songs penned by her mother.

Discography

Billboard Top Country 40 Hits

• "All My Friends are Gonna Be Strangers" a hit in two versions, one by Merle Haggard and one by Roy Drusky
• "Be Quiet Mind" a hit in two versions, one by Del Reeves and one by Ott Stephens
• "Big Girls Don't Cry" recorded by Lynn Anderson
• "Flattery Will Get You Everywhere" recorded by Lynn Anderson
• "Go Now Pay Later" recorded by Liz Anderson
• "Guess My Eyes Were Bigger Than My Heart" recorded by Conway Twitty
• "Husband Hunting" recorded by Liz Anderson
• "I Cried All the Way to the Bank" recorded by Norma Jean
• "(I'm a Lonesome) Fugitive" recorded by Merle Haggard
• "If I Kiss You" recorded by Lynn Anderson
• "Just Between the Two of Us" recorded by Merle Haggard and Bonnie Owens
• "Mama Spank" recorded by Liz Anderson
• "Mother May I" recorded by Liz & Lynn Anderson
• "Pick of the Week" recorded by Roy Drusky
• "Promises, Promises" recorded by Lynn Anderson
• "Ride Ride Ride" a hit in two versions, one by Lynn Anderson, pop hit for Brenda Lee
• "The Wife of the Party" recorded by Liz Anderson
• "Tiny Tears" recorded by Liz Anderson

External links

• Liz Anderson's Official Website