Song:Country Sunshine
Album:Country Sunshine: The RCA Hit Singles 1963-1974
The 1974 single Country Sunshine was the biggest hit in the long career if Country Music Hall of Fame member Dottie West mostly because it was used in a Coke commercial. It also came at a time when she was trying to project a sexier image which was very controversial at the time. She was born Oct. 11, 1932 in Smithville, TN the oldest of ten children. Dottie helped her mom run a restaurant. Dottie's father was an alcoholic who beat and sexually abused her. She was 17 when she had him charged. She testified against him and he was sentenced to 40 years. Dottie earned a music scholarship at Tennessee Tech where she met her first husband steel guitarist Bill West. After graduating, she moved to Cleveland and appeared on the TV show Landmark Jamboree as one half of The Kay-Dots with Kathy Dee. After a few singles for Starday, Dottie moved to Nashville in 1961 and hung out with Willie Nelson and other songwriters. She invited them for dinner and they helped her with her songwriting. She also became close with Patsy Cline and husband Charlie Dick. Dottie toured with Patsy until her 1963 death in a plane crash. After Jim Reeves scored a hit with one of Dottie's songs Is This Me, he took her to Chet Atkins and she signed with RCA. Her biggest hits in those early days were Would You Hold It Against Me in 1966 and Paper Mansions in 1968. She also recorded hits with Don Gibson. Dottie divorced Bill West in 1971 and married drummer Byron Metcalf in 1972. Meanwhile Coca-Cola hired Dottie to write a jingle based on her single Country Girl. They liked it so much Billy Davis of McCann-Erickson Advertising hired her to write Country Sunshine. Davis worked for Motown and Chess before he joined McCann-Erickson. The commercial was so popular that RCA released it as a single and it reached #2 on the Country Singles chart. It turned out to be her biggest hit. She soon left RCA for United Artists. This CD has all her RCA hits. That change also signified Dottie leaving behind the traditional gingham dresses for a more glamorous image. She had her greatest success at UA recording duets with Kenny Rogers like What Are We Doin' In Love. Dottie faded after that and by 1985 she lost her record deal. Dottie continued to perform until injuries suffered in an Aug. 30, 1991 car crash led to her death on Sept. 4, 1991 at age 58. Dottie West was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2018. Here's Dottie West performing Country Sunshine in 1976 I think. There are also videos of her performing the song in a gingham dress before she left RCA.
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