Lulu Belle and Scotty

Lulu Belle and Scotty were one of the major country music acts of the 1930s and 1940s, known as "The Sweethearts of Country Music".

Lulu Belle was born Myrtle Eleanor Cooper, December 24, 1914 in Boone, North Carolina. She died February 8, 1999.

Scotty Wiseman was born November 8, 1909, in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. He died of a heart attack on February 1, 1981.

Lulu Belle and Scotty enjoyed enormous national popularity thanks to their regular appearances on the National Barn Dance which was broadcast on WLS Radio in Chicago and was a serious rival to the Grand Ole Opry. In fact, the Barn Dance enjoyed a large radio audience in the 1930s and early 1940s with some 20 million Americans regularly tuning in. The duo married in 1934, one year after Scotty became a regular on the barn dance (Lulu Belle had been a solo performer there since 1932). The duo is best known for their self-penned classic "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?", which became one of the first country songs to attract major attention in pop circles and was recorded by many artists in both genres. Lulu Belle was the somewhat dominant star of the group with a comic persona as a wisecracking country girl. Her most famous novelty number was "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose it's Flavor on the Bedpost". In 1938, she was named Favorite Female Radio Star by the readers of Radio Guide magazine, an amazing feat for a country performer.

Lulu Belle and Scotty recorded for many record labels over the years, including Vocalion Records, Columbia Records, Bluebird Records, and finally Starday Records, in their final sessions during the 1960s reprising their old hits that are still in print today on CD. At the peak of their fame they became the first country music stars to venture into feature motion pictures, appearing in such films as "Shine on Harvest Moon" (1938), "County Fair" (1941), and "National Barn Dance" (1944).

Lulu Belle and Scotty retired from show business in 1958, excepting occasional appearances, going on to new careers in teaching (Scotty) and politics (Lulu Belle). Lulu Belle went on to serve two terms in the North Carolina House of Representatives as the Democratic representative for three counties. In 1977, Lulu Belle gave a memorable speech in which she revealed that she had been raped while on the country music circuit. [http://www.charlotte.com/291/story/78265.html]

After Wiseman's death, Lulu Belle married Ernest Stamey in 1983 and in 1985 recorded her first album in 20 years for a small traditional music label.

Links

* [http://users2.ev1.net/~smyth/linernotes/personel/WeismanScott.htm Lulu Belle and Scotty website]
* [http://www.nashvillesongwritersfoundation.com/fame/wiseman.html Scotty Wiseman in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame]
* [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19990318/ai_n14208473 Lulu Belle obituary from the London Independent]
* [http://www.richsamuels.com/nbcmm/wls/1934/lulubelle.html The 1934 WLS Family Album: Lulu Belle]