Country trailblazer Dottie West remembered

Dottie West was running late.

It was Aug. 30, 1991 and she was on her way to perform on the Grand Ole Opry. But that evening, West — already in her stage outfit, her red hair coiffed — stood beside her stalled Chrysler on Harding Road, as showtime got closer and closer. When George Thackston, 81, pulled over and offered to drive her to the Opry House, she climbed into his car and buckled her seatbelt. She never made it on stage that night.

Thackston, driving an estimated 55 mph in a recommended 25 mph zone, lost control of the car at the Opryland exit ramp on Briley Parkway. The car “left the road and went 181.5 feet across the grassy area, struck an embankment and flew about 80 feet through the air before taking a nose dive on the north shoulder of the ramp," according to a 1991 Tennessean article citing the police report.

West suffered severe internal injuries, including a lacerated liver and ruptured spleen. Five days after the accident, she died at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She was 58 years old.

On Tuesday, Aug. 30, country singer Jeannie Seely and Ron Harman, who is leading an effort to get West in the Country Music Hall of Fame, will mark the 25th anniversary of the accident by planting a cross at the crash site.

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For Seely—who first saw West perform on a show filmed in Cleveland called "Landmark Jamboree" — it’s a way to honor the memory of one of her dearest friends — the woman who encouraged her to move to Nashville, shared clothes, handbags and advice about the music business, and mailed her Maltese dog a treat jar from Neiman Marcus for Christmas.

"We were the (type of) friends that could talk on the phone at 2 a.m.," Seely said. "When I had my really bad car accident in 1977, Dottie was there as much as she possibly could be, helping me through that time. After I got out of the hospital and was homebound, one time, she drove me out to her place just for a change of scenery…After her accident, I remember sitting at the hospital with her sister and just thinking how helpless I felt that I could not return that. There was nothing I could do. It was the most helpless I believe I’ve ever felt."

In addition to paying tribute to West, the cross planting is also an effort to keep her name out there, said Harman, who works in the Guest Relations department at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. In November 2012, he created the Facebook page “Dottie West Needs Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame” to preserve her legacy as well as “(encourage) the Country Music Association to induct Dottie into the Country Music Hall of Fame.”

Nearly four years later, more than 15,700 Facebook users have "liked" the page.

"I think Dottie needs a voice and I'm just trying to keep her memory alive," Harman said. "In the past eight years, no deceased artist has been inducted in the Veterans Era category...no deceased female has been inducted into the Hall of Fame in any category since Tammy Wynette in 1998, so we're going on 20 years. There are many living performers...who are now eligible in the same category as Dottie, and they are likely to garner votes because of their active publicity and management teams, which Dottie of course does not have."

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum does not choose who is inducted. That is solely the prerogative of the Country Music Association, which assembles an anonymous panel of industry leaders to select the Hall's inductees. However, that doesn't stop some fans from campaigning for their favorite artists.

“We certainly get a lot of letters and social media (messages) about her," Michael McCall, museum editor, said. "She’s probably one of the names that comes up the most. There’s a large amount of people out there who believe that Dottie is worthy of being in the Hall of Fame, and you can certainly make a good case for it."

West left behind an impressive legacy as a singer, songwriter and performer.

In 1965, she won the first Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for her song “Here Comes My Baby.”

During the late 1970s, she and Kenny Rogers, with whom she’d record hits like “Every Time Two Fools Collide,” took home Vocal Duo of the Year honors at two consecutive CMA Awards.

Earlier that decade, West’s Coca-Cola jingle, “Country Sunshine” became one of her biggest hits and eventually her signature song; the commercial featuring "Country Sunshine" won a Clio Award.

Her slow-burning delivery, which can be heard on songs like “House of Love” and “Forever Yours,” influenced singers like Seely and Lorrie Morgan. In 1999, 19 years after West’s recording of “A Lesson in Leavin’” topped the charts, Jo Dee Messina’s rendition of the song went to No. 2, and remained there for seven weeks.

“Dottie knocked down doors for all these women (in country music) today,” said Steve Wariner, who played in West’s band when he was just a teenager. “She had her own publishing company: First Generation Music. When I came to town, you never heard of anything like that. I remember her saying, ‘If a man can do it, I know damn well that I can do it.’ She was fearless in that way.”

West continually reinvented herself during her career, transforming from the gingham-clad girl next door to chart-topping country bombshell.

"That sense of evolution she had was fascinating and I think she helped push country music into new areas," McCall said. "She could be seen as brassy, but was very warm-hearted and generous with a lot of people. She was responsible for starting a lot of careers and was always encouraging. I think she represented the good part of what the Nashville music community can be."

About Dottie West

Dorothy Marie Marsh was born outside McMinnville, Tenn. on Oct. 11, 1932. As the eldest of 10 children, she began working at an early age to help support her family. As a young woman she sang and played guitar, and was offered a scholarship to attend Tennessee Technological University, where she studied music. At Tennessee Tech, she met and married Bill West.

In the early 1960s, the Wests moved to Nashville so that Dottie could pursue her country music career. Her home became a hub for songwriters like Roger Miller, and West began writing her own songs. One of her compositions, “Is This Me,” became a hit for Jim Reeves in 1963, and West was signed to RCA. Her first solo Top 10 single, “Here Comes My Baby,” was released in 1964; the song’s success earned her a spot on the Grand Ole Opry as well as the first Grammy Award given to a female country artist. Several hits, both as a solo artist and a duet partner for artists including Reeves, Don Gibson and Kenny Rogers, followed. She released her final studio album, “Just Dottie,” in 1984.

On Dottie West 

“They had shows called ‘The Grand Ole Opry Spectacular’ where every member who was in town would be there. Everybody would go out, sing their hit and introduce the next act. You’d go in alphabetical order most of the time, with a few exceptions…Dottie had something else she had to do, so she got moved up to right in front of me. She did it on purpose. She went out and sang (Seely’s signature song) “Don’t Touch Me” and then introduced me. All I could do was sing (West’s song) “Here Comes My Baby.” —Jeannie Seely remembers Dottie West's mischievous sense of humor

I really learned to write songs, become a better songwriter, from Dottie West. She was like a schoolteacher in many ways. I'd come on the bus and she’d say, 'What did you write this week?' If I said 'Nothing,' she’d say, 'You have to write to be a songwriter. You need to work on it. Go listen to Mickey Newbury (and) Kris Kristofferson.'" —Steve Wariner