On this day (September 10) in 1970, country singer Lynn Anderson stepped into Nashville’s Columbia Studios and recorded the Joe South-penned song “Rose Garden”. Released in October 1970, it was a major hit among country music listeners, spending five weeks atop the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. But it also resonated with mainstream pop audiences, climbing to number three on the Hot 100. “Rose Garden” established Anderson as a major crossover artist, ushering in a wave of women who would find success in both country and pop spaces. Not too shabby for a song that was never intended as a single.
The Line Lynn Anderson’s Husband Hated
After gaining notoriety as the first country performer on the popular Lawrence Welk Show, Lynn Anderson signed with Columbia Records and moved to Nashville with husband Glenn Sutton in 1968 to further elevate her country music career.
Anderson came across Joe South’s “Rose Garden” while searching for new material that would appeal to both country and pop audiences. She was certain she’d found her next hit.
However, according to a 1990 interview, the singer’s husband and his boss, Billy Sherrill, balked at the line I could promise you things like big diamond rings.
“They thought it was not a line that a woman would say to a man,” Anderson said. “Therefore there could not be a female vocal on that particular song.”
Overruled by the Head of the Label
Nonetheless, Lynn Anderson found herself with some time to spare at the end of her September 10, 1970 recording session. So, the “Great Lady of Country Music” persuaded the studio musicians to accompany her on “Rose Garden”.
Initially, Anderson had no plans to release “Rose Garden” as a single. However —as fate would have it — Columbia Records president Clive Davis was visiting Nashville during that time for a disc jockey convention.
Davis was with Sutton when the producer began mixing “Rose Garden”. The legendary music executive lit up: “I flipped out; the crossover potential seemed obvious,” Davis wrote in his memoirs.
“Rose Garden” Struck a Post-Vietnam War Chord
Released as the title track from Lynn Anderson’s platinum-selling album of the same name, “Rose Garden” topped the charts in places like Australia, Belgium, Germany and Ireland.
It also gave Anderson the only Grammy win of her career, for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. Additionally, she took home Female Vocalist of the Year honors from the Country Music Association in 1971.
Still widely considered among the greatest country songs of all time, “Rose Garden” struck just the right balance of melancholia and hope for a nation still reeling from the Vietnam War.
“This song stated that you can make something out of nothing,” Anderson said. “You take it and go ahead. It fit me well and I’ll be proud to be connected to it until I die.”
On July 30, 2015, Lynn Anderson died of a heart attack at age 67. But she left her mark on several country music greats, including Martina McBride and Reba McEntire.
Featured image by Gems/Redferns
The post 56 Years Ago Today, Lynn Anderson Recorded the Signature Hit Her Husband Didn’t Want Her To Sing appeared first on American Songwriter.
Author: Erinn Callahan
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