Hard Country

I gradually grew into a serious love for hard country music. As a teen I was really resistant to country music. I had church people trying to shove Southern Gospel down my throat, telling me it was the only kind of godly music anywhere. Well I didn’t like that. But now as an adult I’m learning that there were kindly influences who didn’t push, were just kind and loving, and were the genuine article.

One old friend is the evangelist Joy Ann Silvey. She grew up in one of the original country music families of the 1930s. Her mother and aunt made up the duo “The Girls of the Golden West.” They went by Milly and Dolly but their real names were Mildred and Dorothy Good. Here’s a brief bio:

Hillbilly duo of ’30s-40s, made comeback ’60s. Millie (b Mildred Fern Good, 11 April ‘13; d 3 May ‘93) and Dolly (b Dorothy Laverne Good, 11 Dec. ‘15; d 12 Nov. ‘67), both from Muleshoe TX, were among the earliest female country singers, starting a radio career in St Louis ‘30, regulars on WLS National Barn Dance ‘33-37, then in Cincinatti on Boone County Jamboree and Midwestern Hayride ‘37-42. Records on Victor, Columbia, Conqueror; most popular songs “Tumbled Down Shack Of My Dreams’, “Home Sweet Home In Texas’, “When The Bees Are In The Hive’, “Little Old Rag Doll’. Appeared on 50-50 Club in Cincinatti early ’60s, made six albums for Blue Bonnet label ‘63-7.
http://www.musicweb-international.com/encyclopaedia/g/G133.HTM

Not just that, her father was Tex Atchison, the renowned left handed fiddle player for the Prairie Ramblers.

On Aug. 4, 1982, Atchison died at age 70 at the home of his daughter, evangelist Joy Ann Silvey, in Granite City, Ill. They brought him home to Ohio County for burial and laid his worn fiddle atop his closed casket during the service.

 

 

 

 

As a child I was introduced to the Country Gospel singers Slim and Zella Mae Cox. My parent’s ministry involved occasionally raising money on Christian television. They wanted me to learn and sing a particular song well. So Slim and Zella Mae took me over to their house and literally taught me how to sing that song well. Here’s a brief bio of them from the St. Louis radio Hall of Fame:

Almus J.C. “Slim” and Zella Mae Cox
“Slim” began his radio career in Kennett, Missouri in 1947 with Slim Cox and the Foggy Mountain Boys and several other groups. A year later he met Zella Mae and they were married in 1948.
Their first gospel radio show was on KBTM in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Later in St. Louis they first appeared on WGNU with their weekly gospel program in 1955 sponsored by Schweig Engel, followed by KXEN and WEW.
Their performances were also heard on WSM’s Grand Ol’ Gospel program in Nashville for nearly 4 years, and their daily gospel radio broadcasts have been carried by 18 stations in 4 states.
The broadcast careers of the husband/wife team of Slim and Zella Mae Cox spanned over 56 consecutive years.

In June of 1999 St. Louis’ Riverfront Times did a feature length article on them here.

When I visited my mom over the holidays last year I called Slim in lieu of dropping in and we chatted about this rich legacy I’ve only lately come to appreciate. Somewhere near the end we talked about how different his music is from whats become popular in churches these days. Years ago gospel music used to be about the struggle. Songs like “Palms of Victory” and “Wayfaring Stranger” used to be about real life. People used to feel their need for God because of the harsh realities they experienced. The popular music of overhead projectors and choruses these days is all about how Jesus feels and how close we’re all sure he is. Its less about struggle and more about victory. Its less about God and more about how God makes me feel. I told Slim to keep up the good work. Keep singing the old songs. We need the struggle. He agreed to that. God bless them.