It’s Rodeo Time in Houston, and a lot of people’s thoughts and memories over the years have not to do with mutton busting or bull riding, but the musical performers they saw at the Astrodome or (now) NRG Stadium.
Crystal Gayle graced the dirt-surrounded center stage eight times over the years. And on the phone from her Nashville home to discuss an upcoming two-night stand at Main Street Crossing in Tomball, she mentions a piece of that local history.
“I recently ran into my Houston Rodeo belt buckle again! They gave it to me for some attendance record or something,” Gayle laughs. “Everyone was so wonderful there. And I can’t leave out Ninfa’s on Navigation. But I hear it’s not there anymore.”
When assured that the legendary Houston restaurant is indeed, still serving fajitas at that location, she lets out an audible noise of joy. “That’s great! Maybe I’ll go and bring my buckle with me!”
Born Brenda Gail Webb and the last of eight children, Crystal Gayle began singing as a teenager. Her older sister—that would be country music legend Loretta Lynn—opened some doors. Lynn also suggested that Gayle change her name from “Brenda” to “Crystal,” since there was already the singer Brenda Lee and it sounded classier.
Early on, she was molded as a younger version of Lynn. But a move to Decca Records and work with producer Allen Reynolds changed her career trajectory as she pursued more pop and vocalist-oriented material better suited to her clear, soaring and sweet voice.
She hit with “Wrong Road Again” in 1975, and over the next decade would notch more than 20 No. 1 country hits including “I’ll Get Over You,” “Ready for the Times to Get Better,” “Why Have You Left the One You Left Me For,” “It’s Like We Never Said Goodbye,” “If You Ever Change Your Mind,” “Baby, What About You” and “Turning Away.”
On the pop side, “Talking In Your Sleep” “Half the Way,” and a duet with Eddie Rabbit “You and I” were major successes. But she would find her signature song in 1977’s “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue.” The Richard Leigh-penned tune, with its distinctive piano intro by A-list session musician Hargus “Pig” Robbins, hit No. 1 on the country and No. 2 on the pop singles chart.
Gayle says she felt “part of the song” and knew she wanted to record it the minute she heard it. But she says she had to convince the record company—who wanted a more uptempo number—to make it the first single off the record.
She didn’t realize just how big it had become until she was playing a rodeo in Sidney, Iowa. “I couldn’t believe the reaction that song got! I thought ‘What is going on?’” she recalls. “I was on the road and didn’t realize how much it was getting played on the radio. It sort of crept up on me. But I’m glad it did! Those songs don’t come around very often.”
Crystal Gayle had become a “crossover queen” in an era of radio would play her, Alabama, Kenny Rogers, and Juice Newton right next to Fleetwood Mac, Christopher Cross or Pablo Cruise.
“Anytime I’d record something more country, it didn’t get played as much. I’ve read titles through the years of what I do like ‘Slick Country.’ But it was nice to be embraced by a wider audience,” she says. “A lot of what is doing done today they call it country if they add a fiddle or steel [guitar]. Or they’ll have two different versions for different [radio formats]. We never did that.”
In her discography, Gayle is particularly proud of 1999’s Crystal Gayle Sings the Heart and Soul of Hoagy Carmichael. On it, she covers standards that the legendary Carmichael composed the music for including “Heart and Soul,” “Stardust,” “Georgia On My Mind,” and “Skylark.”
Gayle actually appeared with Carmichael himself, singing a duet on a Johnny Cash TV special in 1981. It was an experience she treasures to this day.
“I was really excited when the show reached out to me about it. He is so special. When I went to the theater where they had us film, he wasn’t feeling good. But when that camera came on, you couldn’t tell. He was a real showman,” she remembers. “We filmed in the summer, and he passed away in December. He just sparkled. And from that moment on, I wanted to do an album of his songs because you can put a lot of emotions into them. We finally put it together years later!”
Gayle adds that she met Carmichael’s son when she performed the songs at jazz club Feinstein’s in New York City. He told her that her version of “The Nearness of You” was his personal favorite of all of them.
Another TV show Gayle appeared (and she did a lot of them, as well as hosting her own specials), was a 1979 episode of The Muppet Show. Gayle sang two numbers and was part of the overall plot in which a group of thieving prairie dogs stole items belonging to the cast, even the clothes off their fuzzy backs as well as Gayle’s!
Several hosts including Alice Cooper over the years have talked about being so involved that they found themselves communicating directly to the Muppets even when the cameras weren’t rolling—oblivious to the person at their knee level manipulating the inanimate object.
“Oh, I definitely talked to them! My main story was that Miss Piggy wouldn’t work with me! She was jealous and wouldn’t come on until the end!” Gayle laughs. “But it was my mother who was so excited I was doing the show. I took her with me, and her only request was to meet Miss Piggy. And she did! Miss Piggy took pictures with us, but begrudgingly.”
Gayle’s most recent album—co-produced with her son—is 2019’s collection of covers, You Don’t Know Me: Classic Country. It opens with “Ribbon of Darkness.” The tune, written by Canadian folkie Gordon Lightfoot and a massive country hit for Marty Robbins in 1965, was also the first song Gayle ever sang at the Grand Old Opry when she was just 16, filling in for a sick Loretta Lynn.
“I loved that song. I sing so many different songs and types of music. But I was very scared. If I could have hid behind the microphone, I would have!” she laughs. “But the [Opry band] was so good, they knew everything.”
Oddly, it wasn’t until 2017 that Gayle was invited to be a member of the institution and was inducted by her sister. Nearly two decades older than Gayle, Lynn passed away last year at the age of 90.
The pair were close (despite a sometimes made-up fake media “rivalry”), with Gayle Tweeting simply “The world lost a legend. We lost a sister. Love you Loretta.” Gayle and another singing sister, Peggy Sue Wright, paid tribute at the CMT Artists of the Year broadcast.
Finally, the list of awards that the 72-year-old Gayle has won over the years is as lengthy has her trademark, floor-length hair. They include statutes from the Grammys, Academy of Country Music, Country Music Association, and American Music Awards. In 1983, she was also named “One of the Most Beautiful People in the World” by People magazine.
But there’s one organization that honored her she has a more intimate—and physical—tie to. In both 1985 and 1988, she was named “Lefthander of the Year” by Lefthanders International.
She (like this writer) has had a hard life of adapting to spiral notebooks, can openers, and scissors not meant for us. This begs the question: What was involved with the achievement? Did she get a crown? Or have an advocacy platform for this persecuted minority?
“I was excited about that! I’m proud to be left-handed!” Crystal laughs, noting that she once went to a “tiny shop” in New York that sold items specifically for left handers.
“I also went to Japan once and was in this restaurant. And the people behind the counter were pointing at me going ‘Southpaw! Southpaw!’ I guess it looked very strange to them!”
Crystal Gayle performs at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 31 and 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 1, at Main Street Crossing in Tomball, 111 W. Main. Call 281-290-0431 or visit MainStreetCrossing.com. $98-$168.
For more on Crystal Gayle, visit CrystalGayle.com
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
