5.0 out of 5 stars
I Love You A Thousand Ways: The Lefty Frizzell Story - June 7, 2011
By Stacy
Harris (Nashville, TN
United States)
This review is from: I Love
You a Thousand Ways: The Lefty Frizzell Story (Hardcover)
"Almost everything
previously written about him, other than documented facts, most of which
are presented in this book, is either untrue or simply distorted depending
on who is doing the telling... This memoir/biography is told from Lefty's
point of view, right or wrong, as I knew it."
This rather
defensive-sounding passage defines David Frizzell's mission to set the
record straight about his older brother, but, fortunately for readers, not
in a way that whitewashes a lifelong pattern of self-destruction that,
while taking nothing away from the accomplishments and influence that made
him an integral part of country-music history, brought Lefty Frizzell's
life to a premature end on July 19, 1975 at age 47.
It is a measure of how well
David has accomplished his objective that Loretta Lynn, Mel Tillis, Marty
Stuart, Jimmy Fortune, Jett Williams, Bill Mack and Charlie Chase have
contributed "blurbs" that this book, titled after the flip side
of Lefty's 1950 double-sided hit (the "A" side being If You've
Got the Money), also includes a foreword by Frizzell protégé, Merle
Haggard.
William Orville Frizzell
was never called by either his first nor middle names, nor variations on
same. Though a southpaw, from infancy until his death, Naamon and AD
Frizzell's first-born was known as Sonny to his family and friends. (Lefty
earned that nickname after a fight with another boy. Some years he later
parlayed that staying power into a stage name.)
Dysfunctional young
parents, hard times, life on the run and a lack of education shaped
Lefty's childhood as the brother of eight children (one of whom did not
live past infancy). Lefty's bullying, alcoholic father (a decorated World
War II veteran) was not above abusing the boy's mother, pregnant or not
(AD endured not only several childbirths but miscarriages as well.)
No wonder Lefty grew up in
a hurry! The good-looking, curly-haired Jimmie Rodgers fan fell hard for
his first girlfriend and wrote his first song for Margaret after her
parents' disapproval of the young man with no apparent prospects (Sonny
had dropped out of school) became clear.
Sonny's lifelong love of
music and performing led to appearances at age 12 on El Dorado, Texas'
KELD Radio's children's show. He quickly became a teen sensation when,
following his popularity performing at the Treadway Market, house parties,
honky-tonks or wherever he could draw a crowd, Sonny was offered the
opportunity to sing on KLPT Radio in Paris, Texas.
About the time the radio
star bought his first real stage attire he hit the road and transitioned
to Lefty. In the spring of 1944 16-year-old Lefty met Alice Harper, also
16, who shortly thereafter became Mrs. Lefty Frizzell.
On February 16, 1946,
little more than a month shy of his 18th birthday, Lefty became a father
when Alice gave birth to Lois Aleta Frizzell.
The following year Lefty's
wandering eye got the best of him when, as David tells it, the
married-with-child local singing star succumbed to the sexual advances of
a 14-year-old fan whom Lefty invited, along with the fan's female friend,
to join Frizzell and his musicians at a riverside beer party.
The fun turned serious
later on when Lefty and the other boys were arrested on July 14, 1947 and
charged with statutory rape. Each would serve six months of an otherwise
suspended two-to-three year state penitentiary sentence in the Chaves
County Jail. (David details the incident and its aftermath beyond the
summary provided here, as well as some additional information regarding an
additional arrest in the matter to which he only recently became privy.)
While serving time, Lefty
worried about Alice taking the couple's daughter, Lois and leaving- if, as
other inmates suggested, Alice weren't already cheating on Lefty.
But (enabling, by 21st
century standards) Frizzell women-with-children apparently didn't leave,
no matter the provocation, though certainly, it could be argued, Lefty had
prospects: After meeting Hank Williams at auditions for the Louisiana
Hayride where Williams won the spot Frizzell coveted, the two
singer-songwriters paths would cross again a few years later when they
"switched songs" in a Little Rock hotel room while sharing some
down time as co-headliners on a seven-city tour.
Lefty made his Grand Ole
Opry debut in December, 1950. Following a second, equally well-received
appearance, Frizzell joined the Opry on July 21, 1951.
No sooner was Lefty a
member of the then-exclusive Opry family, however, than, backstage during
an August, 1951 appearance on the radio stage show, Frizzell, then 23, was
met by two officers. Instructing Lefty to first honor his obligation to
finish his segment of the show, the officers left only after serving a
warrant on Frizzell for "contributory delinquency."
Confused? Remember when
Hank Williams visited Lefty in Frizzell's Little Rock hotel room? The
song-switching session was interrupted by a young female's knock on the
door. Sensing three was a crowd, Hank excused himself and Lefty once again
engaged in what he considered consensual sex, rather than, one again what
turned out to be what the law never considers consensual: sex with a
minor.
The backstage warrant
served, Lefty's only concern was concealing the news from his pregnant
wife. This seemed like a done deal when, now a star with the power and
resources to do so, Frizzell thought he had bought off everyone in a
position to jeopardize his marriage
Of course, Alice found out
anyway, and when she did she threatened to leave Lefty.
Instead, she and Lefty
welcomed Rickey Rodgers Frizzell (who would be followed by a second son,
Marlon Jaray Frizzell) to the family.
Lefty's sexcapades were
punctuated by other reckless incidents, such as driving into a man's
fence. The man turned out to be a judge who, you guessed it, presided in
the case against Frizzell.
With all of the drama in
his life, Lefty was also a prankster who had unique mannerisms, especially
when telling a joke.
Frizzell helped not only
Merle Haggard and Freddie Hart, but he has remained the gold standard for
country singers who have copied his unique singing style.
The only artist to score
four hits in country's Top Ten at the same time, Lefty quickly learned
that if women wore going to tear at his fringed clothes a solution was
needed. As a result, David writes, "Detachable fringe was one of his
innovations."
And, once Lefty could
afford a Nudie suit and wore it, his performance marked "the first
time rhinestones were used on a country star's clothing."
One of the stars of TV's
California-based Town Hall Party, Lefty earned a star on Hollywood's Walk
of Fame "just below Michael Jackson's."
Given his early stardom
without the business acumen to match, Lefty signed some horrendous
business contracts. Frizzell would eventually catch on, but as soon as he
got out of one bad contract he'd sign another: One management contract was
reminiscent of Elvis Presley's pact with "Colonel" Tom Parker in
that Lefty was paying Jack Starnes a 50% commission!
Starnes was able to secure
Lefty a booking on The Perry Como Show, but that didn't stop Frizzell,
while trying to get out of his management contract with Jack, from
publicly humiliating Starnes in an incident David details in I Love You A
Thousand Ways.
No stranger to litigation,
Frizzell should not have been surprised when Starnes filed an injunction
against him. (Eventually an out-of-court settlement was reached.)
No sooner did Lefty sign a
management contract with industry veteran J.D. Miller than Frizzell became
increasingly unmanageable.
By then Lefty's drinking
was uncontrollable (David describes one such incident that resulted in
Frizzell throwing Don Gibson against a wall, dislodging Gibson's toupee!)
and he would show up late at his personal appearances- if at all.
In the twilight of his
career, while touring Vietnam with his daughter, Lois (another of the
Frizzells who, like her brother, Marlon and uncles David and Allen, gave
rise to the clan's entertainment dynasty) Lefty escaped gunfire that was
too close for comfort.
Long before Willie Nelson,
Frizzell had problems with the IRS, though, blessed with a strong work
ethic, Lefty would work a four-month tour to pay off his debts.
Frizzell's excesses
resulted in health problems, one of which necessitated adult circumcision.
Lefty found no comfort in
Alice's suddenly "getting religion" courtesy of Hank Snow's son,
Jimmie. David cites two versions of the story, Lefty's and Carol Lee
Cooper's (the singer is Snow's ex-wife), but curiously the reader is not
given Jimmie's account.
And yet- this is the best
book I've read in 2011! The (abbreviated) Frizzell family tree is a nice
touch as is the list of song credits and discography. That said, I hope
the paperback version will correct some of the indexed page omission as
well as properly identify one of the women captioned in a photograph as a
(now former) "representative of the Country Music Hall of Fame"
as Diana Johnson.
The paperback should also
correct the misspelling of Wollensak (as in the famous tape recorder) and
Drake Motel. Max Baer's name should also be correctly spelled ad I'm
reasonably sure Ronnie McDowell and Jimmie Snow would appreciate the
correct spelling of their first names and that Summer Harman would
likewise prefer that her surname be correctly spelled.
There's another Frizzell
book that David might consider writing: It would be one about his and
Allen's careers, Allen's marriage to (and Allen's divorce from) David's
duet partner, Shelly West, Lois' tragic death in 2004, and Rickey's
unconventional lifestyle.
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