Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon (October 25, 1912 - March 4, 1996), known professionally as
Minnie Pearl, was a country comedienne who appeared at the
Grand Ole OpryThe Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music radio program and concert broadcast live on WSM radio in Nashville, Tennessee, every Friday and Saturday night, as well as Tuesdays and Thursdays from March through December...
for more than 50 years (from 1940 to 1991) and on the television show
Hee HawHee Haw was a television variety show, initially co-hosted by musicians Buck Owens and Roy Clark and featuring country music and humor with fictional, rural "Kornfield Kounty" as a backdrop. It was taped at WLAC-TV and Opryland USA in Nashville...
from 1969 to 1991.
Early life
Sarah Colley was born in
CentervilleCenterville is a town in Hickman County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 3,793 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Hickman County. It is probably best known for being the hometown of country comedian Minnie Pearl...
, in
Hickman CountyHickman County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2000, the population was 22,295. The 2005 Census Estimate placed the population at 23,793 . Its county seat is Centerville....
,
TennesseeTennessee is a state located in the Southeastern United States. According to the 2008 census, it has a population of 6,214,888, an increase of nearly 9.5% since 2000. Tennessee is the 14th fastest growing state in the US and is ranked 17th by population. It is ranked 36th by total land area. In...
, about 50 miles (80 km) southwest of
NashvilleNashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is the second most populous city in the state after Memphis. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state...
. She was the youngest of the five daughters of a prosperous lumberman in Centerville. She graduated from
Ward-Belmont CollegeWard-Belmont College was a women's college, also known at the time as a "ladies' seminary," located in Nashville, Tennessee on the grounds of the antebellum estate of Adelicia Acklen....
, at the time Nashville's most prestigious school for young ladies, where her major was theater studies and dance was a particular interest. After graduation she taught dance for several years.
Professional career
Her first professional theatrical job was with the Wayne P. Sewell Production Company, a touring theater company based in Atlanta, for which she produced and directed plays and
musicalMusical theatre is a form of theatre combining music, songs, spoken dialogue and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
s for local organizations in small towns throughout the
southeastern United StatesThe US Southeast is the eastern portion of the Southern United States, but the Census Bureau does not provide a standard definition of a "Southeast" region of the United States, and organizations that need to subdivide the US are free to define a "Southeast" region to fit their needs...
.
As part of her work with the Sewell company, she made brief appearances at civic organizations to promote the group's shows. She developed her Minnie Pearl routine during this period. While producing an amateur musical comedy in
Baileyton, AlabamaBaileyton is a town in Cullman County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 684. According to the 2005 U.S. Census estimates, the town had a population of 703. -History:...
, she met a mountain woman whose style and talk became the basis for "Cousin Minnie Pearl". Her first stage performance as Minnie Pearl was in 1939 in
Aiken, South CarolinaAiken, South Carolina is a city in the United States state of South Carolina.It is the county seat of Aiken County, and with Augusta, Georgia is one of the two largest cities of the Central Savannah River Area. It is also part of the Augusta-Richmond County Metropolitan Statistical Area. Aiken is...
. The following year, executives from Nashville radio station
WSM-AMWSM is the callsign of a 50,000 watt AM radio station located in Nashville, Tennessee. Operating at 650 kHz, its clear channel signal can reach much of North America and various countries, especially late at night. It now bears the distinction of being the only clear channel station in the eastern...
saw her perform at a bankers' convention in Centerville and gave her an opportunity to appear on the
Grand Ole OpryThe Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music radio program and concert broadcast live on WSM radio in Nashville, Tennessee, every Friday and Saturday night, as well as Tuesdays and Thursdays from March through December...
on November 30, 1940. The success of her debut on the show began an association with the Grand Ole Opry that continued for more than 50 years.
Pearl's comedy was gentle
satireSatire is often strictly defined as a literary genre or form; although in practice it is also found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other methods,...
of rural
SouthernThe Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, Down South, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive region in the southeastern and south-central United States...
culture, often called "
hillbillyHillbilly is a term referring to people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas of the United States, primarily Appalachia and the Ozarks. Due to its strongly stereotypical connotations, the term is frequently considered derogatory, and so is usually offensive to those Americans of Ozarkan and...
" culture. Pearl always dressed in styleless "down home" dresses and wore a hat with a price tag hanging from it, displaying the price of $1.98. Her catch phrase was "How-w-w-DEE-E-E-E! I'm jes' so proud to be here!" delivered in a loud holler. After she became an established star, her audiences usually shouted "How-w-w-DEE-E-E-E!" back. Pearl told monologues involving her comical 'ne'er-do-well' relatives, notably "Uncle Nabob" and "Brother", who was simultaneously both slow-witted and wise. She usually closed her monologues with the exit line, "I love you so much it hurts!" She also sang comic novelty songs.
Pearl's comic material derived heavily from her hometown of Centerville, which in her act she called
Grinder's SwitchGrinder's Switch is a real location just outside of Centerville, Tennessee, which consists of little more than the railroad switch for which it is named...
. Grinder's Switch is a community just outside of Centerville that consisted of little more than a railroad switch. Those who knew her recognized that the characters were largely based on real residents of Centerville. So much traffic resulted from fans and tourists looking for Grinder's Switch that the Hickman County Highway Department eventually changed the designation on the "Grinder's Switch" road sign to "Hickman Springs Road."
Cannon portrayed Minnie Pearl for many years on television, first on ABC-TV's
Ozark JubileeOzark Jubilee was the first U.S. network television program to feature country music's top stars, and arguably the centerpiece of a strategy for Springfield, Missouri to supplant Nashville, Tennessee as America's country music capital...
in the late 1950s; then on the long-running television series
Hee HawHee Haw was a television variety show, initially co-hosted by musicians Buck Owens and Roy Clark and featuring country music and humor with fictional, rural "Kornfield Kounty" as a backdrop. It was taped at WLAC-TV and Opryland USA in Nashville...
, both on CBS-TV and the subsequent
syndicatedIn broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows to multiple individual stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in countries where television is scheduled by networks with local affiliates, particularly in the United States...
version. Her last regular performances on national television were on
Ralph EmeryWalter Ralph Emery is a country music disc jockey and television host from Nashville, Tennessee. He gained national fame hosting the syndicated music series Pop! Goes the Country from 1974 to 1980, and Nashville Now - the cornerstone live nightly program of The Nashville Network - from 1983 to...
's
Nashville Now country-music talk show on the former Nashville Network
cableCable television is a system of providing television to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through fixed optical fibers or coaxial cables as opposed to the over-the-air method used in traditional television broadcasting in which a television antenna is required...
channel. With Emery she performed in a weekly feature, "Let Minnie Steal Your Joke," in the Minnie Pearl character would read jokes submitted by viewers, with prizes for the best joke of the week.
Cannon made a cameo appearance in the film
Coal Miner's DaughterCoal Miner's Daughter is an American 1980 biographical film which tells the story of country music performer Loretta Lynn. It stars Sissy Spacek in her Academy Award for Best Actress winning role, Tommy Lee Jones, Beverly D'Angelo and Levon Helm, and was directed by Michael Apted.-Background:The...
, in which she appears at the Opry as her Minnie Pearl character.
Family life
On February 23, 1947 Sarah Colley married Henry R. Cannon, who had been an
Army Air CorpsThe Army Air Corps is a component of the British Army, first formed in 1942. There are eight regiments of the AAC as well as five Independent Flights and two Independent Squadrons deployed in support of British Army operations across the world. They are located in Britain, Belize, Brunei, Canada,...
fighter pilotA fighter pilot is a military aviator trained in air-to-air combat while piloting a fighter aircraft . Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and dogfighting...
during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and was then a partner in an
air charterAir charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft as opposed to individual aircraft seats...
service. After the marriage, Henry Cannon set up his own air charter service for country music performers and took over management of the Minnie Pearl character. He later also provided management to clients including
Eddy ArnoldRichard Edward Arnold , known professionally as Eddy Arnold, was an American country music singer who performed for six decades. He created the Nashville sound in the late 1950s, and had 147 songs on the Billboard Magazine music charts, second only to George Jones...
,
Colonel Tom Parker"Colonel" Thomas Andrew "Tom" Parker , born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk, was a Dutch-born entertainment impresario known best as the manager of Elvis Presley. His management of Presley re-wrote the role of talent manager and was seen as central to the astonishing success of Presley's career...
, Hank Williams,
Carl SmithCarl Smith is an American country music singer. Known as "Mister Country," Smith is the former husband of June Carter Cash and Goldie Hill and was the drinking companion of Johnny Cash. He was one of country's most successful male artists during the 1950s, with 30 Top 10 hits...
,
Webb PierceWebb Michael Pierce was one of the most popular American honky tonk vocalists of the 1950s, charting more number one hits than any other country artist during the decade. For many, Pierce, with his flamboyant Nudie suits and twin silver dollar-lined convertibles, became the most recognizable face...
, and
Elvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was an American singer and actor. A cultural icon, he is commonly known simply as Elvis and is also sometimes referred to as The King of Rock 'n' Roll or The King....
. The couple had no children. In 1969 they purchased a large estate home in Nashville that is next door to the current governor's mansion.
Chicken restaurants
In the late 1960s Nashville entrepreneur
John Jay HookerJohn Jay Hooker, Jr. is a Nashville, Tennessee attorney, entrepreneur, perennial candidate and political gadfly.-Early life:John Jay Hooker was born to relative wealth and privilege in one of the Nashville area's more prominent families...
persuaded Cannon and African-American
gospelGospel music is music that is written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
singer
Mahalia JacksonMahalia Jackson was an African-American gospel singer. With her powerful, distinct voice, Mahalia Jackson became one of the most influential gospel singers in the world and is the first Queen of Gospel Music...
to lend their names to a chain of fried chicken restaurants established to compete with Kentucky Fried Chicken. After initially reporting good results and enjoying a public stock worth $64 million, the venture collapsed amid allegations of accounting irregularities and stock price manipulation. The ensuing investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission cleared both Cannon and Jackson of involvement in financial wrongdoings, but both were embarrassed by the negative publicity.
Cancer research
After battling
breast cancerBreast cancer is a cancer that starts in the breast, usually in the inner lining of the milk ducts or lobules. There are different types of breast cancer, with different stages , aggressiveness, and genetic makeup. With best treatment, 10-year disease-free survival varies from 98% to 10%...
through aggressive treatments including a double
mastectomyIn medicine, mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. Mastectomy is usually done to treat breast cancer; in some cases, women and some men believed to be at high risk of breast cancer have the operation prophylactically, that is, to...
and
radiation therapyRadiation therapy is the medical use of ionizing radiation as part of cancer treatment to control malignant cells . Radiotherapy may be used for curative or adjuvant cancer treatment...
, she became a spokeswoman for the medical center in Nashville where she had been treated.
She took on this role as herself, Sarah Ophelia Cannon, not desiring her Minnie Pearl character to be associated with such misfortune, although a nonprofit group, the Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation, was founded in her memory to help fund cancer research. The center where she was treated was later named the Sarah Cannon Cancer Center, and has been expanded to several other hospitals in
Middle TennesseeMiddle Tennessee is a distinct portion of the state of Tennessee, delineated according to state law as the 41 counties in the Middle Grand Division of Tennessee...
and southern Kentucky. Her name has also been lent to the affiliated Sarah Cannon Research Institute.
Final years
Cannon suffered a serious
strokeA stroke is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by thrombosis or embolism or due to a hemorrhage...
in June 1991, bringing her performing career to an end. After the stroke she resided in a Nashville
nursing homeA nursing home, convalescent home, Skilled Nursing Unit , care home or rest home provides a type of care of residents: it is a place of residence for people who require constant nursing care and have significant deficiencies with activities of daily living. Residents include the elderly and younger...
where she received frequent visits from country music industry figures, including
Chely WrightRichell Rene "Chely" Wright is an American country music artist who released her debut album in 1994. Although she received an ACM award for Top New Female Vocalist that same year, none of her initial songs made a significant impact on the charts. In 1997, Chely had her first Top 40 country hit,...
,
Vince GillVincent Grant "Vince" Gill is an American neotraditional country singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman to the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s, and as a solo artist beginning in 1983, where his talents as a...
and
Amy GrantAmy Lee Grant is an American singer-songwriter, author, media personality and occasional actress, best known for her contemporary Christian music. Grant was born in Augusta, Georgia....
. Her death on March 4, 1996, at the age of 83, was attributed to complications from another stroke. She is buried at Mt. Hope Cemetery in
Franklin, TennesseeFranklin is a city within and the county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 41,842 as of the 2000 census.-History:...
.
Legacy and influence
Cannon was an important influence on younger female
country musicCountry music is a blend of popular musical forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains...
singers and rural humorists such as
Jerry ClowerHoward Gerald "Jerry" Clower was a popular country comedian best known for his stories of the rural South.Clower began a 2-year stint in the Navy immediately after graduating high school...
,
Jeff FoxworthyJeff Foxworthy is an American stand-up comedian and actor. As the best-selling comedy recording artist of all time, he is a member of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, a comedy troupe which also comprises, "Larry the Cable Guy," Bill Engvall and Ron White. Known for his, "you might be a redneck if…"...
,
Bill EngvallWilliam Ray "Bill" Engvall, Jr. is an American comedian best known for his work as a stand-up comic and as a member of the Blue Collar Comedy group. In 2007 TBS began airing his sitcom The Bill Engvall Show. He has released multiple comedy albums on Warner Bros. Records as well.-Early life:Engvall...
,
Carl HurleyCarl Hurley or Carl Hurley, Ed.D. is a former Eastern Kentucky University professor, and nationally-recognized Lexington, Kentucky comedian and lecturer...
, David L Cook,
Chonda PierceChonda Pierce is a Christian comedienne often billed as "The Queen of Clean." Maiden name "Courtney".Pierce got her start in comedy during a six-year stint at a theme park in Nashville, Tennessee called Opryland USA. A Theater Arts major from Austin Peay State University, Pierce went to the park...
,
Ron WhiteRon White is a Grammy Award-nominated American stand-up comedian from Fritch, Texas. He was a member of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, which helped elevate him to star status following the original Blue Collar tour and DVD release....
and
Larry the Cable GuyDaniel Lawrence Whitney , better known by the stage name Larry the Cable Guy, is an American stand-up comedian and actor...
. In 2002 she was ranked as number 14 on
CMTCMT may refer to:* Cadmium Mercury Telluride* California mastitis test* California Musical Theatre, a nonprofit arts organization in Sacramento, California* Cambridge Mathematical Tripos* Canadian Music Trade Magazine...
's 40 Greatest Women in Country Music list.
She was also a close friend of performers outside the country genre, including
Dean MartinDean Martin was an American singer, film actor and comedian. He was one of the best known musical artists of the 1950s and 1960s. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "Mambo Italiano", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That A Kick In The...
and
Paul ReubensPaul Reubens is an American actor, writer, film producer and comedian, best-known for his character Pee-wee Herman. Reubens joined the Los Angeles troupe The Groundlings in the 1970s and started his career as an improvisational comedian and stage actor...
. In 1992 Reubens made what would be his last appearance as Pee-Wee Herman for 15 years at a Minnie Pearl tribute show.
Bronze statues of Minnie Pearl and Roy Acuff are displayed in the lobby of the
Ryman AuditoriumThe Ryman Auditorium is a 2,362-seat live performance venue located at 116 Fifth Avenue North in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S., and is best-known as the one-time home of the Grand Ole Opry. It was previously known as Grand Old Opry House and also as Union Gospel Tabernacle.-History:The auditorium...
.
Chely WrightRichell Rene "Chely" Wright is an American country music artist who released her debut album in 1994. Although she received an ACM award for Top New Female Vocalist that same year, none of her initial songs made a significant impact on the charts. In 1997, Chely had her first Top 40 country hit,...
and Dean Sams (of
LonestarLonestar is an American country music group consisting of Cody Collins , Michael Britt , Keech Rainwater and Dean Sams...
) posed for the statues.
Popular culture references to Minnie Pearl
The popularity and lasting influence of the Minnie Pearl character are indicated by numerous references in popular culture.
- In the film Selena
Selena is an American biographical film about the life and career of the late Tejano music star Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, a Grammy Award-winning recording artist who was well known in the Mexican-American and Latino communities in the United States and Mexico before her untimely death at the age...
while SelenaSelena Quintanilla-Pérez , best known mononymously as Selena, was a Mexican American singer who has been called "The Queen of Tejano music". The youngest child of a Mexican-American couple, Selena released her first album at the age of twelve...
(Jennifer LopezJennifer Lynn Lopez , often nicknamed J.Lo, is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, fashion designer and television producer. She is the richest person of Latin American descent in Hollywood according to Forbes, and the most influential Hispanic entertainer in the U.S...
) is shopping for a gown in one scene, she dons a garish hat while her friend looks on disapprovingly. In her defense Selena then says "It's very Minnie Pearl!"
- Singer Pam Tillis
Pamela Yvonne Tillis is an American country music singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of country music legend Mel Tillis....
had a tribute song in honor of Minnie Pearl called "Two Dollar Hat" with the chorus:
- Year after year. Every week at the Ryman
The Ryman Auditorium is a 2,362-seat live performance venue located at 116 Fifth Avenue North in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S., and is best-known as the one-time home of the Grand Ole Opry. It was previously known as Grand Old Opry House and also as Union Gospel Tabernacle.-History:The auditorium...
- She had 'em laughin' 'til she had 'em cryin',
- Fate had a star; the world had a diamond
- In a two dollar hat."
- She is mentioned in the song "Punk Rock Girl" by The Dead Milkmen
- "We'll dress like Minnie Pearl
- Just you and me, punk rock girl
- Let's have a child
- We'll name her Minnie Pearl
- Just you and me"
- She is mentioned in the song "Likes of You" by Flogging Molly
Flogging Molly is a seven-piece American Celtic punk band that formed in Los Angeles, California and is currently signed to SideOneDummy Records.-Early years:...
"... met a girl named Minnie Pearl, swore she'd always be his girl ..."
- She is mentioned in the song "El Dorado" by 50 Foot Wave
50 Foot Wave is an American alternative rock band, formed in 2003. The band is fronted by Kristin Hersh, who writes the group's songs with collaborative efforts from the other group members in composing and arranging the music. The group's name is a reference to both an illustration and the term...
- She is mentioned in the song "A Lap Dance Is So Much Better When The Stripper Is Crying" by Bloodhound Gang
The Bloodhound Gang is a Collegeville, Pennsylvania-based American alternative/punk rock band, consisting of its current members, Jimmy Pop , Jared Hasselhoff , DJ Q-Ball , The Yin and Denial P. Cartier...
, "It's hard to hide a hard onPenile erection is a physiological phenomenon where the penis becomes enlarged and firm. Penile erection is the result of a complex interaction of psychological, neural, vascular and endocrine factors, and is usually, though not exclusively, associated with sexual arousal. Penile erection can also...
When you're dressed like Minnie Pearl"
- She is mentioned in Kenny Rogers
Kenneth Ray "Kenny" Rogers is an American country music singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor and entrepreneur...
' song "The Last Ten Years (Superman):"
- We lost Minnie Pearl, Ron Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California .Born in Tampico, Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s...
and Sam-I-amTheodor Seuss Geisel was an American writer and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books written under the pen name Dr. Seuss. He published over 60 children's books, which were often characterized by imaginative characters, rhyme, and frequent use of trisyllabic meter...
, We even lost SupermanSuperman is a fictional character, a comic book superhero widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective Comics, Inc...
!
- In the comic strip Get Fuzzy
Get Fuzzy is an American daily comic strip written and drawn by Darby Conley. The strip features the adventures of Boston advertising executive Rob Wilco and his two anthropomorphic pets: dog Satchel Pooch and cat Bucky Katt. Get Fuzzy has been published by United Feature Syndicate since September...
, Minnie Pearl served as the punchline:
- Satchel - You know, Buck. Without your fang, you look like a different cat! You're like Inspector Clouseau
Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau is a fictional detective in Blake Edwards's Pink Panther series. In most of the films, he was played by Peter Sellers, with one film in which he was played by Alan Arkin and one in which he was played by an uncredited Roger Moore. In the 2006 Pink Panther revival...
without the mustache!
- Bucky - Correction: I'm like Tom Selleck
Thomas William "Tom" Selleck is an American actor, screenwriter and film producer, perhaps best known for his starring role on the television show Magnum, P.I., and for his recurring role as Dr...
without the mustache.
- Rob - Correction: You're like Minnie Pearl without the tag.
- She is referred to in the PC game Deer Avenger 4
Deer Avenger is a series of video games about a deer who hunts humans. It was developed by Simon & Schuster Interactive and Hypnotix. It is a parody of typical hunting games, prominently Deer Hunter.-Games:*Deer Avenger...
in one of the calls Bambo uses - "Oh Boy! A picture of Minnie Pearl, back in the days when she was hot!"
- She is included as a lyric in the Victor Wooten
Victor Lemonte Wooten is an American bass player, composer and author.Wooten has won the "Bass Player of the Year" award from Bass Player magazine three times in a row, and was the first person to win the award more than once...
song "When I want to Get Funky":
- "When I want to get funky / I might just date your girl / I might just rock her world / I might not comb my curls / kissin' Minnie Pearl"
- The song "Ophelia" by The Band
The Band was a rock music group active from 1967 to 1976 and again from 1983 to 1999. The original group consisted of four Canadians: Robbie Robertson ; Richard Manuel ; Garth Hudson ; and Rick Danko , and...
is named for her. (This song was also be covered by the Oak Ridge Boys in their 1985 album Step on OutStep On Out is the 12th album from American country music quartet The Oak Ridge Boys. The album, released in 1985, contains the group's number-one singles "Touch a Hand " and "Little Things", as well as the number-three single "Come On In "...
.).
- But I'm still waitin' for the second comin' Of Ophelia
- Come back home
- She is referred to in the song Old Fashioned Girl by Jaydee Bixby
Jaydee Bixby is a Canadian country musician who was the runner-up on the fifth season of Canadian Idol. In 2008 he signed with Her Royal Majesty's Records and went on to release his debut album Cowboys and Cadillacs....
:
- "She's an old-fashioned girl,
- A little bit like Mama,
- A little bit like Minnie Pearl."
- She is mentioned in the song "All American Country Girl" by Aaron Watson
Aaron Watson is an American country singer.Watson was born in Amarillo, Texas and attended Abilene Christian University, where he began learning guitar, after playing junior college baseball in New Mexico. He gigged around Texas before releasing his debut album, A Texas Cafe; the follow-up,...
:
- "But when it comes down to the heart of the situation,
- She's a little rockin' honky tonkin' modern day Minnie Pearl,
- I should know, I've been all across this great nation,
- Oh there ain't no doubt, she's an All American country girl."
- Reba Mcentire - Pink Guitar
"Some day she's gonna play at the Grand Ole Opry stage
Soon you'll see her hangin' there next to Minnie Pearl's hat, in the Country Music Hall of Fame "
- She is mentioned by Lorelei Gilmore in Gilmore Girls:
- When Lorelei's grandmother asks her if she is single by choice or by intimidation by her independence, Lorelei replies that she intimidates men with her Minnie Pearl impression.
Writings and recordings
| Title |
Medium |
Publisher/Studio |
Copyright |
| Howdy! |
Sound Recording |
Sunset |
1950 |
| Minnie Pearl's Diary |
Book |
Greenberg |
1953 |
| Country Western Caravan |
Sound Recording |
RCA Victor |
1954 |
Minnie Pearl's Christmas at Grinder's Switch (With Tennessee Ernie FordErnest Jennings Ford , better known as Tennessee Ernie Ford, was an American recording artist and television host who enjoyed success in the country & western, pop and gospel musical genres.- Early years :...
) |
Book |
Abingdon Press Abingdon Press is the book publishing arm of the United Methodist Publishing House. It was begun in the early 1900's by The Methodist Church. Abingdon Press is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. Its retail division is called Cokesbury....
|
1963 |
| America's Beloved Minnie Pearl |
Sound Recording |
Starday |
c. 1965 |
| History Repeats Itself (With Buddy Starcher Buddy Starcher was an American country singer. He starred on his own show on WCHS-TV from 1960 to 1966. However, he is best known for his 1966 spoken word recording entitled "History Repeats Itself", written with Minnie Pearl and released on Boone Records...
) |
Sound Recording |
Starday |
c. 1967 |
| I Didn't Jump the Fence (with Red Sovine Woodrow Wilson Sovine , better known as Red Sovine, was a country music singer. He was associated with truck driving songs, particularly those recited as narratives but set to music...
) |
Sound recording |
Starday |
c. 1968 |
| Hall of Fame (Vol. 9), (contributor) |
Sound recording |
Starday |
c. 1969 |
| Thunder on the Road |
Sound Recording |
Starday |
c. 1970 |
| Minnie Pearl Cooks |
Book |
Aurora Publishers |
1970 |
| Live at the Grand Ole Opry (With Hank Williams) |
Sound Recording |
MGM |
1976 |
| Minnie Pearl: An Autobiography (with Joan Dew) |
Book |
Simon and Schuster |
1980 |
Christmas At Grinder's Switch (with Roy AcuffRoy Claxton Acuff was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the King of Country Music, Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its early string band and "hoedown" format to the star singer-based format that helped make it internationally successful.Acuff...
) |
Book |
Abingdon Press Abingdon Press is the book publishing arm of the United Methodist Publishing House. It was begun in the early 1900's by The Methodist Church. Abingdon Press is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. Its retail division is called Cokesbury....
|
1985 |
| Best Jokes Minnie Pearl Ever Told (Plus a Few She Overheard!) (compiled by Kevin Kenworthy) |
Book |
Rutledge Hill Press |
1999 |
Singles
Some of Pearl's comic songs, including "How To Catch A Man," were released as
single recordsIn music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats.-History:...
.
| Year |
Title |
US Country Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
|
| 1966 |
"Giddyup Go - Answer" |
10 |