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Felice Bryant was born on
August 7, 1925 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her given name was
Matilda Genevieve Scaduto. Felice was working as an elevator
operator and singing folk music on the side when in 1945 she
was fortunate to meet Boudleaux (pronounced Bood-Lo) Bryant
from Moultrie, Georgia. Boudleaux was a trained classical
violinist and had played some in the Atlanta Symphony
Orchestra, but his first love was jazz and western swing. In
fact, he had worked some with Hank Penny’s western swing band
in the late 1930s. It was love at first sight for Felice and
Boudleaux, and after a brief courtship they married and moved
to Moultrie.
Tiring from having little
to do, Felice began writing poetry and song lyrics. Her
husband took note and soon they put their heads together to
come up with some country ditties. Little did they know that
they would become one of the most dynamic and prolific
songwriters in country music history.
The Bryants sent a song
off to Fred Rose of Acuff-Rose Publishing Co. in Nashville,
and it was put in the hands of Jimmy Dickens who recorded it
for Columbia Records. “Country Boy” became a hit song for
Jimmy in 1949. Seeing their songwriting ability, Rose
persuaded the Bryants to take up residence in Nashville and
write songs for Acuff-Rose.
And write they did! The
Bryants virtually became a “songwriting machine”! They wrote a
long list of country and pop hits, including Jimmy’s “I Little
But I’m Loud” and “Out Behind The Barn;” “Hey Joe,” “It’s A
Lovely, Lovely World,” and “This Orchid Means Goodbye,” for
Carl Smith; and “Bye Bye Love,” “Wake Up Little Susie,” “All I
Have To Do Is Dream,” and “Bird Dog” for the Everly Brothers.
The couple also wrote Jim Reeves’ “Blue Boy” and one of the
great classic songs of all time, “Rocky Top,” which eventually
was voted by it’s legislature to be the state song of
Tennessee.
Usually Felice
collaborated with her husband on many of these songs, but she
wrote a song by herself for her husband’ birthday, that became
one of their prettiest songs in this author’s estimation. The
love ballad, “We Could” was a big hit for Jimmy Dickens, and
became a standard, recorded by many artists over the years,
including Jim Reeves, George Jones & Tammy Wynette, Kitty
Wells, George Morgan, the Louvin Brothers, Charley Pride, and
many others.
What is so astounding is that Felice and
Boudleaux could write for a variety of singers, like Eddy
Arnold, Tony Bennett, Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Dolly
Parton, Elvis Presley, The Beach Boys, Sarah Vaughan, Roy
Orbison, Count Basie, Dean Martin, Cher, Ray Charles, and
dozens more.
It has been estimated that the Bryants wrote
more than 1,500-recorded songs, which sold over 300 million
records!
The couple moved to
Gatlinburg, Tennessee in 1978, where they owned and operated
the Rocky Top Village Inn in the Great Smoky Mountains. In
1979 Boudleaux produced their only album as performers, A
Touch of Bryant.
Boudleaux died of cancer
at the age of 67, on June 25, 1987 in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Felice lived to be 77, but succumbed to cancer, passing away
in Gatlinburg April 22, 2003.
The Bryants were elected
to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1991, the National
Academy of Popular Music Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1986, and
the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972. Affiliated
with performing rights organization BMI throughout their
careers, Felice and Boudleaux Bryant earned a total of 59 BMI
Pop, Country and Rhythm & Blues Awards.
Dusty Owens
TCM Radio News
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