Sunday, September 4, 2011

Remembering Carl Butler

Today I wanted to take a moment and remember former Grand Ole Opry member Carl Butler, who passed away on September 4, 1992. Carl was born on June 2, 1927 in Knoxville, Tennessee. He achieved success as a vocalist and songwriter. He also recorded with his wife Pearl.

"Carl & Pearl Butler's first charted duet became their greatest success; 'Don't Let Me Cross Over,' which spent eleven weeks at #1 on the country charts in 1962 and 1963. On the strength of that success Pearl joined her husband on the Grand Ole Opry, where he had been a regular since 1958.

Carl Butler had been playing guitar in public since age twelve, when he entertained between square dance sets. Later he was featured on WROL and WNOX in Knoxville and WPTF in Raleigh, North Carolina. While in Knoxville he began amassing credits as a tunesmith with such songs as 'My Tears Don't Show,' 'If Teardrops Were Pennies,' 'Guilty Conscience,' 'Hold Back the Dawn,' and 'Cryin My Heart Out Over You.' The songs were recorded through the years by Roy Acuff, Carl Smith, Bill Monroe, Rosemary Clooney, Flatt & Scruggs, and Ricky Skaggs. Pearl Jones co-wrote 'Kisses Don't Lie,' a Carl Smith hit.

Carl Butler kicked off his solo recording career in 1951 with Capital Records, switching to Columbia in 1953. His early recordings included 'River of Tears' and 'That's What It's Like to Be Lonesome,' but 'Honkytonkitis' became his first record to hit the country charts (#25, 1961).

Although Pearl often sang with her husband at shows, she resisted recording until 'Don't Let Me Cross Over.' In 1964 the couple had another Billboard Top Ten hit, 'Too Late to Try Again' (#9), and a few months later scored again with 'I'm Hanging Up the Phone' (#14). Their last chart entry, 'We'll Sweep Out the Ashes in the Morning' (#63, 1969), was later recorded as a duet by Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris.

In Knoxville the Butlers took in child performer Dolly Parton when she performed for Cas Walker's local TV show and later helped arrange for Parton's first appearance on the Opry in 1959.

The Butlers appeared in the film, 'Second Fiddle to a Steel Guitar (1967)."
(Walt Trott)

In the 1970s, Carl and Pearl continued to tour and record, but they spent much of their time on their ranch, 'Crossover Acres', which was located in Franklin, Tennessee. By the 1980s, they were basically retired, although they continued to make some appearances on the Opry. Pearl Butler died on March 1, 1988 at the age of 60. After her death, Carl attempted a comeback with his solo career, even making several Opry appearances, but he had little success and he passed away on September 4, 1992, after suffering a heart attack.

Several people who would know this information, told me that after their career tailed off, the Butler's had a very difficult time and had some serious financial problems. It was to the point that they were close to losing their beloved 'Crossover Acres' home. But without knowledge to anyone, Dolly Parton, in an act of kindness and remembering how Carl and Pearl had helped her out on her way up, and in gratitude for what they did for her, quietly helped them out in their later years, allowing them to keep their home and their furnishings.

(I guess it goes back to the saying that you will meet the same people on the way down as you met on the way up and a lot of how you will be treated when you are no longer the hot superstar will be dictated by how you treated folks when you were on top. People do remember, as Dolly did in this case).

Carl Butler was not one of the superstars of the business, but almost everyone remembers that big hit, 'Don't Let Me Cross Over.' I don't think there has ever been a country music info-commercial that has not included that song. It was a great one. Thank's for taking a moment with me to remember Carl Butler.


  1. Thank YOU. What great singers they were!

    I love the story about Dolly, for another reason. When she made that 1959 appearance, it was Jimmy C. Newman who gave up a song for her to be able to sing on stage. He always has said that he doesn't remember doing it. But she ALWAYS has remembered it, and made a point of saying so. While I criticize Dolly for appearing too infrequently on the Opry, she DOES remember, and I give her a lot of credit for that.

    Carl Butler always reminded me of Roy Acuff, and of course he's another East Tennesseean. They know how to sing well and loud over there!

  2. And me also of good old E.T. in his later years, when approximately the right note was good enough, just so it was loud and heartfelt. I think of Carl and Pearl singing, for instance, "Mrs. Right Has Married Mr. Wrong." (The "Mrs." pronounced "Miss-rus.")

    My favorite Butler title, as title -- for its wonderfully mangled grammar -- is "If You Were Her and He Was Me," on their Old & New album. (They didn't write it, only sang it.)

    Those were the days, boys, and they ain't coming back!

  3. Fred in Bismarck here: That was me -- or I had better say 'I' -- above. Thanks.

  4. That was a very nice thing that Dolly did for Carl and Pearl It's just a shame no one did that for Dottie West who also helped a lot of people, that poor woman died in near penniless and lost everything.

  5. Fred in Bismarck here:

    How did Dottie get in such bad shape, Anon? One would think she still had plenty coming in, between royalties and concerts, at the end. Bad investments? I know these bit a lot of folks who should have been well-off otherwise, two examples I can think of being Bob Wills and Bill Monroe.

  6. Fred, the bottom line is that Dottie did not pay her taxes and the IRS came after her. They took everything she had and auctioned it off to settle their debt. To make it worse for Dottie, they caught her hiding a number of valuble items.

    And add it to the fact that Dottie was on the tail end of her career and was not bringing in the money that she once did, and she was living well and spending lots of cash, it creates a problem.

    What is really sad about all of this is that she was not the first country music entertainer to have issues with taxes and the IRS. I am not saying this about Dottie, as I never met her, but many of the earlier stars in country music were not that bright. Many had left school early to play music and earn a living. They did not really know about tracking their income and expenses and did not file or pay taxes.

    Most were paid in cash (usually in brown paper bags), and those who could afford to, hired accountants and bookkeepers to take care of these things. But, many of these accountants did not do their job and as a result, you had what happened to Dottie.

    I can easily name a dozen country music Hall of Fame members who had this happen to them, including Willie Nelson. The bottom line is that it was a very sad situation that never should have happened.

  7. Thank you, Byron. Sad, indeed, to win showbiz success -- we all know what the odds are like -- only to shipwreck in the end over what amounts to business math.

  8. It IS sad, and while I don't KNOW this, I suspect part of Dottie's problem may have been that she was no longer so big a star as she had been, but she may still have been living like one without the means.

    Bill Monroe had lean years in the 1950s and early 1960s when his star was very much in eclipse, so I don't know about him with investments. But one of the reasons Lester and Earl left him was that Earl was, I believe, the only Bluegrass Boy who had finished high school, so Mr. Monroe had him handle the money--so Earl knew just how much he actually was making in those days. But there's the story that he told Earl to go to the bank and get money, and Earl asked how much. He replied, "Two bags."

  9. I'm the one who first poested about Dottie West, The people that managed her money made a string of bad investments and the IRS where looking for back taxes, Dottie was'nt told until they were looking to reposses everything and she thought she could try and pay it back.

    Dottie was raised desperatly poor in a dysfunctional family so it is natural that she would hide some of her things, the bottom line is Dottie went into complete denial and the only reason the things where found is because someone reported her, now is that fair when she was having a tough time of it.

    But what annoys me is Willie Nelson and Dottie West went bankcrupt at the exact same time and both had auctions when Willie's auction was happening everyone flocked to but his things back for everyone that Dottie helped over the years abandoned her, that spoor Lady had to sleep in her tour bus in a shopping mall Parking lot until she moved into her apartment.

    Kenny Rogers gave her a beat out old car on loan and it stalled (and yes it was on loan from a car dealership), so she accepted a ride and the crash happened and unfortunaltley she died. Could the opry not have sent a cab or could someone not have collected her so much for country music being a big family.

    Yes Dottie's recording career tanked after 1984 but she was very popular on the road and drew in big crowds and tickets were'nt cheap, I personally seen her perform in 1988 to a packed audience. But would it not be nice now after 20 years if Dottie could be remembered more all her so called friends have barely mentioned her over the years and Dottie does'nt get credit for accomplishments and it's about damn time she was put into the hall of fame.


  10. Kathleen, I didn't--and of course don't--know all of the circumstances surrounding what happened to Dottie West. But I remember thinking at the time, if she had all of these financial problems, where were all of the people she had known and worked with and helped. She was kind of a mother hen to a lot of the young Nashville songwriters. Where were they? Am I wrong on this?

  11. Michael Kris Kristofferson lived with Dottie for a while and even wrote help me make it through the night and for the good times in her basement.

    Bottom line is they should be ashamed, I understand they would have went broke if they withdrew a large amount of money because they would be taxed mercilessly but no one did benefits or anything for her.


  12. The one thing that I remember and what made me sad about the Dottie West situation and IRS auction, was seeing the film footage of her "fans" going through all her personal items like it was a flea market sale. You work all of your life and it all comes down to that.

    The point about Willie Nelson is well taken, His situation became something of a national joke, in the sense that you had Willie's "IRS Tapes" that he was selling on late night television, and even today with Jimmy Dickens introducing himself as "Willie Nelson After Taxes."

    I also remember reading about Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and many others helping to pay for George Jones to go through rehab, not once, but several times.

    I never saw Dottie in concert, but I did see her in her final years at the Opry. She always drew a big ovation and was always dressed to the hilt. I also seem to remember her being on a lot of Hank Snow segments, and he always did a fine introduction of Dottie.

    Dottie made some unfortunate decisions in her life that came back to haunt her, but she did not deserve the public humiliation that took place. You trust your managers, accountants, etc, to make the right decisions for you, but when they don't, they run and hide and the performer is left holding the bag. And I do have to agree, where were her fellow performers to help her out? Maybe they did in some way, I don't have the answer to that one.

    Her life didn't have to end the way it did.

  13. Well said Fayfare, I also seeing her auction on the TV and your right it was like a big party, with none of her music played, I could'nt believe that she actually attended, but the people bounded up to her and got her to sign her things and she willingly did.

    But nobody helped, well when she was dying in hospital they all started calling to check if she was alright and then when she died you people like Vern Gosdin, Lacosta Tucker, Johnny Cash etc saying I feel a real sense of Lose.

    But no she should'nt have died the way she died, she suffered all that humiliation and hardship but yet she stayed strong, I'll never forget when I read her say 'You Can Knock Me Down, But You Better Have A Big Rock To Keep Me There.

    Dottie West died in a car she should never have been in.

  14. The performing rights socities (BMI, ASCAP, etc.) who pay performance royalties are notorious for holding back funds due to songwriters. The same is true for mechanical royalties ... the labels (record companies) don't pay honesty either and in many cases of major labels, they own the very publishing companies of their own recordings. It is a racket that has been going on for seventy years!