By Rich Jacques (Vision Magazine, June 2009)
A Botticelli beauty. Her voice, hardly a babel ... even from 1000 miles away.
Heading southbound on a tour bus somewhere in the Tennessee hills, country music superstar Crystal Gayle took a few minutes from her morning routine to reminisce with Vision magazine about the past, present, and future of her long career that has placed her on the top of the country music world.
Talking with the Gramm-winning artist, if only by phone, was like a whiff of pure oxygen. Charming, down to Earth, and about as neighborly as anyone could be. Gayle has an ease about her that welcomes you in.
She began the conversation by describing life on the bus, which is now second-nature to her.
"It's easy. You go to bed, you wake up and you are there," said Gayle, comfortable and quite happy to be on the motor coach as it neared her Nashville home on the last leg of an early-January road trip. I enjoy it."
After years of traveling to concert dates, she said she has learned how to slow it down at times at this stage of her career. She said she has always found pleasure in touring. According to Gayle, the best part about being on the road is being able to visit with the many friends she has mage throughout the world since her early days singing with her younger sister, the legendary Loretta Lynn.
Since her first recording, Gayle has amassed 18 No. 1 hits, propelling her to international celebrity status.
Born Brenda Gayle Webb and raised mostly in Indiana (not Kentucky like Loretta), she said the name Crystal came to her as a suggestion of Lynn, 17 years her senior.
With Brenda Lee already popular in music circles at the time, Lynn suggested the name Crystal to her sister and seeing a sign for the Krystal hamburger chain of restaurants, a popular brand in some southern states.
"She said it would be a good name for me," said Gayle. "She thought it was bright and shiny."
While in school, Gayle signed her first recording contract. Her debut single, "I've Cried The Blue Right Out Of My Eyes," was written by Lynn, who was already famous. The song peaked at No. 23 on the country charts in 1970.
It wasn't long before Gayle began to come out of the shadow of her older sister and form a style of her own.
Her first album included a No. 1 song. Her fourth album sent her over the top with the inclusion of the smash, "Don't It Make Your Brown Eyes Blue" in 1977. With it, Gayle became the first female country artist to achieve certified platinum album status.
"I've had some wonderful people behind me," Gayle said from the bus. "Being in the right place at the right time is what makes a career."
When asked about her many honors, the five-time Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music "Female Vocalist of the Year" said any award is great. In 2007, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She was indicted into the Kentucky Music hall of Fame in 2008.
Her pace remains steady as demand remains high in 2009.
With several concert dates behind her in the northeast and cold rain falling outside the window of the bus, she said she looked forward to taking a break in Music City before heading to March shows in Las Vegas and southeastern New Mexico — a place that sometimes strikes a familiar chord in even some the most famous celebrities.
"How many books have I read about Roswell? she said, admitting her belief in the possibility of UFO's and the 1947 Roswell Incident. Like so many others. she has never actually visited the city, but she is quite familiar with its world-famous legacy. "I know the actual crash happened outside of Roswell."
On March 27, Gayle will return to the Land of Enchantment where she has played many times before, coming again to the Spencer Theater in Ruidoso for a one-night appearance before making a first-ever stop the next evening at sold out show at the new Ocotillo Performing Arts Center in Artesia.
As of Feb. 3, a handful of tickets remain for the Spencer Theater performance.
She said she is looking forward to another visit to the Ruidoso area.
"We love it out West. New Mexico is great, she said, promising a mixture of music, fun and "tunes that people have known through the years" to anyone who attends one of her future shows.
Referring to a previous engagement at the Spencer Theater, she remembered the building's one-of-a-kind glass, "beautiful artwork" and a forest fire that raged nearby. She said the fire did not interfere with the show but "it didn't go away."
Like most other Americans, recent developments at the White House have kept her tuned in.
Gayle, who once sailed the Caribbean as an invited guest of former Pres. George H.W. Bush, was asked about her thoughts regarding the recent celebration for Pres. Barrack Obama in Washington.
"It was a great inauguration day. We should all be behind the president," she said. "It's time to get back to having a little more pride. The way people treated George Bush was not quite right," referring to the 43rd president.
She was asked about some of her preferred enetertainers.
Gayle, a fan of George Jones (for his voice), and Del Reeves (for his showmanship). She said she also enjoys current stars Brad Paisley, Leanne Rimes, and Faith Hill.
Stealing a line from the "Actors Studio," I asked what she thinks she would have been had she not been a singer. She thought for a second, then answered.
"I've always been into archeology. Maybe an FBI agent, or a spy," she said, seemingly having a good time thinking about the possibilities. "I think I would that would have been fun."
Once awarded for being the "Most Promising Female Artist" of 1975, by the Music City News, she was asked if she had lived up to the award.
"I think I went on to do something, if that's what most promising means," she said with a modest chuckle.
An understatement, in true Crystal Gayle style