# Who Was the Black Woman With a Country Hit? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 3, 2010, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-black-woman-with-a-country-hit/545423 "2010-07-03T14:02:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-black-woman-with-a-country-hit/545423/1 "2010-07-03T14:02:42Z")
A few years ago there was some young African-American woman who had a low-charting, one-hit wonder country hit. Does anyone remember her name and the name of the song? Also, who are some other blacks besides Charley Pride and Darius Rucker who have made inroads in country music? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-black-woman-with-a-country-hit/545423/2 "2010-07-03T15:05:25Z")
This came up in another thread recently; **The Pointer Sisters** had a country hit with [Fairytale](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQWgKvvbT1g). ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-black-woman-with-a-country-hit/545423/3 "2010-07-03T15:18:56Z")
To answer your second question: [Brother Ray Charles](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Sounds_in_Country_and_Western_Music) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-black-woman-with-a-country-hit/545423/4 "2010-07-03T15:27:51Z")
I don’t know how big a following he has.[Cowboy Troy.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboy_Troy) ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-black-woman-with-a-country-hit/545423/5 "2010-07-03T15:28:51Z")
Is this it? [Rissi Palmer - “Country Girl”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d89e6w405sc) ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-black-woman-with-a-country-hit/545423/6 "2010-07-03T15:29:35Z")
> [@ErinPuff](#): > > Is this it? > > [Rissi Palmer - “Country Girl”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d89e6w405sc) Yep. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![zeldarae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/f14d63/32.png) [@zeldarae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zeldarae)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-black-woman-with-a-country-hit/545423/7 "2010-07-03T20:38:19Z")
[http://www.carolinachocolatedrops.com/](http://www.carolinachocolatedrops.com/) I belive this is the first all black band to perform at The Opry. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-black-woman-with-a-country-hit/545423/8 "2010-07-03T21:26:21Z")
> [@ErinPuff](#): > > Is this it? > > [Rissi Palmer - “Country Girl”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d89e6w405sc) If they played more stuff like that on country radio, I might start listening again. I liked it. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-black-woman-with-a-country-hit/545423/9 "2010-07-03T23:51:02Z")
Not bad, not bad. Is it just me, or does she sound a lot like [LeAnn Rimes?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1mhcRq-5zA) ---
**Author:** ![MsChilePepper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MsChilePepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsChilePepper)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2010, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-black-woman-with-a-country-hit/545423/10 "2010-07-04T00:30:13Z")
I think it’s just you. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2010, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-black-woman-with-a-country-hit/545423/11 "2010-07-04T05:42:28Z")
Lionel Richie took “Stuck On You,” to #24 on the country charts. He also had a #10 hit on the chart with “Deep River Woman” a song with the group Alabama ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2010, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-black-woman-with-a-country-hit/545423/12 "2010-07-04T05:52:03Z")
> [@Savannah](#): > > If they played more stuff like that on country radio, I might start listening again. I liked it. Yeah, me too. I’ll be listening to more of her stuff. ---
**Author:** ![rolandgunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cdc98d/32.png) [@rolandgunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rolandgunslinger)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2010, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-black-woman-with-a-country-hit/545423/13 "2010-07-04T06:01:10Z")
> [@ErinPuff](#): > > Is this it? > > [Rissi Palmer - “Country Girl”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d89e6w405sc) Godamn! She’s fine! ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2010, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-black-woman-with-a-country-hit/545423/14 "2010-07-04T17:27:31Z")
> [@Savannah](#): > > If they played more stuff like that on country radio, I might start listening again. I liked it. She has a nice voice, but this is just the thousandth iteration of the “Yay, we’re country!” mindset that has been ruining country since at least the early nineties. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2010, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-black-woman-with-a-country-hit/545423/15 "2010-07-04T18:14:23Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > She has a nice voice, but this is just the thousandth iteration of the “Yay, we’re country!” mindset that has been ruining country since at least the early nineties. Methinks these singers do protest too much if they have to loudly proclaim how “country” they are. Let’s face it; most of them these days are children of the suburbs. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2010, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-black-woman-with-a-country-hit/545423/16 "2010-07-04T18:43:11Z")
I wonder if [Cassandra Wilson](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x26I1EHGgmI) has covered any of her stuff? ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-black-woman-with-a-country-hit/545423/17 "2010-07-04T19:47:06Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > She has a nice voice, but this is just the thousandth iteration of the “Yay, we’re country!” mindset that has been ruining country since at least the early nineties. > [@Spoke](#): > > Methinks these singers do protest too much if they have to loudly proclaim how “country” they are. Let’s face it; most of them these days are children of the suburbs. This is where I’ve said that country is getting more and more like rap all the time. Today’s rappers go on and on about how “gangster” they are; today’s country singers go on and on about how “down home” they are. It’s one reason I’ve been really disappointed in Alan Jackson lately. He is, IMO, one of the most talented songwriters from the last generation of country singers, but for the last several years he’s really become a one-topic writer (at least on the songs that get released as singles). As I posted here a couple years ago, Alan, I loves ya, but ya know, everything above the Mason-Dixon line isn’t “New York City”, and “Southern men” don’t have a monopoly on hard work, patriotism, and morals. Anyway, back to the OP - when I first heard “[Hip to My Heart](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cTI0gEZ_gg)” by The Band Perry on the radio, I was convinced I was listening to a black female country singer. But then I looked up the video, and to quote a black comedian in a skit I saw on the Apollo Comedy Hour back in the '90s, “That ain’t a sister - that’s a white girl with a mad behind!” But there’s something about the way she enunciates that words that just sounded “black” to me. Their followup single, “[If I Die Young](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NJqUN9TClM)” is a very interesting song. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2010, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-black-woman-with-a-country-hit/545423/18 "2010-07-05T00:02:57Z")
“XXX’s and OOO’s (An American Girl),” a big hit for Trisha Yearwood, was written by Alice Randall, a Black woman who also wrote the novel **The Wind Done Gone**. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2010, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-black-woman-with-a-country-hit/545423/19 "2010-07-05T00:26:31Z")
[Cowboy Curtis](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWI-5b2MHNI)? ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-black-woman-with-a-country-hit/545423/20 "2010-07-08T21:34:46Z")
I just saw a reference (in a footnote in an article by one of my professors) to a compilation album called _From Where I Stand: The Black Experience in Country Music_. Looks like it’s out of print, but [here’s a review of it](http://archives.nodepression.com/1998/03/various-artists-from-where-i-stand-the-black-experience-in-country-music-3-cd-set/). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-black-woman-with-a-country-hit/545423.md?page=2)