Crystal Gayle Deserves To Be In the Country Music Hall of Fame
Being the old radio dog that I am, I can recall back in the mid-1970s when a new country music artist came onto the scene. We didn't really call her by her name much.
We just said "Here's Loretta's little sister with..." and give the title of whatever her new song was.
But it wasn't long and that changed. For a lot of years in the '70s and '80s, Crystal Gayle wasn't Loretta Lynn's little sister. She was a Country Music Superstar.
But is she Country Music Hall of Fame worthy? I mean, the Hall of Fame is the Hall of 'Fame', not the Hall of 'Really Good'.
Let's check the numbers:
Number One Hits? Yep, in fact, 20 of them. Let's say that again...20 #1 hits. Check how many members of the Hall of Fame had fewer than twenty #1 hits. It'll take you a while to count them all up.
Gold albums? Sure, six of those. Oh, and by the way, Crystal Gayle was the first country female artist to have a platinum album (1 million sold!) with 1977's 'We Must Believe In Magic'. Not bad for Loretta's little sister.
And yes, she's a Grammy winner and has won more awards than you can shake that proverbial stick at.
Plus of course, she expanded country music to a much wider audience and, ironically, perhaps that's why she isn't in the Hall of Fame. Was she 'too popish'?
Crystal Gayle has the statistics, the artistry, the country roots to be in the Hall. She has not disgraced or inhibited country music in any way, rather she embellished it and brought it to a whole new (younger) generation.
And wouldn't it be great if Crystal were inducted into the Hall while her older sister sat in the audience, beaming, proud?
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