She has one of the most recognizable voices in music. People magazine once referred to her as “country’s Bonnie Raitt.”
Prior to her recording career, Lacy J. Dalton (real name Jill Croston), did what she had to do to survive and support her family. As a truck stop waitress and singer, she would wait tables and then take the stage to sing a few songs.
In June 1979, she was signed by Columbia Records and she quickly rose to national prominence with Crazy Blue Eyes, a song she co-wrote, that reached #17 on the Billboard Country Charts. Her hard work and dedication paid off in 1979 when she was awarded the Academy of Country Music’s Top New Female Vocalist of the Year.
Her signature song 16th Avenue, became the Anthem for Nashville songwriters. Her other hit records are legendary million-airplay cuts and include Crazy Blue Eyes, Takin’ It Easy, Everybody Makes Mistakes, Hillbilly Girl with the Blues, Hard Times, and the worldwide hit Black Coffee.
Her stage shows also became legendary. She quickly became one of the few women who could successfully open a show for the likes of Hank Williams, Jr., Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard or Charlie Daniels. She still writes, records, and performs today.
Dalton also gives back to the community through her charity work. Lacy has been involved in various service projects through several charitable organizations – William James Associates Arts in Corrections, and Rotary International. In 1999, she co-founded the Let ’em Run Foundation, which is dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating and re-homing America’s wild horses and burros.
Lacy J. Dalton celebrated her 80th birthday on October 13. Her “Not Yet Dead” birthday bash was recently held in Nashville. Joining Lacy J. Dalton on stage that night were Canadian Michelle Wright, MaKenzie Phipps, David Frizzell, Terri Gibbs, Dale Poune, and Jimmy Fortune, formerly of the Statler Brothers. Proceeds from the event went to the Let ‘Em Run Foundation.
In this Vinyl Professor Podcast, Lacy J. Dalton and I reminisce about her time in country music, her work with prison inmates, her love of horses, and the importance of “not sitting” as we mature.
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Portions of the interview also aired on my weekly radio show Oldies Without Borders.
Copyright Peter J. Maurin, The Vinyl Professor. Published under Creative Commons License: Attribution/Non-Commercial Use.
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