R.I.P. : Longtime Grand Ole Opry Member Wilma Lee Cooper Passes

Friday, September 16, 2011



Wilma Lee Cooper, who teamed with husband Stoney Cooper as a top country duo for some three
decades and earned the title "The First Lady of Bluegrass," has passed away at the ripe old age of 90.
She died Tuesday of natural causes at her home in Sweetwater, Tenn., The Grand Ole Opry announced Friday.

Elizabeth Cook probably said it best this afternoon, "Sad to know of the passing of Wilma Lee Cooper, a
personal hero and original punk rockin honky tonk girl."

She and her husband began recording in the late 1940s, then performed regularly on the Opry from
1957 until his death in 1977. She continued as a solo singer on the show until 2001. With her husband,
they had such hits as "Cheated Too," ''There's a Big Wheel" and "Come Walk With Me." The two were
members of the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame.

Wilma Lee was known for her big voice and boundless enthusiasm. In 1974, the Smithsonian Institution
honored her as "The First Lady of Bluegrass."

She had a stroke at age 80 in 2001, leaving her voice and speech affected. After that, she lived in
Sweetwater with a caretaker. In February 2005, she walked onto the stage during an Opry show at the
Ryman Auditorium and received a standing ovation. She also joined in a group sing-along in September
2010 when the Grand Ole Opry House reopened after being closed four months because of flooding.

Cooper was born in Valley Head, W.Va., and sang with her parents and siblings as the bluegrass and
gospel group The Leary Family.

The Opry said she asked that there be no memorial service. "She will be remembered for her music and
her faith," the Opry statement said.


Source : HERE

: Wilma Lee Leary (born February 7, 1921), known professionally as Wilma Lee Cooper, is an American
bluegrass-based country music entertainer.

Born in Valley Head, West Virginia, Leary sang in her youth with her family's gospel music group, The
Leary Family, which included her parents and sisters. They recorded for the Library Of Congress in 1938.

In 1939, Leary married fiddler and vocalist Dale T. “Stoney” Cooper, who was a musical accompanist for
the Leary Family, and the duo formed their own bluegrass group, Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper and the
Clinch Mountain Clan. They were regulars for ten years on Wheeling, West Virginia's WWVA-AM's rival to
the Grand Ole Opry, WWVA Jamboree, beginning in 1947 before joining the Opry in 1957.

Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper had remarkable record success in the late 1950s and early 1960s on
Hickory Records given both their bluegrass sound (which has rarely been as commercially successful)
and the damage rock-n-roll was doing to country music's popularity at the time. They scored seven hit
records between 1956 and 1961, with four top ten hits on Billboard charts, notably "Big Midnight Special"
and "There's a Big Wheel." They remained connected to the Leary Family tradition as well, recording
popular gospel songs like "The Tramp on the Street" and "Walking My Lord Up Calvary's Hill."

Cooper died in 1977 but Wilma Lee stayed on the Opry as a solo star and on occasion recorded an
album for a bluegrass record label. In 2001 she suffered a stroke while performing on the Opry stage
which ended her career, but Cooper defied doctors who said she would never walk again and has since
returned to the Opry to greet and thank the crowds.

The Cooper's daughter, Carol Lee Cooper, is the lead singer for the Grand Ole Opry's backup vocal
group, The Carol Lee Singers.



Sources : HERE

un petit plus

wilma lee et stoney cooper avaient enregistre chez columbia

exemples

20631 was the matter with this world /30 pieces of silver
21049 the clinch mountain waltz / stoney
21088 you belong to somebody ese/ don't play that song
21131 u can take it with u /are u walking
etc

joe