Chuck Woolery was the first host of Wheel of Fortune. He helped romance blossom, or fizzle, on Love Connection and The Dating Game. The host tested spelling skills on the TV version of Scrabble, and more, entertaining viewers for decades through his final game show Lingo, which he hosted from 2000 through 2007.
Before having the longest tenure as a game show host on television, Woolery had his sights set on a music career. Born March 16, 1941 in Ashland, Kentucky, Woolery served two years in the U.S. Navy before going to college before circling back to music. He played double bass in a folk trio The Bordermaen, then formed the psychedelic rock duo The Avant-Garde in 1967, while working as a truck driver to support himself as a musician.
After The Avant-Garde broke up, Woolery released his debut solo single “I’ve Been Wrong” in 1969 and several more singles with Columbia before transitioing to country music by the ’70s. and released two solo singles “Forgive My Heart” and “Love Me, Love Me” and returned to acting while writing songs for other artists.
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In 1977, Woolery released two more singles “Painted Lady,” which charted on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, and “Take ‘Er Down, Boys,” along with his third, “The Greatest Love Affair” in 1980.
Throughout the decades Woolery wrote or co-wrote songs for himself and everyone from Tammy Wynette to Pat Boone. Here’s a look behind four songs Woolery wrote throughout his music career.
1. “Naturally Stoned,” The Avant-Garde (1968)
Written by Chuck Woolery
In 1967, Woolery formed the psychedelic rock duo The Avant-Garde in 1967 with Elkin “Bubba” Fowler, who would go on to record guitar for Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. The duo released three singles—”Yellow Beads,” “Naturally Stoned,” which peaked at No. 40 on the Billboard Hot 100, and “Fly with Me!”—before disbanding a year alter.
The duo’s bigger hit, “Naturally Stoned,” had some trippy lyrics about feeling intoxicated in the presence of someone.
It seems the days we spent together
All too quickly faded away
And even now my lonely mind
Is full of thoughts of yesterday
The say grow up
Put your mind on what you have to do
But I know I can never
Make it baby, without you
I can feel a good vibration
When I put my mind on you alone
I can get a good sensation
Feel like I’m naturally stoned
In 2003, Woolery became the subject of the first reality series on the Game Show Network called Chuck Woolery: Naturally Stoned.
2. “The Joys of Being a Woman,” Tammy Wynette (1971)
Written by Chuck Woolery
Released on Tammy Wynette’s 1971 album We Sure Can Love Each Other, Woolery wrote “The Joys of Being a Woman.” In the song, Wynette is singing about all the ways she’s thankful for being a woman: See our baby on the swing / Hear her laugh, hear her scream / Knowing thatshe came from me / Fills my heart with joy / To be a woman.
[RELATED: Tammy Wynette’s Controversial Country Classic “Stand By Your Man”]
We Sure Can Love Each Other went to No. 8 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and the title track reached No. 2 on the Hot Country Singles chart.
3. “Carry Me Back,” Marlys Roe (1973)
Written by Chuck Woolery and Dan Hoffman
In the 1960s, Marlys started out as the vocalist of the South Dakota rock band Marlys Roe and The Tailsmen, before segueing into country music. “Carry Me Back,” co-written by Woolery, was her only charting single, peaking at No. 71.
Roe released a few more singles in the early 1970s before focusing on raising her family with husband drummer Jerry Kroon, who has played with Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Eddy Raven, and Tommy Roe, along with serving as a longtime drummer for Don McLean.
4. “Painted Lady,” Chuck Woolery (1977)
Written by Chuck Woolery, Norro Wilson, and Linda Hargrove
By 1977, Chuck had moved to Los Angeles and was hosting his first game show, Wheel of Fortune and still releasing new music, including “Painted Lady.” Woolery’s mid-tempo country song was released along with the B-Side “Growing Up in a Country Way.”
At the time, Woolery still considered himself a country artist first and a game show host second. “The idea I had when I came to Los Angeles was that TV was a good medium for me,” said Woolery in 1977. “I figured I could take my songwriting and signing with me anywhere I went.”
5. “Come and Take Me Home,” Pat Boone (2005)
Written by Chuck Woolery
Woolery’s contribution to Pat Boone’s 2005 album Glory Train: The Lost Sessions was the very spiritually-driven “Come and Take Me Home.” Boone’s album also features the song, “Thank You Billy Graham,” a tribute to the then aging evangelical preacher, who died in 2018. The song featured an all-star ensemble with Bono, Kenny Rogers, LeAnn Rimes, Michael McDonald and more.
[RELATED: Pat Boone Revisits Country Hit “Chattanoogie Shoeshine Boy”]
Photo: Carlo Allegri/Getty Images for the Game Show Network
