Rules and traditions are tricky things to follow in the songwriting world. Sometimes, a little structure can be a good thing. Sometimes, it’s a requirement of the format, like in folk music. But other times, and especially when it comes to biased gender expectations, these arbitrary guidelines can do more damage than good. In 1970, it almost cost country singer Lynn Anderson her only No. 1 hit on pop charts.
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In the summer of 1970, Anderson and her husband-slash-producer, Glenn Sutton, were looking for songs to cut for her first single on Columbia Records, which she signed to that year. Anderson suggested “Rose Garden”, which Joe South wrote and recorded in 1967 and 1968, respectively. Sutton refused.
If Anderson had obliged the generalizations Sutton used to defend his stance, then she would have missed out on a No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100, a Grammy Award, and a decades-long musical legacy. So, you know. Ignoring your husband has its merit in the right moments.
Why Glenn Sutton Didn’t Want Lynn Anderson Cutting “Rose Garden”
According to the Texarkana Gazette, when country star Lynn Anderson first suggested Joe South’s song, “Rose Garden”, her producer and husband, Glenn Sutton, rejected it on lyrical grounds. “Right off the bat, Glenn told me that I could not record the song because it was not a girl’s song,” Anderson recalled. “That the song had some lines in it that a girl just would not sing. Like the line, ‘I could promise you things like big diamond rings’, that a girl would not sing.”
Fortunately for Anderson, they didn’t have many other songs to choose from. With nothing left to cut for their Columbia releases, Anderson finally convinced Sutton that she should cut a version of “Rose Garden”. And thank goodness she did.
Anderson’s 1970 track skyrocketed to the top of the charts around the world, including the U.S., Canada, Australia, Finland, Ireland, Germany, Norway, New Zealand, and Switzerland. It also reached Top 5 status in Austria, the Netherlands, the U.K., and South Africa. Anderson’s song was a smash success. The following year, Anderson’s version of “Rose Garden” garnered her the Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance, Female.
As a quick aside, I’ll concede to the fact that sometimes, a song really would sound better if a different gender sings it. For example, Nancy Sinatra ended up with “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’” because it would have sounded too harsh coming from a man, Lee Hazlewood.
But in this particular instance, thank goodness Anderson ignored her husband.
Photo by ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
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