Persistence paid off for Lynn Anderson and ‘Rose Garden’
There’s an old saying that “persistence is a major part of success” And persistence has played a big part in many entertainers success in the music business.
Lynn Anderson’s 1970 No. 1 “Rose Garden” is a good example of that kind of persistence.
Lynn had heard “Rose Garden” in Joe South’s 1969 album titled ”Introspect” and told her husband and record producer Glenn Sutton that she would like to record it. But he repeatedly turned her down – telling her that the song would not work for her because it contained likes like “I could promise you things like big diamond rings” – things that a woman just would not tell a man. And that a female artist singing lyrics like that just would not work. But after several turndowns to her request to record the song – fate and persistence finally stepped in when Lynn’s recording session ended 15 minutes early with no other songs scheduled to record.
So one more time Lynn asked to record “Rose Garden” and since there was nothing else to work on, she finally recorded the song According to Lynn, the first take was a flop.
Then Charlie McCoy and Jerry Kennedy came up with a different rhythm pattern which came to be know as “The Rose Garden Shuffle.”
According to Jerry Kennedy, “that rhythm pattern was actually an “old blues beat” from a record I did in the early 1960’s called “Blues Beat” which had that same pattern.”
Columbia Records had another recording scheduled for Lynn’s next release but after hearing “Rose Garden,” rescheduled “Rose Garden” for her next record.
It became Lynn’s 19th charted song and her first No. 1. The Columbia Records single also scored in the top five pop charts. The record also earned a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Performance.
Her “Rose Garden” album was at the top of the Billboard Top Country Album Charts for 14 weeks and charted for 77 weeks in 1970.
Lynn placed 60 songs on the country music charts between 1966 and 1989 including five No. 1s. Thirteen of her 60 country chart singles also scored on the pop charts.
Her 60 charted singles included duets with Jerry Lane, her mother Liz Anderson, Gary Morris and Ed Bruce.
She also placed 31 LP’s on Billboard’s Top Country Album Charts between 1967 and 1983.
Lynn was born in Grand Forks, North Dakota, in 1947 and became an accomplished equestrienne and was named California Horse Show Queen in 1966. She appeared on Lawrence Welk’s tv show in 1968.
Lynn Anderson died in 2015.