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One of just a few African-American country artists signed
to major labels in the wake of Charley Pride's tremendous success in the 1970s,
Stoney Edwards had a style distinct not only from Pride's but also from that of
any other country performer of his time. John Morthland, who wrote the booklet
notes for a compilation release that appeared after Edwards's death, described
the artist's voice as a "grainy, stray-cat voice." Edwards wrote many of his own
songs, whose lyrics reflected the hard life he led. He never topped the charts
in the same way Pride did, but industry figures and music writers admired his
work. The prominent American roots-music historian Peter Guralnick devoted an
entire chapter of his pioneering essay collection Lost Highways to Edwards,
pointing to "the weight of his compositions, the wealth of detail, the
selectivity of his art."
Edwards was born December 24, 1929, near Seminole, Oklahoma. One of seven
children born to parents he called Bub and Red, he was given the name Frenchy,
after a local liquor bootlegger who stopped by to visit on the day he was born.
Edwards's father was a farmer of African and Irish ancestry, and his mother was
Native American. Although his mother was a music teacher, Edwards never learned
to read either music or books. During his teenage years Edwards lived often with
his father's brothers, who operated three illegal liquor stills in different
Oklahoma towns.
The dangers of living outside the law were matched by those caused by Edwards's
tri-racial heritage. "I was never really accepted by any race," Edwards told
Guralnick. "Sometimes I wished I was black as a skillet or white as a damned
sheet, but the way I am it's always been a motherf∗∗∗er." Edwards grew up
hearing country music on radio broadcasts, and he especially liked the
Texas-flavored swing of bandleader Bob Wills. Moving from place to place, though,
Edwards rarely had the chance to hear music of any kind, whether live or on
records or radio. He made a guitar out of a bucket and a piece of wire when he
was young, and at some point he began to fill the void by writing songs of his
own. "I don't think they rhymed or anything," he told Guralnick. "They'd just be
about a bug crawling through the sand, an ant maybe, some kind of foolishness."
In 1950, after his mother's death, and with federal liquor agents on his trail,
Edwards moved to Oakland, California, and then north to the blue-collar suburb
of Richmond. In the 1950s and 1960s he worked at a series of jobs: car wash
attendant, maintenance man, machinist, construction worker, and crane and
forklift operator at a shipyard. Edwards married his first wife, Rosemary, in
1954, and after some resistance she ended up encouraging him to pursue his love
of music. He had no dreams of a star career, but he began singing in Northern
California bars in off-hours. On one occasion, Guralnick reported, a patron
yelled, "I'm stoned, and he probably is, too," giving Edwards a nickname that
stuck.
A 1968 industrial accident ended his career as a laborer: he was trapped in a
sealed tank and suffered blood poisoning as his oxygen ran out. Doctors wrote
Edwards off as terminal, and he spent some time in a coma and months more in a
disoriented state, refusing social security disability payments and coming close
to being institutionalized. As he slowly recovered, Edwards began writing songs
again and turned his attention to helping another sick man: Bob Wills, whose
music Edwards had admired as a teenager, was ailing, and Edwards organized a
benefit concert to help with his medical bills. Performing at the concert in
1970, Edwards got the attention of a local lawyer, Ray Sweeney, who followed
country music and had connections at Capitol Records' Los Angeles headquarters.
Sweeney pushed Edwards as a potential successor to Pride, and within a few weeks
Edwards was signed to Capitol. Backed by the then little-known Wills tribute
band Asleep at the Wheel, he went into the studio. His first single, "A
Two-Dollar Toy," was a sentimental number that he composed, referring to the
hard times he had so recently gone through: the song's protagonist thinks about
leaving his family, but stops after tripping over a child's toy in the doorway,
being thus reminded of what he would lose. "A Two-Dollar Toy" was successful
enough to make Edwards a steady member of Capitol's roster in the 1970s and to
attract songwriting contributions from top writers.
Edwards cracked Billboard magazine's country top 20 twice, with "She's My Rock"
in 1972 and "Mississippi You're on My Mind," written by top folk songwriter
Jesse Winchester, in 1975. "She's My Rock" was later covered by country vocal
virtuoso George Jones, who once invited Edwards on stage to sing it. Edwards
paid tribute to two of his heroes, Hank Williams and Lefty Frizzell, in another
hit, "Hank and Lefty Raised My Country Soul," but Frizzell responded with a
racial epithet when Edwards met him in person.
The epithet in question played a role when Capitol released Edwards's "Blackbird"
in 1975; although the song's message was one of racial pride ("Blackbird, hold
your head high …"), it included the phrase "just a couple of country niggers,"
and radio stations heeded calls that it be banned. Within a decade, the term
would be used commonly enough among African-American hip-hop entertainers, but
at the time the controversy was enough to put an end to Edwards's major-label
career. In the late 1970s and early 1980s he recorded for the small JMI label
owned by producer Cowboy Jack Clement, and the independent labels Boot and
Musical America.
Edwards returned to his farm in Oklahoma, living with his second wife, June, and
his three children. In 1984 he found his career slowed by another accident: he
shot himself in the leg during a quick-draw contest, and the leg had to be
amputated. By 1990 he was suffering from both diabetes and lung cancer. The
cancer responded to treatment, however, and in 1991 Edwards returned to the
studio and released the album Just for Old Times' Sake on England's Country
Music People label. The all-star roster of backing musicians on the album,
including ace Texas fiddler Johnny Gimble, former Texas Playboys vocalist Leon
Rausch, and Asleep at the Wheel bandleader Ray Benson, testified to the high
regard in which Edwards was held in the country music industry. Edwards
developed stomach cancer in the 1990s, and died on April 5, 1997. By that time,
younger country fans were beginning to rediscover his unique body of work, and
the collection Poor Folks Stick Together: The Best of Stoney Edwards appeared on
the Razor & Tie label the following year.
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On Feb. 26th 1988 in the city of Wageningen NL a baby
girl was born by the name of Antoinette Maria Johanna Electa Thomassen. But the
baby with the long name was on the move. She first lived in Driel NL and then
moved to Veenendaal NL where she lives today with her mother, father and sister
Angelique. This baby was to become Electa Winter, country singer extraordinaire.
Electa claims she chose her stage name Winter because she was born in the dead
of winter however some think she may have chosen that name because there would
not be enough rome on a CD for her full name. At the age of eight Electa
auditioned for a youth choir called The Willy B-Kids. Even though she was a year
too young for the choir because of her singing ability she was accepted. Electa
was not one to rest on her laurels. She wanted more then the choir could offer
and the result was a solo career. Her inspiration for this solo career came when
she heard a country band play "Grandpa", a song "The Judds" made famous. However
Electa also had other things that inspired her, such as a father that likes to
write country music and who is now her manager. In 1997 things started to happen
for Electa. In that year she started to perform in English and this same year
she entered her first Dutch singing contest in Tolbert (Gr) and won second prize
in competition against adults. She knew then what she wanted in life and set out
in pursuit of her dream. In April 1998 she won an incentive prize in a Dutch
singing contest in The Hoeve NL but that was still not enough for this young
rising star. She also won a first and third prize in singing competitions in
Rhederburg (Gr) and Borculo (Gld). Since then Electa has won too many contests
to count. Electa's favorite festival is across the boarder in Germany. It's
called the Ellie Brandler country festival in Alphen-Drupt. This festival has
been a boon for Electa's career. From there she played venues in neighboring
countries like Belgium. You can find Electa in Belgium at the country and
western association in Meulbeke where Jan Vermeersch is the owner of this
western town / museum. Electa is there every August and in the summer of 2000
she was named as a guest of honour of Wichita, Belgium. In 1999 Electa received
a nice present on her birthday. It was the release of her first CD that she had
recorded in July 1988 "On Her Own Country Road". 1998 was a turning point in
Electa's career. While performing at the Zevenbergen Festival, organized by John
Melissen, she met producers from the USA. Even though Electa was only ten years
old she was invited to America for the year 2000. Apart from TV appearences,
numerous radio shows with Rob Stenders and Eric Dikeb on Radio 3 FM in Holland
she still has time to follow her hobbies of line dancing, drawing, painting,
playing the guitar and of course travelling which is a great hobby if you are an
upcoming country singer. Under the guidance of her father Electa's career is
running smooth and he makes sure she has the time for friends and being a kid,
even if there are times that Electa is impatient to do more and wants to get
going. Watch for this young rising star on TV, Radio or a Record near you! 
James
Segrest was born on a small farm just outside of Montgomery, Alabama.
Country music has been a life-long passion with this artist: James made it
to Nashville, sometimes walking, and was signed to ABC Records where he was
produced by Bill Lowery and Fred Carter, Jr. (Deana’s dad).” Heck”, says
James, “I used to bounce her on my knee when she was a baby” “What I’d Give
To Be The Wind” fast went to # 17 in the Country Music Charts. His musical
talents are amazing. Singing, and playing instruments seems to come
naturally to James. He also has a fine talent for writing songs and he can
deliver a variety of songs in diverse styles '" and the best part of all is
that it’s Pure Traditional Country! 
Three short years ago an 18-year-old Memphis Cole left the busy life on the
outskirts of Philadelphia and moved to Nashville to pursue his career. This
former pro fighter traded in his boxing gloves and mouth guard for a pair of
cowboy boots and an old guitar. Now the only fight he wants is one that
brings cheering country fans to their feet. 
Born:
‘Wesley Ialacy. Born in Freeport, Texas.