Saturday 27 June 2020

Rosalie Allen born 27 June 1924


Rosalie Allen (born Julie Marlene Bedra; June 27, 1924 – September 23, 2003) was an American country singer, songwriter, guitarist, columnist and television and radio host who was noted for her yodelling. She was one of the most successful female country singers of the late 1940s. Billed variously as "The Prairie Star" and the "Queen of the Yodellers", she enjoyed a string of hit records, including "Guitar Polka", "Rose of the Alamo" and "Quicksilver", and became a pioneering broadcaster, and was the first woman inducted into the Country Music DJ Hall of Fame.

Rosalie Allen was born in Old Forge, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania (some sources give her given birth name as Julia, or Juliana rather than Julie.) Allen grew up the daughter of a Polish immigrant miner in a family of 12 children in Pennsylvania. During the Great Depression, at age nine, she worked as a dishwasher to help with the family's finances. But through those times, she had a strong love for music and learned many a song by radio or playing the records as well as learning the art of yodelling. Allen taught herself to sing and play her brother’s guitar as a child.

Her inspirations included some of the most notable cowgirl singers of the era: Patsy Montana, whose "I Want to be a Cowboy's Sweetheart" sold over a million copies in 1935, and the Girls of the Golden West, a sister act whose unique harmony yodelling had made them major stars of hillbilly radio. In 1939, she was affectionately known as the "Queen of the Hillbillies" as well as "Champion Girl Yodeler of America" and "Queen of the Yodellers" after winning a yodelling contest, and continued to use this moniker throughout her career. The contest's prize was to sing on WBRE in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, a performance which was her radio debut. She then headed for York, Pennsylvania, where she worked as the featured vocalist with Shorty Fincher's Prairie Pals.

By 1943 she moved to New York and performed on Denver Darling's Swing Billies pseudo-western radio show. She made her first commercial recordings with Darling, cutting both "Put Your Arms Around Me" and "Don't Wait Too Long to Forgive", on which Darling was billed as Tex Grande, for the local De Luxe label in 1944. That year she became a regular on Zebe Carver's Hill Country Jamboree show, which led to an offer of her own show the same year and was, for a time, the only country DJ in the city. The half-hour program, Prairie Stars on WOV in New York, aired six nights a week and was so popular that Country Music magazine named her the most famous country music personality in Manhattan. The show ran until 1956.


                               

In 1945 Allen signed with RCA Victor, an artist-label association that would result in much of her best work. Her first hit was a reworking of "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart" and both it and "Guitar Polka" found their way into the upper echelons of  
the country chart in 1946. Allen's vocal pyrotechnics on "He Taught Me How to Yodel" helped to popularise Kenny Roberts's song, and a later association with Elton Britt produced several fine duets including "Quicksilver", "Beyond the Sunset" and "The Yodel Blues" (all 1949) and "Mockin' Bird Hill" (1950).

Allen appeared in the film Village Barn (1949) and that year began a four-year stint as the host of her own television show. She opened New York's first retail outlet devoted to country music called Rosalie Allen's Hillbilly Music Center on West 54th Street in New York City. Her writings of The Rosalie Allen Hillbilly appeared in columns for National Jamboree and Country Sound Roundup.

Teaming up with Elton Britt again the duo also recorded an album for Waldorf Records in the mid-'50s -- now released as Starring Elton Britt and Rosalie Allen on the Grand Award label. She still released a number of albums including Rodeo in 1959. As rock 'n' roll pushed country aside, she moved to Alabama and performed less, even though Patsy Montana urged her to return to the recording studio but she was stopped by a combination of health and marital problems, as well as by disputes with Nashville producers.


Portrait of Shorty Warren, Rosalie Allen, Ernest Tubb, Cy Sweat, Dave Miller, Radio Dot, Smokey Warren, Dick Richards, Minnie Pearl, Bob McCoy, and Smokey Swan, Carnegie Hall, New York, N.Y., Sept. 18-19, 1947

Allen elected to stay home to raise her daughter, except for a few special appearances. At one point she worked as a cook for Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker for whom her son-in-law was a security guard. Her final album was The Queen Of The Yodelers, released in 1983. Her later years were spent with her daughter and son-in-law in the high desert of California, near Palmdale.

In 1999 her work in radio was recognized and she was inducted into the Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame. In her later life, she suffered from diabetes and other ailments. After a brief illness with congestive heart failure, Allen died on September 23, 2003 in Van Nuys, California at the age of 79. At the time of her death she used the name Julia Gilbert, with the surname being that of her last husband.

In an article about her radio career, The New York Times in 1946 called Miss Allen ''a rare four-leafed clover in a field that was one of man's last strongholds.'’  (Edited mainly from Wikipedia, AllMusic & The Independent)

4 comments:

boppinbob said...

For “The Versatile Rosalie Allen” go here:

https://www.upload.ee/files/11935009/Rosalie_Allen_CD1.rar.html

and here:

https://www.upload.ee/files/11935063/Rosalie_Allen_CD2.rar.html

1. I WANT TO BE A COWBOY'S SWEETHEART
2. TENNESSEE WALTZ
3. GUITAR POLKA (Old Monterey)
4. BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
5. TEARS ON MY PILLOW
6. I'D RATHER BE A COWGIRL
7. HAVE I TOLD YOU LATELY THAT I LOVE YOU?
8. ON SILVER WINGS TO SAN ANTONE
9. YOUR CHEATIN' HEART
10. I'LL NEVER GRIEVE (Oh No, Oh No)
11. CHOC'LATE ICE CREAM CONE
12. WHEN MY BLUE MOON TURNS TO GOLD AGAIN
13. HE TAUGHT ME HOW TO YODEL
14. ALONG THE LONELY TRAIL
15. TENNESSEE YODEL POLKA
16. HITLER LIVES
17. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN LONELY?
18. I CAN'T TELL THAT LIE TO MY HEART
19. PO' FOLKS (All the Time)
20. DREAM TRAIN
21. YODEL YOUR TROUBLES AWAY
22. TAKE IT BACK AND CHANGE IT FOR A BOY
23. JEALOUS HEART
24. WHEN A COWGIRL IS HAPPY
25. IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE NOW
26. SPANISH POLKA
27. ME GO WHERE YOU GO AMIGO
28 MY DOLLY HAS A BROKEN HEART
29. COLUMBUS STOCKADE BLUES
30. THE HONEY SONG

Disc 2

1. CASTAWAY
2. WIDE ROLLIN' PLAINS
3. YOU AIN'T WHERE YOU COME FROM NOW
4. MY OLD FAMILIAR HEARTACHES
5. IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE I'M LEAVIN' JUST COUNT THE DAYS I'M GONE
6. TOMBOY
7. YODEL BOOGIE
8. HILLS OF PRIDE
9. JUST WAIT ‘TIL I GET YOU ALONE
10. (Honey, Baby, Hurry) BRING YOUR SWEET SELF BACK TO ME
11. BELIEVE ME I'LL BE LEAVING YOU
12. MOUNTAIN POLKA
13. MAMA WHAT'LL I DO
14. IT WASN'T GOD WHO MADE HONKY TONK ANGELS
15. IT'D SURPRISE YOU
16. GREEN AS GRASS
17. I WANNA SIT
18. PLAYHOUSE OF LOVE
19. YODELING BIRD
20. I GOTTA HAVE YOU
21. I'VE PAID FOR MY MISTAKE
22. I LAUGHED AT LOVE
23. HARD HEARTED WOMAN
24. LET ME SHARE YOUR NAME
25. SOMEBODY
26. JUST A SAILOR'S SWEETHEART
27. MY ADOBE HACIENDA
28. GUITAR POLKA (Old Monterey)
29. THEN I'LL KEEP ON LOVING YOU
30. ROSE OF THE ALAMO
31. CHIME BELLS


Rosalie Allen was known as "The Queen of the Yodellers" - one of the biggest names in the New York country scene of the '40s and '50s and an award winning writer and radio presenter. A massive 60 studio recordings from singles and transcriptions including her first solo recording, a cover of Patsy Montana's "I Want To Be A Cowboy's Sweetheart", plus rare early recordings with the Tex Grande (Denver Darling) Band. In addition are both versions of her famous "Guitar Polka" - one featuring Chet Atkins. Hear her ventures into Rock 'n' Roll and Western Swing as well as the country ballads, Yodelling cowgirl songs and tender love ballads.(Jasmine notes)

boppinbob said...

For “Elton Britt & Rosalie Allen - Side By Side - The Duets” go here:

https://www.upload.ee/files/11935360/Elton_Britt___Rosalie_Allen_-_Duets.rar.html

1. Mockingbird Hill
2. On And On With You
3. Tomorrow You'll Be Married
4. Swiss Lullaby
5. The Game Of Broken Hearts
6. I May Hate Myself In The Morning
7. It Is No Secret
8. Fooling Around
9. A Little Bit Blue
10. The Fiddlin' Fool
11. Give Me Some Sugar, Sugar Baby
12. Cotton Candy And A Toy Balloon
13. Ashes Or Roses
14. Tennessee Yodel Polka
15. Written Guarantee
16. Close Your Eyes And Dream
17. The Yodel Blues
18. Soft Lips
19. The Wallflower Waltz
20. Let's Sail Away To Heaven
21. Tell Her You Love Her
22. You Missed Your Chance Last Night
23. Acres Of Diamonds (Mountains Of Gold)
24. Prairieland Polka
25. Quicksilver
26. Home Came A Sailor
27. Beyond The Sunset
28. Side By Side

Jasmine Records are delighted to present the first ever album of duets from two of the greatest names on the country scene, Elton Britt and Rosalie Allen.Marvel at these two versatile voices dueting across 28 superb Country, Gospel, Novelty, Western and Yodel songs. Includes their hit recordings of 'Beyond The Sunset', 'Mockingbird Hill', 'Quicksilver', 'Yodel Blues' and 'It Is No Secret', plus five tracks featuring The Three Suns.(Jasmine notes)

alanmking said...

Bob,
Missed this when it first came out.
Is there any chance of posting new links please

Many thanks
Alan

boppinbob said...

Hello Alan, The links work fine. Cut and paste the link into your address bar and enter. That should do it. Regards, Bob