The Story Behind The Song…………………………….. “Mama He’s Crazy” – The Judds (#1, 1984) Twenty eight-year-old Kenny O’Dell had come to Nashville in 1970 with a background centered in rock and pop music. O’Dell had begun singing at the age of nine and, using a Martin guitar as his rhythm partner, he had performed with several bands before he graduated from junior high. In the early sixties he migrated from his native Oklahoma to California and worked with a host of different stars, including rock guitar legend Duane Eddy. In 1967, O’Dell finally landed a West Coast record deal and hit the pop chart with a self-penned song called “Beautiful People.” Bobby Vee also cut Kenny’s composition and made “Beautiful People” into a minor hit. When O’Dell’s next song “Next Plane To London” became a top twenty hit for the group Rose Garden, things looked bright. But a career in rock music was by then starting to be more and more difficult to maintain, and soon Kenny’s songwriting capability was falling on deaf ears. When he was offered the opportunity to move to Nashville in 1970 and run Bobby Goldsboro’s publishing group, O’Dell jumped at the chance. In Music City, Kenny soon found his niche and began turning out hit country songs such as “I Take It On Home,” Charlie Rich’s first big one in ’72, then Charlie’s monster record the following year “Behind Closed Doors,” Tanya Tucker’s “Lizzie and the Rainman” and “What I’ve Got In Mind” by Billie Jo Spears. The successful scribe was even given the chance to come back into the studio and record, signing with the independent label Capricorn. He produced three top twenty hits with Capricorn, the biggest of these being the #9 “Let’s Shake Hands and Come Out Lovin’” in 1978. In the early part of 1982, a mother/daughter singing duo came to O’Dell’s attention via Ralph Emery’s local morning television show on WSM-TV. The Judds were frequent guests on the program, and Kenny thought they had a lot of potential. He set up a meeting with Naomi and Wynonna with the idea of trying to get them a record deal, then after that was accomplished, he would serve as their producer and write their material. For the next few months, O’Dell and the Judds would meet regularly each week at Kenny’s downtown Nashville office and go over songs. Not only was Kenny trying to get the women a record deal, but he was also interested in polishing their sound. It was tough work, and in spite of a lot of raw talent, O’Dell couldn’t win anyone over to the Judds’ potential. Nevertheless, even after months of rejections, Kenny continued to write songs specifically for Naomi and Wynonna. One afternoon, O’Dell took a break from writing and was watching an afternoon soap opera on television (it was called “Texas,” a short-lived knock-off of the runaway hit “Dallas”). Kenny became intrigued by some of the crazy things that were happening on the show. Grabbing a legal pad, he began to scribble down some of the lines that came right from the dialogue, and one phrase in particular jumped out at him when an actress uttered, “Mama he’s crazy.” At that point, O’Dell began writing a new song around that line, actually using the Judds as his inspiration. He imagined what it would be like for a mother to have a daughter dating (Wynonna was still in high school at the time, and had a boyfriend), and very quickly Kenny finished his song. He grabbed a boom-box recorder and guitar, and dubbed off a very rough copy of “Mama He’s Crazy,” to play for the Judds the following week. Soon after Kenny had written “Mama He’s Crazy,” the Judds moved away and their weekly sessions ended. Within a few months, O’Dell lost track of the mother/daughter duo. He also forgot about the song he had written for them. Realizing that a career in music was a long shot at best, Naomi went back to her old job as a nurse at the Williamson County Hospital. One day, while working in the ER, Judd came face-to-face with Diana Maher, daughter of RCA record producer Brent Maher. Diana had been admitted after being involved in an automobile accident. Naomi was Diana’s nurse while she was recuperating in the hospital, and the two became fast friends. They learned about each other’s backgrounds, and ultimately Diana offered to help Naomi and Wynonna by getting one of their homemade audition tapes to her dad at RCA. Within a few days, Brent Maher himself called and set up a live audition for March 2, 1983. Maher liked what he heard and offered the ladies a recording contract. After the signing of the Judds to RCA, Maher went to work trying to identify their sound. Like Kenny O’Dell had before him, the producer was having some difficulty. It seemed that the Judds like to sing anything and everything, but they didn’t have a style that was strictly their own. After performing many different numbers for Maher, the girls kept coming back to something Brent had never heard before: “Mama He’s Crazy.” It was this unknown song that came closest to a sound that Maher thought might work on the country charts. When he inquired about where Naomi had found it, she told him about their earlier work with Kenny O’Dell. Brent called O’Dell and started talking about “Mama He’s Crazy,” saying he wanted to use the song with a new act he was recording. O’Dell was perplexed. He couldn’t imagine how Brent had ever come across the song. Kenny had never done a demo on it, and in fact, couldn’t even lay his hands on a lyric sheet! Then Brent told O’Dell who the new act was, and it all came back to him. Kenny proceeded then and there to give Maher full authorization to go ahead and cut “Mama He’s Crazy” with RCA’s newest signees, the Judds. RCA held “Mama He’s Crazy” until after the label got a chance to see how the duo’s first single “Had A Dream (For The Heart)” would do. When that record went to #17, the company felt they had a strong chance to make the Judds’ next release a hit. To accomplish this, RCA decided to make and release a video based around “Mama He’s Crazy’s” story line. These images would be the first ones ever seen of the mother/daughter team. With a strong record and video, RCA shipped the Judds’ new product in early 1984. By March, the song was climbing the charts, and the video had become one of CMT’s hottest. On August 4, 1984, “Mama He’s Crazy” reached #1, beginning a string of eight straight chart-toppers for the duo. Over the course of the next five years, the Judds would release sixteen singles and only two would fail to hit #1 (a cover of Elvis Presley’s “Don’t Be Cruel” peaked at only #10, and “Give A Little Love” was a near-miss at #2). Very few country music acts in history would have the influence or the following of Naomi and Wynonna Judd. On records, on videos and in concerts, their ability to sell themselves and their music would be second to none. Overnight, they became entertainment giants, and their special sound would not only set them apart from the other acts of the time, but would defy any attempt at imitation. Therefore, it’s all the more ironic that this family team had once been unable to garner any attention even from the smallest record companies, and that the song which made them stars would have been lost and forgotten if not for an auto accident. Even the soap opera that inspired Kenny O’Dell to write “Mama He’s Crazy” couldn’t have invented a plot that bizarre. – JH youtu.be/riyfBLMlWpc
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 12:39:02 +0000