''Wild Side' has Milam connection' by Clay Coppedge.Temple Daily Telegram

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'Wild Side' has Milam connection

by Clay Coppedge

Temple Daily Telegram - September 4, 2006

CAMERON - One of the biggest selling country music songs of all time, 'The Wild Side of

Life,' has a Milam County connection. It also has a Carter Family connection, a Hank

Thompson connection and led directly to the first million selling song recorded by a

female artist.

William Warren of Cameron was the lyricist for 'The Wild Side of Life,' which Hank

Thompson recorded in 1952. The lyrics most often quoted and remembered are: 'I didn't

know God made honky tonk angels I might have known you'd never make a wife You gave up

the only one that ever loved you And went back to the wild side of life.'

The song was a monster hit for Thompson, topping the country charts for more than three

months. 'The Wild Side of Life' became Thompson's signature song.

The song has been covered by artists as diverse as Bill Haley and His Comets, Burl Ives,

Ernest Tubb, Jerry Lee Lewis, Waylon Jennings, Moe Bandy, Willie Nelson (with Leon

Russell,) Bonnie Tyler and others. By any measure, it's a true country classic.

The song's roots go back to when William Warren was a boy in Cameron and A.P Carter of

the Carter Family was collecting old traditional folk songs for the Carter Family to

record.

One of those songs was 'I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes,' which was a hit for the

Carter Family in 1929.

Eight years later Roy Acuff heard the same tune but with different lyrics from a band

called The Black Shirts. Acuff recorded the song as 'The Great Speckled Bird,' a song

inspired by the 12th chapter and 9th verse of the Book of Jeremiah.

'The Great Speckled Bird' became Acuff's biggest hit and most requested song at 'The

Grand Old Opry.'

William Warren's big step into country music history came when his eight-month old

marriage was crumbling and his wife left him. He spotted his wife in a Texas honky-tonk,

which inspired him to go home and write 'The Wild Side of Life' to the tune of the 'Great

Speckled Bird.'

'Jimmy Heap of Taylor and his band the Melody Masters first recorded the song on the

Imperial label. The band's piano player, Arlie Carter, is credited as the song's co-

writer.

Heap said in a 1971 interview with Ray Campi that the Melody Masters' version sold about

10,000 copies before Hank Thompson picked it up as the 'B' side of his single 'Crying In

The Deep Blue Sea.'

The 'A' side of the record didn't get much response but when disc jockeys began playing

the 'B' side, the response was immediate and dramatic. 'The Wild Side of Life' stayed at

number one on the Billboard charts for an astounding 15 weeks.

Songwriter J.D. Miller heard the song on his car radio and immediately wrote lyrics for a

female response to the song. He submitted his lyrics to Decca Records, which contacted

Kitty Wells about recording it.

Ms. Wells, semi-retired at the time, was not all that interested in the song, but her

husband convinced her to record it anyway since she would be paid a session fee for

stepping into the studio..

Her song 'It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels,' also became a number one hit in

1952, and stayed there for six weeks.

So there you have it: One melody, four separate lyrics, four different titles recorded by

four different members of the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Though Williams Warren isn't a member of the hall of fame, his contribution to country

music is secure.