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Liz Anderson
Anderson in 1971
Background information
Birth name	Elizabeth Jane Haaby
Born	(1927-01-13)January 13, 1927 Roseau, Minnesota, U.S.
Died	October 31, 2011(2011-10-31) (aged 84) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres	Country
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1964–2011
Labels	RCA Victor,Epic, Showboat

Elizabeth Jane Anderson (néeHaaby; January 13, 1927^[1] – October 31, 2011) was an Americancountry music singer-songwriter who was one in a wave of new-generation female vocalists in the genre during the 1960s to write and record her own songs on a regular basis. Writing inThe New York Times Bill Friskics-Warren noted, "Like her contemporaryLoretta Lynn, Ms. Anderson gave voice to female survivors; inhabiting their struggles in a soprano at times alluring, at times sassy."^[1]

Anderson received twoGrammy Award nominations in 1967, one for "Best Female Country Vocal Performance" for her self-penned, top-5 hit "Mama Spank", and the other for "Best Country Vocal Group" for the top-5 hit "The Game of Triangles", withBobby Bare andNorma Jean. As a songwriter, she scored 26 top 50 hits in the 1960s, more than any other female songwriter that decade in the country music industry.

Anderson also wrote many of the early hits for her daughter,Lynn Anderson,^[2] whose recording career began less than a year after her mother's. She wrote several hits for other notable artists, includingMerle Haggard. Haggard had his first top 10 and number one hits, respectively, with "(My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers" and "I'm a Lonesome Fugitive", both penned by Anderson. He named his band "The Strangers", after the hit "(My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers".

Born Elizabeth Jane Haaby inRoseau, Minnesota,^[2] on January 13, 1927,^[3] or March 13, 1930,^[1] she played the family mandolin as a child and also sang in the local church. At age 13, the family moved west toGrand Forks, North Dakota. At the age of 16, Liz was married to Casey Anderson and then had her daughterLynn a year later. She studied at the Redwood City Business College inRedwood City, California, and worked as a secretary.^[4]

In 1957, the family moved toSacramento, California. The limited popularity at the time of country music in California led Anderson to start writing songs. Casey was a member of the Sheriff's posse, which was going to take part in theNational Centennial Pony Express Celebration. Casey convinced his wife to write a song in honor of thePony Express. The song was named the official song.^[5]

Anderson began publishing her songs and made friends within the burgeoning country music community in Bakersfield during the early 1960s. Some of the first hits from her pen were "Be Quiet Mind" byDel Reeves and "Pick of the Week", which was recorded byRoy Drusky in 1964.^[6] In 1965,Merle Haggard recorded her song "All My Friends Are Gonna Be Strangers".^[6] She won aBMI award for the song. Anderson published over 260 songs during her career and earned five BMI awards. Anderson also wroteConway Twitty's first country hit, "Guess My Eyes Were Bigger Than My Heart".^[6] Many major country artists of the 1960s recorded at least one of her songs on their albums, includingCharley Pride,Tammy Wynette,Ernest Tubb,Loretta Lynn,George Jones,Skeeter Davis,Waylon Jennings,Kitty Wells,Connie Smith,Faron Young,The Browns,Porter Wagoner,Jerry Lee Lewis, andBill Anderson. She was also friends withChart Records ownerSlim Williamson (where daughter Lynn recorded) and provided many of the label's artists with songs includingConnie Eaton,LaWanda Lindsey, andBilly "Crash" Craddock. Singers who recorded her material in later years includedLorrie Morgan andMary Lou Turner.

Anderson demo vocals were noticed byRCA producerChet Atkins who signed her to RCA in 1965. Almost forty at the time, Anderson's year of birth was slightly lowered to 1930 in publicity materials of the era. Anderson's two initial singles fared well and her third, "Game of Triangles", withBobby Bare andNorma Jean became a top 5 hit.^[6] In April 1967, Anderson again had a top 5 Country hit, "Mama Spank".^[6] Among Anderson's most popular recordings were "Go Now Pay Later" (1966), "The Wife of the Party" (1967), "Tiny Tears" (1967),^[6] "Thanks A Lot For Tryin' Anyway" (1968) (written byJim Glaser; one of her few hits written by someone else), and "Husband Hunting" (1970).^[6]

Around this same time her only child, daughter Lynn, was rising as a country singer. Anderson wrote a number of her daughter's early hits, including her 1967 debut single "Ride, Ride, Ride",^[6] as well as her first big hit, the top 5 "If I Kiss You (Will You Go Away)" (also in 1967). Liz and Lynn had a top 25 duet with "Mother May I" in 1968,^[6] and appeared together on a Mother's Day episode of theLawrence Welk Show that May. Lynn would later have her biggest success in the 1970s, becoming one of country music's most successful female vocalists.

In 1971, Anderson moved toEpic Records, and released the four charting singles produced by then son-in-lawGlenn Sutton which went no higher than the Country top 60. One of those singles was acover version of "I'll Never Fall In Love Again". In 1974 she released a Christmas single, the self-penned "Christopher the Christmas Seal", on the small Hobby Horse Records label.

Anderson did not record again until she released a single for the Scorpion Records label in 1978 that did not chart. She continued to write, however, and one of her songs was a top-40 country success forFaron Young in 1977. In 1979,Lorrie Morgan had one of her first charted songs with an Anderson composition "Tell Me I'm Only Dreaming" which went to number 88 in 1979 and was one of the last charting songs written by Anderson.

Her lone 1980s recording was the albumMy Last Rose for Tudor Records which contained original material and covers of well-known songs. In the mid-1990s, Anderson started her own record company, Showboat Records.The Cowgirl Way was her first album in over a decade. She also recorded an album of Christmas songs and another one of children's songs, most of them written by her. In 2006, Lynn Anderson released an album for the label entitledCowgirl, composed entirely of songs penned by her mother.

• The Game of Triangles (1967)
• Liz Anderson Sings (1967)
• Cookin' up Hits (1967)
• Liz Anderson Sings Her Favorites (1968)

Anderson enjoyed her greatest success as a songwriter, receiving many awards for her work, including severalBMI awards. She also served asvice president of the Nashville Songwriters Association International. The following is a list of her songs which made the top 50 onBillboard's country chart (with chart rankings). In 1966 and 1967, Anderson had six top 50 hits as a songwriter each year, believed^{[by whom?]} to be a record still to this date among female country music songwriters.

• Liz Anderson profile atLynn Anderson's official website
• Liz Anderson atIMDb

• 1927 births
• 2011 deaths
• People from Roseau, Minnesota
• Country musicians from Minnesota
• American women country singers
• American country singer-songwriters
• RCA Victor artists
• Singer-songwriters from Minnesota
• 20th-century American women singers
• 20th-century American singers
• American people of Norwegian descent
• Burials at Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery (Nashville, Tennessee)

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