Sad to hear of Dottie's death. But she lived a long life. I have long admired Dottie's work with the Anita Kerr Singers, of which Dottie as an important part. I always enjoy hearing them. They made records with a lot of artists, and I believe contributed much to those recordings. The "Nashville Sound" might never have happened without them. I think they should be in the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Re: Anita Kerr singer Dorothy Ann "Dottie" Dillard has died
I was very saddened to hear of Dottie's passing. She was one of my all-time favorite interview subjects due to her honesty, kindness, and especially her dry wit. She was quite a character.
I remember she told me that when she moved back to Springfield to take care of her ailing mother, and then her mom passed away, she kept everything in the house exactly the way it was when her mother died. She was such a sentimentalist.
She also was blunt about her assessments of people and situations, giving me some of the most colorful quotes in my book, "Jim Reeves: His Untold Story."
If you watch the TV interview that is linked on this page, you will notice Dottie saying how Anita Kerr became Chet Atkins' co-producer, but finally quit BECAUSE SHE WASN'T GETTING CREDIT FOR IT. This is exactly what I reported in my book. Leo Jackson even said old Chet would come in just long enough to sign the time card for the union so he'd get paid, then he'd leave and go play golf...but he'd still get paid anyway PLUS his name would end up in the album credits even though it was Anita doing the work.
This is borne out by the Studio B footage of Jim recording and Anita talking to him from the control room. She was producing the session that day. VoiceMasters/H&H were the first to release this footage on video and it was re-released last year in improved audio and video quality on "The Great Jim Reeves Anthology" DVD. (Click the link below to read more and order).
I don't know if it has ever been publicly reported or not but I can share a secret with you and that is that Dottie Dillard and Owen Bradley had a long-term very close relationship, that was openly known around Nashville. She still was grieving his loss the last time I spoke with her.
He was more than a mentor to her.
To think that Dottie could not read music, but had an instinct for quickly learning the harmony parts to the music she had to sing as part of the Anita Kerr singers -- appearing on hundreds of hits - is a testimony to her great, native talent.
She was a very unassuming person and a very candid one, who told me a lot of things I did not have room to put in my book. I hope to gather some of these anecdotes together at some point in the future and share them with the fans. Everything I have is on tape so I may post some of that on my blog in the weeks to come.
Larry, in your talks with Dottie, did she ever say what she thought about working with Jim? I expect she thought he was a fine singer, but did she have anything to say about the recording sessions, or personal appearances with him?
Re: Anita Kerr singer Dorothy Ann "Dottie" Dillard has died
It's in my book, yes. She liked him and was impressed he was always so well prepared and such a great singer. He was easy to work with.
She commented on some singers who showed up for sessions who didn't know the material and had to be taught, and one in particular she really didn't like, who couldn't get a feel for when he was to start singing so they had to point to him and cue him.
There were some dreadful singers they worked with and she named names.
She also knew Terry Davis, who used to live in her apartment building, in a small room that had no bathroom, and she described him in unflattering terms. She said she was aghast when she ran into him with Mary at a music industry party a few weeks later.
Dottie also sent me a bunch of 8x10 photos which I have not used, that show Jim with them. I'll be using those in the future.
Re: Anita Kerr singer Dorothy Ann "Dottie" Dillard has died
It sounds like Ms. Dillard was likely shocked that Mary Reeves would have even been out in public with Terry Davis,much less marry him.I'm glad she had a long,full life,Dorothy Dillard.Anita L. Cooper
Re: Anita Kerr singer Dorothy Ann "Dottie" Dillard has died
I too was very saddened to hear we lost Dottie Dillard, another very talented contributor to Jim's music and the Anita Kerr Singers. If I'm not mistaken, there are now two deceased members of the group. As much as I liked their beautiful vocals on Jim's songs, I also liked the music they made on their own. I have one of their CD's where they sing many of the popular country songs from the '50's and '60's, and it's really great! I enjoyed the set of tunes they did at the Norway concert where they appeared with Jim, Chet and Bobby Bare. It's great having Jim's part of the show on DVD, but I wish this complete concert would be released at a reasonable price. As many fans already know, this concert has been available for a while now, but only in the Bear set that also includes 5 CD's and a big hardcover book about the tour. Although it does look like a nice set, it is very expensive!
Re: Anita Kerr singer Dorothy Ann "Dottie" Dillard has died
Here are three songs (posted on You Tube) featuring Dottie Dillard: 1. 'Cow Cow Boogie', 2. 'I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire', 3. 'Blues Stay Away From Me'(Dottie sings this classic with Jack Shook)
on May 8, 2015, 10:00 am