Bogguss, Suzy

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Suzy Bogguss

Singer

The youngest of her family by eight years, Suzy Bogguss didn’t mind growing up a latchkey kid in the small midwestern farming community of Aledo, Illinois, explaining in Country Sounds that she “had a lot of freedom and there was really nothing to be afraid of.” This sense of independence was later expressed in the singer’s recording of “Letting Go,” about a college-bound daughter and her mother adjusting to changes in their relationship, which also prefigured an even more dramatic move Bogguss made; after graduating from Illinois State University with a degree in metalsmithing, she left to make her living out west, singing on the road.

She scheduled and promoted her own gigs and soon built up a following in bars, coffeehouses, and on college campuses in Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. Though she lived out of her van, she was quick to tell the New Country Music Encyclopedia, “I wasn’t really a rebel. I was just adventurous. My mom always knew where I was... sort of.” Much of that time she was on stage, strumming her Taylor guitar and delivering songs in a clear soprano that Country Music’s Michael Bane reported “has echoes of Linda Ronstadt, echoes of Kitty Wells, and a little touch of Billie Holiday.”

In 1985, Bogguss moved to Nashville, where she quickly got jobs singing at a restaurant and on demo tapes. She soon became a headliner at the Dollywood amusement park and was discovered there by Liberty Records (then Capitol Records) and signed to a singles deal in 1986. Her first hit was a cover version of the 1953 Patsy Montana classic “I Want To Be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart,” which reflected her own penchant for the “western” in country western. In fact, on a trip to California to visit her grandparents when she was 12, Bogguss had met their good friend Roy Rogers, who, the singer said in the New Country Music Encyclopedia, “had a real profound influence on me.”

In 1987 Bogguss recorded her first album, Somewhere Between, which featured liner notes by legendary country guitarist Chet Atkins praising her voice and garnered her the Academy of Country Music’s best new female vocalist award in 1988. 1987 also marked her marriage to Doug Crider, whom she had met when she performed a song of his called “Hopeless Romantic”; he helps engineer her albums and continues to provide her with songs.

Bogguss’s second album, Moment of Truth, was released to tepid sales in 1989. Stereo Review’s Alanna Nash noted that it lacked the grit of her debut. This was perhaps due to the influence of Liberty’s new label head and the record’s co-producer, Jimmy Bowen, and to what has been termed “tasteful production” by some, but was derided as “faux Reba McEntire Vegas

For the Record…

Born December 30, 1956, in Aledo, IL; married Doug Crider (a songwriter and engineer), 1987. Education: Degree in metalsmithing from Illinois State University.

Performed throughout the West, early 1980s; performed at Dollywood amusement park, Pigeon Forge, TN, c. 1986; signed with Liberty Records (then Capitol), 1986, and released single “I Want To Be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart”; released album Somewhere Between, 1987; co-hosted TNN/Music City News Country Awards, appeared on The Women of Country, CBS-TV, and toured with Dwight Yoakam, all 1993. Designed jewelry for sale at concerts; marketed own line of clothing in venture with Baguda Wear.

Awards: Named best new female vocalist by Academy of Country Music, 1988; (with Lee Greenwood) Grammy Award nomination, 1991, for “Hopelessly Yours”; Country Music Association Horizon Award, 1992; gold records for Aces and Voices in the Wind.

Addresses: Record company —Liberty Records, 3322 West End Ave., 11th Floor, Nashville, TN 37203.

arrangements” by Bane in a review of a later album. Bogguss’s own explanation for the album’s poor showing was that she hadn’t asserted herself enough in the recording studio. She told Sandy Lovejoy of KNIX Country Spirit, “Maybe I wasn’t hungry.”

Indeed, other profitable ventures were occupying her time—designing jewelry to sell while she was on the road and putting together deals to market her own line of clothing in partnership with California-based Baguda Wear. Or maybe Bogguss was just avoiding confrontation. She had established a reputation for being easygoing in the studio, admitting to Lovejoy, “It has always been a part of my character to try to make a lot of people happy. I mean, I was the homecoming queen!” After all, her desire to please had helped her in the early days when, as an unknown, she was forced to keep her varied audiences happy.

Ultimately, Bogguss’s strength and self-reliance enabled her to pressure Bowen to locate first-rate material for her third album, Aces. She also came up “with the unusual technique of recording in a large room in the studio instead of a small booth,” according to David Zimmerman in USA Today. Bogguss revealed of the new method, “It gives my voice a real big sound. I never felt comfortable singing in a booth, and now I sing like I’m onstage.” Her redoubled efforts paid off; Aces went gold about the same time that Bogguss won the 1992 Horizon Award from the Country Music Association. In fact, she had been so confident that the album would do well that she booked studio time for her next project, Voices in the Wind, before completing Aces. In the meantime, she had been nominated for a 1991 Grammy Award for her duet with country stalwart Lee Greenwood, “Hopelessly Yours,” which resulted from the time she had spent opening for Greenwood, Alabama, and Clint Black, before her record sales began to pick up again.

The success of Voices in the Wind confirmed that Bogguss had arrived; it too went gold in short order. Bogguss’s video of the Nanci Griffith song “Outbound Plane” received considerable airplay and exposed the singer to a wider audience, who were captivated by her torch-like delivery and intelligent selection of songs. Bogguss continues to present the best of a variety of songwriters, concerned less with focus than depth and versatility. Songs like John Hiatt’s irresistible “Drive South,” from her 1993 release Something up My Sleeve, harkened back to the vibrancy of her earlier work.

In 1993 Bogguss appeared on The Tonight Show and Live With Regis and Kathie Lee. And she performed “Take It to the Limit” for a Walden Woods benefit album of Eagles covers and the swing tune “Old Fashioned Love” for a Bob Wills tribute album. Also in 1993—something of a breakthrough year for Bogguss—she honored her mentor, Patsy Montana, on the CBS television special The Women of Country and co-hosted the TNN/Music City News Country Awards with Ricky Van Shelton and George Jones. As if this weren’t enough to keep her busy, she also mounted a sold-out national tour with Dwight Yoakam. Bogguss seemed to be relishing the exposure, telling Margie McGraw in Country Sounds, “When I’m 65 or 70 years old and sitting on my porch, I’m not gonna be sitting there going ‘Remember when Boyd lost his bike?’ I’m gonna be remembering when I was in Brazil, playing at a rodeo in front of 65,000 people.”