Boudleaux Bryant was born in Shellman, Georgia, in 1920 and attended local schools as a child. He trained as a classical violinist. Although he performed with the Atlanta Philharmonic Orchestra during its 1937–38 season, he had more interest in country fiddling. Bryant joined Hank Penny and his Radio Cowboys, an Atlanta-based western music band.[3][4]
Felice was born in the city in 1925 to an ethnic Sicilian family, and had written lyrics set to traditional Italian tunes. During World War II, she sang and directed shows at the local USO.[5]
In 1945, Bryant met the 19 year-old Matilda Genevieve Scaduto, (whom he called Felice), when he was performing at the Schroeder Hôtel, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, her home town, where she was working as an elevator operator.
Bryant and Scaduto eloped five[6] days after meeting.[5] She has said that she "recognized" him immediately; she had seen his face in a dream when she was eight years old, and had "looked for him forever".
"All I Have to Do Is Dream" was biographical for Felice.
Songwriting career
During the first years of their marriage, the Bryants struggled financially, living in a mobile home, where they wrote more than 80 songs. They tried to sell their compositions to a number of country music artists but were either ignored or rejected until Little Jimmy Dickens recorded their song "Country Boy." It went to No. 7 on the country chart in 1948 and opened the door to a working relationship with Fred Rose at Acuff-Rose Music in Nashville, Tennessee.
In 1950, the Bryants moved to Nashville to work full-time at songwriting. Some of their compositions from the early 1950s included the swinging "Sugar Beet" (recorded by Moon Mullican) and the bluesy "Midnight" (recorded by Red Foley).
The Bryants wrote more songs for Dickens as well as for country artist Carl Smith. At the same time, they released four 45-rpm singles of their own to modest success.
In 1962, The Bryants wrote "Too Many Chicks," a song that became a hit for Leona Douglas, the first African-American woman to record as a country music singer.[7]
The Bryants eventually moved to a house not far from Nashville on Old Hickory Lake in Hendersonville, Tennessee, near friends Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash. In 1978, they moved to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. They had often stayed at The Gatlinburg Inn, where they wrote numerous songs, including "Rocky Top." They purchased the Rocky Top Village Inn in the town next to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. In 1979, they released their own album called A Touch of Bryant. "Rocky Top", written in 1967, was adopted as a state song by Tennessee in 1982,[8] and as the unofficial fight song for the University of Tennessee sports teams. The Bryants wrote more than 6,000 songs, some 1,500 of which were recorded.[5]
Boudleaux Bryant is the third most successful songwriter of the 1950s on the UK Singles Chart, and Felice Bryant is the 21st.[9]
Their works are present in the House of Bryant, which is located in Gatlinburg. From September 2019 to August 2020, their artifacts were on exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville.
Deaths
Boudleaux Bryant died in 1987. Felice Bryant remained active writing songs.
In 1991, the Nashville Arts Foundation honored her with its Living Legend Award.
She died in 2003.
They are interred together in the Woodlawn Memorial Park, in Nashville.
"Wake Up, Little Susie" and "All I Have to Do Is Dream" scored high on Billboard's "Hot 100" Pop, C&W, and R&B lists. Both charted at No. 1 in all three categories, the latter in all three at the same time.[10]
Various songs of theirs, especially "All I Have to Do Is Dream", "Bye Bye, Love", "Love Hurts" and "Wake Up, Little Susie", have been covered by numerous other artists over the years. "Rocky Top" is played by the Pride of the Southland Band at University of Tennessee sporting events.[11]
