Wynn Stewart
(June 7, 1934 – July 17, 1985)
An inspiration to co-stars Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, he was an early innovator for what became the Bakersfield Sound. Stewart’s dream was to become a professional baseball player. His short stature and a hand disease made it impossible for him to achieve that dream. Hence, he switched to music. He and his band performed in clubs around California.
In 1956, he signed a contract with Capitol through the help pf Skeets McDonald. His first singled called “Waltz of the Angels” charted at No. 14 on the country charts. For the first decade of his career (late 1950’s-1960’s), he only released independent singles. He continued recording until the ’80’s. Sadly, he died of heart-attack in 1985. His song, “Wait ‘Til I Get My Hands on You” was released posthumously.
Though an established country singer, his biggest hit came in (I’ts)’Such A Pretty World.’ Besides sky-rocketing to the country charts, the song was also a cross-over hit to the adult contemporary charts. As for Pop charts, though it was well received, it did not cause much stir.
Singers who made covers for this tune were Loretta Lynn, Connie Smith, Marie Osmond, and Nancy Sinatra.
As a songwriter, he wrote Patsy Cline’s “You Took Him Off My Hands” and gave Haggard his debut single, “Sing a Sad Song.”
“It’s Such a Pretty World Today” Wynn Stewart & Don Rich
Song Trivia:
Not only did this No. 1 Song of Wynn’s sell. It was also hailed as the CMA Song of the Year.
The song was also used in a K-Mart commercial. In 2001, it aired on all major TV networks for the months of April and May.
In case you missed it, here’s a clip of the said commercial.
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bakersfield, Wynn Stewart, yesteryears charttoppers