COUNTRY: Liz Anderson / The Bottle Turned into a Blonde / RCA / 1965

Liz Anderson was a songwriter and country music singer whose songs charted in her own recordings as well as those of Del Reeves, Merle Haggard, Conway Twitty, and her daughter, Lynn Anderson. Liz was born Elizabeth Jane Haaby in Roseau, MN, about 10 miles from the Canadian border, on January 13, 1927. Her mother, Mildred S. Norman, came from Swedish immigrant stock, while the ancestors of her father, Edwin M. Haaby, were Norwegian. The 1930 census found 3-year-old “Betty J.” living in St. Paul with her parents and older brother, Clinton, listed under the name “Hobby.” The family stayed in St. Paul until at least 1935, and by the 1940 census was in Badger, MN, just down state highway 11 from Liz’ birthplace of Roseau. The next year, the Haabys and their five children were in Grand Forks, ND, on the border with Minnesota, where they spent the rest of the 1940s, with two more children born there.
In Grand Forks, Liz met Casey (Clarence) Anderson, a North Dakota native and U. S. Navy man, and they married on May 26, 1946. Their daughter, the future Country singing star Lynn Rene Anderson, was born the next year on September 26, 1947. Casey worked as a baggage clerk for the railroad before the family moved to Northern California in 1951. Reports have the couple living first in Redwood City, south of San Francisco, then moving to Sacramento in 1957. All five of Liz’ younger siblings and her father also came to the Sacramento area over the years. [Her parents divorced at some point, and her mother married George Pelawa before passing away in Minnesota in 1965.]
Casey was active in the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Mounted Posse, a drill team which took part in the National Centennial Pony Express Celebration in 1960. Together, Casey and Liz wrote “The Ballad of The Pony Express,” which became the official song of the ride. “When Casey and I moved to Sacramento, there just wasn’t any country stations around. I wasn’t hearing any new songs, and being the country girl that I am, I just started writing, so I’d have some to sing myself.” Liz, who had sung and played mandolin and guitar since childhood, provided songs to country music agent Jack McFadden (who became Buck Owens’ manager). Soon, Del Reeves had charted with “Be Quiet Mind” in 1961, as did Merle Haggard and Bonnie Owens with “Just Between the Two of Us” in 1964. Haggard also had success with Anderson’s “(My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers” in 1965 (subsequently naming his backup band “The Strangers”), and “I'm a Lonesome Fugitive” (co-written by Liz and Casey) in 1967.
Liz had recorded and distributed demos of her songs, and in 1965 was signed to RCA by Chet Atkins. Her first recording session in Nashville in October of the same year produced “The Bottle Turned into a Blonde” and “Go Now, Pay Later.” In 1966 Liz and Casey moved to Nashville where they spent the rest of their lives. By the date of her last RCA session in May of 1970, Liz had recorded over a hundred songs for the label. Her highest charting singles were “Go Now, Pay Later” (23), “So Much for Me, So Much for You” (45), “The Game of Triangles” (5) [with Bobby Bare & Norma Jean], “Wife of the Party” (22), “Mama Spank” (5), “Tiny Tears” (24), “Thanks a Lot for Tryin' Anyway” (40), “Mother, May I” (21) [with daughter Lynn], “Like a Merry-Go-Round” (43), and “Husband Hunting” (26). She was twice nominated for a Grammy Award.
Over the decades after 1970, she recorded sporadically for EPIC, Tudor and Showboat, including two LPs for children. Around the time that Liz began recording in 1965, her daughter Lynn, aged 18, began her own recording career for the Chart label, going on to duet with her mother on several releases and record many of Liz’ compositions.
[On signing her in 1965, RCA reportedly adjusted Liz’ birth date from 1927 to 1930 to reduce the impression of “maturity” of their now 38-year-old songstress with an 18-year-old daughter! This has led to a circus of erroneous dates and statements in the majority of biographical accounts.]
Elizabeth Jane Haaby Anderson 1/13/1927-10/31/2011
Clarence Selmer “Casey” Anderson 1/23/1926-11/26/2018
Lynn Rene Anderson 9/26/1947-7/30/2015
(all dates per gravestones)
[The Bottle Turned into a Blonde, Liz Anderson, RCA 47-8778, recorded 10/1965, matrix SCKM-2837]
The flip side of this disk is Go Now Pay Later: • COUNTRY: Liz Anderson ...

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