Linda Martell Talks The 'Cowboy Carter' Spotlight — And Her Bittersweet Time In Nashville

Linda Martell's granddaughter Marquia Thompson is late starting her 82-year-old grandmother's Zoom interview with Advertising sign — but for good reason.

In late March, Beyoncé introduced Martell two spoken word departments on Cowboy Carter. Shortly after, the star posted a photo of herself wearing an official Martell T-shirt from the pioneering country artist's website — and today, Thompson had to hit the post office to ship some of the nearly 600 orders she's received since then. Martell's merchandise sales aren't all it's cracked up to be. Her catalog streams also rose from just under 5,000 from March 22-24 to 61,000 from March 29-31, according to Luminate — a 1,100% increase immediately following the album's March 29 release.

Attention is long overdue. In 1969, Martell became the first black woman to play the Grand Ole Opry. At the time, she didn't know she was making history, though she was well aware that there were no other “Black guys or black girls out there” on stage or off, she says. He also didn't know he would get two standing ovations. “I was surprised,” he says with a laugh.

Her breakthrough single, “Color Him Father,” reached No. 22 in September 1969 on the Hot Country Songs chart. remained the highest-charting track in a black woman's catalog for more than 50 years until Beyoncé's “Texas Hold 'Em” reached No. 1 in February. And yet, until Beyoncé helped shine a light on them, Martell's achievements had largely faded into obscurity.

“When I was actively following country music 14 years ago, I Googled 'Black female country singers' and Linda Martell's name came up,” says Mickey Guyton, who previously didn't know Martell. “He's really the reason I had the courage to sing country music.”

Martell released only one album, in the 1970s Color Me Country, but it was a beauty. Her voice was clear and resonant with plenty of twang that reflected her South Carolina roots in the Shelby Singleton-produced set of traditional tunes. In addition to “Color Him Father”, two other tracks charted in the top 60. In his review at the time, Advertising sign wrote, “Linda impresses as the female Charley Pride. He's got great style and real feel for a country song.”

But by 1974, fed up with label conflicts, a legal battle with her manager, and the continued racism she endured, Martel left Nashville.

“Linda Martell has always resonated with me personally because her story is a lot of our stories, which is why I named my show after her,” says artist Rissi Palmer, who showcases the influence of Apple Music. Color Me Country Radio program. “He didn't ask for all the politics – he just wanted to sing. Period. I admire her grace under pressure, focus on staying the course and the way she held her own against a manager and record producer who was interested in gimmicks rather than building a lasting career for her.”

More than half a century later, Martell, who lives with her daughter and son-in-law outside of Columbia, SC, looks back on those days as bittersweet. Sitting in her favorite spot – a gray lounge chair – and wrapped in a black and red blanket, she is quick to respond and even quicker to laugh and smile, despite the painful memories that clearly still sting. She relies on Thompson, who serves as her de facto manager, to fill in some details.

Although she started out playing pop and R&B, Martell grew up listening to country music and had a natural affinity for its beats. Her sharecropper father sang country songs around their house in Leesville, SC, and the country station came louder on the family radio, around which they listened to Grand Ole Opry broadcasts on Saturday nights.

Her future manager heard Martell sing a handful of country songs when she was playing at an Air Force base and moved to Nashville, where producer Singleton signed her. Singing songs with good stories appealed to her and Martell cut Color Me Country in one day. “It was easy,” he says. “I always sang already so it didn't bother me. I had a good time. It was perfect.”

During that period there were both good and bad times. But mostly, Martell recalls, she felt lonely. “Black artists weren't singing that kind of song,” he says of country music. Although she says she had no problems with any of her fellow artists, no other performance, white or black, encouraged her, with the exception of the multi-instrumentalist and Confusion host Roy Clark. “She would make you feel at home,” she recalls of her appearance on the variety show. “He was sitting next to me and talking. It felt very natural.”

It was worse on the often hostile road. Her late brother, Lee, was in her band and provided company, but the vibrations from some in the audience were painful. “Most of the time, you really didn't pay attention because if you gave it, oh, it hurt,” she says. “But we heard it. Me and my brother wouldn't [respond]. He said, “Well, they're ignorant.” We came to work and knew what to do and what to say. That's all.”

After her first manager sued her (over his commission) and Singleton and his label turned to Jeannie C. Riley (who had a huge hit with “Harper Valley, PTA”) but tried to prevent Martell from recording elsewhere , he finally made it. “I got tired” and left Nashville.

Martell revisited R&B music and lived in California, Florida and the Bronx, where she and her then-boyfriend owned a record store. In the 1990s, she returned to South Carolina, where she drove a school bus and then worked in a classroom until she retired in her 60s. She now enjoys spending time with her five children, 13 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.

Like Beyoncé used to work Cowboy Carter, her team asked Thompson if Martell would be interested in appearing in it, and then presented Martell with the script for her spoken word interludes. Martell was already a big Beyoncé fan. “One thing my grandmother will notice is a young woman who can sing,” says Thompson. “I'm very, very happy” to be on the album, Martell says, adding that she appreciates the attention Beyoncé has brought to her music.

But Martell had already thought of her story before Beyoncé called. In 2020, Thompson began working Bad Case of the Country Blues: The Linda Martell Story, a documentary about her grandmother that includes interviews with Palmer, songwriter-writer Alice Randall and others. He plans to show the nearly finished film locally this fall before a wider release. Thomson a GoFundMe was launched to cover the finishing touches and hopefully release the document independently to retain ownership.

Despite all the hardships and a career that was cut short through no fault of her own, Martell's response is quick when asked if she's glad she made country music in the first place: She quickly nods yes. “It's really cool,” he says. “I wouldn't change a thing.”

This story will appear in the May 11, 2024 issue Advertising sign.