Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 6, 1990 TAG: 9007060194
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
They both had blossoming careers.
He had just scored big with "I'm No Stranger to the Rain," which went on to win single of the year honors from the Country Music Association.
Her debut album, "Leave the Light On," and its first single, "Dear Me," were about to break onto the country music charts.
They had just had their first child, and Whitley was planning to adopt Morgan's daughter from a previous marriage.
Then Whitley, 33, died of alcohol poisoning, and Morgan became a widow at age 29.
"I finally have something I've waited for all my life - the success of this career," Morgan said in a May interview with the Associated Press.
"But I also lost part of my life that I had lived for, and that was a fairy-tale marriage with Keith."
She has coped by working.
She was on the road when her husband died in their Nashville home in May 1989.
And the night after Whitley's funeral, she was back before an audience again, singing at the Grand Ole Opry.
"It was real difficult," she said. "It was difficult just to breathe, to open my eyes. It was something I felt I had to do to get on with life.
"It would have been very easy to sit home and mope and cry and stay shut up in a room, but I needed to be around friends, not closed in."
Since then, Morgan has traveled the club, concert and fair circuit non-stop on her late husband's tour bus, performing three or four nights a week.
Saturday she will perform two shows at 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. in the Salem Civic Center's ballroom.
She has been an opening act for Alabama and Clint Black, and she has started work on her second album for RCA Records.
In fact, Morgan has been so busy that she has strained her voice, according to her publicist, Judy Mayes.
Mayes said that doctors have told Morgan to limit her talking and not do any more interviews. She needs to save her voice for singing.
The daughter of the late Opry star George "Candy Kisses" Morgan, Lorrie Morgan has been performing since her Opry debut at age 13.
Her real name is Loretta Lynn Morgan, but she was born a year before country star Loretta Lynn recorded her first song.
Morgan went on to front the Opry's bluegrass band before joining George Jones for a two-year stint as his singing partner in concert.
Minor recording successes in 1979 and again in 1984 eventually led her to Barry Beckett, her producer on "Leave the Light On."
The album yielded the hits "Dear Me," "Out of Your Shoes (Tonight)," "Five Minutes" and "Trainwreck of Emotion," and it has sold more than 500,000 copies.
"I've paid a lot of dues, learned a lot, seen people come and go, what to do and what not to do. I think I'm ready for the success I'm having. I guess this is the big final test when you have your exams," she said.
Still, at a time when she should be enjoying her success, Morgan finds herself searching for explanations for her year of tragedy and triumph.
"I don't know that I'm bitter," she said. "You know that old saying, `God never puts anything on you that you and he can't handle.' There's a reason for all this. I'll probably never know the reason until I go up to heaven and ask."
Meanwhile, her late husband's music has continued to stay on the charts.
"He's going to be one of the greats," Morgan said. "There may be someone come around who will have more success than Keith did, but there never will be another better singer. Never."
Also appearing at the Salem Fair this weekend is Alan Jackson. Performances are at 7:30 and 10 p.m. tonight in the Salem Civic Center ballroom.
Jackson recently had a No. 1 hit with "Wanted," from his debut album, "Here in the Real World."
A native of Newnan, Ga., Jackson owes much of his recent success in country music to his wife of 12 years, Denise.
They were living in Newnan when she made a temporary move to Greensboro, N.C., to take a job as a flight attendant. He stayed behind working for a summer at a marina and living in a trailer.
He began writing songs with the idea that he would take them to Nashville. But he had never been to Nashville and he didn't know how to go about getting his songs heard.
Then Glen Campbell came along.
Denise was waiting for a flight one day in the Atlanta airport when she saw Glen Campbell sitting nearby with his band.
She told him that her husband was a songwriter who was about to move to Nashville and asked his advice.
Campbell gave her his card.
That led to a publishing contract with Glen Campbell Music, bookings for Jackson and finally a record contract.
Meanwhile, Jackson supported himself during his first year in Nashville by working in the mail room at The Nashville Network in Opryland.
"Here in the Real World" includes nine songs that are written or co-written by Jackson, including the title track, "Wanted," "Dog River Blues" "Blue Blooded Woman" and "Chasing That Neon Rainbow."
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by CNB