THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 19, 1995 TAG: 9501190071
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SUE SMALLWOOD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines
CRYSTAL GAYLE'S roots may be in country - she can claim an endless string of country hits and is the little sister of superstar Loretta Lynn - but please don't call her a country artist.
``I consider myself a singer, I love to sing all different styles,'' she said recently during a break from recording her 18th album, her first full-length gospel project. ``I grew up singing all different styles of music, and I never thought I had to quit. As far as singing country, pop, rock, blues - I love to sing it all.''
Gayle brings her versatility to Hampton Roads this week, performing with the Virginia Symphony Pops in Hampton tonight, in Norfolk on Saturday and in Virginia Beach on Sunday.
``I work with a lot of symphonies and love it,'' Gayle said. ``It's so great to have so much music behind you. A lot of my songs, the arrangements lend themselves to orchestras with strings. It's just a lot of fun to have that sound behind you, it's wonderful.''
Music has always been a part of Kentucky-born Gayle's life. As a youngster, she sang along with Leslie Gore, Brenda Lee and Patsy Cline on the radio, then discovered the Beatles and Peter, Paul and Mary.
Gayle signed her first recording contract while still in school and cracked the country charts with her debut single, ``I've Cried (the Blue Right Out of My Eyes),'' which was penned by sister Lynn. Almost three dozen hit records have followed, including her '70s crossover smash ``Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue.''
``Growing up with a sister in the business like my sister, we went to a lot of concerts, listened to a lot of radio,'' Gayle said of her early years. ``My mother, though, said I could sing before I could walk, so I guess it was written in the stars or something that I was going to be a singer.''
Though she's proud of big sister Loretta, Gayle's never had to rely on her family ties to achieve chart-topping success.
``It's not real easy to get into the business and to make it when you're related to other people who've already made it,'' she said, ``but my background was so totally different from my sister's, I had people when I first started out saying, `You can't be (Lynn's) sister because you just don't sound like her.' ''
There's 19 years' difference in age between Gayle and Lynn - Gayle's the youngest of eight children - but ``we're close as we can be for not really being together as much as we'd like to be,'' Gayle said.
The pair have occasionally shared the stage but, surprisingly, have never recorded together.
``We've been threatening to do that,'' Gayle said with a laugh. ``We've been talking about it for a few years. It sort of fell by the way, then Loretta did an album with Tammy (Wynette) and Dolly (Parton). But she's wanting to do an album together now. I think it'd be great.''
Gayle's stylistic dynamism parallels the artistic openness the country genre has embraced in recent years. Country now appeals to an amazingly broad base of listeners, but Gayle's not sure how long country's mega-hits will last.
``It's brought so much revenue to Nashville, it's great that it's so popular,'' Gayle said of the current country explosion. ``It's actually pop music at this moment, it's definitely like pop music was in the '70s. But that's OK; country music has been through a lot of ups and downs.''
Gayle has a raft of awards to go along with her hit singles and platinum-selling albums: She's been named Female Country Vocalist of the Year three times by the Academy of Country Music, twice by the Country Music Association and three times by the American Music Awards. She nabbed a Grammy for ``Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue.''
But the singer takes it all in stride, preferring to focus on her family and fans.
``Being a mother, that's a big accomplishment,'' she said when asked which of her many achievements she's most proud of. ``Within my career, just being able to do what I've done, to have people from all over the world write letters and tell me how much the music has meant to them, that I've helped them in their life. That's what hits home to me.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Crystal Gayle brings her musical versatility to Hampton Roads this
week, performing with the Virginia Symphony Pops.
CONCERT FACTS
Who: Crystal Gayle with the Virginia Symphony Pops
When, where: 7:30 tonight at Hampton Coliseum; 8 p.m. Saturday at
Chrysler Hall, Norfolk; 7:30 p.m. Sunday at Virginia Beach Pavilion
Theater.
Tickets: $15 to $34, available at the Virginia Symphony Ticket
Store in Norfolk, 623-2310, or charge by phone at 671-8100.
by CNB