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American songwriter and composer

Felice Bryant

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The basics

Quick facts

Intro

American songwriter and composer

A.K.A.

Matilda Genevieve Scaduto

Gender:

Female

Places:

United States of America

Is:

Musician Composer Songwriter

Work field:

Music

Birth:

7 August 1925(Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA)

Death:

22 April 2003(Gatlinburg, Sevier County, Tennessee, USA)

Star sign:

Leo

Residences

Moultrie, Georgia, USA; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

Family:

Mother:

Katherine Grace Loverdi Sokas

Father:

Salvatore Scaduto

Spouse(s):

boudleaux-bryant

Children:

Dane Bryant

Del Bryant

The details

Biography

Introduction

Felice Bryant (August 7, 1925—April 22, 2003) was an American songwriter and composer. As part of a songwriting duo with her husband Boudleaux Bryant (February 13, 1920—June 30, 1987), they wrote many hits such as "Rocky Top," "We Could", "Love Hurts", and many popular songs by the Everly Brothers ("Bye Bye Love", "All I Have to Do Is Dream", and "Wake Up Little Susie").

One of the most successful songwriters in country/bluegrass/pop/rock music, they wrote approximately 1,500 songs that have been recorded by more than 400 musicians. It is estimated that by the end of the 1980s, more than 300 million copies of their songs had been sold.

The Bryants have been inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Country Music Hall of Fame, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Early life

Felice Bryant was born Matilda Genevieve Scaduto in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on August 7, 1925, to Salvatore Scaduto (1894–1983) and Katherine Grace Loverdi Sokas (1905–1979).

She began writing songs as a child. During the Second World War, she sang and directed shows at the local United Service Organizations (USO).

Career

In 1945, while working as an elevator operator at Schroeder Hotel in her hometown of Milwaukee, she met Boudleaux Bryant who was there for a performance. The two fell in love and five days after the meeting, they eloped and married the same year. She adopted the name Felice as that's what Boudleaux used to call her.

They spent the first few years after the marriage in Moultrie, Georgia, where they started working as a songwriting couple. At the time, Boudleaux also worked as a mechanic until their career in music took off.

During the first few years of their marriage, they wrote more than 80 songs but most of those were rejected. Their big break came when country music singer Little Jimmy Dickens chose their song "Country Boy" and recorded it in 1949. The song was a top 10 hit.

The next year, the Bryants moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where they started working with Nashville-based songwriter/music executive Fred Rose. In the early 1950s, they wrote: "Sugar Beet" (recorded by Moon Mullican) and "Midnight" (co-written with Chet Atkins, recorded by Red Foley).

In 1953, the Bryants wrote the song "Hey Joe", which was recorded by Carl Smith for Columbia Records on 19 May 1953. The song spent eight weeks at No. 1 on the US country music chart, marking Bryant's first no. 1 record. Later that year, the song was covered by singer Frankie Laine and his version reached #1 on the UK Singles Chart and #6 on the US chart.

The latter part of that decade brought even more fame for the Bryants when country duo The Everly Brothers (Don Everly and Phil Everly) recorded their song "Bye Bye Love" in 1957. The song was Everly's first hit and reached no. 2 on the pop charts, behind Elvis Presley's "Teddy Bear", and No. 1 on the country and No. 5 on the R&B charts. The Everlys recorded many more of the Bryants' songs, including "Wake Up Little Susie" (1957), "All I Have to Do Is Dream" (1958), "Bird Dog" (1958), "Problems" (1958), "Take a Message to Mary" (1959) and "Let's Think About Living" (1959), all of which sold at least one million copies.

Their compositions were recorded by many artists from a variety of musical genres, including Leo Sayer, Lynn Anderson, Sonny James, Eddy Arnold, Bob Moore, Tony Bennett, Charley Pride, Jim Reeves, Buddy Holly, Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Sarah Vaughan, The Grateful Dead, Elvis Costello, Count Basie, Dean Martin, Joan Jett, Bob Dylan, and Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel.

Their 1960 song "Love Hurts" has been covered by a number of artists including The Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison, Gram Parsons, Jim Capaldi, and the rock band Nazareth.

In 1962, The Bryants wrote "Too Many Chicks," a song that became a hit for Leona Douglas. In 1967, they wrote "Rocky Top", a country and bluegrass song written for the Osborne Brothers (Bobby Osborne and Sonny Osborne). The song has become Bryants' best-known work and one of the most recorded songs in country music. It also became one of the ten official state songs of Tennessee state.

In 1980, Felice and Boudleaux Bryant recorded their first album as performers, A Touch Of Bryant on CMH Records (CMH-6243). The 12-track album included their top hits including "When I Stop Loving You", "I Can Hear Kentucky Calling Me", "Bye, Bye, Love", "Rocky Top", and "No Matter What You Do To Me".

The couple has been inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (1972), Georgia Music Hall of Fame (1982), Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame (1985), the Songwriters Hall of Fame (1986), and the Country Music Hall of Fame (1991).

After Boudleaux's death in 1987, Felice remained active in her songwriting career.

Personal life

Felice and Boudleaux had two sons, Dane and Del Bryant.

Death

Felice died in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, on April 22, 2003, at age 77. Both Felice and Boudleaux are interred together in the Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee.