English Publications English 2013 If Only They Could Read between the Lines: Alice Randall and the Integration of Country Music Barbara Ching Iowa State University,
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[email protected]. If Only They Could Read between the Lines: Alice Randall and the Integration of Country Music Abstract "She's got her God and she's got good wine, Aretha Franklin and Patsy Cline," sings Trisha Yearwood in her top-selling 1994 single "xxxs and ooos (an American Girl)." Cowritten by Matraca Berg, a Nashville singer- songwriter, and Alice Randall, an African American Harvard graduate, it is one of the first songs written by an African American woman to top the country charts. Randall takes special pride in the "moment of integration" created by naming Franklin and Cline, and such juxtapositions energize nearly all of her writing.1 Unlike Donna Summer, with her wondrous number 1 hit, Dolly Parton's 1980 "Starting Over Again," Randall has maintained a presence in country music for nearly twenty years, integrating songwriting teams by creating lyrics with many notable writers, including Steve Earle, Matraca Berg, and Marcus Hummons.l She has also shaped the visual and intellectual presentation of contemporary country music.