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Garner’s Diane Bailey a local country-western legend

By J. Scott Truax
Citizen Journalist

Diane Bailey could sing before she could talk.  At least, according to her mother she could.

Bailey in her 20s

Bailey has been singing country-western music publicly since the age of 3. She was born into a musical home. Her father and mother sang and performed publicly with some of the leading country-western recording artists of the 1940s and 1950s, including Chet Atkins, Sonny James, Johnny Cash and the Carter family.

At age 5, Bailey was singing regularly on “Saturday Night Country Style,” a program recorded for TV station WTVD in Durham.

The program ran weekly and continued with Bailey for about nine years until it was canceled.

The 1950s and 1960s were an era dominated by country music with songs like “Hey Good Lookin’” by Hank Williams, “Wondering” by Webb Pierce and “Honky Tonk Angels” by Kitty Wells. A young Bailey sang these songs and more to audiences in this part of the country and got national exposure from debuts at the Grand Ole Opry and an appearance on “American Bandstand.”

Bailey, a Garner resident who has lived in this area most of her life, won a singing contest in Wilson at age 8. The prize was a trip to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. At that time the Opry was at Ryman Auditorium (before the Opryland USA Theme Park). An added bonus of the prize was an opportunity to sing onstage at the Opry with one of the performers.

“Marty Robbins carried me onstage,” Bailey said, recalling her debut at the world-renowned center of country music with one of the most popular country-western musicians of that time.

Early musical beginnings

While many aspiring music vocalists are looking for their first big break in the music industry in their adolescent years, Bailey got hers at the ripe old age of 10 when she recorded her first publicly disseminated album. She sang J.B. Ellington’s “Give me your Heart for Christmas” and “Return to Christmas” on the two sides of a record. Ellington is a longtime country-music songwriter who also lives in the Garner area.

“I made money on that album,” Bailey said. “East-coast radio stations played the song.”

As a result of that exposure, two local record promoters, the Lawrence Brothers, asked if they could be her managers. Bailey accepted, and the business relationship proved to be about a six-year arrangement.

With a promotion company behind her, Bailey went into her teen years singing as part of warm-up acts on area tours.

“In those days, five or six artists would come to town; a local person would be the warm-up act,” Bailey said. Some of those artists included Bill Anderson, Dottie West, Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner.

Admiration for a legend

Today, Bailey still sings and performs classic country-western hits of the 1950s and 1960s.

“Patsy Cline was my favorite,” Bailey said, recalling an in-person visit she had with the country-western singer. “I’ve never heard anybody sing like that before or since.”

In 1961 Cline was involved in a serious car accident. Shortly after that accident, Bailey was set to sing in Charlotte as an opening act for Cline, who was still recuperating from her injuries. But when Bailey was taken backstage, she made one request: to sing with Cline the song “I Fall to Pieces” at the end of the show.

Cline replied, “You can sing anything you want to sing.”

That solidified a special admiration Bailey had for Cline, one that continues to this day.

Bailey even recalls being in elementary school when she received news that Patsy Cline had died, at the peak of her career, in a private plane crash.

“I was so, so upset,” she said. “I have been to her grave in Winchester, Va.”

In later years, Bailey played the part of Patsy Cline in Ted Swindley’s musical “Always, Patsy Cline.” The show played for several weeks in Charleston, S.C., at the Midtown Theatre.

Diane Bailey’s adult career

During the early years of her married life, Bailey sang occasionally. In later years she sang regularly at a now-defunct music theater in Myrtle Beach. When the theater closed, Bailey formed her own traveling show with her son Dayle Eason, a show which still exists today.

The show, billed “Sweet Dreams Again: Remembering the Legends,” features Bailey singing classic country-western hits. Eason is master of ceremonies of the show and sings songs by popular country-western singers such as George Strait, Kenny Rogers and the late Conway Twitty.

Bailey and Eason have performed their show in many area venues, including the Garner Historic Auditorium.

“I enjoy most of all singing and music from back in the 1960s era. The music was pure; you could understand the lyrics well,” Bailey said. “When I sang, I could make [people] smile.”

Many of the songs Bailey performs reflect the ups and downs of life.

“In order to sing a country song with feeling, you have to have lived it at some point in your life.”

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