Anita Stapleton: The best country singer you’ve (probably) never heard of
There are singers. And then there are singers’ singers.
In country music, the premier example is the late, great George Jones (better known as Tammy Wynette’s husband). Johnny Cash and Garth Brooks were much more famous, but both thought Jones was the best. “People ask, ‘Who’s your favorite singer’,” said Cash. “And I say, ‘You mean, apart from George Jones?’ ” Brooks’ view? “The greatest voice ever to sing country music."
Anita Stapleton is a singer’s singer. She should be better known. But she isn’t. While Shania Twain, Carrie Underwood, Faith Hill and others grab the spotlight, Stapleton works as a tour guide at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville and spent about three years greeting guests on “The Marty Stuart Show.” And she does small gigs around town.
It’s almost criminal, because she is one of the best country voices I have ever heard. Phrasing almost as good as Jones, a gorgeous ringing tone and expressive delivery.
Fortunately, you don’t have to go to a small Music City venue to hear it, because the Pennsylvania-raised singer now has an album, “A Place in My Heart.”
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Put the disk in the player and you discover part of the reason she is still playing clubs. This is the pure country of 30 or 40 years ago. No vocal fireworks or false emotions. Just plain good singing of good songs. The album, which also contains a video, is a collection of tunes mostly from the writers who gathered on Nashville’s Music Row from the Fifties through the Eighties and whose songs were covered by the best in the business.
Stapleton bookends her album with songs made famous by country’s two big Georges, Strait and Jones. The first, the honky-tonking “Someone Had to Teach You,” demonstrates her rhythmic command, with phrasing running across the beat while never sounding contrived. With Jones’ “You’ve Still Got a Place in My Heart,” she breaks a country music rule: Never cover a Jones tune. (As Kris Kristofferson said: “Once George has sung a song, it’s been sung.”) No worries, though, Stapleton’s version is deft and different – a subtle yet soulful take on a sublime composition by the blind singer-songwriter Leon Payne.
Other standouts include on the 10-song disk include “Just Someone I Used to Know” -- a song made famous by Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner in which Stapleton pairs with another “singer’s singer,” Texan Gene Watson – and “I’ll Miss Missing You,” an emotional ballad penned by Stapleton and a couple of collaborators.
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Adding to the pleasure of the album is the musicianship of a super-tight session band brought together by producer and pianist Dirk Johnson, a veteran of the Nashville scene. The recording, which is available at Stapleton’s website as well as at online outlets such as Amazon and iTunes, is clean and unfussy, just like Stapleton’s vocals, and they complement one another wonderfully. My only quibble is that the production reduces the “attack” in Stapleton’s voice, thus removing some of its attractive immediacy. A better rendition of her voice can be found in another several gospel videos, also superbly produced by Johnson, to be found on YouTube.
Listening to her sing both secular and religious songs, it feels sinful that Stapleton is not better known. But she was born several decades too late. And instead of being a member of the Hall of Fame, she is guiding visitors to singers much less good than she is.