In Memoriam - Floy Case (April 20, 1911 - June 14, 1988)

June 14, 2018 marks thirty years since the death of my mother, Floy Case. Her name is well known to scholars of early country music because she was a "Pioneer Country Music Journalist", as officially recognized in 1983 by the Country Music Foundation in Nashville, Tennessee. In addition, she wrote songs (one was recorded by Ernest Tubb for Decca Records) and she helped manage programs and fan mail for Bill Case and his Melody Boys, with whom my dad J.C. Case was mandolinist and harmony vocalist. In her writings she often praised young talent she heard on the live music radio broadcasts of the 1930's and 40's. She gave Hank Thompson his first publicity when he was still in Waco, Texas. He never forgot this boost to his career, which became among the biggest in country music history. In the 1950's her feature stories appeared in newstand publications such as Folk and Cowboy Songs and Country Song Round-Up.  Again, Floy Case was the first to recognize a young talent when she wrote about Charlie Walker and correctly predicted that he would became a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Other favorites of hers included Billy Walker, Justin Tubb (and his legendary father), Merle Travis, Jimmy Wakely, the late Jimmie Rodgers who had inspired a whole generation of performers including Gene Autry, Jimmie Davis, Ernest Tubb, Hank Snow, Johnny Cash and countless others. Through an introduction by E.T., my mom became a close friend of Carrie Rodgers, the widow of the "Singing Brakeman". Carrie lived to promote the work of her late husband Jimmie Rodgers, and to keep his name and career before the country music public. In her later years when illness prevented Carrie from writing all assignments (including liner notes and magazine articles) my mother became Carrie's ghost writer. Out of a sense of loyalty my mom never divulged this fact until the historian Ronnie Pugh virtually pulled the information from her in an early 1980s interview, more than twenty years after her friend's death.

My mom was a greater influence on me than I realized when she was alive. Now, I recognize that she still influences me a lot. It's a most positive influence and I am grateful that she loved music and was a source of encouragement for young aspiring performers. It was a gift she was known to give.