The long-awaited new album by Beyoncé contains a song named after a woman who appears to have been the inspiration for the project. “Act II: Cowboy Carter” is released this Friday (29).
Although the diva said this “isn’t a country album, it’s a Beyoncé album,” the previously released hits “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages” definitely give a taste of country.
According to the tracklist released last Wednesday (27), the album will consist of 27 tracks, among which is “The Linda Martell Show“.
Check out more about the icon who impacted American culture and served as a muse for Beyoncé.
Linda Martell, a pioneer who is honored in Beyoncé’s new album:
According to Beyoncé, her new album “was born out of an experience she had years ago where she didn’t feel welcome… and it was very clear that she wasn’t welcome.”
It’s a feeling Martell can relate to.
Born as Thelma Bynem in South Carolina in 1941, the singer faced tremendous difficulties in the 1960s when she tried to achieve success in country music as a black woman.
Growing up in the segregated South, Martell sang soul and R&B music. When she tried to expand her musical genres into country, she was met with both racism and resistance.
“As you sang, they would shout out names and you know the names they would use to refer to you,” she said in an interview with Rolling Stone em 2020.
William “Duke Rayner,” who ran a furniture store, heard that Martell did some country music covers and connected her with Shelby Singleton Jr., who worked in the music industry and had progressive ideas at the time.
“Rhythm and blues [R&B] and country music are the most parallel types of music there is,” Singleton said. “It’s people’s work that makes people listen to both.”
The trio worked quickly. In a matter of days with Singleton, Martell completed the album with a cover of The Winston’s “Color Him Father.” The track reached number 22 on the country music charts.
“Country music tells a story,” Martell told Rolling Stone. “When you pick a song and you can feel that, that’s what made me feel good about what I was singing. I’ve done a lot of country songs and I’ve loved every single one of them – because they tell a story.”
In June 2021, Linda Martell received the CMT Music Awards in Irmo, South Carolina. / Sean Rayford/2021 CMT Awards/Getty Images for CMT
Martell found success with his tracks “Bad Case of the Blues”, “Before the Next Teardrop Falls” and “You’re Crying Boy, Crying”. She became the first black woman to perform at major country music venues such as the Grand Ole Opry, 1969.
And while Martell received a standing ovation during the performance, the road to success in country music was anything but smooth.
Leaving the record label and changing career
Martell said she continued to put up with the insults while performing, but there was also an internal conflict of working with Singleton, who made a point of telling the singer that he would be releasing her voice not on his label SSS International, but rather on Plantation Records.
Martell and the music executive argued after she argued that this choice would be racist, which Singleton denied. Martell also spoke about Singleton’s decision to more enthusiastically promote Jeannie C. Riley, who performed the song “Harper Valley PTA” in 1968.
Martell recounted other times she encountered racism, when one of the executives on the country music TV show “Hee Haw” tried to “correct” her pronunciation of a song she sang on the show.
She separated from Singleton in 1970. The singer reported that she felt the executive caused her to be rejected in the industry.
Her country music career fizzled, but over the next few decades, she continued to sing whatever she could, returning to R&B and soul.
A place in history
Martell’s story might have languished if it weren’t for both his country music family and his biological family.
Mickey Guytonwho has become the most successful black artist in country music today, told Rolling Stone that she discovered Martell’s work after a Google search of other black women in the genre.
“I felt really bad when I found out I didn’t know her,” he said. “What she went through, with people doubting her and calling her the n-word.”
“I wanted to give up on the industry because of how difficult it is. I was also called names… it’s very similar, even though we’re from different times.”
Martell’s granddaughter, Marquia Thompson, produced a documentary about Martell called “Bad Case of the Country Blues.” The documentary shows the struggle in country music between 1969 and 1975.
“Minorities, women and marginalized artists deserve to have space in the field of country music,” Thompson said in an interview with The Tennessean. “My grandmother was a courageous artist who challenged the industry by following her passions. People who want to emulate my grandmother’s dream undeniably need to know her story.”
Beyoncé seems ready to tell that story.
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This content was originally created in International.
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