PPP166: Musical Mystery Opus 1, No. 3 “A Simple Little Song”

Five years. That was all Rebecca had agreed to from the beginning. She had said she would work with Wayne for five years, seven years ago. When I told you she was everything Wayne could hope for in a partner, that was a little misleading. Actually, he didn’t see himself as her partner at all, he saw himself as her boss. I’m mean really, he wasn’t wrong. He did sign the paychecks. The show did have his name on the marquee. He had much more experience than she had. To his thinking, he should have creative control over the songs they sang and the records they released.

Rebecca couldn’t agree more! That’s why she wanted out. She didn’t want a boss. She wanted to be free to make her own decisions, even her own mistakes. She just wanted to be free like a butterfly.

She told him so at every opportunity and you would think he would be just as ready to part ways considering her head strong temperament and their creative differences. Whether it was selfish greed or selfless protection on his part is not mine to decide but no amount of talking would persuade Wayne to hear Rebecca’s desire to leave his show.

You’ve probably heard that music is a universal language; it helps us convey emotions that are sometimes beyond what we can express with spoken words. If Wayne couldn’t hear Rebecca’s message through conversation, she would have to do what she did best; write her feelings down in a song.

Rebecca wrote her simple little song in one sitting and called on her boss the next day to share it with him. She told him to sit down because she wanted him to hear a song she had written for him. You might recognize some of the lyrics. She said, “If I should stay, I would only be in your way. So, I’ll go but I know I’ll think of you each step of the way.” Rebecca continued, “Bitter-sweet memories, that’s all I’m taking with me. Good-bye, please don’t cry ’cause we both know that I’m not what you need.”

Wayne did cry as he finally realized that Rebecca meant what she said and she was, without a doubt, leaving his show and heading in a new direction. She finished singing her declaration of independence to Wayne and he told her it was the prettiest song she’d ever written. He also finally agreed to let her leave the show.

Remember, she had joined Wayne’s show when she was barely 21 years old. When she left she was 28, he was 47. She might have seen him as a wise father figure if she hadn’t had her own wise, business-minded father back home.  For Rebecca to stand up to this Goliath of a man in the country music industry is astounding to me.

He was not the last Goliath Rebecca would encounter.

Not long after her simple little song reached the number 1 spot on the country music charts, Rebecca was approached by another giant who wanted to record her beautiful song. He even invited her to come sit in on the recording session. You can imagine her excitement as she told her friends and family that her simple little song was going to be covered by the King of Rock and Roll himself, Elvis Presley.

If the negotiations had happened between Elvis and Rebecca alone, this story might have a very different ending. Unfortunately, Elvis’ manager, Col. Tom Parker called Rebecca the day before the recording to inform her of the way deals with Elvis worked. Songwriters were expected to sign over half their publishing rights when he recorded their music. I don’t know if that is really how recording deals worked with Elvis or if the veteran, Parker, thought inexperienced Rebecca would just go along with whatever he told her. I wonder what went through his mind when she pulled out of the deal. I wonder how many people said, “No” to the king’s henchman.

Maybe she would have said yes if her song had not already reached number 1 on its own. Maybe she would have said yes if she were still trying to make a name for herself in music. No maybes about it, Rebecca respectfully bowed out. Our little David firmly stood up to another Goliath. The now 29-year-old stood up to 65-year-old Col. Tom Parker.

Years later, Rebecca said she would have loved to hear what Elvis did with her little song. She said the sign of a really good song is its ability to cross different styles and genres. And this is where the queen makes her grand entrance.