- Funding for this program was provided by.

- Chattanooga Funeral Home Crematory and Florist.

Dedicated to helping you celebrate your life or the life of a loved one for over 85 years.

Chattanooga Funeral Home believes that each funeral should be as unique and memorable as the life being honored.

- This program is also made possible by support from viewers like you.

Thank you.

- On this episode of the A list, I sit down with Country Music Royalty and learn all about how fame shaped her in surprising ways.

- Before the television show, I had a band and I was working and I would tell a few funnies and I might get a laugh.

I might not.

And then I did the TV show and I came back, did the same jokes.

And it was so funny because all of a sudden, I thought, well it's because they know who I am.

No it's because the confidence, it changes.

It changes who you are.

- [Interviewer] Join me as I talk with Louise Mandrell, coming up next on the A list.

(upbeat music) If you're like me, the name Louise Mandrell will conjure up fond memories of watching the weekly variety show.

Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell sisters in the early 1980s.

When the show premiered, the whole country learned that the Mandrell family had talent to spare and Louise is living proof with a career spanning nearly four decades.

Louise is a multi-talented entertainer who pours her heart into every endeavor.

Whether she's performing on stage or sharing her story with audiences.

- I always ask about that.

This is barely, She was just noisy.

- Louise Mandrell.

Welcome to the A list.

- Thank you so much, Allison.

I really appreciate the invitation and wow.

You certainly bring a lot of good looking in with you.

Well, I try, you Know, our entourage and we are just thrilled that you're in Chattanooga.

Thanks you to the scenic city, women's network who were so smart to bring you in.

- Oh, thank you.

- And I have to tell you that, everyone I told that I was getting the privilege of interviewing you.

In all these seasons.

I've never had a reaction like this.

Number one, everyone immediately knew who you were without explaining and their reaction too was nothing but joy.

- Oh, thank you.

- That when they heard your name, really it, it brought light and joy to their face.

As you have brought to so many faces, I think throughout your career.

So I wanted to make sure you knew that.

- Thank you.

That is so sweet.

I wanna get to your story and let's start at the beginning.

Tell me about your childhood.

(laughs) - Well, I have, or had exceptional parents.

Now my mom is 90.

She's still living.

My dad's been gone about 13 years, but when I think of my childhood, besides thinking about how many times we were in church and my dad and my mom, both having ministers on both sides of the family.

I think about the little things like my dad when he'd come home from work and he'd just take my face.

And then he'd say, "where do you wanna be kissed?"

And I say, "here, here, here, here, here."

I just, I love my parents and they are amazing people.

My mom is very much a Pollyanna and looks for the good finds, the good.

And in her case does the good.

And as a business woman, what an example she was.

I'm sorry, you probably like me stop so you can ask a question.

- No, you know, and I think the beauty of your story is you are all about family.

And I think everyone associates you not just with your parents, but with your amazing sisters.

- Yeah.

- And so - Barbara and Irlene, yes.

- You come as a package deal and that's what makes it so special.

And so I think people can relate to it.

Right?

- Well, I love my family so much.

I get talking about one of them.

It's hard for, to get off the subject.

I was doing a radio interview the other day.

And I said something about Barbara.

And then I never said anything else about Louise.

It was all about Barbara, but I love her so much.

And she's not only my big sister.

She's my mentor.

And I am proud of her.

Where you musical your whole life?

- (laughs) Yes.

More so once I realized that my parents were never getting outta music and Barbara was gonna stay in it.

Irlene and I, we were in grade school and one day we just looked each other and said, "they're never getting outta music."

And we just started practicing around the clock.

And the next thing I knew, I was in junior high and then headed to the stage to be Barbara's bass player.

And Irlene was the drummer and we made her rhythm section.

- So when did you know that you wanted to take it from learning musical instruments and maybe singing in the house to performing on a stage?

'cause that's quite a different task.

- It is different.

And working with Barbara, I knew no matter what happened, she could fix it right there on the stage.

I mean, we've had amazing things go wrong, but it didn't matter 'cause she had control of fixing whatever.

But when I went out on my own and I did that because I wanted, I love people.

I know that sounds really crazy.

I mean most artists really do go in the music business 'cause they love music.

I like music.

I love people.

And so the music business allowed me to be with people and I used to be very shy and all of a sudden I found out, you know, that people wanted to get to know me and it was okay to speak and it was okay to tell a joke.

And when we did the television series in the early 80's both my sisters took longer to get ready than I did.

So I would go to the side of the stage where they had the comedian that was hired and I'd send out a note, introduce Louise.

So he'd introduce me and I'd go out and I'd answer a few questions.

And then the next week, I'd answer a few more.

And then pretty soon I was getting a routine together.

And from the time we did the television series, I started changing the confidence and the people coming up to me instead of me trying to find a way to talk to someone.

I loved it.

I can't say it was the attention as much as just, I just want people to be friends.

I just wanna make a bunch of friends.

- [[Narrator] From playing with the family band, to performing in the do rights, to backing up Merle Haggard on stage and in the studio.

Louise had years of musical experience.

By the time she signed with epic records in 1978.

Over the next few years, she began to set herself apart as a solo artist.

When a phone call changed her life.

- So, how did the television show come to be?

And I have to say that there are very few shows that were iconic in my household growing up.

One was Hee Haw and the other was Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell sisters.

And that was just, I mean, we just didn't miss it.

It just didn't happen.

- Well, most people do a pilot and we didn't.

We got a phone call and Barbara said, "I want you to do a television show with me."

And we did it with her and they saw the three of us together and said, "Okay, you have a series."

And it was that simple.

But my sister Barbara was already winning entertainer of the year, you know, female vocalist.

She was very well known, but they didn't know her little sisters.

And I loved it.

I had already started in music business and I didn't wanna change my name 'cause I'm really proud of Mandrell.

But I remember when my first album came out and I didn't like the reviews and I was going in at that point to CBS and I thought they're gonna cancel me 'cause my reviews were kind of, eh, and I went in there and they said, "oh my gosh, did you see the reviews?"

And I said, "yes."

And they said, "you shouldn't have been reviewed at this point."

They're paying attention to you.

Your last name is not working against us.

And Barbara always says, "I'm sure it works against you."

And I said all the way to the bank, you know.

It's been awesome.

And I've just keep, I continually learn.

And that's something that I never thought I'd want to do is learn.

I did not like school, but I was just an average kid going through school.

And one day I realized the gift that God had given me.

And that's what I believe that God gives all of us different gifts and we're supposed to learn what those gifts are and share them.

And God gave the Mandrell's the gift to music.

- Was that what it was like in your household growing up?

I mean, was it just the five of you sitting around the table and telling jokes and singing songs?

- Well until Barbara got into high school (laughs) and then it got a little crazier.

And also on weekends, mom and dad and Barbara, because Barbara's five and a half years older.

My dad had a band called the Mandrell family band and they worked military bases and Irlene and I were too young to go, except on Christmas when daddy would say, "Okay, it's very important that you go with us today and you need to dance with all the people that asked you to dance because they're, you are the kids, they can't go home to this Christmas."

So working the military bases was very rewarding for them.

And occasionally we got to go after that.

Of course, when we got older, then we started entertaining the military as we had learned from our big sister and our daddy.

My mom was a bass player in the band.

- Okay.

- Well, and that was gonna be my next question, which is if the musical skills were God given, right.

Natural.

How did you learn to be an entertainer?

- I quote really being a good entertainer.

And I know that sounded so egotistical to number one I love people and all I had to do was be myself and let them in.

Minnie Pearl always said, "If you'll love, 'em, they'll love you back."

And I live by that.

So I think that's what makes a good entertainer, but definitely doing television for two years with some of the top people in California and having a chance, one on one to work with my sister again and learn from her.

It was an amazing experience.

Before the television show, I had a band and I was working and I would tell a few funnies and I might get a laugh, I might not.

And then I did the TV show and I came back, did the same jokes.

And it was so funny because all of a sudden I thought, well it's because they know who I am.

No it's because the confidence, it changes.

It changes who you are.

- And that TV show, it was not just, you know, you performing, it was a variety show.

You had to do hard work to get that show out every week.

- Well, they took three girls who didn't know how to dance.

Although Barbara had a little bit more experience dancing than we did, which ours was none.

And her experience was because on Saturday nights after they'd work at the military base, she'd come home, get Irlene and I out of bed.

She'd put on James Brown and she'd say, "Get up.

We're gonna dance."

And Irlene and I would get out bed, go into the couch and watch her do James Brown.

So other than that, there was no dancing experience.

And of course not like dancing with the stars where you really have chance to learn, its just dance, you know?

And my biggest fear is, oh, well, are they ever gonna play those again?

Let's hope not fingers crossed because you know, everything's always to me in my mind.

- Yeah.

- Better the way I can remember it.

Your family has always been for public consumption.

Right.

And in the public image.

- Yes.

- So what has remained private and not that I want you to give up the family secrets, but what were parts of either your childhood or even your adulthood that for the family unit remained sacred.

- Wow.

Not very much.

With my friends, there's a lot , of course daddy was big on don't tell what happens at home to the public.

And all that changed when we went to do our first interview for the Barbara Mandrell, Mandrell's sisters.

And we were headed up to do the interview.

And Barbara said, "If they asked if we fight, we don't fight."

I said, "No, 'cause you tell us everything to do, no, we don't fight."

And that was our first fight.

So you know, there was respect in our family.

There was respect for what Barbara did and what she accomplished and what she was allowing us to be a part of.

And as we worked for her and she would accomplish something, she always remembered to include us in the glory.

You know, she's always saying, "well, I couldn't have done it without my sisters."

Of course she could, but that's who she was.

And I'm proud of her.

- [Narrator] Over the course of its two Seasons Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell sisters showcased the many talents of this musical family.

For Louise, it made it clear that she could not only sing, but also play an incredible array of instruments and tell a few jokes as well.

It was these natural talents along with the support of her family that aided her in taking the next step in her music career.

- So when the TV show ends, how did you make that transition to then from the family unit to was back to the spotlight on Louise Mandrell?

- Well, I really like the spotlight (laughs) because again, I'm in front of people.

What I liked even better than doing the TV show because I love being with my family, but now I'm with people.

And I have never had someone come up and say, "Can I have an autograph that I didn't do it?"

I remember I worked at Billy Bob's right after the TV show ended.

And there were people trying to get an autograph and this one guy threw himself over this big thing and landed on the floor.

And the security people are still pulling on me.

And he said, "come on, come on, come on.

I'll sign it, come on."

I can't help it.

I love people.

- But was the fame hard?

I mean, to be that sort of outward loving people person, but have so many people who wanted to take advantage of that and not necessarily in a bad, bad way.

- Yeah.

- Only one time when I was signing autographs and it was under this awning and it started to rain and people started coming in and I started to get trampled and I climbed up on top of the table because I'm a little claustrophobic anyway, that was a little much.

But other than that, I can't think of any time.

I remember that during the TV show, the first season ended and I had to catch a plane.

I was going to Kentucky because I had a charity event that I did every year there and I wasn't gonna miss it.

So they moved it of course, where I could be there.

And I'm so excited.

I'm getting on the plane.

And I have, I always wear my hair down, but I had done a skit where I had my hair up and I couldn't believe it.

People were stopping me.

You're Louise Mandrell.

We watch a show all the time and I'm like, "people really watch our show."

Oh my gosh, you know, you talk about it.

And we hear it all the time, but we had not experienced what that truly meant.

And people were so sweet and so nice and had such great things to say who would not love that?

- Well, who kept you grounded during that time?

- Faith, Faith.

Definitely faith.

God has been so good to our family and it's hard for me to say, okay, grounded, what really is grounded?

I love people.

And as long as they're loving me back, I'm good.

I'm kind of a kindergartner.

Okay.

Everybody has to like me.

No one can get mad at me.

I just, I love people.

So it's been an easy, easy transition.

I did have one transition that was difficult when I sold my theater in east Tennessee and went back to Nashville 'cause my husband was ill. And he's still alive.

We've been married 17 years.

When I got home, it was a big transition.

All of a sudden I'm cooking and I'm really proud of what I've cooked.

And I put it on the table.

There's no applause.

- Yeah.

There's that was really good, honey.

Thank you.

And there's no standing ovation.

I mean, I was used to do something and people get really excited.

No one was getting really excited, not even if I cleaned up after and that was difficult.

But the single biggest thing was I was a greeter at church in east Tennessee at our praise and worship services on Sunday morning.

At the theater I had, you know, I was at home.

I was comfortable.

And since I was a greeter, I wasn't the vocalist.

I wasn't the speaker.

My daughter was in charge.

She made me a greeter.

I didn't know what that meant at first.

At first I'm like a greeter, I'm a singer.

And she said, "No, mom, you're a greeter."

Well, you know what?

Isn't that great.

When your kids see something in you, you don't see.

She was right.

I was at that door every Sunday.

Couldn't wait to meet everybody.

And people would come through there and they'd say, "you're really here."

Yeah.

I'm a greeter.

I was bringing in all the floors, right?

Yeah, yes.

I loved it.

And you know, I missed that and I tried to figure out what is it?

Are you missing all the people?

Are you missing the attention?

What is it?

And I will tell you, because if you're a young person and you have a parent in your life or a grandparent, what they're missing is being needed.

I didn't feel needed anymore.

And that was really difficult for a while to start feeling needed again.

I felt I was needed to come home and then I got home and went, 'Well, anyone can be doing this."

You know, but it's what old people need.

We need to be needed.

- Well, I wanna talk about your talents because I think people would be shocked.

And in awe to know how many instruments you play.

That you are.

I mean you are, variety show prove it.

You're funny.

You're talented.

You're musical, you're personable, but you also play, I've lost count.

I don't have enough digits on my hands to count how many instruments.

- Well, when people ask me, I always say "one at a time."

But I would write a show.

And each year for that we would perform and I'd look what instruments are gonna fit this show.

I always had to have the fiddle in it or I'd hear about it.

And my favorite instrument is bass guitar.

It's what I turn up in the ear monitors so I can sing.

That's what I sing to.

And that's how I made a living in the beginning.

And then I go, oh, this year we need to add the steel drums and we need to add this and that.

And one year I was doing a Christmas show at opera land and said, "I wanna play the saxophone on this."

This is so awesome.

So I bought a saxophone, the very best you can buy because daddy and my mom and dad owned a music store when we were growing up.

And they said, "you can only be as good as your instrument, you can't be better."

And so I got a really good saxophone and I started practicing and I did some shows with Lee Greenwood and I made sure he was not there when I practiced (laughs) cause I didn't want him to say "You don't need to be playing that."

And I would practice cause I'd go see my mom, my dad passed away and I'd go see my mom and spend the night so she wouldn't be alone at night and then go home all day.

And at night I'd be playing the saxophone.

And she said, "The neighbors are saying you're getting much better.

"(laughs) But finally, I felt confident enough to put it in the Christmas show.

And Barbara came to the show and now she really plays sax.

And I think, okay, I don't know if she's gonna think I'm good enough.

I should be playing this.

And after the show she came back and she said, "there's three notes I want you to change."

And I changed those three notes and that's all she wanted me to do.

She's very blunt as I am with her because we know what the other one is capable of and what they're not capable of.

And so when we set and watch the other one perform, we would sit with a pad and pen and take notes and say, "this is what you need."

I remember I went to see her in Vegas one time.

And when I got to my seat, there was a pad and pen in case I didn't bring mine.

And she wants to know, and I expect that out of her.

Can't learn if someone doesn't help me.

- [Narrator] It's clear that Barbara, along with the rest of the Mandrell family has had a huge impact on Louise and how she approaches her career.

Throughout the '80s and '90s, she continued recording albums and touring.

Producing several top 10 hits.

But in 1997 she opened the Louise Mandrell theater in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

The popular attraction offered Louise a chance to balance career and family like never before.

- It's obvious that your family is everything to you.

And I know that part of the incentive of starting your theater was so you didn't have to be on the road so much and be with family.

- Well to be with my daughter because she was becoming a teenager and I called Morris Hyam agency and Clint Hyam and Dale Morris are two of my closest friends, which really works for me.

And I said, I need a place where I can be steel and be with my teenager and still perform.

Next thing I know I have a theater in east Tennessee.

It's a huge production show.

I have eight dancers and nine musicians.

I mean, it was awesome.

And I loved every second of that.

And then when my daughter started the praise and worship services, we had guests that would come in and there was these really talented guys that were already in Gospel music.

But Sandy and I went to them and said, if you wanna start your own group, you're hired.

And but before Sandy told them that, she said, "no, one's gonna know who they are for a while."

How are we gonna book them?

I said, "they have a special guest Louise mandrel."

She said, "how are you gonna do the morning show and the evening show?"

And sometimes Matt and A. I said, "I can do this."

And, and now today I don't work all the time.

- Yeah.

- But they work all the time.

And the name of the group is Triumphant and they are extremely successful in Southern Gospel music.

So I was so proud of them and I for a little while, got to be a part of this show.

- Was it hard for you when you had to close the theater?

- Well, I didn't realize how hard it really would be.

Yes.

To say goodbye to my family in east Tennessee, it was difficult.

And I was really involved in the community and I was leaving everything to go home and not knowing exactly what I'm going home to.

It was a little scary, but I know I did the right thing.

I just was a difficult thing.

- And even though you've played many roles and worn many hats, but one role I understand you have not or I don't probably assume ever intend to take on is retirement.

(laughs) - Well, Barbara, my mentor said, "when you say retire, you don't sing again in public and you don't do anything in public.

You can walk on the stage and take a bow if you need to say a couple words, get off, you are retired."

She said, "she doesn't like it, When people come out retirement and they perform make a lot of money and everyone thinks you're not gonna need to see 'em again.

And they retire.

And then they come back."

She said, "we are not doing that."

That's not what we do.

You say retire, you're retired.

So I don't use that word.

No.

So that when I want to work, I can go out and do it.

If I wanna attend something I can.

And so Barbara saying, when are you gonna retire?

Mm mm, no, ma'am not me.

- And when you look back on your life and career, is there one moment or story or interaction or opportunity that you're either most proud of or that you like immediately think of as that was a highlight?

- Yes, but I was only watching it happen, but it really, really meant a big deal in my life because we were doing the television series and the producers came in and they said, "Barbara, we have a situation," she said, "okay."

They said the NBC saw the script and they liked the script.

But they said, take out the gospel music and Barbara didn't hesitate.

She said, " tell them they have a contract with us.

And when the contract is up, they can cancel us."

But until then there will be gospel music on our show on NBC.

And do you know God blessed that because our ratings were so high, the NBC never contacted us again.

We just, you know, they were happy because we were low maintenance.

They just let us do our thing.

- Well, as low maintenance, as you seem to everyone, you have a high, high place in all of our hearts.

- Thank you - and charts.

- Thank you.

Thank you so much.

- Thank you Louise, for joining us today.

- It's great to be with you.

Thank you.

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- [Narrator] Funding for this program was provided by - Chattanooga Funeral Home Crematory and Florist dedicated to helping you celebrate your life or the life of a loved one for over 85 years.

Chattanooga funeral home believes that each funeral should be as unique and memorable as the life being honored.

- This program is also made possible by support from viewers like you.

Thank you.