James Beaty: OPINION: Ramblin' Round: The Pointer Sisters -- beating Beyoncé to the country music charts

Mar. 3—Beyoncé has the #1 recording on the Billboard Hot Country Singles Charts for the week of March 2, 2024.

It's also the #1 song this week on the Billboard Hot 100 — the second week in a row that Beyoncé's country music single "Texas Hold 'Em" has topped both charts.

"Texas Hold 'Em" is an advance release, along with "16 Carriages," that's been billed as part of Beyoncé's new country music album, titled "Act II," set for release later this month.

Despite topping the country music charts, "Texas Hold 'Em" is not the first song written by a Black woman to hit #1 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles.

As noted in a previous "Ramblin' Round," that honor went to Tracy Chapman when country singer Luke Combs recorded a cover of Chapman's song "Fast Car" that raced all the way to #1 in October 2023.

As a bonus for Chapman, Combs' version of "Fast Car" won her a songwriting award from the Country Music Association when the CMA named "Fast Car" its Song of the Year.

But since Chapman's award is for songwriting, Beyoncé is indeed the first Black woman to score a #1 hit with vocals on the country music charts.

However, she's not the first Black woman to score a hit on the country charts. Four other Black women got there ahead of Beyoncé when they placed a hit inside the country music Top 40.

The Pointer Sisters — consisting of Anita, Bonnie, Ruth and June Pointer — got there first when their country music song "Fairytale" peaked at #37 on the country music charts in 1974.

Although #37 might not strike some as a super hit, the song's influence went far beyond its peak chart position.

Ruth Pointer has told how the sisters were on the road for a performance tour when someone told them they had just won a Grammy Award.

When she asked for which song, they were told they'd won for their country music song "Fairytale" — which won the 1975 Grammy for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

They also received a Grammy nomination for Country Music Song of the Year.

That all led to an invitation to perform at the Grand Ole Opry, where The Pointer Sisters became the first Black group to perform on the fabled Opry stage.

The Pointer Sisters were not a country music group per se. Throughout their years together, they utilized a variety of styles, including rhythm and blues, pop, jazz and disco.

However, that didn't mean they were not fans of all those styles, including country music.

Bonnie Porter has been quoted as saying that country music was no joke to them. Although they grew up in Oakland, California, she said their folks were from Arkansas, and they grew up singing country songs.

"It's a part of us," she said of country music.

I once saw The Pointer Sisters perform at a Willie Nelson picnic, where the audience loved them, judging from the applause and cheers they received.

I know I did. They meshed perfectly with a lineup that also included Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge, The Charlie Daniels Band, Floyd Tillman and Willie.

Out of all the performances I saw, theirs proved among the most memorable — along with Floyd Tillman's and Willie's, of course.

"Fairytale" came from the group's album, "That's a Plenty," and was originally released as the B side of another song, "Love in Them There Hills," a cover of an R&B song originally recorded in 1968 by the Vibrations.

When the lead single received little attention from radio stations, someone at their record company had the idea of marketing "Fairytale" to country music stations.

It's a gamble that paid off in a big way. Not only were the country music radio stations receptive to the record, country music fans made it a hit.

Ironically, the interest in the record by country music fans crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100, where "Fairytale" climbed to #13.

It had all started when Anita Pointer had her heart broken by a disc jockey in San Francisco. At that time The Pointer Sisters were touring as an opening act for Dave Mason, the member of Traffic who performed as a solo artist after he left that group.

Anita Porter said she started writing "Fairytale" as a country music song after listening to an album by James Taylor.

She then gave what she'd written to sister Bonnie to finish.

When they were recording the album that would include "Fairytale," the group's producer, David Rubison, told The Pointer Sisters they needed authentic country music musicians on the song, so they all went to Nashville to record it with those Tennessee studio aces.

Their recording of "Fairytale" opens with a steel guitar intro that could have been kicking off a record by Tammy Wynette or Loretta Lynn.

"Fairytale" features some lyrics in a classic country music mode.

"There's no need to explain anymore. I tried by best to love you, now I'm walking out the door.

"You used me; you deceived me and you never seem to need me, but I bet you won't forget me when I go."

That leads to the song's chorus, which includes the lines:

"Seems I've been living in a dream, pretending that you care, but now I've opened my eyes, and find it's all been just a big fairytale."

The Pointer Sisters recorded 13 U.S. top 20 hits, all of which came during their most prolific years from 1973 through 1985, including hits such as "Jump" and "I'm So Excited."

One of my favorite recordings of theirs is The Pointer Sisters take on Bruce Springsteen's "Fire."

Still, for me, "Fairytale" will always be a special favorite. I also think it's fitting that one of the group's major hits is one that Anita and Bonnie Pointer wrote themselves.

It's been covered a number of times, including a version by a singer from Tennessee — not from Nashville, but from Memphis.

Some cat named Elvis Presley included it on the last studio album he recorded in his lifetime, titled "Today."

He then began performing the song in concert, often introducing it as "the story of my life."