From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Thu Aug 7, 2003  1:14 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Felice Bryant
 
FELICE BRYANT (By Shaun Mather)

Born Matilda Genevieve Scaduto, 7 August 1925, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Died 22 April 2003, Gatlinburg, Tennessee

Felice Bryant was the female half of the famed husband-wife songwriting
team whose songs sold over 300 million records, mainly in the country 
and rock'n'roll fields.

Born Matilda Genevieve Scaduto, her first job after graduation was an
elevator operator at the Schroeder Hotel in downtown Milwaukee. It was
here in 1945 that she met and fell in love with a travelling musican, 
Boudleaux Bryant. They were married within weeks and moved to 
Moultrie where Boudleaux held a job with the Twilight Playboys.

The young bride became bored and started to write songs. Now bearing
the nickname Felice, she showed the songs to her husband who added 
his own touch to the pieces and began sending them to publishers across 
the country. The first success they had was with Country Boy, which 
became a country hit for Little Jimmy Dickens in 1950. Over the next 
couple of years they enjoyed countless hits in the country field (including 
their first # 1 with Carl Smith's Hey Joe) and the pop field (including Frankie
Laine's version of the same song).

The icing on the cake came when they teamed up with the Everly Brothers.
The boys vocal harmonies blended superbly with the writers easy natured
rock 'n' roll numbers. The association saw such classics as Bye Bye Love, 
Wake Up Little Susie, Devoted To You, Bird Dog and and the beautiful
All I Have To Do Is Dream.

During this time the Bryants had been writing for Acuff-Rose publishing 
but in 1967 they formed their own House of Bryant. Some of their other
highlights include Love Hurts (Everly Bros, Roy Orbison), Raining In My
Heart (Buddy Holly), Let's Think About Living (Bob Luman), She Wears 
My Ring (Ray Price and Elvis), Mexico (Bob Moore and Ventures) and 
Rocky Top, which in 1982 became the Tennessee state song.

They were inducted to the National Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1986 and
the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1991. Boudleaux died of cancer in 1987,
with Felice passing away this past April.