Musical Rimes

Anne Hosier

Friday, Aug. 1, 1997 | 9:39 a.m.

She likes horses, shopping and pink and purple nail polish.

She has a dog named Sandy and ranks pizza as one of her favorite foods.

In many ways she's a typical 14-year-old.

But, as songwriter Bill Mack discovered, it would be a mistake to underestimate country music singer LeAnn Rimes.

Mack, who is known as "The Midnight Cowboy" in Dallas where he broadcasts his nighttime country music radio show, first heard about Rimes three years ago from a woman who was then managing the young singer and trying to find her client some music to record.

Years earlier, Mack had written a song called "Blue" for his friend, country music star Patsy Cline, who died in a plane crash before she could record it. Mack didn't figure it was something for an 11-year-old. "I wasn't very enthusiastic," he says. "I couldn't believe I would hear what I would eventually hear."

What he eventually heard was a rich, soulful voice that "brought chills to my heart" and quickly made Rimes one of the hottest names in the country music business. Rimes initially recorded "Blue" on an album she made with a little-known independent record company, then re-recorded it last year with Curb Records on an album by the same name. That version debuted at the top of Billboard's music charts when it was released, and has since gone triple platinum, selling more than four million copies.

Following the release of "Blue," Rimes' name is on everyone's lips. Voted "best new country artist" by the American Music Awards, Rimes also won two Grammys, including one for "best new artist," which has never gone to a country music star before.

Reporters from publications ranging from Time magazine to Country America have been knocking at her door, asking for interviews. A Barbara Walters special featuring an interview with the star and a prime-time special Rimes did for the Disney Channel both aired this spring. On Saturday, when Rimes opens for country music star Alan Jackson at the MGM Grand, she'll be playing to an adoring crowd.

"She's pretty big right now," says Tom Jordan, director of operations for KFMS and KWNR, the "New Country" radio station in Las Vegas. "Anything by LeAnn Rimes -- (listeners) are just interested in hearing her."

Mack, who has fielded requests for Rimes' songs in Dallas ever since "Blue" came out, adds: "I've had people call up and say when they heard (the song) the hair stood up on the end of their arm."

He knows the feeling -- he had a similar sensation when he first heard the song. With her "soul sound," Rimes eerily echoed the late Patsy Cline. "It's more than singing, it's expressing and selling. She puts it right into the hearts of people."

Just before the album came out, Rimes took a tour of Nashville, stopping off at the offices of various people in the industry to introduce herself and say hello, says Chet Flippo, Nashville bureau chief of Billboard magazine. When she stopped by Billboard, Flippo was impressed with her self-assurance. "Nobody had really ever heard of her," he says. As Flippo listened to a recording of "Blue" that Rimes had brought him, however, he was gripped with the feeling that "something big was gonna happen. I didn't know it'd be this big, but there's no denying that sound."

With her sudden, meteoric success, it seemed to many observers that Rimes had appeared out of nowhere. In reality, however, recognition of Rimes' talent has been a long time coming. Says Flippo: "In show biz years, she's 30 years old."

At 18-months-old, when most babies are still struggling to form sentences, Rimes was belting out "You are My Sunshine" and "Jesus Loves Me." By 5, when she won a song-and-dance competition with a performance of "Getting to Know You" from "The King and I," Rimes knew she wanted a career in show business.

Determined to let their only child pursue her goal, the Rimes' moved from their home in Mississippi to Texas, and subsequently took her to New York to audition for the lead role in the Broadway musical "Annie II." The 6-year-old didn't get the part, but went on to star as "Tiny Tim" in a Dallas production of "A Christmas Carol."

No longer a little girl, Rimes is still not quite a woman -- even though some say she comes across that way on stage, and sometimes in person. "She's a very precocious young woman," Flippo says.

Still, Rimes' tender age has given rise to considerable handwringing in the press: How will she handle her success?

"The comparisons to Tanya Tucker are inevitable," says Flippo, who covered that singer during a similar point in her career. "In both cases, lots of people always assume that the families are pushing them into this situation. In both these cases, Tanya and LeAnn were the driving forces."

Mack, who has in recent years become quite close to the Rimes family, adds: "if anyone her age would be able to handle (fame), she would. Her mother is a typical protective, loving mother, and of course she's happy with the success, but she's still more concerned over LeAnn's health. Her dad's just a good ol' daddy, and he keeps a watchful eye."

Mack, who has earned recognition and royalties off his song "Blue," since Rimes made it a hit, credits the young singer with breathing new life into the sagging country music scene. "She ignited a fuse," he says. "Country music, as Billboard will tell you, had begun to make a drop in album sales ... Her recording of "Blue" kind of kept the overall country music stock market at a higher level."

Whether Rimes will continue on in country music, though, remains to be seen. "I'm not certain she would stay in country. She has her eye on large horizons," Flippo says. "She has one foot in the pop camp."

At the end of this month, when Rimes celebrates her 15th birthday, Mack will be there to party with her. It'll be "a big 'ol disco birthday bash" at a Dallas nightclub -- a pretty fancy affair for someone who still isn't even old enough to drive, let alone drink.

Still, the young star doesn't seem to have become jaded by all her fame just yet. During a recent interview with Flippo, Rimes cited one of the perks of performing on the road: getting to eat at Waffle Houses throughout the country.