Linton's legacy: Country singer being inducted into South Dakota Hall of Fame

By Ruth Milne, Journal staff | Friday, August 17, 2007

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Thrown off a horse before a 1965 performance in Montana, country singer Sherwin Linton broke a couple ribs and his shoulder; part of his right hand was in a cast.

Linton still made it onstage.

"I don't think I was very good that night, but I was there anyway," the South Dakota native said.

Neither rain, nor snow -- nor anything else, for that matter -- can keep Linton from performing a scheduled show. The singer has been recognized by Ripley's "Believe It or Not" for never missing a single show in 50 years of touring.

"I just always believed in trying to be where I was supposed to be," he said.

He's had to hitchhike when equipment broke down, and has braved all kinds of weather -- including tornadoes -- to keep those concerts going as arranged.

"There've been times when I made it to a show, and nobody else did" -- not even the crowd, he said with a good-natured chuckle.

Of course, avoiding alcohol and drug abuse helped keep his concerts on schedule. Opportunities were present, but Linton had no desire to go down that road.

"I never felt that I was so talented I needed to impair my talents with anything else," Linton said with his characteristic humor. "I wanted to be the best I could be."

And after all those years of dedication, Linton has been selected for induction into the South Dakota Hall of Fame next month.

He says he is honored, surprised and humbled. But there could be no better musical representative of this state than the country singer whose national and regional hits embody its rural lifestyle and ideals.

Linton's storytelling songs have an old-time twang and focus on traditional values -- family and religion and small-town life.

"That's where I grew up, and I still retain those elements and values within my own love of music, as well as in my lifestyle," Linton said.

Those wholesome themes, he's found, don't just attract an older crowd. After performing for more than a half-century, he is now drawing a fan base of younger people, college kids and hipsters who attend his shows with budding appreciation for traditional country music.

Johnny Cash is a popular figure today in many younger music circles, and Linton's rich, full-bodied voice is easily compared with Cash's -- so easily, in fact, that Linton's 1971 live recording at the South Dakota State Penitentiary, which featured a multi-song tribute to Cash, is titled "Hello, I'm Not Johnny Cash."

The liner notes to that CD contain a handwritten letter from Cash, thanking Linton for his tribute.

Cash and Linton were friends; Linton talked to Cash by phone only a month before Cash's death in 2003. "It was very difficult for him to get through the grieving process of losing June, but he was still planning on getting back and doing more recording," he said.

Cash was an early influence on Linton, a young boy growing up in eastern South Dakota in the 1950s.

Linton got his start at KWAT Radio, a talented young DJ and performer with a guitar, a dream and a deep, charming voice. His early days of touring made him a popular act in dance pavilions in the Black Hills.

Linton and his rock 'n' roll, rockabilly band The Fender Benders had a hit in the late 1960s when they traveled to Nashville to cut a song titled "Cotton King."

After that single's success, Linton renamed his band The Cotton Kings. Today, the six-piece band includes his wife, Pam, a renowned singer herself who performs June Carter Cash's parts during his Johnny Cash tribute.

His Cash tributes may be what he is best known for, but Linton's other projects are varied. He recently recorded a series of albums celebrating the centennials of South Dakota towns. He also contributed a chapter to the book "Growing Up Country," sharing his small-town memories alongside such notables as former President Jimmy Carter, Carrie Underwood and Dolly Parton.

In the '60s and '70s, Linton's shows included songs by everyone from Neil Young to the Rolling Stones; by the end of the 1980s, he was even covering songs by rock band Poison, he remembers.

"'Every Rose Has Its Thorn' would be a perfect song for Waylon and Willie," Linton said, doing an entertaining, impromptu and spot-on imitation of Willie Nelson singing that famous chorus -- "Just like every cowboy sings a sad, sad song."

Linton stays abreast of modern music and incorporates it into his concerts, but always puts it into a context that fits with more traditional elements.

And, of course, he still covers Johnny Cash's songs, which he has been doing since 1955, when the legendary performer's first record came out.

"He crossed all those barriers, performed all styles of music," Linton said. "He didn't have to change his own style of performing in order to include songs that a lot of people probably wouldn't have thought would fit him."

Along with Linton's own hits, his set at the fair will include a tribute to Johnny Cash. But rather than pretending he is Johnny Cash, Linton instead tells stories about Cash's life and reminisces about the legendary artist between songs.

"Because I have a lower-timbered voice, I can do the songs in the style that he did them, and people like to hear them," he said.

Asked how he has stayed dedicated for so long, Linton said, "I love entertaining, and I love music. ... I am 68 years old now, but I really love music, and I still like to go out there. I enjoy performing it."

Locals may remember Linton's grandstand performance at the 1975 Central States Fair. At the time, he had a No. 1 record titled "When She Cries," and he had also recently recorded his collaboration with Kinky Friedman, "Rapid City, SD," which was, as one would expect, a hit with area residents.

"We had a wonderful time at that particular fair," he said.

More than 30 years after that performance, he is looking forward to returning to Rapid City for a series of appearances at the Central States Fair's free stage.

And if Sherwin Linton says he'll be there, you can bet he will.

If you go

What: Sherwin Linton and The Cotton Kings in concert

When: 3:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 23; 3:30 p.m., 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Aug. 24 and 25

Where: McDonald's Stage, Central States Fairgrounds

Admission: General admission to the fair is $2.



Grandstand events

Here is a schedule for the Central States Fair grandstands entertainment.

All events start at 7 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 17

Truck pull

Saturday, Aug. 18

Demolition derby

Sunday, Aug. 19

Joe Diffie

Collin Raye

Monday, Aug. 20

Neal McCoy

Taylor Swift

Tuesday, Aug. 21

Craig Morgan

Bomshel

Wednesday, Aug. 22

Joe Nichols

Trent Tomlinson

Thursday, Aug. 23

PRCA Range Days Rodeo

Friday, Aug. 24

PRCA Range Days Rodeo

Saturday, Aug. 25

PRCA Range Days Rodeo