Liz Anderson

Born Elizabeth Jane Haaby on 13 March 1930 in Pine Creek near Roseau, Minnesota, Anderson wed country songwriter Casey Anderson in 1946. She first earned her living as a secretary before beginning to compose songs of her own. Among her early credits were “Pick Of The Week” for Roy Drusky in 1964, “(My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers” for Merle Haggard in 1965, “Guess My Eyes Were Bigger Than My Heart” for Conway Twitty in 1966, “Just Between The Two Of Us” for Merle Haggard and Bonnie Owens in 1966, and “I’m A Lonesome Fugitive” for Merle Haggard in 1967; the last of these, co-written with her husband, helped shape Haggard’s outlaw persona. Between 1964 and 1970 she cut sides for RCA Records, placing country singles such as “Mama Spank,” “Tiny Tears,” and “Husband Hunting.” In 1972 Epic released her country rendition of “I’ll Never Fall In Love Again,” while “The Game Of Triangles” featured her alongside Bobby Bare and Norma Jean. She supplied her daughter Lynn Anderson with the 1966 country hit “Ride, Ride, Ride,” and the pair later charted on the US country list with the duet “Mother May I.” Lynn later issued the album Songs My Mother Wrote and has continued to pitch her mother’s material to current performers. Liz and Casey stayed active in the industry, at one point hosting a country program on Nashville cable television. Anderson resumed recording in the late 1990s.