P.O.W. Letter
1973 · Lee Ann L-1001 · USA
- Artist
- Russ Jeffers
- Title
- P.O.W. Letter
- Release
- Smokey Mountain Love Affair
- Year
- 1973
- Label
- Lee Ann # L-1001
- Format
- 7" · Single
- Language
- English
- Country
- USA
- Genre
- Country · Country
- Primary theme
- Post-War
Annotation
The country song "P.O.W. Letter" (Lee Ann Records # L-1001) by Russ Jeffers, who often performed with his wife, under the title Russ and Becky Jeffers. In fact, her vocals are featured on this record, but it is not credited on the label. They performed over 15,000 shows from 1974-1997 at Opryland USA, a Nashville theme park. (1) Originally, they both came from Clinton, Tennessee. After he left the United States Air Force in 1971, they moved to Nashville. (2) In the first part, Russ Jeffers narrated from the position of a soldier who had "just returned today from a Vietnam cell", writing to his girlfriend (from before his plane went down in 1965). He looked forward to being back in his girlfriend's arms. Then Becky Jeffers took over the narration, which brought with it the punch-line. Unfortunately, she had "lost track" of him. She did not have "time to read" his letter, because "today's my wedding day".
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
About the artist
Russ Jeffers was a Nashville-area country singer and guitarist active from the early 1970s into the 1980s. Circa 1973 he cut "P.O.W. Letter" among four solo tracks for Lee Ann Records - confirmed directly in Praguefrank's Country Discography, a sanctioned source. The same year, with his wife Becky as Smoky Mountain Sunshine, he recorded for the Guitar and Royal American labels (produced by Louis Owens, sidemen including Buck White and Roy Huskey); the Russ Jeffers Band cut sides for Papa Joe Records in 1975, and Russ and Becky recorded again at Pete's Place, Nashville in 1981. Compilations…