The “Golden Hits Of The 70s”
Main MenuConcept Refinement The Author..Wayne JancikGolden Age Of The 50sGolden Age Of The 60s1970s and There After
VICKI LAWRENCE
“THE NIGHT THE LIGHTS
WENT OUT IN GEORGIA”
(Bobby Russell)
Bell 45303
No. 1 April 7, 1973
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Vicki Lawrence, to most anyone with a soft heart/head for TV comedy, is known for her appearances on
“The Carol Burnett Show” and her own short-lived spinoff series, “Mama’s Family.” Legend has it that a
young Vicki was pestered by her mother to write to Carol Burnett; she told the comedy star just how much
she resembled her, and just how much it would mean to her little heart if they could meet, even if just for a
moment. Burnett’s secretary supposedly spotted this plea among the hordes of fan mail and brought it to
Carol’s attention. And, yes, a meeting was arranged and consummated. Different tale-tellers describe the
actual meeting in various ways, but the gist is that at that moment, Vicki was discovered.
Lawrence, born on March 26, 1949, in Inglewood, California, had been preparing for show business
nearly all of her days. As a child, she had studied ballet and tap dancing and had taken lessons on the
piano and guitar. In college, she performed with various folk groups, and three years prior to meeting
with Burnett, Vicki joined a singing group, the Young Americans. A journalist reviewing a concert by the
group mentioned Lawrence’s resemblance to Burnett. Vicki sent the clipping to Burnett, and reportedly
was quite surprised to receive a return phone call from her, suggesting that Vicki audition for a role in
Carol’s upcoming TV series.
Vicki became a regular member of the cast. In 1969, while filming an episode, she met songwriter
(“Honey,” “Little Green Apples”) and husband-to-be Bobby Russell. A few years later, when Russell had a
fact-based, murder-out-of-passion song turned down by Cher, he looked to his wife to record the number.
She did so, and the results were pleasant enough, but no one in his or her right mind expected “The Night
the Lights Went Out in Georgia” to sell as well as it eventually did. Two more Lawrence disks, “He Did It
With Me” (#75, 1973) and “The Other Woman” (#81, 1975), made the Hot 100, but Vicki never again
waxed anything that approached the contagious popularity of her murderous ode.
In 1976, Vicki Lawrence won an Emmy for her protracted work with Carol Burnett–“Outstanding Con-
tinuing or Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in Variety or Music”–and closed the door on her
pop music career. None of her recordings are currently in print, but almost every day, somewhere on the
planet Earth, Vicki’s likeness can be spotted in syndicated reruns of “The Carol Burnett Show” and
“Mama’s Family.”
To insure permanence in the Western world’s collective unconscious, Vicki returned to TV-land in the fall
of 1987 as host of the daytime version of “Win, Lose, orDraw,” one of the few game shows to be fronted by
a woman. The evening and syndicated rendition of the show was hosted by Bert Convy, 1/3 of the CHEERS
(#6, “Black Denim Trousers;’ 1955). For two years, beginning in 1992, her hour-long “Vicki” show
survived the talk show jungle.