John Bright “Johnny” Russell (1940-2001) was born and raised in Moorhead and became a star of the Grand Ole Opry and a popular country recording artist, with hits including “Catfish John” and “Rednecks, White Socks and Blue Ribbon Beer.” He was best remembered as the author of “Act Naturally,” a country-pop crossover hit for both Buck Owens and the Beatles that sold over twenty million copies. Born in Moorhead on January 23, 1940, Russell grew up listening to Lefty Frizzell and Ernest Tubb on the Grand Ole Opry and wanting to be an entertainer. When he was twelve, his father moved the family to Fresno, California, where Russell began winning talent contests as a teenager. Just out of high school, while playing in small clubs, he was signed by Radio Records and recorded “In a Mansion Stands My Love.” After Jim Reeves covered the song on RCA Victor, Russell went to Nashville at age nineteen. His occasional recordings on ABC and MGM Records in the early 1960s had little impact, and he returned first to Mississippi and then to California as a local broadcast host. After Voni Morrison brought Russell’s “Act Naturally,” which he had written in a half hour, to Buck Owens’ attention, Buck & the Buckaroo's made it a major country hit in 1963, and the Beatles turned it into a crossover classic in 1965 with Ringo Starr on vocals. Russell then returned to Nashville as a publishing executive and staff writer for the Wilburn Brothers’ Sure-Fire Music, writing songs recorded by the Wilburns and Loretta Lynn. In 1971 he began focusing on his own performing career, and after Chet Atkins signed him to RCA Victor, he reached his highest chart positions with “Catfish John” in 1972, the Grammy-nominated “Rednecks, White Socks and Blue Ribbon Beer” and “The Baptism of Jesse Taylor” in 1973, and “Hello I Love You” in 1975. Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton later had a hit with his “Making Plans” in 1980, George Strait with “Let’s Fall to Pieces Together” in 1984, and Gene Watson with “Got No Reason to Go Home” in 1985. Widely seen on Hee Haw, Russell joined the Grand Ole Opry cast in 1985 and became a mainstay as a singer and comedian. In 2000, leading country artists backed him as he recorded “Actin' Naturally,” a collection of his own songs, all published by his company Sunflower County Songs. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001, the year of his untimely death.
