ALBUM OF THE MONTH: LAVENDER COUNTRY — LAVENDER COUNTRY (1973)

Lavender Country’s self-titled 1973 album was the first openly gay country music album.

The band was formed in 1972 by Patrick Haggerty (1944–2022), who grew up on a dairy farm in Port Angeles, Washington, with a progressive father supportive of his gayness. In his early 20s, Haggerty was discharged from the Peace Corps for being found in a compromising situation and was subsequently sent to a mental institution to “treat” his homosexuality. He also saw many of his friends murdered or arrested during this time. This prompted Haggerty to become a queer rights activist and a socialist, and led to the formation of the band Lavender Country.

Lavender and the colour purple have long been associated with queerness. Violets were linked to the lesbian poet Sappho, a lavender marriage referred to a union between a lesbian and a gay man to conceal their sexual orientations, and a lavender rhinoceros led Boston Pride in 1974.

The band toured the West Coast, performing songs about gay struggles for Stonewall Movement and Gay Liberation audiences. Alongside Haggerty, the original line-up included keyboardist Michael Carr, guitarist Robert Hammerstrom, and singer and fiddle player Eve Morris.

Their self-titled album was released a year after the band’s formation, with the backing of the Gay Community Social Services of Seattle. This funding allowed them to record and press 1,000 copies of the album, secure a P.O. Box, and place ads in the back of magazines. This mail-order business was crucial in a climate where most people listened to the record in secret.

However, no more records were produced beyond the original pressing, and the band dissolved after a few years of performances. The music was too radical for the time, especially as the queer rights movement became co-opted by the Democratic Party, watering it down.

The band fell into obscurity until a crate-digger uploaded Crying These Cocksucking Tears to YouTube. Record collector Jeremy Cargill discovered the song and, with the help of indie label Paradise of Bachelors, reissued the full-length album in 2014. This time around, internet culture and social progress created a buzz, and soon Haggerty was collaborating with queer icons like Trixie Mattel and Orville Peck.

The album was a proud proclamation of gay identity in a climate of injustice and persecution. The lyrics are irreverent, full of double entendres and humour, in a way that is rebellious and unapologetic. The first lyric on the album has Haggerty proclaim in his warbling voice, “wakin’ up to say hip hop hooray / I’m glad I’m gay” (on Come Out Singing). The songs go on to defiantly protest the pain that queer people were experiencing. Waltzing Will Trilogy takes on police brutality and electroshock conversion therapy, and Back in the Closet Again is an expression of Haggerty’s frustration with the lack of support for LGBTQ people in leftist political movements (and was the first song written for the band). Cryin’ These Cocksucking Tears, a pride anthem rooted in rage, was the first and only track to see any radio play. Shan Ottley, a lesbian DJ who hoped the song would bring attention to the gay liberation movement, was fired for playing the track by her Seattle radio station. Perhaps my favourite song on the album, To a Woman was written and performed by Eve Morris, giving the 1973 album a lesbian love song.

The music is messy and loose, with an upbeat fiddle and jovial church piano creating a jangling background to Haggerty’s childlike voice. It’s a twist on outlaw country (and being gay would have made you an outlaw at the time), however they are strong country songs in their own right. Gypsy John stands out in particular for its melody and the sort of poetic rural imagery heard in classic country. The genre choice makes sense, considering Haggerty’s farming background, however country was (and in many forms remains) one of the least progressive genres in music, associated with some of the more conservative, homophobic and heteronormative pockets of society (despite cowboys having a somewhat queer history). It took a lot of courage for Haggerty to live authentically and use his music as a platform for queer rights activism, particularly in this genre. In doing so, he paved the way for future generations of LGBTQ+ artists.

In 2022, the same year Haggerty passed, Lavender Country released their second album, Blackberry Rose.

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