Donnie Bowshier - Stone Heart

Country music is three chords and the truth. -Harlan Howard

My dad was a musician, so I grew up surrounded by music, all kinds of music that is indelibly etched in my memories.  I still remember the day in Spring of 1957 when I first heard Donnie Bowshier's Stone Heart on the radio.  I was at my girlfriend's house, and we were dancing to songs on the radio - practicing our dance moves for a local dance at the Legion Hall that evening.  My dad belonged to the American Legion, and one of their community services was to host dances for kids on Saturday evenings.  Granted, my friends and I were only nine at the time, but we fancied ourselves as sophisticated dancers and went to every dance we could.  We danced along side the jr. high and high school students trying to mimic their oh-so-cool moves.  

We had just finished practicing a fast swing and were sitting down to drink our iced tea when this brand new song was announced: Stone Heart by Donnie Bowshier.  I loved this tune the first time I heard it and continue to love it today regardless of how corny my kids think it is.

I begged my dad, (a musician, himself) to buy me the record, which he did.  I played that record until the groves were practically worn through to the other side.  I sang along.  I danced to it by myself and with my girlfriends (we were still dancing mostly with one another at that stage because boys were still part of the mysterious unknown).   Unfortunately, when I was 16, my record, along with most of my worldly possessions, disappeared in a tornado that ripped through our little crossroads village in Ohio.

Over the years, I kind of forgot about the song as life went on.  About five years ago, though, something triggered the memory of the song, and I found my self singing it over and over.  I started asking people if they remembered it but most of them thought I was talking about Hearts of Stone (a big hit for the Fontaine Sisters during the same time period).  So I set about trying to find Donnie Bowshier's original recording of Stone Heart (a cover just wouldn't do).  It took me years, but I finally located an mp3 recording and then on YouTube.   And now, as I listen once again to a song from my past, I am thinking about how much of an impact music has had on my life.

Donnie Bowshier was from Madison Hills, Ohio, and was born into a musical family.  Unfortunetly, he contracted polio at age three and spent much of his life in a wheelchair.  His handicap did not deter his interest in, and love of music.  By age 13, he had started a band; by age 16, he had a recording contract with the King record label.  He and his band were recording records and playing regularly on radio stations.

Bowshier had a busy and productive year in 1955.  He signed with Dess records,  was a guest on Ernst Tubb's Midnight Jamboree and on Ferlin Husky's morning show.  Recorded in 1957, Donnie Bowshier's Stone Heart was such a big hit that it ended up being released on multiple labels including Dess and Sage.   Because of his talent and popularity, a Dayton T.V. channel gave him his own weekly program.  Bowshier moved in and out of the music business over the next few years, most likely because of issues related to his health and handicap. 

Although I like all of Bowshier's work, to me, the epitome of his talent is captured in his recording of Stone Heart.

Lyrics for Stone Heart by Donnie Bowshier and Sam Salyer - 1957

Oh, they tell me that stone doesn't even have a heart
And it doesn't even hurt when it's broken apart
Oh, I wish I'd never met you
You tore my dream world all apart
I wonder if someday
I'll have a chance to melt your stone heart