Scott Greene Wiseman was born November 8th, 1909 on a farm in the mountains of Western North Carolina. This area was a remote part of southern Appalachia. At the time, communications and roads were primitive. The living experience could be likened to living in colonial America before the Revolutionary War.
Scotty grew up with his family, working the farm and all the duties that came with that.
The first school Scotty attended was at the old Walnut Grove one-room schoolhouse about a mile up the valley.
Teachers were in short supply at this time. Many would turn down positions as soon as they saw the small one roomed school houses, packed with children. Some of these students were as old as the teachers.
Scotty’s father, Edward Wiseman, was a farmer and also a teacher. Edward Wiseman was a tall and burly man, who did not tolerate any mischief in his classroom. There were students that tried Mr. Wiseman’s patience and quickly were regretful, never to challenge him again.
Scotty attended a boarding school at Crossnore for his high school education. Here he studied English, history, Latin and agriculture but did poorly in math.
During his high school years, Scotty continued to practice his banjo and guitar playing, although his interest in music went as far back as his mother, teaching him to sing when he was just able to walk.
In 1927, Scotty graduated from Crossnore, as class president. Scotty went on to Duke University. Unfortunately, financial hardships caused Scotty to only be able to complete one year at Duke University.
A short time after this, Scotty was introduced to radio, a very small station WMMN, owned by Mr. Shad Rowe. The year was 1929 and radio was still in its infancy. It was at this time that Scotty coined his radio name as “Skyland Scotty” and the name immediately took to his listeners.
From WMMN, Scotty went on to station WLS-AM in Chicago, Illinois. WLS-AM’s National Barn Dance was a rival to WSM-AM’s Grand Ole Opry.
Here, Scotty met his love, Myrtle Eleanor Cooper. They married on December 13th, 1934 and were regular appearances on National Barn Dance on WLS-AM Chicago. They performed under the stage name “Lulu Belle and Scotty”, “Sweethearts of Country Music”.
Lulu Belle and Scotty were best known for their classic song “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?”. This became one of the first country songs to attract major attention in pop circles and was recorded by artists in both genres.
Lulu Belle and Scotty also ventured into featured motion pictures, such as Village Barn Dance(1940), Shine On, Harvest Moon(1938), County Fair(1941) and The National Barn Dance(1944).
Lulu Belle and Scotty had two children, Linda Lou Wiseman and Steve Wiseman. Both are deceased but both married and had children, who have families today.
The couple retired in 1958 and Scotty went on to earning a degree from Northwestern University, Master of Arts. Lulu Belle entered politics, and served two terms from 1975 to 1978 in the North Carolina House of Representatives as the Democratic Representative for three counties.
Scotty Wiseman was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1971.
Scotty Wiseman passed away in 1981 in Florida, of a heart attack, on a return trip to North Carolina for the summer.
Lulu Belle (Myrtle Eleanor Cooper) passed away on February 8th, 1999, of Alzheimer’s disease in Ingalls, North Carolina.