Dottie Rambo/Albertina Walker

The matriarch of the influential Southern gospel trio the Singing Rambos, Dottie Rambo looms as one of the most prolific songwriters in the postwar spiritual music canon, composing thousands of ballads and hymns recorded by acts spanning from Elvis Presley to Dolly Parton to Whitney Houston. Born Joyce Reba Luttrell in Madisonville, Kentucky, on March 2, 1934, she learned to play guitar by imitating her favorite Grand Ole Opry headliners, and at age eight composed her first original songs. Two years later she was a fixture on local country radio broadcasts, but at 12 she becam...