Ray Benson helped name Wynonna "Wynonna"?

True story and certainly country music history. Ray Benson first told me over 13 years ago how Wynonna Judd got her stage name.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Bob Pickett Radio podcast Time, your host Bob Pickett, going
back forty eight years of stories in the radio, and oh,
I've got a story in fact, this story country music history.
Now you're a fan of Whinoa Naomi jud Right, the Judds.
Why not a Judd? Why not a? You've known that
that's a stage name, right, Naomi? Stage name? Yeah? You

(00:21):
know they're real names, Christina and Diane. But do you
know how why Noah got the stage name why Noa? Well?
Listen carefully. This is a video interview I did with
the Ray Benson oh about thirteen fourteen years ago. And
you're gonna find out the rest of the story right now.
I heard something the other day and I never knew this.

(00:42):
I want to know about your connection with whin on
A Judd, and supposedly you're the one that gave her
the stage name why Noa?

Speaker 2 (00:50):
This is true? Is it really? Let me think back?
What year was seventy eight, seventy nine, I don't know,
somewhere around there. Naomi was a nurse in la and Christina,
her daughter was thirteen. Naomi used to come to their
shows and hang out, and she was dating Johnny Nicholas
piano player at the time who owns the Hilltop Old

(01:11):
Fredericksburg in Texas. And so she came up to me
one day. We were listening to a guy named Wyoni Harris.
It was the old Blue singer It's Whinoni, And we
also had Root sixty six the song and in the
song it says, don't forget Winona, which is a little
town in Arizona. And so she Naomi said, you know,

(01:41):
you know that's that'd be if you took to me
and Whyoni and said put an a on the end.
It'll be like Whinina. That'd be a good name for
a girl. And I said, well, don't forget Wina, which
is the line from Route sixty six, because it was
her daughter and she was thirteen years old. And she said,
I think I'll call her wine.

Speaker 1 (02:00):
So that's how little did you know?

Speaker 2 (02:02):
Their Nameristina. Yeah, no, they weren't singing. They weren't singing.
She wanted to be a singer, but Christina went on,
it was thirteen years old, she didn't sing. Fast forward
five years. I swear to god, I'm watching the Today
Show and now a mother daughter thing, you know, And
I went, wait a minute, that's that's that girl. And

(02:23):
they were so good, I mean, and it went on
to obviously one of the great voices of all the time,
you know. But yeah, that's that's the story, and that's it.

Speaker 1 (02:32):
That's a true story. Yeah, amazing story. Right of course.
I think the Ray Benton's got just an amazing voice too. Anyway,
how whin Ona jud got the name Winona? Now now
you know the story right here more stories, more interviews
from the past tomorrow Bob Pickett Podcast. Of course, you
can listen to it on your favorite app, including her
iHeartRadio app, and remember follow me on Instagram, Instagram, Bob

(02:56):
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