Deborah Allen

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Deborah Allen (* 30th September 1953 as Deborah Lynn Thurmond in Memphis , Tennessee ) is an American country singer-songwriter.

Life

Beginnings

Deborah sang in a band when she was still at school. In 1970 she moved to Nashville , where she initially worked as a waitress. One day Roy Orbison showed up at her restaurant. She approached the big star and got a job as a singer in his backing band. The next step in my career was an engagement at the Opryland amusement park, not far from Nashville . Then she accompanied Tennessee Ernie Ford on his Russian tour . The entry into the music scene was done.

After a two-year stay in California, she returned to Nashville in 1977, where she initially tried her hand as a songwriter. In 1979 she was chosen as "anonymous duet partner" by the widow of Jim Reeves, who had died fifteen years earlier . Her voice was added to archive footage of the country icon. The three resulting singles actually made it into the top 10 between July 1979 and March 1980. Following this success, she received a record deal from the Capitol label.

Career

In 1980 their debut album Trouble In Paradise was released. The singles You (Make Me Wonder Why) and Nobody's Fool made it into the top 20 of the country charts. In 1982 she married the songwriter and producer Rafe Van Hoy, who worked for RCA. The marriage failed in the 1990s. Allen switched to RCA and had three top 10 hits there in 1983/1984. Together with Van Hoy she wrote the song Baby I Lied , which reached number 4 on the country charts and number 26 on the pop charts. It was her only crossover success. The following single I've Been Wrong Before stayed in second place for two weeks in early 1984, and in the summer of 1984 it reached the top 10 for the last time with I Hurt For You . After completing her first RCA album, Let Me Be The First , she temporarily focused on songwriting. She composed the top hit Don't Worry 'Bout Me Baby for Janie Fricke . She wrote other songs for Tanya Tucker and LeAnn Rimes, among others . A musical change of direction, more R&B and funk , with the album Telepathy (1987), for which Prince also contributed a song under the pseudonym Joey Coco, was unsuccessful.

After a few quieter years, Allen made a comeback in the early 1990s. Patty Loveless had a top 3 hit in the country charts in 1991 with an Allen composition with Hurt Me Bad (In a Real Good Way) . Allen himself signed a new record deal with the Giant label . This is where the album Delta Dreamland was created in 1993 , which mainly contains self-composed songs. With the released single Rock Me (In The Cradle Of Love) Allen was back in the country charts for the first time since 1984, but the title only reached number 29. A year later, the album All That I Am followed .

In 1998 she switched to the Curb label . The Best of Deborah Allen appeared here in 2000 .

Allen continues to tour as a musician, most recently releasing Hear Me Now (2011) and Rockin 'Little Christmas (2013). The Christmas album's theme song was also recorded by Brooks & Dunn at the same time and peaked at number 57 on the country charts.

In 2016, Allen published her first children's book, The Loneliest Christmas Tree .

Discography

Albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
US US Country Country
1984 Let me be the first - Country52 (6 weeks)
Country
First published: December 1984
1993 Delta Dreamland - Country55 (6 weeks)
Country
First published: February 1993

more publishments

  • 1980: Trouble in Paradise
  • 1987: Telepathy
  • 1994: All That I Am
  • 2000: The Best of Deborah Allen
  • 2000: Hands On
  • 2000: Deb in the Raw
  • 2006: Memphis Princess
  • 2011: Hear Me Now
  • 2013: Rockin 'Little Christmas

Compilations

  • 1998: Anthology

EPs

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
US US Country Country
1984 Cheat the night US67 (20 weeks)
US 		Country10 (47 weeks)
Country
First published: September 1983

Singles

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
US US Country Country
1980 Nobody's Fool
Trouble in Paradise 		- Country24 (15 weeks)
Country
1981 You (Make Me Wonder Why)
 - Country20 (11 weeks)
Country
1982 You Look Like the One I Love
 - Country33 (10 weeks)
Country
After tonight
 - Country82 (3 weeks)
Country
1983 Baby I song
Cheat the Night 		US26 (21 weeks)
US 		Country4 (24 weeks)
Country
First published: August 1983
1984 I've Been Wrong Before
Cheat the Night 		- Country2 (24 weeks)
Country
I Hurt for You
Cheat the Night 		- Country10 (20 weeks)
Country
Heartache and a Half
Let Me Be the First 		- Country23 (17 weeks)
Country
1992 Rock Me (In the Cradle of Love)
Delta Dreamland 		- Country29 (20 weeks)
Country
1993 If You're Not Gonna Love Me
Delta Dreamland 		- Country44 (13 weeks)
Country
1994 Break These Chains
All That I Am 		- Country66 (2 weeks)
Country

more publishments

  • 1976: Do You Copy
  • 1980: You Never Cross My Mind
  • 1982: Let's Stop Talkin 'About It
  • 1984: Rockin 'Little Christmas
  • 1987: Telepathy
  • 1987: You're the Kind of Trouble
  • 1993: All the Loving and Hurting Too
  • 1994: Wrong Side of Love
  • 1999: Is It Love Yet
  • 2009: There's a Last Time for Everything
  • 2010: Amazing Graceland
  • 2010: Redneck Christmas (with Cledus T. Judd )
  • 2011: Anything Other Than Love

Collaborations

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
US US Country Country
1979 Don't Let Me Cross Over
Don't Let Me Cross Over 		- Country10 (14 weeks)
Country
with Jim Reeves
Oh, How I Miss You Tonight
Don't Let Me Cross Over 		- Country6 (15 weeks)
Country
with Jim Reeves
1980 Take Me in Your Arms and Hold Me
Don't Let Me Cross Over 		- Country10 (16 weeks)
Country
with Jim Reeves

swell

  1. ↑ Dont Let Me Cross Over (RCA 11564), 10th place; Oh, How I Miss You Tonight (RCA 11737), 6th place and Take Me In Your Arms And Hold Me (RCA 11946), 10th place; compare: Whitburn, Joel: The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits. 1944-2006 . 2nd Edition. New York, NY: Billboard Books, 2006, pp. 286f
  2. ↑ http://www.billboard.com/artist/300635/deborah-allen/chart
  3. ↑ https://www.discogs.com/Deborah-Allen-Telepathy/release/1962468
  4. ↑ http://www.musicvf.com/songs.php?page=artist&artist=Deborah%20Allen&tab=songaswriterchartstab
  5. ↑ For the notations in the country charts see Whitburn, Joel: The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits. 1944 - 2006. 2nd edition. New York, NY: Billboard Books, 2006, pp. 21f
  6. ↑ http://www.deborahallen.com/music/
  7. ↑ https://www.amazon.co.uk/Loneliest-Christmas-Tree-Deborah-Allen-ebook/dp/B006C7GQSU/
  8. ↑ a b c d Chart sources: US

literature

  • Erlewine, Michael u. a .: All Music Guide to Country. San Francisco, California: Miller Freemann Books, 1999, p. 6

Web links

Commons : Deborah Allen  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files
personal data
SURNAME Allen, Deborah
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Thurmond, Deborah Lynn (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American country musician
DATE OF BIRTH September 30, 1953
PLACE OF BIRTH Memphis , Tennessee