Jean Shepard

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Jean Shepard (2006)

Jean Shepard (born Ollie Imogene Shepard ; born November 21, 1933 in Pauls Valley , Oklahoma ; † September 25, 2016 ) was a country singer with numerous hits in the country charts and one of the first female country stars to become a member of the “ Grand Ole Opry “Were.

Career

Jean Shepard, one of ten siblings born in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma, grew up in Visalia, California, near Bakersfield . In 1948 she was the bassist and lead singer of the girls band "The Melody Ranch Girls". During one of the band's appearances, she was discovered by Hank Thompson , who brokered her a record deal with Capitol Records in 1953 .

In February 1953 their first single Crying Steel Guitar Waltz (Capitol 2358) was released, but it was unsuccessful. Her second single, released in June 1953, was a duet with Ferlin Husky entitled A Dear John Letter (2502), which peaked at number 16 on the US pop charts and stayed at the top of the country charts for 23 weeks. Against the backdrop of the Korean War , the text deals with a letter from a girl to a soldier fighting in the Far East, to whom she informs that she has now a new boyfriend. The thematically related single Forgive Me Dear (2586), released in September 1953 , again a duet with Ferlin Husky, could not repeat the success.

In the course of her career spanning several decades, Jean Shephard succeeded only once in the pop charts after A Dear John Letter in 1953, with the single Slippin 'Away in 1973. That her career went on The area of ​​country music remained limited, may have been because it stuck to the traditional country music style of the 1950s and a strong honky-tonk influence could always be heard in their recordings.

It took almost two years before Jean Shepard was able to place himself back in the country charts: In 1955 the singles Satisfied Mind (3118) and Beautiful Lies (3222) were released, both of which reached number 4. In the same year she became the only female ensemble member of the first USA-wide television music series Ozark Jubilee and appeared regularly on the show for years. In 1956 their first LP was released, Songs Of A Love Affair (Capitol T-728), which only contained newly recorded material composed by Shepard and no previously published title, one of the first concept albums in country music in terms of song selection and arrangement .

From 1956 to 1957, Shepard was a regular guest on the Saturday Network Show Red Foley and appeared on numerous television shows. In 1958 she became the third country singer ever to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry , with Kitty Wells and Minnie Pearl being the only female members until then. Between 1956 and 1963 Shepard only had two minor country hits: I Want To Go Where No One Knows Me (# 18 in 1958) and Have Heart Will Love (1959 at # 30). Obviously, her honky-tonk style didn't resonate with a wider audience by the time the Nashville Sound dominated country music, even though Cash Box Magazine voted her best female country singer in 1959.

Hawkshaw Hawkins , a well-known country singer, met her on the Ozark Jubilee television series , and he was one of the show's founding cast . Hawkins and Shephard married in 1960 and, when not touring, lived on a ranch near Nashville and raised horses. On March 5, 1963, Hawkins was killed in a plane crash near Camden, Tennessee, near Nashville. Country stars Patsy Cline and Cowboy Copas also died in the crash .

The second half of the 1960s was the most successful period for Jean Shepard, because between 1964 and 1969 seven of her singles made it into the top 20 of the country charts. In 1964 Shepard made a comeback with the title Second Fiddle (To An Old Guitar) (5169), which reached number 5 on the country charts. Her duet with Ray Pillow I'll Take The Dog (5633) reached number 9 in 1966, the follow-up single If Teardrops Were Silver (5681) reached number 10 in the same year. Her last top 10 hit for Capitol was Then He Touches Me (2694) in 1969 will be.

In 1973, Jean Shepard moved to the record company United Artists after twenty years with Capitol . Her first single for United Artists Slippin 'Away reached number 4 on the country charts, but remained her last major success. Although she recorded eleven more singles for United Artists by 1977, hit parade successes remained rather modest. After a short but unsuccessful guest appearance in 1978 in the form of two singles for GRT Records , their last single Too Many Rivers was released in 1981 on the First Generation Records label .

Discography

Singles discography (selection)

Selection criterion: The first five singles, then all singles that made it into the top 20 of the country charts.

Singles with Capitol Records 1953-1972 and United Artists Records 1973-1977
year title Order no. published Country charts US charts
1953 Crying Steel Guitar Waltz / Twice The Lovin ' Capitol 2358 February 1953
1953 & Ferlin Husky: A Dear John Letter / I'd Rather Die Young Capitol 2502 June 1953 1 16
1953 & Ferlin Husky: Forgive Me John / My Wedding Ring Capitol 2586 September 1953 4th
1954 Glass That Stands Beside You / Let's Kiss And Try Again Capitol 2706 January 1954
1954 Why Did You Wait? / Two Whoops And A Holler Capitol 2791 April 1954
1955 Satisfied Mind / Take Possessions Capitol 3118 May 1955 4th
1955 Beautiful Lies / I Thought Of You Capitol 3222 September 1955 4th
1958 I Want To Go Where Nobody Knows Me / Just Another Girl Capitol 4068 October 1958 18th
1964 Second Fiddle (To An Old Guitar) / Two Little Boys Capitol 5169 April 1964 5
1966 Many Happy Hangovers To You / Our Past Is In My Way Capitol 5585 January 1966 13
1966 & Ray Pillow: I'll Take The Dog / I'd Fight The World Capitol 5633 April 1966 9
1966 If Teardrops Were Silver / Outstanding In Your Field Capitol 5681 June 1966 10
1967 Heart We Did All That We Could / My Momma Didn't Raise No Fools Capitol 5822 January 1967 12
1969 Seven Lonely Days / Invisible Tears Capitol 2585 August 1969 18th
1969 Then He Touched Me / Only Mama That'll Walk The Line Capitol 2694 December 1969 8th
1973 Slippin 'Away / Think I'll Go Somewhere And Cry Myself To Sleep United Artists XW 248 April 1973 4th 81

LP discography (selection)

Selection criterion: The first three LPs, then all LPs that made it into the top 20 of the country charts

LPs with Capitol Records 1953–1972 and United Artists Records 1973–1977
year title Order no. Country Charts US charts
1956 SONGS OF A LOVE AFFAIR - Passing Love Affair, Shadows On The Wall, Girls In Disgrace, Over And Over, Hello Old Broken Heart, Tell Me What I Want To Hear, Mysteries Of Life, I'll Thank You All My Life, Sad Singin 'And Slow Ridin', Did I Turn Down A Better Deal, I Married You For Love, It's Hard To Tell The Married From The Free. Capitol T-728
1959 LONESOME LOVE - Thief In The Night, I'll Hold You In My Heart, Weak And The Strong, You'd Better Go, Sweet Temptation, I'll Never Be Free, You Win Again, I Hate Myself, You're Telling Me Sweet Lies Again, Memory, You Can't Break The Chains Of Love, I Love You Because Capitol T-1126
1959 THIS IS JEAN SHEPHARD - Satisfied Mind, Two Whoops And A Holler, I'd Rather Die Young, Why Did You Wait, Other Woman, Act Like A Married Man, Beautiful Lies, You're Telling Me Sweet Lies Again, Under Suspicion, Crying Steel Guitar Waltz, My Wedding Ring, I Learned It All From You Capitol T-1253
1964 LIGHTHEARTED AND BLUE - Loose Talk, That's What It's Like To Be Lonesome, I Can't Stop Loving You, Violet And A Rose, Just Call Me Lonesome, Foggy River, There's A Big Wheel, Born To Lose, Half A Mind, When Two Worlds Collide, Cigarettes And Coffee Blues, If You've Got The Money Capitol ST-2187 17th
1965 IT'S A MAN EVERYTIME - Too Many Teardrops Too Late, Yesterday's Best, Ain't You Ashamed, Bitter Tears, Too Broke To Break, Billy Christian, I've Got My Pride, It's A Man Every Time It's A Man, More To Love Than This, Let Me Be The Judge, I Love You More And More Everyday, Franklin County Moonshine Capitol ST-2537 19th
1966 & Ray Pillow: I'LL TAKE THE DOG - I'll Take The Dog, We Could, Let's Be Different, Who In The World, Corner Of Despair, It Was Too Late, Stranger Nine To Five, Lonely Together, Willingly, Put It Off Until Tomorrow, I'd Fight The World, Nobody's Business But My Own Capitol ST-2416 19th
1966 MANY HAPPY HANGOVERS - Many Happy Hangovers To You, Look What I've Got, Our Past Is In My Way, How In The World Will I Get Over You, Your Name's Become A Household Word, I Forgot To Care, Wherever You Are, Dirt Under His Feet, One Minute, Day To Day Tear To Tear, You'd Still Find A Way To Cheat On Me, Wave Goodbye To Me Capitol ST-2547 6th
1967 HEART WE DID ALL THAT WE COULD - Heart We Did All That We Could, Too Many Memories All Around, Heart To Heart And Fool To Fool, Second Fiddle (To An Old Guitar), Tear Dropped By, Goodnight Me, If Teardrops Were Silver , Someone's Gotta Cry, Outstanding In Your Field, It's The Wine That's Talkin ', Don't Take Advantage Of Me, When Your House Is Not A Home Capitol ST-2690 6th
1967 YOUR FOREVERS DON'T LAST VERY LONG - Your Forevers Don't Last Very Long, Born A Woman, I'm Living In Two Worlds, Possession Is Nine-tenths Of The Law, My Mama Didn't Raise No Fools, Happy Tracks , Be Nice To Everybody, There Goes My Everything, Walk Through This World With Me, I Can't Cry Him Away, Life Turned Him That Way, Coming Or Going Capitol ST-2765 18th
1973 SLIPPIN 'AWAY - Your Forevers Don't Last Very Long, Born A Woman, I'm Living In Two Worlds, Possession Is Nine-tenths Of The Law, My Mama Didn't Raise No Fools, Happy Tracks, Be Nice To Everybody , There Goes My Everything, Walk Through This World With Me, I Can't Cry Him Away, Life Turned Him That Way, Coming Or Going United Artists 144F 15th

Web links

Commons : Jean Shepard  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. July Thanki: Country Music Hall of Famer Jean Shepard dead at 82 . The Tennessean , September 25, 2016, accessed September 28, 2016.
  2. Fred Dellar, Roy Thompson and Douglas B. Green: The Illustrated Encyclopedia Of Country Music . Foreword by Roy Acuff. 2nd edition, Salamander Books, London 1979, p. 205
  3. ^ Joel Whitburn: Top Pop Records 1940–1955 . Record Research, Menomonee Falls / Wisconsin 1973, p. 42. - On the title, compare Melvin Shestack: The Country Music Encyclopedia . Omnibus Press, London / New York / Sydney 1977, p. 252
  4. The single only reached number 81. Joel Whitburn: Top Pop Singles 1955-1993 . Record Research, Menomonee Falls / Wisconsin 1994, p. 538
  5. Her style was characterized as "pure '50s country type country, full of hard-sob ballads and full throttle honky tonk"; Fred Dellar, Roy Thompson, Douglas B. Green: The Illustrated Encyclopedia Of Country Music . Foreword by Roy Acuff. 2nd edition, Salamander Books, London 1979, p. 205
  6. Val Adams: ABC To Offer "Ozark Jubilee" . In: New York Times. Edition of January 4, 1955, p. 28
  7. Stambler, Irwin / Landon, Grelun: Encyclopedia Of Folk, Country And Western Music . New York / London: St. Martin's Press, 1969, p. 275
  8. Rick Everitt: Falling Stars. Air Crashes That Filled Rock And Roll Heaven . Harbor House Books, Augusta / Georgia 2004, p. 33
  9. Newspaper report on the plane crash see: Tennessee Plane Crash Kills Three Singers And Pilot . In: New York Times , March 7, 1963 issue, p. 5