Jean Shepard
Few country singers -- let alone female country singers -- of the 20th century produced a large body of work as enduring as Jean Shepard's. Her voice was pure country -- accent on both words. She had her first Top Ten hit in 1953, and her last almost exactly 20 years later. In between, she cut one great record after another, mostly on Capitol Records. Nearly all of them crackle, no matter the topic, with honky tonk angel spirit.
Born in Oklahoma, one of ten children in a sharecropper's family, Shepard grew up in Visalia, California, about 100 miles north of Bakersfield. As a teenager, she began her musical career by playing bass in the Melody Ranch Girls, an all-female band formed in 1948. Hank Thompson discovered Shepard a few years after the group formed. Impressed by her talents, he helped her set up a record deal at Capitol Records, where she worked with Thompson's producer, Ken Nelson.
Shepard's first chart appearance was in 1953 as a duet partner with Ferlin Husky on "A Dear John Letter" and its sequel, "Forgive Me John." Shepard and Husky toured the country following their hit singles. In 1955, she had her first solo Top Ten single, "A Satisfied Mind," which was backed by the number 13 hit "Take Possession." Later in the year, she had another Top Ten hit with "Beautiful Lies"/"I Thought of You." Her streak of hit singles led to an invitation to join the Grand Ole Opry in 1956. That same year, she joined Red Foley's Ozark Jubilee and recorded Songs of a Love Affair, arguably the first concept album in country music history. Its 12 songs depict a marriage torn apart by a love affair.
For nearly ten years after the release of "Beautiful Lies," Shepard wasn't able to get a song into the Top Ten. In fact, she had only two Top 40 hits during that period -- "I Want to Go Where No One Knows Me" (number 18, 1958) and "Have Heart, Will Love" (number 30, 1959). She continued to record and tour -- she was even named the Top Female Singer of 1959 by Cash Box -- but nothing was breaking through to the record-buying public. This was primarily because she was a hardcore honky tonk singer in a time that country-pop was ruling the charts.
In 1963, her husband Hawkshaw Hawkins died in the same plane crash that killed Patsy Cline. The following year, she returned to the Top Ten with "Second Fiddle (To an Old Guitar)." The song began a string of hits for Shepard. Although many of them failed to chart in the Top 20, she racked up 15 Top 40 hits between 1965 and 1970, including the Top Ten hits "I'll Take the Dog" (a duet with Ray Pillow, 1966), "If Teardrops Were Silver" (1966), and "Then He Touched Me" (1970). Shepard's hits continued throughout the '70s, though as the decade wore on she hit the Top 40 with less and less frequency. Her last hit single was 1978's "The Real Thing," which peaked at number 85.
After her hitmaking days were done, Shepard recorded much less frequently, but she continued to perform at the Grand Ole Opry and also toured, particularly in the U.K., where she had a strong fan base. She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2011, and published her autobiography, Down Through the Years, in 2014. She died two years later, at the age of 82.
© Dan Cooper & Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo
Similar artists
-
One White Rose
Electronic - Released by Rabbit Musik on 22 Apr 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beautiful Lies (The Honky Tonk Heroine)
Country - Released by Beach View Records on 7 Oct 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Numero Uno Country
Folk - Released by Excess Music on 29 May 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
-
Got You on My Mind
Country - Released by Old Stars on 8 Jan 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Slippin' Away (Rerecorded)
Country - Released by Country Harvest on 1 Jan 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Queen of Country (Remastered)
Country - Released by Master Tape Records on 9 Oct 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Songs of a Love Affair
Country - Released by Music Manager on 22 Jun 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Dear John Letter (Billboard Hot 100 - No. 04)
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Music Manager on 19 Dec 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
The Diamond Collection (Original Recordings)
Country - Released by X Select Records on 12 Feb 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Long Black Veil
Country - Released by Diamond Days on 13 Mar 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Best Vintage Selection - Jean Shepard
Country - Released by Retro Music Box on 2 Nov 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I'll Hold You In My Heart
Folk - Released by Beth Montana on 28 Jul 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Dear John Letter:the Singles Collection 1953-62
Country - Released by ACROBAT on 5 Nov 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Songs Of A Love Affair/Heartaches And Tears
Country - Released by EMI Catalogue on 1 Jan 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Passing Love Affair
Jazz - Released by Black & Partner Licenses LLC on 1 Apr 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
-
St. Nicholas - For Young Folks
Country - Released by St. Nicholas Day on 2 Dec 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo