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Jean Shepard (b. Ollie Imogene Shepard November 21, 1933 in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma) is an American Country Music Singer and Songwriter. Jean Shepard was one of Country Music's most early female innovators, developing a standard in Country Music for other singers, proving that indeed women could sell records. In the 1950s, she was one of Country Music's best-selling artists. Her biggest hits include "A Dear John Letter" (a duet with Ferlin Husky), "A Satisfied Mind", "I Thought of You", "I'll Take the Dog", and "Slippin' Away."
Jean Shepard has often been called the pre-Loretta Lynn or her time, for her boisterous attitude when it came to singing and performing. Many music critics adored her firm voice, that gave a sharp edge to much of the material she sang. She was one of the first female Country singers to become quite successful in the 1950s, helping women assert themselves in the male-dominated Country Music field. Althought to most people looked like the girl next door, but really in truth, Shepard was a strong and boisterous woman, that wouldn't let a man stand in her way. Although she didn't write much of her material throughout the years, she later said she did make the material her very own. For twenty years, she was one of Country Music's most successful and best-selling artists.
Jean was born Ollie Imogene Shepard in Oklahoma and was one of ten children. Music was a very important part of the family's life. During World War II, her and her family moved out west in search of a better life for themselves. They ended up settling in Visalia, California, in the center of the state. In high school, Shepard formed a band called "The Melody Ranch Girls". They developed quite a following and became locally famous. Bandleader at the time, Hank Thompson heard Shepard and "The Melody Ranch Girls", one night at "Noble's Melody Ranch". She played with Thompson and his band. He helped Shepard get singed on with Capitol Records in 1952. This would lead to 21 years under Capitol. Shepard cut songs from her first sessions with Jimmy Bryant, Speedy West, Cliffie Stone, and Billy Strange, who all helped back her up. At only eighteen years, old, she recorded the song "Twice the Lovin' (In Half the Time)", which was a risku song for a woman to sing at the time. It would take another year, before Shepard would get a hit though.
In 1953, Shepard cut a duet recording with another rising California-based Country star, Ferlin Husky. The song was called "A Dear John Letter". In 1953, the song hit #1 on the Country charts, becoming her only #1 hit. The song even made the Top 5 on the Pop charts, a rarity for country stars at that time. The song made stars out of both them. Jean Shepard would later criticize the Country Pop crossover artists of the 1970s, yet Shepard had a Pop hit herself. On other later sessions, her studio band featured future Country singers, like Merle Haggard, Fuzzy Owen, and Lewis Talley, as well as Buck Owens. Shepard did not break as a solo artist, up until 1955 with the song "A Satisfied Mind". The song hit the Top 5. The song entered the charts, while other versions of the song were also making the charts by Red Foley and Porter Wagoner. By this time, Shepard was living in Missouri, working on the TV show Ozark Jubilee, which was hosted by Red Foley. In 1955, Shepard had three other Country hits, including the Top 5 hit "I Thought of You" and "Take Possession".
By this time, Jean Shepard was on the level with the biggest female names in the business. Although there were not many female artists in Country Music in the 1950s, she was one of the most successful, along with Kitty Wells and Goldie Hill. Her songs were quite risky to sing back in the 50s, but Shepard was willing to take the chance and record them anyway. For the rest of the decade, Shepard continued to record albums, but she didn't have too many singles. Her next hit came in 1958, with the Top 20 hit "I Want to Go Where No One Knows Me". However, it was her last big hit for the decade. Shepard remained popular though on the road. She did do a lot of firsts for a female Country artist including, the first Country singer to overdub her voice on records, the first female Country singer to make a television commercial in color, and also later becoming the first female Country singer to be a member of the Grand Ole Opry for over 50 years.
In the 1960s, she appeared on and off the charts. However, while she was on the charts, she achieved some hits, like "Second Fiddle to An Old Guitar" (1964), "If Teardrops Were Silver" (1966), "Many Happy Hangovers To You" (1966), "I'll Take the Dog" (1966), "Seven Lonely Days" (1969), and "Then He Touched Me" (1970). Other singles Shepard released were not as successful, but continued to remain very popular. In the 1960s, she tried recording some Nashville Sound material, but stuck to singing straight-up Country. As she continued to gain more attention and acclaim, she sang with more confidence and fervor. In 1960, she married fellow Country star, Hawkshaw Hawkins, but tragically, Hawkins was killed in a plane crash on March 5, 1963, the same plane crash that killed Patsy Cline and Cowboy Copas. She continued to remain with Capitol Records up until 1973, when she switched to United Artists Records, which would later be home to artists like Kenny Rogers and Dottie West. Her last huge hit came that same year with the song "Slippin' Away". The song reached the Top 5, and even reached the low ends of the Pop charts. The thoroughly country song was a surprise modest crossover music success, peaking at #55 on the Billboard Hot 100, ironic since Shepard was a leader in the "keep in country" movement and had pubicly criticized the Pop influences in Country music, serving as the president of the Association of Country Entertainers or ACE, a short-lived organization founded mainly due to the Country Music Association's awarding several major honors in 1974 and 1975 to pop-based acts and country radio's similar embrace of such artists, like in 1974 when Olivia Newton-John won CMA's Female Vocalist of the Year.
[edit] Later Career & Life Today
Throughout the mid 70's, Jean continued to have Top 20 successes such as "At The Time" (1974), "I'll Do Anything It Takes(To Stay With You)" (1974), "Poor Sweet Baby" (1975), and "The Tip Of My Fingers" (1975). Towards the end of the mid 1970's, Jean's successes began to gradually trail off as her style of singing became old-fashioned to some and many female artists in country had switched over to pop oriented music. Shepard made her last appearance on the national charts in 1978 but she has remained a highly active entertainer at the Opry, occasionally touring, and recording with several recent CD releases on smaller labels that show her in still fine voice in her seventies. To this day, Jean Shepard is known as the "Grand Lady of the Grand Ole Opry". She has toured in Europe and Canada. Today, she still remains an active member of the Grand Ole Opry. In many years, she has been an influence on many Country artists.
In 2006, she re-entered the Country spotlight with a brand-new album called This Has Been Your Life.
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