Jean Shepard had achieved a feat that only a few could in the country music genre. She was the first woman who had, for 60 consecutive years, remained a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment, it is a weekly stage concert for American country music.
Born Ollie Imogene Shepard in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma, on November 21, , she was raised in Visalia, California. She played in an all-female band called the Melody Ranch Girls as a teenager. This band was formed in Between and , she recorded 24 studio albums.
One of the 73 singles that she released to the Hot Country Songs chart had reached the number-one spot. With the help of a national television gig and the Opry, she enjoyed enduring success and stardom. She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in
s
A few years later, Hank Thompson discovered Shepard and helped her sign a contract with Capitol Records in In the same year, she recorded Crying Steel Guitar Waltz, which was her first single for the label. Although it failed to chart, she finally got a breakthrough with A Dear John Letter.
This duet with Ferlin Husky made it to number four on the Billboard pop chart. It also
Jean Shepard Releases Long-Awaited Autobiography
Hall of Fame Member Jean Shepard Releases Long-Awaited Autobiography for CMA Music Fest
&#;Down Through the Years&#; Provides First-Hand Account of Grand Ole Opry Matriarch&#;s Overyear Career
Book signing to be held at Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum Friday, June 6 at 1 P.M.
Nashville, Tenn. (June 4, ) – Country Music Hall of Fame® member, the legendary Jean Shepard has
had quite a story to tell about her life and career, but never had the
right opportunity. Understanding its potential historic significance, Gus Arrendale, President of Springer Mountain Farms Chicken and Larry Black, Executive Producer of &#;Country’s Family Reunion&#; put their heads together to help her publish and distribute her long-awaited autobiography. &#;Down Through the Years&#; will to be released this week as CMA Music Festival fans descend upon Nashville.
Shepard will roll out this page, beautifully-bound hardback at a special book-signing (while supplies last) at the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum this Friday, June 6 from 1 – 2 P.M.
Matriarch of the Grand Ole Opry and its lon
Greatest Women: 10th Anniversary Edition
#37
Jean Shepard
Edition: #34 (-3)
A member for 60 years, Jean Shepard was the Grand Lady of the Grand Ole Opry.
Jean Shepard entertained fans of classic country music for sixty years with her honky-tonk stylings and brass delivery. At her peak, she was the one of the strongest female forces in country music, a salty counterpoint to the timid balladeers and lush pop divas she shared the charts with.
She was originally from Oklahoma, but her family moved out west when she was a child, settling in California. She got her musical start in Bakersfield, forming The Melody Ranch Girls. The band developed a strong local following. One night, Hank Thompson caught one of their performances and was blown away. Through him, Shepard secured a record deal with Capitol. She was still a teenager when she signed with the label.
On record, Shepard turned in a honky-tonk sound that rivaled the grit of all of her male contemporaries. She had her breakthrough in with “A Dear John Letter”, a duet with Ferlin Husky that topped the charts. She followed it up with two big solo hits in , “Beautiful Lies” and “A Satisfied Mind”, the latter o
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Solo Breakthrough
Shepard’s breakthrough as a solo artist came in her rendition of “A Satisfied Mind” entered the Billboard country chart in June and stayed there for twenty-two weeks, peaking at #4. The flip side, the #13 hit “Take Possession,” expresses a woman’s determination to marry before starting an intimate relationship. By contrast, in Shepherd’s #4 rendition of “Beautiful Lies,” which first charted early that October, the narrator asks her lover to tell her what she wants to hear, whether he speaks truthfully or not. The Top Ten B-side, “I Thought of You,” is even more forthright: a woman tells a previous partner she envisions him even while in another’s arms.
Having already appeared on Ozark Jubilee, Shepard joined the Grand Ole Opry in November The next month, she recorded Songs of a Love Affair, possibly country music’s first concept album by a female singer.
Also joining the Opry in was West Virginia native Hawkshaw Hawkins, a honky-tonk singer known for his good looks and his rich baritone voice. Hawkins was drawn to the vivacious, attractive Shepard, and she to him, and they were married onstage in Wichit
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