Duane Dee is an American country singer known for his many guest appearances at the Grand Ole Opry [1] and also for a series of minor hits on the country charts, sometimes with songs that went on to be major hits for other artists.
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment, it is the longest running radio broadcast in US history. Dedicated to honoring country music and its history, the Opry showcases a mix of famous singers and contemporary chart-toppers performing country, bluegrass, Americana, folk, and gospel music as well as comedic performances and skits. It attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world and millions of radio and internet listeners.
Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Dee signed a contract with Capitol Records, and his second single was "Before the Next Teardrop Falls", which spent several months on the country charts before reaching #44 in early 1968. (In 1975 Freddy Fender's version topped the pop and country charts.) Later in 1968 Dee's original version of "True Love Travels on a Gravel Road" reached #58 on the country charts; Elvis Presley's 1969 version is probably now better known. Moving to Cartwheel Records, Dee had more minor country hits in 1971 with "I've Got to Sing" (#71) and "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?" (#36; a country version of a #1 hit by The Bee Gees). In 1972 he recorded "Sweet Apple Wine" (#64). Moving to ABC Records, Dee had one more minor hit in 1974 with "Morning Girl" (#88). [2]
Milwaukee is the largest city in the state of Wisconsin and the fifth-largest city in the Midwestern United States. The seat of the eponymous county, it is on Lake Michigan's western shore. Ranked by its estimated 2014 population, Milwaukee was the 31st largest city in the United States. The city's estimated population in 2017 was 595,351. Milwaukee is the main cultural and economic center of the Milwaukee metropolitan area which had a population of 2,043,904 in the 2014 census estimate. It is the third-most densely populated metropolitan area in the Midwest, surpassed only by Chicago and Detroit, respectively. Milwaukee is considered a Gamma global city as categorized by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network with a regional GDP of over $105 billion.
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States, in the Midwest and Great Lakes regions. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin is the 23rd largest state by total area and the 20th most populous. The state capital is Madison, and its largest city is Milwaukee, which is located on the western shore of Lake Michigan. The state is divided into 72 counties.
Capitol Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label "of note" in the United States in 1942 by Johnny Mercer, Buddy DeSylva, and Glenn E. Wallichs. Capitol was acquired by British music conglomerate EMI as its North American subsidiary in 1955. EMI was acquired by Universal Music Group in 2012 and was merged with the company a year later, making Capitol and the Capitol Music Group both a part of UMG. The label's circular headquarter building in Hollywood is a recognized landmark of California.
Duane Eddy is an American guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he had a string of hit records produced by Lee Hazlewood which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" sound, including "Rebel Rouser", "Peter Gunn", and "Because They're Young". He had sold 12 million records by 1963.
Harold Lloyd Jenkins, better known by his stage name Conway Twitty, was an American country music singer. He also had success in the rock and roll, R&B, and pop genres. From 1971 to 1976, Twitty received a string of Country Music Association awards for duets with Loretta Lynn. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
The Hollies are a British rock group best known for their pioneering and distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. The Hollies became one of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid 1970s. The band was formed by Allan Clarke and Graham Nash in 1962 as a Merseybeat-type music group in Manchester, although some of the band members came from towns further north in East Lancashire. Graham Nash left the group in 1968 to form the supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash.
Pauline Matthews, better known by her stage name Kiki Dee, is an English singer born in Little Horton, Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire. Known for her blue-eyed soul vocals, she was the first female singer from the UK to sign with Motown's Tamla Records.
"I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" is a soul song most popularly released as a joint single performed by Diana Ross & the Supremes and The Temptations for the Motown label. This version peaked for two weeks at #2 on the Hot 100 in the United States and at #3 on the UK Singles Chart in January 1969.
Mirriam Johnson, known professionally as Jessi Colter, is an American country music artist who is best known for her collaboration with her husband, country singer and songwriter Waylon Jennings, and for her 1975 country-pop crossover hit "I'm Not Lisa".
"Red Red Wine" is a song originally written, performed, and recorded by American singer Neil Diamond in 1967. It is included on Diamond's second studio album, Just for You. The lyrics are sung from the perspective of a person who finds that drinking red wine is the only way to forget his woes.
Country pop is a fusion genre of country music and pop music that was developed by members of the country genre out of a desire to reach a larger, mainstream audience. By producing country songs that employed many styles and sounds found in pop music, the country music industry was effective in gaining new listeners without alienating its traditional country audience. Country pop music is often known for genres like rock, pop, and country combined. It is a continuation of similar efforts that began in the late 1950s originally known as Nashville sound and later on Countrypolitan. By the mid-1970s, many country artists were transitioning to the pop-country sound which led to some records charting high on mainstream top 40 as well as country Billboard charts.
The Sweet Inspirations were an American R&B girl group founded by Emily "Cissy" Houston, mother of Whitney Houston, and sister of Lee Warwick. Houston and Warwick were members of The Drinkard Singers, a family group that had the distinction of recording the first Gospel album to appear on a major label—a live recording from The Newport Jazz Festival in 1959. The line-up included Judy Guions, Marie Epps, Larry Drinkard, Nicholas Drinkard, Ann Moss, Lee and Emily.
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich were a British pop/rock group of the 1960s. Two of their single releases sold in excess of one million copies each, and they reached number one in the UK Singles Chart with the second of them, "The Legend of Xanadu".
"Walk On By" is a song composed by Burt Bacharach, with lyrics by Hal David for singer Dionne Warwick in 1963. The song peaked at number 6 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on the Cash Box Rhythm and Blues Chart In June 1964 and was nominated for a 1965 Grammy Award for the Best Rhythm and Blues Recording. Isaac Hayes recorded the song five years later, in 1969, and reached number 30 on the Hot 100 chart and number 13 in the R&B charts with his version. "Walk On By" has since charted numerous times in various countries, with wildly different arrangements.
"Black Magic Woman" is a song written by British musician Peter Green, which first appeared as a Fleetwood Mac single in various countries in 1968, subsequently appearing on the 1969 Fleetwood Mac compilation albums English Rose (US) and The Pious Bird of Good Omen (UK), as well as Vintage Years.
"Mrs. Robinson" is a song by American music duo Simon & Garfunkel from their fourth studio album, Bookends (1968). Produced by the duo and Roy Halee, it is famous for its inclusion in the 1967 film The Graduate. The song was written by Paul Simon, who pitched it to director Mike Nichols alongside Art Garfunkel after Nichols rejected two other songs intended for the film. The song contains a famous reference to baseball star Joe DiMaggio.
Margaret Louis Ebey, known professionally as Margie Singleton, is an American country music singer and songwriter. In the 1960s, she was a popular duet and solo recording artist, working with country stars George Jones and Faron Young. Singleton had her biggest hit with Young called "Keeping Up with the Joneses" in 1964. She managed a successful solo career in the 1960s.
"Before the Next Teardrop Falls" is an American country and pop song written by Vivian Keith and Ben Peters, and most famously recorded by Freddy Fender.
"Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye" is a song written by John D. Loudermilk. It was first released in 1962 by Don Cherry, as a country song and again as a doo-wop in 1967 by the group The Casinos on its album of the same name, and was a number 6 pop hit that year. The song has since been covered by Eddy Arnold, whose version was a number 1 country hit in 1968, and by Neal McCoy, whose version became a Top 5 country hit in 1996.
"(You Don't Know) How Glad I Am" is a song written by Jimmy Williams and Larry Harrison. In the USA, its best-known recorded version is that by Nancy Wilson, a hit single for her, in the summer of 1964. The single went to No. 11 on the Hot 100, as well as No. 2 on the Billboard Pop-Standard Singles chart. Wilson, who had been recording since 1960, was afforded her first Top 40 hit with "...How Glad I Am":
Ben James Peters was an American country music songwriter who wrote many #1 songs. Charley Pride recorded 68 of his songs and 6 of them went to #1 on the American country charts. Peters was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1980.
True Love Travels on a Gravel Road is a song written by the Frazier-Owens songwriting team and popularized by Elvis Presley. It was originally recorded by Duane Dee in 1968, and was a very minor hit, reaching #58 on the country charts. Elvis recorded the song on 17 February 1969 at American Sound Studios in Memphis. He also performed the song at the International Hotel in the Las Vegas Valley on January 26, 1970. It appears on From Elvis in Memphis, as well as a number of compilations; The Memphis Record, The Memphis 1969 Anthology: Suspicious Minds, and From Nashville to Memphis: The Essential '60s Masters.
"Loving You" is a song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and performed by Elvis Presley featuring The Jordanaires. It reached #15 on the U.S. country chart, #20 on the U.S. pop chart, and #24 on the UK Singles Chart in 1957. It was featured on his 1957 album Loving You. It was featured in Presley's 1957 movie Loving You.