Ellen Muriel Deason, known professionally as Kitty Wells, was an American pioneering female country music singer. She broke down a barrier to women in country music with her 1952 hit recording "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", which also made her the first female country singer to top the U.S. country charts and turned her into the first female country superstar. “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” would also be her first of several pop crossover hits. Wells is the only artist to be awarded top female vocalist awards for 14 consecutive years. Her chart-topping hits continued until the mid 1960s, paving the way for and inspiring a long list of female country singers who came to prominence in the 1960s.
"It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" is a 1952 country song written by J. D. "Jay" Miller, and originally recorded by Kitty Wells. It was an answer song to the Hank Thompson hit "The Wild Side of Life."
Honky Tonk Angels is a collaborative studio album by Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette. It was released on November 2, 1993, by Columbia Records. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA on January 5, 1994, for sales of 500,000 copies.
Upfront & Down Low is the self-produced, third studio album by singer-songwriter Teddy Thompson, released under Verve Forecast Records on July 17, 2007. The album features covers of some of his favorite country songs, along with one original track. Six songs on the album include string arrangements by Robert Kirby, while "My Blue Tears" features a string arrangement by friend and fellow singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright.
All the Best contains the majority of Glen Campbell's recordings that reached the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. It was his best charting album since Southern Nights (1977).
Share Your Love is the eleventh studio album by country singer Kenny Rogers, released in 1981. Produced by Lionel Richie, it is also Rogers' first with Liberty Records besides his Greatest Hits album. The album has sold nine million copies worldwide.
The Glen Campbell Collection (1962–1989) Gentle on My Mind is a double CD containing 38 of the 74 singles released by Glen Campbell that charted on the Billboard Country Singles chart. "William Tell Overture" has been recorded more than once by Campbell but the version included here is a previously unreleased recording. "Bloodline" is an album track from the 1976 "Bloodline" album.
"Raining in My Heart" is a song recorded by Buddy Holly on October 21, 1958 at the Pythian Temple on West 70th Street in New York City, with the orchestral backing by Dick Jacobs. The music and lyrics are written by the songwriting team of Felice Bryant and Boudleaux Bryant. It was released as a single on Coral Records in 1959, peaking at number 88 on the Billboard chart as the B-side of "It Doesn't Matter Anymore". This recording was included on Buddy Holly's first "greatest hits" compilation album, The Buddy Holly Story, that was released in March 1959.
The singles discography of Kitty Wells, an American country artist, consists of ninety singles, nineteen B-sides, and two music videos. In 1949 she was signed to RCA Victor Records, where she released her debut single, "Death at the Bar" also in 1949. Dropped from RCA in 1950, Wells signed with Decca Records and released the single "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" in 1952. The song was an answer song to Hank Thompson's hit, "The Wild Side of Life", spending six weeks at number one on the Billboard Magazine Hot C&W Sides chart. The single sold one million copies and made Wells the first female country artist to have a single reach number one on the Billboard country list. Until the end of the decade, Wells became the only woman on the country chart that would consistently receive radio airplay. In 1953 the song, "Paying for That Back Street Affair" reached #6 on the Billboard Hot C&W Sides list, as well as twenty one additional Top Ten singles on the same chart between 1953 and 1959. This included singles such as the Red Foley duet "One by One" (1954), "Making Believe" (1955), "I Can't Stop Loving You" (1958), "Mommy for a Day" (1959), and "Amigo's Guitar" (1959). The latter song was written by Wells herself and later won her a BMI Songwriter's Award.
The albums discography of Kitty Wells, an American country artist, consists of thirty-six studio albums, eleven compilation albums, and one box set. Wells' first album release was 1956's Country Hit Parade on Decca Records, which compiled her hits during her first four years of recording for the label. Prior to its release, many labels were reluctant to release albums by female country artists until Wells became the first female vocalist to sell records. Following its release, Wells and her label issued three studio albums during the 1950s: Winner of Your Heart (1957), Lonely Street (1958), and Dust on the Bible (1959). After the success of Wells' number one single "Heartbreak U.S.A." in 1961, an album of the same name was released the same year.
The discography of American country music singer-songwriter Loretta Lynn includes 50 studio albums, 36 compilation albums, two live albums, seven video albums, two box sets and 27 additional album appearances. Briefly recording with the Zero label, she signed an official recording contract with Decca Records in 1961, remaining there for over 20 years The first under the label was her debut studio album Loretta Lynn Sings (1963). It peaked at number two on the Billboard Top Country Albums survey. Lynn would issue several albums a year with her growing success, including a duet album with Ernest Tubb (1965), a gospel album (1965), and a holiday album (1966). Her seventh studio album You Ain't Woman Enough (1966) was her first release to top the country albums chart and to chart within the Billboard 200. Other albums to reach number one during this period were Don't Come Home a Drinkin' (1967) and Fist City. Don't Come A'Drinkin would also become Lynn's first album to certify gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Herbert Paul Gilley was an American country music lyricist and promoter from Kentucky. In his lifetime, he was little known as a songwriter, but decades after his death by drowning at age 27, he was identified more widely as likely having written the lyrics to a dozen famous songs, including two that were hits for Hank Williams: "Cold, Cold Heart" and "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry". He may have also written "I Overlooked an Orchid", which was a number-one country hit in 1974 for Mickey Gilley. Other songs that have been attributed to Gilley include "If Teardrops Were Pennies", "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes", and "Crazy Arms".
Dust on the Bible is an album recorded by Kitty Wells and released in 1959 on the Decca label. The Encyclopedia of American Gospel Music called it "a classic of country-style gospel."
Heartbreak U.S.A. is an album recorded by Kitty Wells and released in 1961 on the Decca label. The title track, "Heartbreak U.S.A." reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard country and western chart.
Lonely Street is an album recorded by Kitty Wells and released in 1958 on the Decca label. Thom Owens of AllMusic found it "slightly uneven but enjoyable". On November 17, 1958, it was ranked No. 9 on Billboard magazine's "Favorite C&W Albums" based on the magazine's annual poll of country and western disc jockeys.
Singing on Sunday is a gospel album recorded by Kitty Wells and released in 1962 on the Decca label. Thom Owens of Allmusic called it "enjoyable but unexeptional."
The Kitty Wells Story is a double album consisting of re-recordings of the greatest hits of Kitty Wells. It was released in 1963 on the Decca label.
The Kitty Wells Family Gospel Sing is a gospel music album recorded by Kitty Wells and released in 1965 on the Decca label. Thom Owens of Allmusic called it "a good, but unremarkable, country gospel LP."
Guilty Street is an album by country singer Kitty Wells, released in 1969 on the Decca label. The album included two songs that charted on the Billboard country singles chart: "Happiness Hill" and "Guilty Street".
The Intimate Jim Reeves is an album recorded by Jim Reeves and released in 1960 on the RCA Victor label. The album was produced by Chet Atkins and arranged by Marty Gold and Cliff Parman.
