Jean shepard country singer autobiography examples

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. She died in Nashville on September 25, 2016, of Parkinson’s disease.

— Daniel Cooper

Adapted from the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum’s Encyclopedia of Country Music, published by Oxford University Press

Jean Shepard Releases Long-Awaited Autobiography

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.

In 1964, however, she came back strong with the #5 hit “Second Fiddle (to an Old Guitar),” her first charting record since 1959.

Shepard placed at least one song on the charts every year through 1978 as she continued to explore romantic love from a woman’s point of view. Overwhelmed, Shepard put her career on hold for several months. Their union proved to be short, however: Hawkins perished in the same 1963 airplane crash that took the lives of Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas, and Cline’s manager, pilot Randy Hughes.

She continued to be a close friend until his death in 1960. That is until now.

Gus Arrendale and Larry Black put their heads together to help Jean publish and distribute her long-awaited autobiography, "Down Through the Years". And if she ‘goofs,’ she laughs and carries on; she’s a trouper. . Hawkins was killed in a plane crash that also claimed the lives of Patsy Cline and Cowboy Copas.

'Down Through The Years' is available for purchase here.

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Jean was in a near-fatal bus accident while traveling with Hank Williams Jr.  When Jean was eight months pregnant, Jean’s husband, Hawkshaw Hawkins, was killed in a fatal plane crash that also claimed the lives of Patsy Cline and Cowboy Copas

Admired by her peers and emulated by countless up-and-coming female Country Music singers, Jean Shepard continues to be a strong influence in traditional music.

Highlights included “Many Happy Hangovers to You” (#13, 1966), which confronts a wayward, hard-drinking spouse; “Then He Touched Me” (#8, 1970), the sensual story of a woman who had all but given up on love; and “Another Lonely Night” (#12, 1971), in which a vulnerable woman vows to take yet another chance on an untrustworthy partner.

Shepard’s final Top Ten hit came in 1973 with the Bill Anderson–penned “Slippin’ Away,” which voices a last-ditch effort to save a troubled relationship.

There is nothing phony about Jean Shepard,” said fellow Opry member Jan Howard. “When she is onstage fronting her own band, she is in command, not only of the band, but the audience as well. Besides becoming the first female country music artist to sell more than one million albums, she was also the first to make a color TV commercial and to overdub her voice on recordings.

Shepard also delves into her personal life, including the tragic accident that claimed the life of her husband, Hawkshaw Hawkins, when she was eight months pregnant with their second child.

She celebrated her fiftieth year with the historic show in 2005 and continued to delight audiences.

“She is real. . It was her first hit for United Artists Records, where she remained through 1977. 'Down Through the Years' also includes a foreword by US Senator Steve Faris (Ark.), WSM Grand Ole Opry announcer Eddie Stubbs and Gus Arrendale, President of Springer Mountain Farms chicken, where Shepared serves as a spokesperson.

The 80-year-old certainly had plenty to write about.

The flip side, the #13 hit “Take Possession,” expresses a woman’s determination to marry before starting an intimate relationship. Jean went on to record the duet with Husky “A Dear John Letter” which became a #1 single.

  • Shepard started out in an all-girl band called the Melody Ranch Girls with whom she’s stayed in touch throughout her career.
  • Johnny Horton was one of Jean’s first boyfriends.

    It’s a real pleasure to share the stage with her.”

    Shepard married bluegrass musician and road manager Benny Birchfield in 1968. She later recorded for a series of smaller labels.

    A Grand Ole Opry Mainstay

    A Grand Ole Opry mainstay, Shepard was for years the longest continuously tenured Opry star.

    jean shepard country singer autobiography examples

    Hawkins was drawn to the vivacious, attractive Shepard, and she to him, and they were married onstage in Wichita, Kansas, on November 26, 1960. 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 1955.