Jean Shepperd Early life & rise to fame Jean was born Ollie Imogene Shepard in Paul's Valley, Oklahoma, and was one of ten children. Music was a very important part of the family's life. During World War II, Jean and her family moved out west in search of a better life. They settled in Visalia, California, in the center of the state. The city surrounded the town of Bakersfield, California, the town which established the Bakersfield Sound, which would help launch Shepard's music career. In high school, Shepard formed a band called "The Melody Ranch Girls". They developed quite a following, and became locally famous. The famous bandleader Hank Thompson heard Shepard and "The Melody Ranch Girls" one night at "Noble's Melody Ranch", and she later played with Thompson and his band. Thanks to Thompson, Shepard was able to acquire a record deal with Capitol Records, which produced a string of country hits lasting 20 years. The Capitol years - a female country star innovator in the '50s While under Capitol, Shepard cut a lot of honky tonk material, some of which were released as singles to the Country charts, like 1952's "Twice the Lovin' (In Half the Time). " However, this song, among others, failed to make the country charts. In 1953, Shepard made her first chart appearance with Ferlin Husky, another California-based country act. Together their song, "A Dear John Letter", a half-spoken duet about the Korean War, hit No. 1 on the country charts in 1953, and spent a number of weeks there. It was Shepard's only chart-topper. As well as topping the country charts, the song ended up being a surprise pop hit, in reaching No. 4 on the pop charts as well. The song launched the careers of both artists. The team then released another single, (titled "Forgive Me John"), an answer song to their No. 1 hit, which was another major country hit. Together the duo toured following the success of their hit singles. Shepard made her first chart appearance as a solo act in 1955, with the release of the single, "Beautiful Lies". It hit No. 4 on the country charts that year, and turned Shepard into a solo star overnight. The song was backed by the single, "Take Possession", which was another major hit that year, reaching No. 13. That year, Shepard enjoyed two other Top 10 country hits, one of which entitled, "A Satisfied Mind", which hit No. 4 on the country charts that year. Other versions of the song by Red Foley and Porter Wagoner were country hits around the same time, but Shepard's version was the only version by a female artists. Soon, Shepard was living in Missouri, and was working along with Red Foley on the Ozark Jubilee show. Thanks to Shepard's success in 1955, she was invited to join the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. She accepted the offer and today remains a member. At the beginning of her success in 1955, Shepard was only one of three females to make it big as a country singer (Kitty Wells and Goldie Hill were the other two). Her emergence as a country star influenced many future female stars, including Patsy Cline, Skeeter Davis, Loretta Lynn, and Tammy Wynette. Shepard's high level of chart success wasn't sustained for the rest of the 1950s. She released only two Top 40 hits in the rest of the decade. One of them, called "I Want to Where No One Knows Me" (released in 1958) hit No. 18. The other Top 40 hit, released in 1959, only hit No. 30. In 1959, Shepard was named the "Top Female Singer" by Cashbox magazine. This is equivalent to the CMA's "Female Vocalist of the Year" award that is given out today. The Capitol years - a female country star in the '60s By 1960, none of Shepard's music was breaking through to the public. This was primarily because she was a hardcore honky tonk singer in a time that country-pop was ruling the charts. [1] Despite a dry period in her career, Shepard continued to remain a popular touring and Opry star. In 1960, Shepard married fellow Opry star, Hawkshaw Hawkins, who died in the same plane crash that killed country legends Cowboy Copas and Patsy Cline. Shepard had befriended Cline on the Opry while she was alive. In 1964, Shepard's career finally caught fire again, with the release of the single, "Second Fiddle to An Old Guitar". This song hit No. 5 on the country charts in 1964, and brought Shepard back as a country star. Thanks to the song's success, Shepard had a string of hits during the decade, most of which hit the Top 40, and some occasionally even hit the Top 10. 1966's "If the Teardrops Were Silver", and 1968's "I'll Take the Dog" (a duet with Ray Pillow) both hit the Top 10. Other hits made the Top 20, like 1967's "Heart We Did All We Could", (which hit No. 12 that year) and 1969's remake of Cline's "Seven Lonely Days", which hit No. 18. While entering a new decade (1970s), Shepard continued to have major country hits. While other female country artists were already off the country charts (i.e. Kitty Wells and Goldie Hill), Shepard showed no sign of slowing down. Her biggest hit of 1970 was the risky and controversial "Then He Touched Me" which hit No. 8. Shepard stayed with Capitol until 1973, lasting over 20 years under the same record company, an oddity for any major recording artist. The United Artists years - "Slippin' Away" In 1973, Shepard moved over to United Artists Records, the future home of many Country-Pop crossover acts, including Kenny Rogers. A song from one of Shepard's first sessions entitled "Slippin' Away" was a surprise country hit. The song was released in 1973, and hit the country Top 5 at No. 4, her first Top 5 hit since the early 1960s. The thoroughly country song was a surprise modest crossover music success, peaking at No. 55 on the Billboard Hot 100> This is somewhat ironic, since Shepard was a leader in the "keep it country" movement, and had publicly criticized the pop influences in country music. She served 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 to country radio's similar embrace of such artists. In 1974, the Country Music Association had given Olivia Newton-John it's "Female Vocalist of the Year" award and John Denver won its "Male Vocalist of the Year". Overall, the song is identified with Shepard as being one of her signature songs. After the success of "Slippin' Away" came a number of follow-up hits that entered the Top 20 between 1974 and 1975. These include "At the Time" (1974), "Poor Sweet Baby" (1975), "I'll Do Anything It Takes (To Stay With You)" (1974), and a remake of "The Tip of My Fingers" (1975). "The Tip of My Fingers" was Shepard's last Top 20 hit, as well as her last Top 40 entry in the U.S. country charts. Other singles and albums released after 1975 have failed to gain chart success for Shepard. Shepard's last charted single came in 1978 with "The Real Thing". Later career & life today Toward the end of the 1970s, Jean's successes began to 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 continued to record: with several recent CD releases on smaller labels showing her still in 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. For many years, she has been an influence on many country artists. For many years, Shepard has been married to musician Benny Birchfield, and continues a busy touring schedule, despite being in her seventies. Her touring show titled, "The Jean Shepard Show" has toured all over the country, and she still performs at the Grand Ole Opry occasionally. Most recently in 2005, Shepard celebrated her 50th anniversary at the Grand Ole Opry. In 2006, she re-entered the Country spotlight with a brand-new album called This Has BeencYour Life. Career milestones She was the first female country singer to overdub her records. She was the first female country singer to make a color TV commercial.