Janie Fricke
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| Janie Fricke | ||
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 Janie Fricke promotional photo
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| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Janie Fricke | |
| Born | December 19, 1947 (age 59) | |
| Origin | South Whitley, Indiana | |
| Genre(s) | Countrypolitan, Country | |
| Occupation(s) | singer, songwriter | |
| Instrument(s) | guitar | |
| Years active | 1977– Present | |
| Label(s) | Columbia Records (1976-1986) CBS Records (1987-1989) Brnason Records Intersound Records |
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| Associated acts |
Janie Fricke Official Website | |
Janie Fricke (born December 19, 1947 in South Whitley, Indiana) is an American Country Music singer, best remembered for a series of smooth Countrypolitan hits in the early to mid 1980s. Two of her best-known hits are "He's a Heartache" and "Tell Me a Lie". Overall in her career, Fricke scored eight No. 1 Country hits and nine Country Top Ten hits.
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[edit] Early Life
Janie Fricke was one of the most successful Country artists of the 1980s, recording and releasing a string of #1 hits and many more Top Ten hits. Most of her are ballads, which is one of the reasons why Fricke is so popular. Her success had started back in the late 70s and then went on to an even bigger career in the 1980s, when she started racking up #1 hits for herself. Fricke was born in South Whitney, IN, in 1952 and learned piano and guitar as a child; her first vocal influences were folkies like Joan Baez and Judy Collins, but she fell in love with country music as well. [1] While in college, Fricke was a singer at at local coffeehouses around the area. While in college also, she sung radio promos and commercial jingles in Memphis, Tennessee. She then decided to move to Nashville, Tennessee in 1975. Here Fricke, became an back-up singer. This job, made Fricke successful and soon she became an in-demand background session vocalist. In 1975, her record producer Billy Sherrill, landed Fricke to sing with country singer Johnny Duncan. It was here where she sung on many Johnny Duncan songs, the first of which "Jo and the Cowboy" reached the Top 30 in 1975. Her breakthough with Johnny began the next year in 1976 when they reached the Top 5 with "Stranger" and the number 1 hit "Thinkin' Of A Rendenzous and another number 1 in 1977 with "It Couldn't Have Been Any Better". Because of this, she landed a recording contract of her own with Columbia Records. She continued to work with record producer Billy Sherrill.
[edit] Recording Career In the 80s
Billy Sherrill was a well-known record producer during this time. He produced other Countrypolitan hit-makers like Crystal Gayle for example. In 1977, Fricke released her very first single called "What You're Doing Tonight", which was just shy of two spots to reach the Country music Top Twenty charts. Fricke worked with well-known Country singer Charlie Rich on a couple duets, like "On My Knees", which became a #1 hit in 1978. Fricke also worked with Johnny Duncan again, with the song "Come a Little Bit Closer", which became a Top Five Country hit for Fricke and Duncan.As for Fricke's success as a solo artist, none of her songs really caught any wind with many of the singles becoming Top 30 hits with a couple of exceptions being the Top 20 hits "Please Help Me, I'm Falling(In Love With You)" in 1978 and "I'll Love Away Your Troubles For A While" in 1979.
Billy Sherrill suggested that Fricke would try to find her own style in Country music, and not various styles. He though that finding Fricke's own style would make her more successful in the Country Music field. Soon, Fricke found her very own style in Country music. This time, she decided to focus more on ballads. However, it still took some time, before Fricke was a star.
It wasn't until 1981 that Fricke gained any success at all. In 1981 she released her first Top 10 single as a solo artist called "Down to My Last Broken Heart". Nobody expected the success that the song brough to Fricke. The song went as far as to making it to #2 on the Country charts that year. This meant that Fricke finally found her won style in music because she was finally gaining success in the Country music field. The success didn't stop there for Fricke in 1981. She released another single on the Country charts called "I Need Someone to Hold Me When I Cry". The song became another successful hit for Fricke that year, and it reached the Country Top 5 again. In 1981, she also released a debut album called I Need Someone to Hold Me When I Cry, which also became very successful for Fricke. However, this only hinted the success Fricke would later have in the music business. In 1983, Fricke released a whole bunch of songs to the Country Music charts. One of the first that was released was the song "It Ain't Easy Bein' Easy". The song became very successful, even more successful than her other hits, because it went to the #1 spot that year. Another song was also released called "He's a Heartache", which also went to #1. Her other #1 that year included the song "Don't Worry About Me Baby", as well as one of her signature songs "Tell Me a Lie". She released more albums that year, many of which were featured on one particlar album called It Ain't Easy (named after her hit), which also proved successful for Fricke.
The rest of Janie Fricke's career proved very successful for her. In 1984, she released another cluster of singles. The song "If the Fall Don't Get You" became a Top Ten Country hit for her that year. She also had two other #1 hits that year. Those two songs were "Let's Stop Talkin' About It" and the ballad "Your Heart's Not In It". In 1982 and 1983, she was named by the Country Music Association or CMAs the Female Vocalist of the Year, and was given awards for it both years for the honor. During this time, Fricke was open to other styles. She tried recording more up-tempo songs, some of these in which became hits. She also worked with various producers during this time, like Jim Ed Norman and Bob Montgomery. Her sound shifted a lot between Country and Pop-sounding, depending on the producer she was working with at the time. Between 1984 and 1986, Janie racked up a string of Top Ten hit singles, like "She's Single Again" (which just missed the #1 spot), "The First Word In Memory Is Me" and "Somebody Else's Fire". Frcike continued to receive more awards from various associations. In 1986, Fricke had her last #1 hit with the song "Always Have, Always Will". Fricke still continued to record and perfom and tour around the country. She had her last Top Ten Country hit in 1986 called "Easy to Please". Many people often complained about Fricke's sound, syaing that it might be way to Pop for Country audiences. However, this wasn't unnormal. Most of the songs and artists coming out of Nashville at the time, sounded more Pop-oriented thahn they sounded Country.
By the late 80s, Fricke dropped the recording contract she had with Columbia to work with other recording companies. Her next recording contract was with CBS Records. However, the deal with the company didn't last very long. However, her commercial momentum slowed abruptly afterwards, and following 1989's Labor of Love album, she and CBS Records parted ways. [2]
[edit] Decline & Comeback
By the late 1980s, Fricke's hits started to taper off, as rootsy neotraditionalist artists supplanted smooth pop-country singers like Fricke on the charts. Her last top-forty country single was 1987's "From Time to Time (It Feels Like Love Again)", a duet with Larry Gatlin. During the 1990s, she recorded sporadically for "Branson Records"and "Intersound Records". On the Intersound, she released her first Gospel album called Hymns of Faith. In 2000, she had a comeback tour and a new album, Bouncin' Back. She also released a live album, Live at Billy Bob's Texas. In 2004, Fricke recorded and released a Bluegrass album entitled The Bluegrass Sessions. The album featured Bluegrass versions of Fricke's biggest hits from the 1980s. It featured her two biggest hits, "Tell Me a Lie" and "He's a Heartache". Today, she continues to go to events around Nashville. Most recently she attended the 2006 CMA Awards.
Annoyed by mispronunciations of her name, she changed the spelling to "Frickie" in 1986, but a few years later reverted to the original spelling.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Singles
| Year | Single | U.S. Country Singles | Album | |
| 1977 | "What're You Doing Tonight" | 21 | Singer of Songs | |
| 1978 | "Baby It's You" | 21 | Singer of Songs | |
| 1978 | "Please Help Me, I'm Falling (In Love With You)" | 12 | Singer of Songs | |
| 1978 | "On My Knees" (with Charlie Rich) | #1 | American Originals | |
| 1978 | "Come a Little Bit Closer" (with Johnny Duncan) | 4 | Come a Little Bit Closer | |
| 1979 | "I'll Love Away All Your Troubles For Awhile" | 14 | Love Notes | |
| 1979 | "Playin' Hard to Get" | 22 | Love Notes | |
| 1979 | "Let's Try Again" | 28 | Love Notes | |
| 1980 | "But Love Me" | 26 | From the Heart | |
| 1980 | "Pass Me By (If You're Only Passing Through)" | 22 | From the Heart | |
| 1981 | "Down to My Last Broken Heart" | 2 | I Need Someone to Hold Me When I Cry | |
| 1981 | "I Need Someone to Hold Me When I Cry" | 4 | I Need Someone to Hold Me When I Cry | |
| 1981 | "Pride" | 12 | I Need Someone to Hold Me When I Cry | |
| 1982 | "Do Me With Love" | 4 | Sleeping With Your Memory | |
| 1983 | "Don't Worry 'Bout Me Baby" | #1 | Sleeping With Your Memory | |
| 1983 | "It Ain't Easy Bein' Easy" | #1 | It Ain't Easy | |
| 1983 | "He's a Heartache" | #1 | It Ain't Easy | |
| 1983 | "Tell Me a Lie" | #1 | It Ain't Easy | |
| 1983 | "You Don't Know Love" | 4 | It Ain't Easy | |
| 1984 | "If the Fall Don't Get You" | 8 | Love Lies | |
| 1984 | "Let's Stop Talkin' About It" | #1 | Love Lies | |
| 1984 | "Your Heart's Not In It" | #1 | First Word In Memory | |
| 1985 | "The First Word In Memory Is Me" | #1 | First Word In Memory | |
| 1985 | "She's Single Again" | 2 | Somebody Else's Fire | |
| 1985 | "Somebody Else's Fire" | 4 | Somebody Else's Fire | |
| 1986 | "Easy to Please" | 5 | Somebody Else's Fire | |
| 1986 | "Always Have, Always Will" | #1 | Black and White | |
| 1986 | "When a Woman Cries" | 20 | Black and White |
[edit] Selected Albums
| Year | Album | US Country Albums | |
| 1977 | Singer of Songs | - | |
| 1978 | Come a Little Bit Closer (with Johnny Duncan) | - | |
| 1979 | Love Notes | - | |
| 1980 | From the Heart | - | |
| 1981 | I Need Someone to Hold Me When I Cry | 28 | |
| 1982 | Sleeping With Your Memory | 42 | |
| 1983 | Greatest Hits | 34 | |
| 1983 | It Ain't Easy | 15 | |
| 1983 | Love Lies | 10 | |
| 1984 | First Word In Memory | 17 | |
| 1985 | Somebody Else's Fire | 21 | |
| 1985 | The Very Best of Janie Fricke | 33 | |
| 1987 | Black and White | 29 | |
| 1987 | After Midnight | 29 | |
| 1987 | Celebration | 63 | |
| 1988 | Saddle the Wind | 64 | |
| 1989 | Labor of Love | 64 | |
| 1992 | Crossroads | - | |
| 1993 | Now and Then | - | |
| 1996 | Hymns of Faith | - | |
| 2000 | Bouncin' Back | - | |
| 2002 | Live at Billy Bob's Texas | - | |
| 2004 | The Bluegrass Sessions | - |
[edit] Awards
[edit] Country Music Association
- 1982 - Female Vocalist Of The Year
- 1983 - Female Vocalist Of The Year
