Jeannie Seely
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jeannie Seely | ||
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 Jeannie Seely promotional photo. This photo is found on the Grand Ole Opry's website.
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| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Marilyn Jeanne Seel | |
| Also known as | Jeannie Seely | |
| Born | July 6, 1940 | |
| Origin | Titusville, Pennsylvania | |
| Genre(s) | country music | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, Songwriter | |
| Years active | 1966– Present | |
| Label(s) | Monument Records, Decca Records | |
| Associated acts |
Jack Greene, Jan Howard, Dottie West | |
Jeannie Seely (born Marilyn Jeanne Seely July 6, 1940 in Titusville, Pennsylvania) is an American Country Music Singer. She is best known for her 1966 Country hit "Don't Touch Me". In 1967, she won a Grammy Award for the song, winning the title Best Female Country Vocal Performance. She continued to have success on the Country charts and is still a member of the Grand Ole Opry since first joining in the 1967.
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[edit] Early Life & Rise to Fame
Jeannie Seely was a leading country music female vocalist during the 1960s and 1970s. Seely is renowned for her heartfelt bluesy vocals earning her the moniker "Miss Country Soul". She was born in Titusville, Pennsylvania in 1940. This was the town where the world's first oil well was drilled in 1859. She was the youngest of four children. Growing, up Seely, along with her siblings and parents lived in a two-story farmhouse which still exists today in her hometown. Her musical influences partially came from her parents, Leo and Irene. Leo played the banjo on the weekends and also called local square dances. Seely's mother, Irene sang with her daughter every Saturday morning while they baked bread together. She started listening to the weekly broadcast of the Grand Ole Opry at age 11. By the time she was 16, Seely appeared on a television station, "WICU" in Erie, Pennsylvania. While in high school, she was an honors student and was also a cheerleader. After she graduated high school in 1958, Seely worked in her hometown's bank. She also did night courses at America's Institute of Banking. At age 21, Seely packed up everything she owned and moved out to California. She first started working at a Beverly Hills bak, but left after a year and worked for half the money as a secretary at Liberty and Imperial Records in Hollywood, California.
Seely also at this time started working for Four Star Records (a record company Patsy Cline once recorded for), where she began her career as a songwriter. The R&B artist Irma Thomas recorded one of her songs called "Anyone Who Knows What Love Is", that became a big Pop hit for her. Seely also appeared as a regular act on the program Hollywood Jamboree with Glen Campbell, who was a rising Country Music star at the time. Finally, Seely got a recording contract of her own from Challenge Records. Songwriter, Hank Cochran was impressed with Seely's talents and though she should move to Nashville to peruse a career in Country Music, but Seely didn't think she was ready yet. Upon the encouragement of Country singer Dottie West (who also recorded one of her songs), she finally took Cochran's advice in 1965 and moved to Nashville, Tennessee.
[edit] Recording career
Upon arriving to Nashville, Seely was turned down by every record label on Music Row, except for Monument. In the studio she recorded and released a Hank Cochran-written song called "Don't Touch Me". The song was a ballad and Seely released it as her first single in 1966. The song debuted on March 12, 1966. The song stayed on the Country Music charts for five months, peaking at #2 on the Billboard Country charts for three weeks. However, on all other major charts, such as Cashbox for example, the song peaked at #1. The song even reached the low ends of the Pop charts, making "Don't Touch Me" a crossover hit. In the book called Heartaches By the Number: Country Music's 500 Greatest Singles, "Don't Touch Me" was listed at #97. Since the song's release, it has become a standard in Country Music, re-done countlessly by other Country artists. In 1966, she made her first guest appearance on the Grand Ole Opry. She received the award for Most Promising Artist by numerous music magazines like Billboard, Cashbox and Record World. The success did not end there with "Don't Touch Me". In 1967 she received a Grammy for the song, winning under the category for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. Other nominees for the award that year included Jan Howard, Loretta Lynn and Dottie West. Jeannie became the third person to win the Grammy award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. In addition to the song, Jeannie also appeared as the replacement for Norma Jean on the The Porter Wagoner Show. She was later replaced by rising star at the time Dolly Parton.
With the success of her first hit, she went on the road, touring across the country, sometimes with Ernest Tubb. In September 1967, Seely was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry, which had been her long-life dream. One of her appearances on the Grand Ole Opry was controversial, after Seely wore a min-skirt on the Opry, becomeing the first singer to ever wear a mini-skirt on the Opry. She continued to have hit records during the rest of the 60s. Her follow-up song "It's Only Love" made the Country Top Twenty in 1966. As a solo artist, Seely only made two other hit songs for herself for the rest of the decade called "A Wanderin' Man" and "I'll Love You More Than You'll Need". She continued to record an perform. In 1969 she recorded a duet with Jack Greene called "I Wish I Didn't Have to Miss You", which became a big hit that year, equal to the success of "Don't Touch Me" a few years back. This was featured on her new record label Decca, which she switched to in 1969. During this time also, Seely was given the nickname Miss Country Soul because of her bluesy voice.
With Decca Records, Seely had success once again as a singer. The song "Much Oblige", a duet with Jack Greene reached the Country Top Twenty in 1972 as did another duet "What In The World Has Gone Wrong With Our Love", along with two other solo hits that reached the Country charts between 1972 and 1973. Her last Top Ten hit came in 1973 with "Can I Sleep in Your Arms Tonight". However, she continued to release singles, like "Lucky Ladies", which nearly made the Top 10 in 1974. For two years, Seely served as a radio disc jockey on her own Armed Forces Network show, while she traveled on military tours in Europe and Asia. At one Opry appearance, Seely noted that no American flag stood in the Opry. Since Seely stated this, a flag has stood in the Grand Ole Opry. Seely kept her recording career in mind as she toured with duet partner Jack Greene for the next ten years.
Seely has published almost 100 songs as a songwriter and has won a BMI award for "Leavin' and Sayin' Goodbye", a hit for Faron Young in 1972. The song reached the '#1 spot that year on the Country Music charts.
For several years, Seely was married to Hank Cochran, who originally helped gain her stardom. Cochran was a successful songwriter in his own right during the 60s, writing two of Patsy Cline's biggest hits, "I Fall to Pieces" and "She's Got You". He also wrote Eddy Arnold's signature song "Make the World Go Away". Seely never remarried. The outspoken Seely was a champion among its female members for pushing for less patronizing on-stage introductions and allowing the women to wear more contemporary "hip" wardrobes. In 1977, Seely's career halted when she was involved in a near-fatal car accident. She sustained severe injuries. Eventually, Seely recovered from the accident. In the early 1980s, she performed as the opening act for Willie Nelson while he was in concert. She also became the first female singer to host the Opry after Country star Del Reeves was caught in a snowstorm.
[edit] Later Careers & Life Today
In the 80s, Seely's career went into different directions. In 1993, she appeared in a music video, playing Danny Shirley's mother in the song "Trashy Woman". She also appeared frequently on shows throughout the 80s and 90s. In 1988, Seely published her own book called Pieces of a Puzzled Mind. Later, she successfully got Opry management to drop its long-standing policy of not allowing women to host the individual Opry segments. The outgoing Seely was a close friend of many of her contemporaries including Dottie West, Tammy Wynette, Skeeter Davis, Jan Howard, Jean Shepard, and was a champion of Lorrie Morgan early in her career.
Seely has also appeared in several plays and musicals in the Nashville area and in 2002 appeared in the feature film Changing Hearts with Faye Dunaway. In 2000, she was inducted into the North America Country Music Hall of Fame. She was listed at #11 on the list of Most Influential Females in Country Music History. In Fall 2003, she released one of her many projects, which was an album called Life's Highway. The album is a Bluegrass album, which features vocals from artists like The Osbourne Brothers and Glen Duncan. Today, Jeannie Seely still remains a member of the Grand Ole Opry and lives close by the Opry, in a renovated house, that was renovated and decorated by Seely herself.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Singles
| Year | Single | U.S. Country Singles | U.S. Pop Singles | Album | |
| 1966 | "Don't Touch Me" | #2 | #85 | Seely Style | |
| 1966 | "It's Only Love" | #15 | - | Seely Style | |
| 1967 | "These Memories" | #42 | - | Thanks, Hank! | |
| 1967 | "When It's Over" | #39 | - | I'll Love You More | |
| 1967 | "A Wanderin' Man" | #13 | - | Thanks, Hank! | |
| 1968 | "I'll Love You More (Than You'll Need)" | #10 | - | I'll Love You More | |
| 1968 | "Welcome Home to Nothing" | #24 | - | Little Things | |
| 1970 | "I Wish I Didn't Have to Miss You" (with Jack Greene) | #2 | - | Jack Greene/Jeannie Seely | |
| 1972 | "Much Oblige" (with Jack Greene) | #15 | - | Two For the Show | |
| 1972 | "What in the World Has Gone Wrong With Our Love" (with Jack Greene) | #19 | - | Two For the Show | |
| 1973 | "Can I Sleep in Your Arms" | #6 | - | Can I Sleep In Your Arms/Lucky Ladies | |
| 1974 | "Lucky Ladies" | #11 | - | Can I Sleep In Your Arms/Lucky Ladies |
[edit] Selected Albums
| Year | Album | |
| 1966 | Seely Style | |
| 1967 | Thanks, Hank! | |
| 1968 | I'll Love You More | |
| 1969 | Little Things | |
| 1970 | Jack Greene/Jeannie Seely | |
| 1973 | Greatest Hits on Monument | |
| 1974 | Can I Sleep in Your Arms | |
| 1994 | Number One Christmas | |
| 2003 | Life's Highway |
