Melba Montgomery
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Melba Montgomery
- Genres: Country
Biography
While a successful singer in her own right, Melba Montgomery is perhaps best remembered in tandem with her string of duet recordings with the likes of George Jones, Charlie Louvin, and Gene Pitney. Born October 14, 1938, in Iron City, TN, and raised in Florence, AL, Montgomery gained her first exposure to music through her father, a fiddler and guitarist who taught vocal lessons at the town's Methodist church. At the age of ten, she was given her own guitar, and a decade later, she and her brother won an amateur talent contest held at Nashville radio station WSM's Studio C, which then housed the Grand Ole Opry. Montgomery's performance so impressed contest judge Roy Acuff that he asked the young singer to replace his departing lead vocalist June Webb; she accepted and toured with Acuff for the next four years.After going solo in 1962, Montgomery released a self-titled LP and then teamed for a series of duets with Jones. Their first joint effort, a rendition of Montgomery's self-penned "We Must Have Been Out of Our Minds," reached the Top Three in 1963, and the follow-up, "What's in Our Heart"/"Let's Invite Them Over," was a two-sided Top 20 hit. Between 1963 and 1967, the Jones-Montgomery team generated a total of five Top 40 hits and two LPs (1966's Close Together and 1967's Let's Get Together), and while Montgomery maintained a successful solo career during the same period, she remained best known as a duet singer and so recorded an album of collaborations with Pitney titled Being Together in 1966.
After a few minor solo hits in the late '60s, in 1970 Montgomery found new partners in Louvin and producer Pete Drake. The duo's first hit, "Something to Brag About," was also their biggest, and after a string of singles and a 1971 album -- also titled Something to Brag About -- she and Louvin parted ways, although Montgomery did continue on with Drake. In 1974, he produced her lone number one hit, a rendition of Harlan Howard's "No Charge," culled from the LP No Charge. While she continued to record throughout the decade, subsequent albums like Don't Let the Good Times Fool You and Aching Breaking Heart found little commercial success, and by the 1980s Montgomery focused largely on touring and appearing at festivals. In 1988, she even published a cookbook of family recipes. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi
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Melba Montgomery
| Melba Montgomery | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Melba Montgomery |
| Born | October 14, 1938 |
| Origin | Florence, Alabama, U.S |
| Genres | Country, Pop |
| Occupations | Singer, Songwriter |
| Years active | 1963 – present |
| Labels | United Artists Records Starday Records Musicor Records Capitol Records Elektra Records Phonorama Records Playback Records |
| Associated acts | George Jones, Charlie Louvin, Gene Pitney |
Melba Montgomery (born October 14, 1938) is an American country music singer. She is best known for duet hit recordings in the 1960s with country music singer George Jones.
In the 1970s, Montgomery was a successful solo artist in her own right. Her best-known solo hit is the No. 1 hit, "No Charge".
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Contents
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Early life
Childhood
Born October 14, 1938, in Iron City, Tennessee, and raised in Florence, Alabama, Montgomery gained her first exposure to music through her father, a fiddler and guitarist who taught vocal lessons at the town's Methodist church. She started playing guitar at the age of ten. Music became a very important part of Montgomery's life and she soon had serious dreams about achieving success in the country music industry.
Rise to fame
At age 20, she and her brother won an amateur talent contest held at Nashville radio station WSM's Studio C, which then housed the Grand Ole Opry.
With the help of Acuff, Montgomery gained a recording contract with United Artists Records by 1962.
Country music career
1963 – 1972: Duet artist career
Montgomery went solo in 1962. She wrote "We Must Have Been Out of Our Minds", which she sang with George Jones. The song spent over thirty weeks on the Billboard Country chart, and peaked at No. 3 by 1963. It became the duo's best-known song together. The single's success brought a successful duet album with Jones as well (What's in Our Hearts), which released two other Top 20 hit singles, "Let's Invite Them Over" and "What's in Our Hearts".
After finding success as a duet artist, Montgomery found the time to release a solo album in between. In 1964, Montgomery's first-ever solo debut, America's #1 Country and Western Girl Singer. The album brought about a top 25 hit for Montgomery, "The Greatest One of All", which peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard Country Chart. For the rest of the decade, Montgomery had a few other minor solo hits, none of which made the country top 40.
Jones continued to duet with Montgomery. However, in 1966, Montgomery was partnered with Gene Pitney for a duet album, Being Together, which spawned a top 15 hit, "Baby, Ain't That Fine".
Although they parted ways, singles continued to be released from the duo, including "Did You Ever," which reached the top 30, followed by the minor hits "Baby, What's Wrong With Us" and "A Man Likes Things Like That", which were released only as singles in 1972.
1973 – 1980: Solo career
In 1973, Montgomery switched to Elektra Records, where she focused more on a solo career. Off her debut album off the label, Montgomery had a top 40 hit single, "Wrap Your Love Around Me," her first solo single to reach this far on the country charts in nearly ten years. Released in 1974, "No Charge" became a No. 1 country hit on the Billboard country chart, as well as top 40 hit on the Billboard pop chart. The song and the album became successful, and Montgomery's only top 10 hit as a solo artist.
The title track off of Montgomery's follow-up album, Don't Let the Good Times Fool You reached the top 15 in 1975, the only top 40 hit from the album. Subsequent singles also released from the album, "Searchin' (For Someone Like You)" and "Your Pretty Roses Come too Late" did not bring much success. However, in 1977, under United Artists, Montgomery released a self-titled album, and a cover version of Merrilee Rush's pop hit, "Angel of the Morning" that reached the top 25. The single was Montgomery's last major country hit.
In 1986, Montgomery released her last single, "Straight Talkin'", which peaked at No. 78.
1981 – present: Music career today
While she mainly focused on touring, Montgomery released a studio album in 1982, I Still Care, which brought no subsequent success, followed by Do You Know Where Your Man Is in 1992. However, Montgomery focused on other careers in the meantime. In the early '90s, Montgomery co-wrote a song for Leslie Satcher's debut album.
In June 2001, Montgomery attended the 80th birthday celebration of her friend and pioneering country-gospel vocalist Martha Carson. The party was also attended by Kitty Wells, Sonny James, and Stonewall Jackson.
Discography
Main article: Melba Montgomery discography
External links
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