R.I.P. Skeeter Davis
DianeE
Opry Member Skeeter Davis Dies at 72
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Skeeter Davis, who hit the top of the pop charts with
"The End of the World" in 1963 and sang on the Grand Ole Opry radio show for
more than 40 years, died Sunday of cancer. She was 72.
Davis died at a Nashville hospice, said Grand Ole Opry publicist Jessie
Schmidt. Davis had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 1988 and had a
recurrence in 1996.
Davis, nicknamed Skeeter by her grandfather who said she was so active she
buzzed around like a mosquito, had toured with Elvis Presley and the Rolling
Stones.
She became a regular on the Opry, a live radio show, in 1959, and continued
to perform as late as this year.
In 1973, she was suspended from the Opry for more than a year for protesting
the arrest of "Jesus freaks" in Nashville.
"I felt like a child without a home," she said after her reinstatement.
Besides "The End of the World," her hits included "I'm Saving My Love" and
"I Can't Stay Mad at You."
A native of Dry Ridge, Ky., Davis was born Mary Frances Penick. She took the
name Skeeter Davis in the 1950s when she became half of the Davis Sisters
duet.
She began a solo career after her duet partner, Betty Jack Davis, was killed
in a 1953 car wreck. Skeeter Davis was critically injured in the same
accident.
Her autobiography, "Bus Fare to Kentucky," was published in 1993.
Copyright 2004 Associated Press.
JRWOLFESTR
Marc Dashevsky
> she also recorded with NRBQ..and wasn't she also married to one of its members.
Yes, Joey Spampinato.
--
Go to http://MarcDashevsky.com to send me e-mail.
JL
Rest In Peace!
The Davis Sisters reunited in Heaven.
Never to be forgotten.
Julio
Jim Colegrove
Amen.
Jim Colegrove
Marc Dashevsky
Hey, Jim. I got to see you last night in FESTIVAL EXPRESS. It was an
excellent film, and it was too bad they didn't interview you! The biggest
surprise for me was how good Janis was. I have been one of the people
around here saying that her music simply hasn't stood the test of time.
Well, that may still apply to her recordings, but her performances of
"Cry Baby" and "Tell Mama" were 100% captivating and had the audience
in the movie theater sponataneously whooping and applauding. I've already
ordered the DVD. When it comes out, it's going to have 50 additional
minutes of performances and 25 additional minutes of interviews.
Jim Colegrove
I think it's pretty good too. And it is too bad they didn't interview
me! Janis comes off better in the film than she has in others that's
for sure. Here's what I have been told that is on the extended DVD:
1. Grateful Dead - Hard to Handle
2. Grateful Dead - Easy Wind
3. Janis Joplin - Move Over
4. Janis Joplin - Kozmic Blues
5. Buddy Guy - Hoochie Coochie Man
6. Mashmakhan - As Years Go By
7. Eric Anderson - Thirsty Boots
8. Ian & Sylvia & Great Speckled Bird - Tears of Rage
9. Tom Rush - Child's Song
10. Seatrain - Thirteen Questions
Jim Colegrove
Ed
"Jim Colegrove" <co...@thecoolgroove.com> wrote in message
news:j4cvk05u5o4f7o1fi...@4ax.com...
Jim,
I really enjoyed Ian Tysons "Nashville North" show. They showed it in
Chicago for a time. Tyson did a song called "More often than not" that is a
great lost classic. Anyway. Thanks for the music.
Ed
Jim Colegrove
"Nashville North" was the original title of the show when it was aired
the first season in Canada. It was syndicated in the United States
for the first season under the name "Nashville Now." Then the show
changed its name to "The Ian Tyson Show." I have been told there may
be some video of that show that exists but virtually all of the tape
was reused and is lost. That's a great loss because there were lots
of great performances by Great Speckled Bird and other guest stars--
Carl Perkins, Ronnie Hawkins, Waylon Jennings, Bob Luman, Conway
Twitty, Willie Nelson...on and on.
"More Often Than Not" is a fine song written by David Wiffen. Ian and
Sylvia recorded it on their second LP for Columbia. All their
Columbia sides including some previously unissued sides were set for
reissue but I have not seen this as yet.
Jim Colegrove
Ed
I remember the show being shown as "Nashville North" on PBS in Chicago. But
I could be wrong.
My folks were Canadians so I gravitated towards "All things Canadian..."
I remember that was the first time that I had ever seen Willie Nelson
anywhere. It was one heck of a tv show.
I liked seeing Red Shea and Amos Garrett remembered on your web page btw.
Two really great guitarists.
Ed
Bobby The D
> NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Skeeter Davis, who hit the top of the pop charts with
> "The End of the World" in 1963 and sang on the Grand Ole Opry radio show for
> more than 40 years, died Sunday of cancer. She was 72.
> Davis died at a Nashville hospice, said Grand Ole Opry publicist Jessie
> Schmidt. Davis had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 1988 and had a
> recurrence in 1996.
I read her obit on a website who's URL now escapes me, but it
mentioned that "The End Of The World" not only charted pop, country
and AC, but also on the R&B chart! Not a song I would have expected
to hear on a soul station!
Jim Colegrove
Amazing. I had no idea it was being fed to PBS. You must have had
the Canadian broadcast. Good for you.
Amos Garrett and Buddy Cage were the greatest country rock lead
guitar/steel guitar tandem. Alas, they didn't play together more than
a year. Red Shea was one of the truly great characters I have ever
met.
Jim Colegrove
DianeE
"Bobby The D" <bobb...@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
news:390d0720.04092...@posting.google.com...
>
> I read her obit on a website who's URL now escapes me, but it
> mentioned that "The End Of The World" not only charted pop, country
> and AC, but also on the R&B chart! Not a song I would have expected
> to hear on a soul station!
I don't know how it did on the Cash Box R&B charts, but in 1963 the
Billboard R&B charts were all messed up and a lot of white pop records found
their way onto them....records that you *know* weren't being played on the
soul stations.
DianeE
KEN8038
>mentioned that "The End Of The World" not only charted pop, country
>and AC, but also on the R&B chart! Not a song I would have expected
>to hear on a soul station!
And I read somewhere that not only did it make all 4 charts, but it's the only
record that ever made the Top 3 on all 4!
As Diane pointed out, the BB R&B charts did not differentiate much during that
period of the 60's. I vaguely remember reading an aticle in Billboard at the
time that the rationale for this was that the line between Rock and R&B was
getting more and more blurred. They cited the example of the Contours "Do You
Love me", pointing out that if they had been white there would be no doubt it
was Rock and roll.
How this logic extended to R & B "hits" like End of the World and Go Away
Little Girl escapes me. But Billboard soon went back to the "old" definition of
R & B.
---Ken
BustertheK
I think the problem was that Billboard wasn't using R&B radio at all during
this period, but based the R&B chart exlusively on sales from stores and
jukebox accounts that they had designated as "R&B". And THAT is the line that
was getting blurred at that point - big pop/rock hits were selling everywhere.
Billboard shut down their R&B chart for about a year and when they came back
with one radio was definitely a/the major factor in the chart.
In article <20040922183031...@mb-m22.aol.com>, ken...@aol.com