Catalog
Skeeter Davis
Born Mary Frances Penick from Dry Ridge, KY, Skeeter Davis made history as one of the first acclaimed, influential female vocalists in country music. She adopted the name Skeeter Davis, a nickname endearingly donned on her by her grandfather, in high school shortly after meeting Betty Jack Davis. The two joined forces to become “The Davis Sisters”, a short-lived duo subject to unfortunate happenstance with a chart-topping song: “I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know”. Their 1953 smash stood as the only Billboard No. 1 by a female duo for over three decades, until The Judds’ “Mama He’s Crazy” reached No. 1 in 1984.
After taking a pause from music, and a brief attempt at resurrecting The Davis Sisters with Betty Jack Davis’ biological sister, Skeeter moved to Nashville and began working with producer Chet Atkins. Here she really came into her own as a songwriter and musician, especially with her 1957 response to Hank Locklin’s “Geisha Girl”, “Lost to a Geisha Girl”, which reached No. 15 on the Billboard Country Singles Chart. In 1959, Davis joined the Grand Ole Opry and earned the first of five Grammy nominations she would receive throughout her career for her co-written song, “Set Him Free”, which became her first Country Top 10 hit. She followed this success up by debuting on the pop charts with the 1960’s hit “(I Can’t Help You) I’m Falling Too” that countered Locklin’s “Please Help Me, I’m Falling”.
Although she had many pop/country crossovers, her stand-out was the 1962 “The End of the World”. As her biggest commercial success, the song reached No. 2 on the Country Chart, No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary Chart, No. 2 on their Hot 100, and No. 4 on the R&B List. It also gave Davis her only UK pop chart entry, reaching number 18. In addition to her work as a solo artist, she also reached acclaim as a duet partner. This was most notably done with Bobby Bare, and their 1965 cover of “A Dear John Letter”, and “Your Husband, My Wife”. Davis also sang duets with Porter Wagoner, collaborated with George Hamilton IV, and recorded a tribute album to Buddy Holly. Although her hits as a country artist began to slow down toward the end of the 60’s, Skeeter Davis toured extensively throughout the USA, Canada, and Europe with artists like Rolling Stones and Elvis Presley.
During the 60’s Skeeter Davis became one of RCA’s most successful country artists, registering 26 US country hits, eight of them achieving crossover US pop chart success. She achieved 41 country hits and 8 pop over the course of her career, as well as became an acknowledged influence of Tammy Wynette and Dolly Parton- the latter of which with she co-wrote “Fuel to the Flame”. Overall, her music was reminiscent of Patsy Cline and Brenda Lee, and some additional hits that solidified her as one of country music’s most gifted songwriters include: “My Last Date (With You)”, “I’m Saving My Love”, “I Can’t Stay Mad at You”, “He Says the Same Things to Me”, “Gonna Get Along Without You Now”, “Bus Fare to Kentucky”, “One Tin Soldier”, and “What Does It Take (To Keep a Man Like You Satisfied)”.