Jeannie Seely

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Jeannie Seely bigraphy, stories - American singer

Jeannie Seely : biography

July 6, 1940 –

Jeannie Seely (born Marilyn Jeanne Seely July 6, 1940 in Titusville, Pennsylvania) is an American country music singer and Grand Ole Opry star. She is best known for her 1966 Grammy award-winning Country hit, "Don’t Touch Me", which peaked at No. 2 on the country charts.

Seely has produced numerous country hits, from the 60s into the mid-70s, including duets with Jack Greene like 1969’s "I Wish I Didn’t Have to Miss You". Seely has befriended many country singers, including Jan Howard and Dottie West.

Discography

Biography & career

Early Life & Rise to Fame

Seely was born in Titusville, Pennsylvania in 1940. 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 bank, 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 thought she should move to Nashville to pursue 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.

The Success of "Don’t Touch Me"

Upon arriving to Nashville, she was hired to fill in for Norma Jean on Porter Wagoner’s road show and television series. Seely was also looking for a record label to sing with. Seely was initially turned down by every record label in town; however one record label (Monument Records) offered Seely a recording contract in early 1966. She was soon recording in the studio by March. One of the first songs recorded was her husband’s self-penned, "Don’t Touch Me". The song was then released and in turn brought Seely her first major success on the country singles chart. The song peaked at the No. 2 position on the Billboard Country charts and stayed there for three weeks, however on all the other major country charts (Cashbox, Record World), the song hit No. 1.; it remained on the charts for over five months. The song even climbed into the lower regions of the pop singles charts, peaking at No. 85. Because of the success of "Don’t Touch Me", Seely was invited to perform on the Grand Ole Opry that June. She also won Billboard’s, Cashbox’s, and Record World’s "Most Promising Female Artist Award". In March 1967, Seely won the Grammy award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for "Don’t Touch Me", becoming only the third female country singer to win the award. That year, an album was released titled, The Seely Style, which featured "Don’t Touch Me". In September, 1967 Seely joined the Grand Ole Opry, a lifelong dream of hers, where today she still remains a member.