Skeeter Davis

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Skeeter Davis

Mary Frances "Skeeter" Davis (December 30, 1931 – September 19, 2004) was an American country music singer and a member of the Grand Ole Opry radio show for more than 40 years. She was best known for her hit song "The End of the World" (1963), one of the most popular American records of the 1960's, and was one of the first women to achieve major stardom in the country music field as a solo vocalist and was an acknowledged influence on Tammy Wynette and Dolly Parton.

"The End of the World":
"Why does my heart keep on beating?
Why do these eyes of mine cry?
Don't they know?
It's the end of the world.
It ended when you said goodbye."

Contents

1 Biography
2 Trivia
3 Selected discography
4 Resources
5 References

Biography

Davis was born Mary Frances Penick on a farm in Dry Ridge, Kentucky. She took the surname Davis when she became half of the "Davis Sisters" duet in the 1950s and the first name Skeeter because her grandfather said she was so active, she buzzed around like a mosquito.

Davis attended Dixie Heights High School near Covington, Kentucky, where she met Betty Jack Davis and the two formed The Davis Sisters. They signed a recording contract with RCA Victor and had a number one hit with the song I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know.

Shortly thereafter, Betty Davis was killed in a car wreck. Skeeter Davis was critically injured in the same accident. She recuperated and launched a solo career. By 1957, Davis was one of the top rated singers in country music. She was particularly known for doing her own harmony vocals through overdubbing, a rarity in those days, and was a friend and associate of Chet Atkins.

She became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1959, the same year she was nominated for a Grammy award for the song "Set Him Free". During the 1960s, Skeeter was one of RCA's most successful country artists. She charted 41 country hits, 13 of which crossed over to the pop charts. The best-known of these was "The End Of The World", which peaked at number two in both the U.S. country and pop charts in 1963. Other major hits included "My Last Date With You", "Am I That Easy to Forget", "I Can't Stay Mad At You", "Gonna Get Along Without You Now", "I'm A Lover Not a Fighter", and "I Can't Believe That it's All Over". She received five Grammy nominations including four for Best Country Female Vocal in 1964 ("He Says the Same Things to Me"), 1965 ("Sunglasses"), 1967 ("What Does it Take"), and 1972 ("One Tin Solider").

In 1973, the Opry suspended Davis for dedicating a song to recently arrested Christians witnessing at a public mall during an Opry performance, deeming her remarks "political", but was reinstated in 1975 and continued to perform until 2001, when she was incapacitated by the breast cancer that would claim her life. At one point during her illness, Davis resided at the home of her longtime friends June Carter and Johnny Cash, ironically, she would outlive them both. She remained a Grand Ol' Opry member until the end of her life.

In the 1970s, she began regularly touring foreign countries such as Barbados, Singapore, and Sweden where she was among the most popular entertainers of any field.

Davis was married three times, the first being to Kenneth Depew. She married Ralph Emery in 1960 and divorced in 1964. She married rock musican Joey Spampinato of NRBQ, with whom she collaborated on an acclaimed 1985 album She Sings, They Play in 1987. Davis and Spampinato were divorced in 1996.

Skeeter lived in Brentwood, Tennessee, from the early 1960s until the time of her death in 2004. Her autobiography, Bus Fare to Kentucky (named after a 1971 Davis hit), was published in 1993. Davis was a devout Christian. Davis battled breast cancer starting in 1988, and she died of it in a Nashville, Tennessee, hospice, aged 72.

Skeeter Davis's best known song, "The End of the World", has been covered many times including Karen Carpenter, [on "The Carpenters" "Now and Then" album], Johnny Mathis, John Cougar Mellencamp, Dottie West, Julie London, Anne Murray, and Agnetha Faltskog (of ABBA fame).

Trivia

Skeeter Davis is the only woman in the history of the Billboard charts to hit the top ten singles list on all four singles charts, the Hot 100 (pop/rock), country, easy listening, and soul/rhythm and blues with her 1963 smash "The End of the World". Linda Ronstadt and Barbra Streisand have also hit four different charts but Streisand has not had a top ten country or soul record, and Ronstadt did not make the top ten soul chart.

"The End of the World" is the only single to make the top ten on all four Billboard singles charts.

Skeeter Davis was the only woman nominated for Best Country & Western Recording (for "Set Him Free" in 1959) by the Grammy Awards in the five year period of 1959-1963 in which only one award was given in the country field.

Selected discography

I'll Sing You A Song (And Harmonize Too) (1960)
Sing Duets (1962) with Porter Wagoner
The End of The World (1963)
Cloudy With Occasional Tears
She Sings, They Play (1985) with NRBQ
''The Essential Skeeter Davis (1995)
''RCA Country Legends: Skeeter Davis (2002)
The Pop Hits Collection (2004)

Resources

"Skeeter Davis".[Skeeter Davis Unofficial Site]. Retrieved Sep. 20, 2004.
[Annotated Discography]

References

The Associated Press. "Skeeter Davis, Country Singer, 72". The New York Times. September 22, 2004. A28.
William A. Weathers. "Skeeter Davis a star on the Grand Ole Opry: Dry Ridge native had hit with 'End of the World'". The Cincinnati Enquirer. September 20, 2004. B4.

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