Artist: Skeeter DavisLP: Cloudy, With Occasional Tears
Born in Dry Ridge, Kentucky in 1931, Mary Frances Penick (aka, Skeeter Davis) started singing country music with chum Betty Jack Davis whom she met at Dixie Heights High School in the northern Kentucky town of Erlanger. The duo gained popularity as The Davis Sisters until Betty Jack was killed in a car accident in 1953. Skeeter continued as a solo artist, and with her 1959 hit "Set Him Free, " she was the first female country singer to be nominated for a Grammy.
Davis continued to have a string of country and crossover pop hits throughout the 1960s ("Cloudy, With Occasional Tears" was released in 1963), which helped pave the way for other upcoming female country singers like Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette. Skeeter's popularity waned in the 1970s, though she continued to sing and entertain fans until she died of breast cancer at the age of 72 in 2004. You can read about the life and career of Skeeter Davis on Wikipedia here, and the "Cloudy" LP liner notes and a neat YouTube video clip are included below.
[ Skeeter Davis: December 30, 1931 — September 19, 2004 ]
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