Ivory Joe Hunter
Ivory Joe Hunter was an American rhythm-and-blues singer and pianist. After a series of hits on the US R&B chart starting in the mid-1940s, he became more known for his hit recording "Since I Met You Baby", he was billed as The Baron of the Boogie, known as The Happiest Man Alive. His musical output ranged from R&B to blues, boogie-woogie, country music, Hunter made a name in all of those genres. Uniquely, he was honored at both the Monterey Jazz Festival and the Grand Ole Opry. Hunter was born in Texas. Ivory Joe was his given name, not a stage name; as a youngster, he developed an early interest in music from his father, Dave Hunter, who played guitar, his gospel-singing mother. He was a talented pianist by the age of 13, he made his first recording for Alan Lomax and the Library of Congress as a teenager, in 1933. Hunter was the uncle of the original lead vocalist for Tower of Power. In the early 1940s, Hunter had his own radio show in Beaumont, Texas, on KFDM, for which he became program manager.
In 1942 he moved to Los Angeles. He wrote and recorded his first song, "Blues at Sunrise", with the Three Blazers for his own label, Ivory Records, it became a nationwide hit on the R&B chart in 1945. In the late 1940s, Hunter founded Pacific Records. In 1947, he recorded for Four Star Records and King Records. Two years he recorded further R&B hits. After signing with MGM Records, he recorded "I Almost Lost My Mind", which topped the 1950 R&B charts and would be recorded by Pat Boone, whose version became a number one pop hit. "I Need You So" was a number two R&B hit that same year. With his smooth delivery, Hunter became a popular R&B artist, he began to be noticed in the country music community. In April 1951, he made his network TV debut on You Asked for It, he toured with a backing band and became known for his large build, his brightly colored stage suits, his volatile temperament. By 1954, he had moved to Atlantic Records, his first song to cross over to the pop charts was "Since I Met You Baby".
It was to be his only Top 40 pop song. While visiting Memphis, Tennessee, in the spring of 1957, Hunter was invited by Elvis Presley to visit Graceland; the two spent the day together. Hunter commented, "He is spiritually minded... he showed me every courtesy, I think he's one of the greatest." Presley recorded several of his songs, including "I Need You So", "My Wish Came True" and "Ain't That Lovin' You, Baby". Presley would record "I Will Be True" and "It's Still Here" in May, 1971. Hunter was a prolific songwriter, some estimate he wrote more than 7,000 songs. Hunter's "Empty Arms" and "Yes I Want You" made the pop charts, he had a minor hit with "City Lights" in 1959, just before his popularity began to decline. Hunter came back as a country singer in the late 1960s, making regular Grand Ole Opry appearances and recording an album titled I've Always Been Country; the country singer Sonny James issued a version of "Since I Met You Baby", which topped the country charts in 1969, paving the way for Hunter's album The Return of Ivory Joe Hunter and his appearance at the Monterey Jazz Festival.
The album was recorded in Memphis with a band that included Isaac Hayes, Gene "Bowlegs" Miller and Charles Chalmers. Jerry Lee Lewis recorded a cover version of the song in 1969. Hunter died of complications at the age of 60, in Memphis, Tennessee, his remains were buried in his native Kirbyville. Mean Woman Blues, Pickwick J. C. Marion. JammUpp 23: "Let Me Dream: Ivory Joe Hunter" Tom Simon. "Ivory Joe Hunter" TV debut of Ivory Joe Hunter on You Asked For It Ivory Joe performing "S. P. Blues" with brief Nina Simone leading fragment Ivory Joe Hunter at Shades Of Blue Ivory Joe Hunter, Mean Woman Blues album info
Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, poet and singer. Mitchum rose to prominence for his starring roles in several classic films noir, is considered a forerunner of the antiheroes prevalent in film during the 1950s and 1960s, his best-known films include Out of the Past, The Night of the Hunter, Cape Fear. Mitchum was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for The Story of G. I. Joe. Mitchum is rated number 23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male stars of Classic American Cinema. Robert Mitchum was born in Connecticut, in 1917 into a Norwegian-Irish Methodist family, his mother, Ann Harriet Gunderson, was a Norwegian immigrant and sea captain's daughter. His older sister, was born in 1914, their father James Mitchum was crushed to death in a railyard accident in Charleston, South Carolina, in February 1919, when Robert was less than two years old and Annette was not yet five. Their mother was awarded a government pension, she soon realized she was pregnant.
Her third child, was born in September of that year. Ann married again, to a former Royal Naval Reserve officer, he helped care for her three children. Ann and Morris had a daughter together, Carol Morris, born July 1927 on the family farm in Delaware; when all of the children were old enough to attend school, Ann found employment as a linotype operator for the Bridgeport Post. As a child Mitchum was known as a prankster involved in fistfights and mischief; when he was 12, his mother sent him to live with her parents in Delaware. A year in 1930, he moved in with his older sister Annette, in New York's Hell's Kitchen. After being expelled from Haaren High School, he left his sister and traveled throughout the country on railroad cars, taking a number of jobs, including ditch-digging for the Civilian Conservation Corps and professional boxing, he had many adventures during his years as one of the Depression era's "wild boys of the road". At age 14 in Savannah, Georgia, he was put on a local chain gang.
By Mitchum's own account, he returned to his family in Delaware. During this time, while recovering from injuries that nearly cost him a leg, he met Dorothy Spence, whom he would marry, he soon went back on the road riding the rails to California. Mitchum arrived in Long Beach, California in 1936, staying again with his sister Annette, now going by the name of Julie, she had migrated to the West Coast in the hope of acting in movies. Soon, the rest of the Mitchum family joined them in Long Beach. During this time, Mitchum worked as a ghostwriter for astrologer Carroll Righter, his sister Julie convinced him to join the local theater guild with her. In his years with the Players Guild of Long Beach, Mitchum made a living as a stagehand and occasional bit-player in company productions, he wrote several short pieces which were performed by the guild. According to Lee Server's biography, Mitchum put his talent for poetry to work writing song lyrics and monologues for Julie's nightclub performances. In 1940, he returned to Delaware to marry Dorothy Spence, they in turn moved to California.
He remained a footloose character until the birth of their first child nicknamed Josh. They had two more children and Petrine. Back in California, Mitchum managed to find steady employment as a machine operator with the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, but the noise of the machinery damaged his hearing, he suffered a nervous breakdown due to job-related stress. He sought work as a film actor, performing as an extra and in small speaking parts, his agent got him an interview with Harry Sherman, the producer of Paramount's Hopalong Cassidy western film series, which starred William Boyd. In 1943 he and Randolph Scott were soldiers in the Pacific Island war film Gung Ho! Mitchum continued to find work as an extra and supporting actor in numerous productions for various studios. After impressing director Mervyn LeRoy during the making of Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, Mitchum signed a seven-year contract with RKO Radio Pictures, he was groomed for B-Western stardom in a series of Zane Grey adaptations. Following the moderately successful Western Nevada, Mitchum was lent from RKO to United Artists for The Story of G.
I. Joe. In the film, he portrayed war-weary officer Bill Walker, who remains resolute despite the troubles he faces; the film, which followed the life of an ordinary soldier through the eyes of journalist Ernie Pyle, became an instant critical and commercial success. Shortly after making the film, Mitchum was drafted into the United States Army, serving at Fort MacArthur, California, as a medic. At the 1946 Academy Awards, The Story of G. I. Joe was nominated including Mitchum's only nomination for Best Supporting Actor, he finished the year with a Western and a story of returning Marine veterans, before filming in a genre that came to define Mitchum's career and screen persona: film noir. Mitchum was known for his work in film noir, his first foray into the genre was a supporting role in the 1944 B-movie When Strangers Marry, about newlyweds and a New York City
Faith Hill
Audrey Faith McGraw, known professionally as Faith Hill, is an American singer and record producer. She is one of the most successful country artists of all time, having sold more than 40 million albums worldwide. Hill is married to American singer Tim McGraw. Hill's first two albums, Take Me as I Am and It Matters to Me, were major successes and placed a combined three number ones on Billboard's country charts, she achieved mainstream and crossover success with her next two albums and Breathe. Faith spawned her first international success in early 1998, "This Kiss", while Breathe became one of the best-selling country albums of all time, led by the huge crossover success of the songs "Breathe" and "The Way You Love Me", it earned Hill three Grammy Awards. In 2001, she recorded "There You'll Be" for the Pearl Harbor soundtrack and it became an international success and her best-selling single in Europe. Hill's next two albums and Fireflies, were both commercial successes. Hill has won five Grammy Awards, 15 Academy of Country Music Awards, six American Music Awards, several other awards.
Her Soul2Soul II Tour 2006 with McGraw became the highest-grossing country tour of all time. In 2001, she was named one of the "30 Most Powerful Women in America" by Ladies Home Journal. In 2009, Billboard named her as the No. 1 Adult Contemporary artist of the 2000s decade and as the 39th best artist. From 2007 to 2012, Hill was the voice of NBC Sunday Night Football's intro song. In 2019, Hill will receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Hill was born in Ridgeland, north of Jackson, Mississippi, she was adopted as an infant, named Audrey Faith Perry. She was raised in the nearby town of Star, 20 miles outside of Jackson, her adoptive parents and Ted Perry, raised her with their two biological sons in a devout Christian environment. Hill's vocal talent was apparent early, she had her first public performance, at a 4-H luncheon, when she was seven. In 1976, a few days before her 9th birthday, she attended a concert by Elvis Presley at the State Fair Coliseum, in Jackson, which impressed her deeply.
By the time she was a teenager, Hill was a regular performer at area churches those not in her own Baptist denomination. At 17, Hill formed a band, she graduated from McLaurin Attendance Center in 1986, attended college at Hinds Junior College in Raymond, Mississippi. At times, she sang for prisoners at the Hinds County Jail, her song of choice being "Amazing Grace". At age 19 she quit school to pursue her dream of being a country singer. In her early days in Nashville, Hill auditioned to be a backup singer for Reba McEntire, but failed to secure the job. After a stint selling T-shirts, Hill became a secretary at a music publishing firm. Hill landed a job at a local McDonald's restaurant franchise, which she disliked intensely. "Fries, cash register – I did it all, I hated it," she has said. In 1988, she married music publishing executive Daniel Hill. A co-worker heard Hill singing to herself one day, soon the head of her music publishing company was encouraging her to become a demo singer for the firm.
She supplemented this work by singing backup vocals for songwriter Gary Burr, who performed his new songs at Nashville's Bluebird Cafe. During one of those performances, Martha Sharp, an executive from Warner Bros. Records was in the audience, impressed with Hill's voice, began the process of signing her to a recording contract. Shortly after the release of her album, Hill's marriage fell apart, she and Daniel Hill divorced in 1994. Hill's debut album was Take Me as I Am. Hill became the first female country singer in 30 years to hold Billboard's number one position for four consecutive weeks when "Wild One" managed the feat in 1994, her version of "Piece of My Heart" went to the top of the country charts in 1994. The album sold a total of 3 million copies. Other singles from the album include "Take Me as I Am"; the recording of Faith's second album was delayed by surgery to repair a ruptured blood vessel on her vocal cords. It Matters to Me appeared in 1995 and was another success, with the title track becoming her third number-one country single.
Several other top 10 singles followed, more than 3 million copies of the album were sold. The fifth single from the album, was written by Alan Jackson. Other singles from the album include "You Can't Lose Me", "Someone Else's Dream", "Let's Go to Vegas". During this period, Hill appeared on the acclaimed PBS music program Austin City Limits. In spring 1996, Hill began the Spontaneous Combustion Tour with country singer Tim McGraw. At that time, Hill had become engaged to her former producer, Scott Hendricks, McGraw had broken an engagement. McGraw and Hill were attracted to each other and began an affair. After discovering that Hill was pregnant with their first child, the couple married on October 6, 1996; the couple have three daughters together: Maggie Elizabeth and Audrey Caroline. Since their marriage, Hill and McGraw have endeavored never to be apart for more than three consecutive days. After the release of It Matters to Me, Hill took a three-year break from recording to give
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded in 1887, evolving from the American Graphophone Company, the successor to the Volta Graphophone Company. Columbia is the oldest surviving brand name in the recorded sound business, the second major company to produce records. From 1961 to 1990, Columbia recordings were released outside North America under the name CBS Records to avoid confusion with EMI's Columbia Graphophone Company. Columbia is one of Sony Music's four flagship record labels, alongside former longtime rival RCA Records, as well as Arista Records and Epic Records. Artists who have recorded for Columbia include Harry Styles, AC/DC, Louis Armstrong, Tony Bennett, Beyoncé, Dave Brubeck, The Byrds, Johnny Cash, Mariah Carey, The Chainsmokers, The Clash, Miles Davis, Rosemary Clooney, Neil Diamond, Celine Dion, Bob Dylan, Wind & Fire, Duke Ellington, 50 Cent, Erroll Garner, Benny Goodman, Adelaide Hall, Billy Joel, Janis Joplin, John Mayer, George Michael, Billy Murray, Pink Floyd, Lil Nas X, Frank Sinatra and Garfunkel, Bessie Smith, Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand, Andy Williams, Pharrell Williams, Bill Withers, Paul Whiteman, Joe Zawinul The Columbia Phonograph Company was founded in 1887 by stenographer and New Jersey native Edward D. Easton and a group of investors.
It derived its name from the District of Columbia. At first it had a local monopoly on sales and service of Edison phonographs and phonograph cylinders in Washington, D. C. Maryland, Delaware; as was the custom of some of the regional phonograph companies, Columbia produced many commercial cylinder recordings of its own, its catalogue of musical records in 1891 was 10 pages. Columbia's ties to Edison and the North American Phonograph Company were severed in 1894 with the North American Phonograph Company's breakup. Thereafter it sold only phonographs of its own manufacture. In 1902, Columbia introduced a molded brown wax record, to use up old stock. Columbia introduced black wax records in 1903. According to one source, they continued to mold brown waxes until 1904 with the highest number being 32601, "Heinie", a duet by Arthur Collins and Byron G. Harlan; the molded brown waxes may have been sold to Sears for distribution. Columbia began selling disc records and phonographs in addition to the cylinder system in 1901, preceded only by their "Toy Graphophone" of 1899, which used small, vertically cut records.
For a decade, Columbia competed with both the Edison Phonograph Company cylinders and the Victor Talking Machine Company disc records as one of the top three names in American recorded sound. In order to add prestige to its early catalog of artists, Columbia contracted a number of New York Metropolitan Opera stars to make recordings; these stars included Marcella Sembrich, Lillian Nordica, Antonio Scotti and Edouard de Reszke, but the technical standard of their recordings was not considered to be as high as the results achieved with classical singers during the pre–World War I period by Victor, England's His Master's Voice or Italy's Fonotipia Records. After an abortive attempt in 1904 to manufacture discs with the recording grooves stamped into both sides of each disc—not just one—in 1908 Columbia commenced successful mass production of what they called their "Double-Faced" discs, the 10-inch variety selling for 65 cents apiece; the firm introduced the internal-horn "Grafonola" to compete with the popular "Victrola" sold by the rival Victor Talking Machine Company.
During this era, Columbia used the "Magic Notes" logo—a pair of sixteenth notes in a circle—both in the United States and overseas. Columbia stopped recording and manufacturing wax cylinder records in 1908, after arranging to issue celluloid cylinder records made by the Indestructible Record Company of Albany, New York, as "Columbia Indestructible Records". In July 1912, Columbia decided to concentrate on disc records and stopped manufacturing cylinder phonographs, although they continued selling Indestructible's cylinders under the Columbia name for a year or two more. Columbia was split into one to make records and one to make players. Columbia Phonograph was moved to Connecticut, Ed Easton went with it, it was renamed the Dictaphone Corporation. In late 1922, Columbia went into receivership; the company was bought by its English subsidiary, the Columbia Graphophone Company in 1925 and the label, record numbering system, recording process changed. On February 25, 1925, Columbia began recording with the electric recording process licensed from Western Electric.
"Viva-tonal" records set a benchmark in tone and clarity unequaled on commercial discs during the 78-rpm era. The first electrical recordings were made by Art Gillham, the "Whispering Pianist". In a secret agreement with Victor, electrical technology was kept secret to avoid hurting sales of acoustic records. In 1926, Columbia acquired Okeh Records and its growing stable of jazz and blues artists, including Louis Armstrong and Clarence Williams. Columbia had built a catalog of blues and jazz artists, including Bessie Smith in their 14000-D Race series. Columbia had a successful "Hillbilly" series. In 1928, Paul Whiteman, the nation's most popular orchestra leader, left Victor to record for Columbia. During the same year, Columbia executiv
Kenny Chesney
Kenneth Arnold Chesney is an American country music singer and record producer. He has recorded 20 albums, 14 of which have been certified Gold or higher by the RIAA, he has produced more than 40 Top 10 singles on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts, 29 of which have reached number one. Many of these have charted within the Top 40 of the US Billboard Hot 100, making him one of the most successful crossover country artists, he has sold over 30 million albums worldwide. Chesney produced a film for ESPN entitled The Boys of Fall, he has received six Academy of Country Music awards, as well as six awards from the Country Music Association. He is one of the most popular touring acts in country music selling out the venues in which he performs, his 2007 Flip-Flop Summer Tour was the highest-grossing country road trip of the year. The Country Music Association honored Chesney with the Entertainer of the Year award in 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008. Other notable awards he received include the Academy of Country Music's 1997 New Male Vocalist of the Year, 2002 Top Male Vocalist of the Year, the Triple Crown Award in 2005.
He was awarded his fourth consecutive Entertainer of the Year award from the Academy of Country Music on May 18, 2008. Chesney was born on March 26, 1968, in Knoxville, Tennessee, at St. Mary's Medical Center and was raised in Luttrell, is of English and Irish descent, he is the son of David Chesney, a former elementary school teacher, Karen Chandler, a hair stylist in the Knoxville area. Chesney has one sibling, a younger sister named Jennifer Chandler. In 1986, Chesney graduated from Gibbs High School, where he played football, he received his first guitar, "The Terminor", for Christmas and began teaching himself how to play it. Chesney studied advertising at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, where he was a member of the ETSU Bluegrass Program and the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity and graduated in 1990 In 1982, Kenny won the best male yodeler at the International Yodeling Championship in Zurich, Switzerland. In 1989, he recorded a self-released demo album at the Classic Recording Studio in Bristol, Virginia.
He sold 1,000 copies while performing at the local clubs in Johnson City and used the money from album sales to help himself buy a new guitar. After graduation from East Tennessee State in 1990, he headed to Nashville and performed at several local clubs, he became the resident performer at a honky tonk bar in the city's historic district. In 1992, the head of writer relations at BMI, Clay Bradley, recommended Chesney to his friend, Troy Tomlinson, at Opryland Music Group by saying: "I met this kid today from East Tennessee. He's a good singer, a good songwriter, more than anything, I think you're going to like him as a person." Chesney performed five songs during his audition for Tomlinson. Tomlinson's reaction was enthusiastic telling HitQuarters: First of all I was attracted to the songs, because I thought that he painted great pictures in his lyrics for someone who had not been around the typical Music Row co-writes. I thought that he sang well too, but more than anything there was a kind of this'I-will-do-it' look in his eyes - I was drawn in by the fact that he was so set on being successful in this business.
Chesney left the audition with a songwriter's contract. A year an appearance at a songwriter's showcase led to a contract with Capricorn Records, which had started a country division. Chesney's debut album, In My Wildest Dreams, was released on the independent Capricorn Records label in April 1994; the album's first two singles, "Whatever It Takes" and "The Tin Man", both reached the lower regions of the U. S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart; the album sold 10,000 copies before Capricorn Records closed its country music division in Nashville that year and moved to Atlanta. Chesney signed with BNA Records, released his second studio album All I Need to Know in 1995; the album produced three singles. "Fall in Love" and the title track both reached the Top 10, while "Grandpa Told Me So" peaked at number 23. That same year, Chesney co-wrote Confederate Railroad's single "When He Was My Age" from their album When and Where. Chesney utilized fiddle and steel instrumentation within this album in order to highlight the down-home sentiments and the unique Tennessee twinge in his voice.
This album seemed to capture the traditional spirit. Chesney's third studio album and his second major-label one, entitled Me and You, was released in 1996, its first single, "Back In My Arms Again", peaked just outside the Top 40 on the country charts, while its title track and "When I Close My Eyes" both peaked at number 2. Me and You was Chesney's first album to be certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. A cover of Mac McAnally's 1990 single "Back Where I Come From" was included on this album. Though Chesney's version was never released as a single, it has been performed during his concerts. In recognition of his successful year, Chesney was honored with the 1997 Academy of Country Music's New Male Vocalist of the Year award. I Will Stand, Chesney's fourth album and his third from BNA Records, followed in 1997; the album's first single, "She's Got It All", became Chesney's first number one hit on the Billboard country charts and spent three weeks at that position. The album's second single, "A Chance"
Connie Smith
Connie Smith is an American country music artist. Discovered in 1963, Smith signed with RCA Victor Records the following year and remained with the label until 1973, her debut single "Once a Day" reached number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in November 1964 and remained at the top position for eight weeks. The song became Smith's biggest hit and was nominated at the Grammy Awards for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. Smith's success continued through 1960s and mid 1970s with nineteen more top-ten hits on the country songs chart. In the early 1970s, Smith began recording Gospel music more as she became more serious in her Christianity; as she focused more on religion, Smith became known for her outspoken religious demeanor at concerts and music venues. At the same time, Smith spent more time raising her five children than focusing on music, she went into semi-retirement in 1979. Smith would return to recording in the mid 1980s with Epic Records. However, it was not until her collaboration with Marty Stuart in the 1990s that she returned permanently.
Their musical friendship would turn romantic, leading to their marriage in 1997. The pairing led to Smith's first studio album in Connie Smith. Critically acclaimed, Smith has since recorded two more studio albums. Smith has been nominated for 11 Grammy Awards, including eight nominations for Best Female Country Vocal Performance, she has been nominated for 1 Academy of Country Music award and 3 Country Music Association awards. Rolling Stone included her on their list of the 100 greatest country music artists and CMT ranked her among the top ten in their list of the 40 greatest women of country music, she has been a member of the Grand Ole Opry cast since 1965. In 2012, Smith was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Museum. Connie Smith was born Constance June Meador on August 14, 1941, to Wilma and Hobart Meador in Elkhart, Indiana, her parents were from West Virginia, when Smith was five months old, the family returned there. They would move to Dungannon, Ohio, her father was abusive when she was a child, which would cause her to suffer a mental breakdown when she was a teenager.
When she was seven, her mother married Tom Clark. Clark brought 8 children to the new marriage; the couple would have two more children together, which in total added up to fifteen children. As a child, Smith was surrounded by music, her stepfather played mandolin, while her brother played fiddle, her other brother played guitar. On Saturday nights Smith would listen to the Grand Ole Opry radio broadcast. While she was a teenager, she was injured in a lawnmower accident. While in the hospital recovering, she was learned how to play different chords. Following the recovery, she began to perform in various local talent contests. In 1959, Smith graduated from Salem-Liberty High School as the class salutatorian. In August 1963, she entered a talent contest at the Frontier Ranch country music park near Columbus, Ohio. Performing Jean Shepard's "I Thought of You", Smith won five silver dollars; that day at the park, country artist Bill Anderson heard Smith perform and was impressed by her voice. In January 1964, Smith ran into Anderson again at a country music package concert, where he invited her to perform with him on Ernest Tubb's Midnite Jamboree program in Nashville, Tennessee.
After performing on the program, Smith returned to Nashville that May to record demos by Anderson that he planned on pitching to other country artists. Anderson's manager Hubert Long brought the demo recording to RCA Victor Records, where producer Chet Atkins heard it. Impressed by her vocals, Atkins offered Smith a recording contract, she signed with the label on June 24, 1964; because Chet Atkins found himself too busy with other artists, Bob Ferguson acted as Smith's producer on her first sessions and would continue to work as her producer until her departure from RCA. Smith's first session took place on July 16, 1964, where she recorded four songs, three of which were written by Bill Anderson. One of the four songs recorded during the session entitled "Once a Day" was chosen to be Smith's debut single; the song was rush-released as a single on August 1, 1964, became Smith's breakout single, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Magazine Hot Country Singles chart on November 28 and remained at the number one position for eight weeks."Once a Day" became the first debut single by a female country artist to reach number one.
For nearly 50 years the single held the record for the most weeks spent at number one on the Billboard country chart by a female artist. RCA Victor released Smith's self-titled debut album in March 1965 which reached No. 1, spending seven weeks at the top of the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, spending 30 weeks on the chart overall. In addition, the album peaked at No. 105 on the Billboard 200 albums chart around the same time. Dan Cooper of Allmusic called the production of the album to sound as if she was "a down-home Streisand fronting The Lennon Sisters." During this time, Anderson wrote a series of singles that would jump-start Smith's career in the country music industry. Among these songs was Smith's follow-up single to "Once a Day" released in early 1965 titled "Then and Only Then"; the song peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard country chart. In addition, its B-side, "Tiny Blue Transistor Radio", was written by
London Records
London Records is a British record label that marketed records in the United States and Latin America from 1947 to 1979 before becoming semi-independent. London arose from the split in ownership between the American branches of Decca Records; the American branch of London Records released British Decca records in the U. S. since British Decca could not use the "Decca" name there. The label was noted for classical albums made in state-of-the-art stereophonic sound, such artists as Georg Solti, Joan Sutherland and Luciano Pavarotti; the London name was used by British Decca in the UK market for releases taken from American labels which British Decca licensed, such as Imperial, Dot, Atlantic and Sun, the first two UK releases from Motown. By the 1960s more licensing deals had been made with Big Top, Parrot, Hi, subsidiary labels were London Atlantic, London Dot and London Monument. An unusual feature was the letter code in the numbering system. From the late 1950s until 1973, the label bore the logo "London American Recordings", on Radio Luxembourg it was known as "London American".
In America, the label was best known as the American imprint of the pre–1971 recordings of the Rolling Stones. The label originally issued some early LPs and singles by Texas-based band ZZ Top. In the late 1970s, London signed deals with Bomp! Records and with Big Sound in Connecticut, U. S; this changed the label in the eyes of many from a backwater into something a little more "edgy" compared to the pedestrian contemporary releases from parent company Decca. The president of London Records in the 1970s was D. H. Tollerbond. After British Decca was acquired by PolyGram in 1979, London followed a more independent course with subsidiary labels such as Slash, Pete Tong's Essential Records and FFRR. Universal Music Group acquired PolyGram in 1998. In the 90's Tracy Bennet became President and Colin Bell, Managing Director; when Ames moved to the Warner Music Group, he took the label with him, so all of London's recent back catalogue was acquired by Warner, which acquired the London name and trademark from Decca.
The name is still used for UK-based artists, for ex-Factory Records artists. Notable artists released by that incarnation of London, called London Records 90, include New Order, Happy Mondays, A, Shakespears Sister. After PolyGram took over British Decca, classical-music albums recorded by British Decca continued to be released on the London label in the U. S. with a logo similar to the Decca classical label logo, until American Decca owner Universal bought British Decca owner PolyGram in 1998, after which they were all reissued on the original British Decca label in the U. S; the London pop music catalogue owned by Universal Music is now managed by Polydor Records, with US distribution handled by Mercury Records. Decca Records had a recording studio in West London. In 2010, Universal Music reclaimed ownership of the London Records trademark. On 1 July 2011 Universal Music reclaimed the London Records name and relaunched it under the executive team of Nick Raphael and Jo Charrington who together ran Epic Records for Sony Music Entertainment since 2001.
Both had started their careers at London Records in the Ames era in the 1990s. When Nick Raphael became president of Capitol Records's UK division in 2013, London Records moved there, where it operates as a subsidiary. In July 2017, Because Music announced that it would acquire Warner Music 90, the division of WMG that reissued most London Records artists from the PolyGram era; because completed the deal in August 2017, which includes the rights to over fifty London artists. Warner Music 90 will be rebranded as London Music Stream; because would acquire ten French performers including J. J. Cale's post-Mercury/Shelter catalog with the exception of The Road to Escondido, Mano Negra and The Beta Band from Warners in separate deals. With Because Music being distributed by Caroline Distribution in 2019, this returns London Music Stream to Universal, albeit as an independent label. London Records distributed labels throughout its existence. Among the more familiar labels are: Other subsidiaries include: Astra, All Boy, Ashley, Boot, Best, Brite Leaf, Cannon, Cedwicke, CGD, Chicory, Circle, Collier, Country Capers, Deaux, Domain, Edit, Folk Sing, G.
S. P. George, Great, Gulf, Hi Country, Imco, Jay Boy, Johen, K&G, KAB, Kingfish, LeJoint, London International, Louis, M. O. C. Mach, Magna Glide, Medway, Nefi, PAC, Pawn, Pen, P-K-M, Renegade, Ritz, Running Bear, Sahara, SCA, Shar-Dee, Siana, Splash, Sultan, Tarheel, Terrace, Tilt, Unison, Watch and XYZ Marion Menswear Gay Dad Onslaught Back to the Planet Banderas Chumbawamba East 17 The Yes/No People Voice of the Beehiv
