Billie Jo Spears
Billie Jo Spears landed a few big country hits during the '70s, thanks to a sultry, bluesy voice that made her a perfect torch balladeer; while she never quite edged her way into stardom in the U.S., she earned a devoted following in Great Britain and toured there frequently. Spears was born in Beaumont, TX, in 1937 and made her professional debut at age 13 in an all-star country concert in Houston; not long after, she recorded the single "Too Old for Toys, Too Young for Boys" as Billie Joe Moore for Abbott Records. After high school, she sang in nightclubs and looked for a record deal, recording some demos with producer Pete Drake. She got a contract with United Artists in 1964 and moved to Nashville, where she worked with producer Kelso Herston. Her initial singles fared poorly, and when Herston moved to Capitol two years later, Spears followed. Success continued to elude her until 1969, when "Mr. Walker, It's All Over" climbed into the country Top Five. She charted several more times through 1972 but was forced to have surgery on her vocal cords twice over the next two years in order to remove nodules and polyps that could have robbed her of her voice entirely.
Spears made a full recovery, however, and returned to United Artists in 1975. She scored her first number one hit with the sensual "Blanket on the Ground" that year, and two of her 1976 singles -- "Misty Blue" and "What I've Got in Mind" -- reached the Top Five. She had several other minor hits that year and also cut an album of duets with Del Reeves. "If You Want Me" made the Top Ten in 1977, the last time Spears would visit that territory; several more singles reached the Top 20 by decade's end, but songs like "'57 Chevrolet" and "Lonely Hearts Club" were much bigger hits in Britain, and Spears began to devote more of her touring attention to the overseas market. Her last Top 20 single was 1981's "Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad," after which she and United Artists parted ways. Spears recorded sporadically for independent labels, usually based in the U.K. or Ireland, during the '80s and early '90s. She recovered from triple bypass surgery in 1993 and continued to tour, traveling regularly to the U.K. to perform for a still-affectionate fan base.
© Steve Huey /TiVo
-
The Ultimate Collection
Country - Erschienen bei EMI Gold am 01.01.2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
The Best Of Billie Jo Spears
Country - Erschienen bei Vanilla OMP am 17.08.2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Blanket On The Ground
Country - Erschienen bei Vanilla OMP am 01.01.1975
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
-
Simply Billie Jo Spears
Country - Erschienen bei Carter Lane - OMiP am 03.11.2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Country Masters: Rocky Top
Country - Erschienen bei Carinco AG am 22.11.2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
57 Chevrolet
Country - Erschienen bei Collecting Records OMP am 28.03.2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Essential Collection
Country - Erschienen bei Vanilla OMP am 10.12.2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Take A Melody (Re-record)
Pop - Erschienen bei NPL am 23.04.2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Queen of Country
Country - Erschienen bei Capitol Nashville am 01.01.2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fever & Other Great Hits
Folk - Erschienen bei HHO am 03.06.2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Essential Billie Jo Spears
Country - Erschienen bei Carter Lane - OMiP am 11.11.2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Sound Of Billie Jo Spears
Country - Erschienen bei Vanilla OMP am 17.08.2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
C'est La Vie
Country - Erschienen bei Goldenlane Records am 18.08.2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Billie Jo Spears Country Legends
Country - Erschienen bei StreamWorld Entertainment Classics am 03.08.2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
American Anthology: Billie Jo Spears
Country - Erschienen bei Carter Lane - OMiP am 08.12.2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Billie Jo Spears: The Definitive Collection, Vol. 2
Country - Erschienen bei Bofm Ltd am 01.01.2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Highlights of Billie Jo Spears
Pop - Erschienen bei Weishaupt Music & Entertainment am 29.03.2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -