The Davis Sisters (country)

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The Davis Sisters

Background information
Origin	Dry Ridge, Kentucky
Genre(s)	Country music/Pop music
Years active	1953-1956
Label(s)	RCA Records
Former members
Betty Jack Davis, Skeeter Davis, Georgia Davis

The Davis Sisters were a country music duo group consisting of two singers, Skeeter Davis and Betty Jack Davis. They are best known for their 1953 #1 country hit "I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know".

1 Rise to Fame & Success
2 Tragedy & Reformation
3 Skeeter Davis Becomes A Solo Artist
4 Sources
5 Links

[edit] Rise to Fame & Success

The Davis Sisters were one of the original female country groups in country music. They helped inspire such later female country music acts as The Judds. The Davis Sisters as a matter of fact were not even sisters. Skeeter Davis's real name was Mary Frances Penick, but she later changed her name to Skeeter Davis for professional reasons. Betty Jack and Skeeter met each other in high school. They began to immediately form a close relationship as good friends and even had a close musical relationship as well. Eventually, realizing that they had the same goals and ideas that they would someday be in the music business, singing and recording records, they decided that they would create their own duo group. Therefore, the Davis Sisters was created.

The duo began appearing regularly on radio shows in Cincinnati and Detroit. They even first started recording in Detroit. In 1953, they landed a recording contract with RCA Records. While recording for RCA, the sessions were backed up by future record producer Chet Atkins. That same year, the released their first single called "I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know". The song was mournful and heartbreaking and became a #1 Country hit for the Davis Sisters. The song even went on to become a top ten Pop hit as well. It was also quite unique for the time. There weren't many female singers on the Country charts at the time, especially a female duo group, which made them stand out in the crowd. Their duo harmonies mixed the sound of the old Appalachian harmonies of the Delmore Brothers to the more Pop inspired sounds of the Everly Brothers.

[edit] Tragedy & Reformation

However, the Davis Sisters were to enjoy this hit song because close following the song's release, tragedy would strike Betty Jack. The first sessions she had made at RCA was to be her last. In August 1953, the group was involved in a major car accident. The accident had killed Betty Jack instantly, but Skeeter was only seriously injured. News of the accident reached Nashville and people were shocked in the major loss of Betty Jack, and the near-death accident of Skeeter.

With the support of Skeeter's Davis family, Skeeter was able to reunite the group without Betty Jack, by instead including Betty Jack's older sister into the group instead. This helped problems in various ways. Skeeter would now have a touring partner for the road and someone to work with at the recording studio. By the end of 1953, a series of changes had struck the group. The reformed Davis Sisters continued to perform and record up until 1956. The Davis Sisters were not able to score another hit, therefore becoming one-hit wonders in music. However, things might have been different if the Betty Jack was still alive. If she had still been alive, the duo might have been able to record another follow-up hit and appear on the charts regularly. This could have been true because the original members would still be in the group and their vocal style would have sounded different.

[edit] Skeeter Davis Becomes A Solo Artist

After Skeeter had left the group in 1956, she decided, after years of mourning and trying to put back the way things were, she realized that she might be able to make it on her own. She still remained with RCA records and she released her first single "Set Him Free" in 1959 under the name Skeeter Davis. The song became a top ten Country hit for Davis and she continued to have major chart success. Skeeter Davis eventually became one of the most popular female Country singers in Country music during the 1960s. She had been part of Country music's Nashville Sound era, which created a more Pop influenced sound in Country music. This eventually proved successful for Skeeter when she scored a top 5 Country and Pop hit single called "The End of the World" in 1963, which went on to become her biggest and most well-known hit. However, Skeeter never forgot the memories that she had with the Davis Sisters, knowing that her life could have been completely different if it weren't for that fatal accident that killed Betty Jack Davis. In 2004, Skeeter Davis died in a hospice. She was 70 years old.