Don't Touch Me

"Don't Touch Me" was written by Jeannie Seely's husband, Hank Cochran, the songwriter who wrote Patsy Cline's "I Fall to Pieces" and Eddy Arnold's "Make the World Go Away". Country music singer, Buck Owens originally wanted to record the song and make it a hit of his own. However, Cochran gave the song to his wife instead. This was the first single recorded by Seely after recently signing a contract with Monument records in early 1966. "Don't Touch Me" was recorded on March 12, 1966 in the Monument studios in Nashville. Soon, late that month the song was released to Country radio stations and was turned into a major hit by late Spring. The stayed at three weeks at No. 2 on the Billboard Country charts, and even went as far as to become a minor Pop hit, peaking at No. 85 on the Billboard Pop music charts. However, on the other two Country charts (Cashbox and Record World), the song hit the No. 1 spot.

At the time "Don't Touch Me" was released, few women recorded such risky material as Seely did, which helped start a trend of other female Country singers to record songs like this, like Loretta Lynn's "The Pill" or Dottie West's "When It's Just You and Me". Seely later said in interviews that it was a song that women were thinking and wanted to hear. In 1967, Seely won the Grammy award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for "Don't Touch Me", becoming only third woman to receive the award (Dottie West was the first to receive the award in 1965). "Don't Touch Me" set the stage for a string of Top 10 and Top 20 hits for Seely in the next couple of years.

According to numerous books, "Don't Touch Me" has been classified as a "classic" or "standard" in Country music to record. The song was placed at No. 97 in the book, Heartaches By the Number: Country Music's 500 Greatest Singles, when it was released in 2003.

[edit] Cover Versions

Don't Touch Me" has been recorded by numerous artists. The first singers to record it were other Country artists, which included Tammy Wynette, Don Gibson, George Jones, Lynn Anderson, Barbara Mandrell, Lorrie Morgan, Ray Price, Eddy Arnold, and Dottie West. Wilma Burgess' version was released as a single in 1967 and reached No. 12 on the Billboard charts, however, Seely's is still the best-remembered version.

R&B/Blues singer, Etta James has recorded a version, put to Blues/R&B tempo. Connie Francis recorded a version. Eleni Mandell recorded a Pop music version and Carolyn Hester has recorded a Folk music version. The song has even been recorded in a Reggae music version by Nicky Thomas.