After Kitty Wells' 1952 breakthrough, Shepard quickly followed, and a national television gig and the Opry helped make her a star when few female country singers had enduring success. Her first hit, "A Dear John Letter", a 1953 duet with Ferlin Husky, was the first post-World War II record by a woman country artist to sell more than a million copies.
Jean Shepard was born November 21, 1933 in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma, but was raised in Visalia, California near Bakersfield. As a teenager, she played bass in the Melody Ranch Girls, an all-female band formed in 1948. Hank Thompson discovered Shepard a few years later.[2] With Thompson's help, Shepard signed with Capitol Records in 1952, following the success of Kitty Wells' "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" Shepard cut four songs at her first session with popular band players Jimmy Bryant, Speedy West, Cliffie Stone and Billy Strange. She recorded her first single for the label in 1952, "Crying Steel Guitar Waltz", but it failed to chart.
Shepard's first chart appearance was 1953's duet with Ferlin Husky, with "A Dear John Letter". It was a No. 1 smash, and also became a major crossover pop hit, peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard pop chart. The song struck a chord a with audiences as it was a half-spoken duet about a soldier in the Korean War. The duo's follow-up, "Forgive Me John", was another crossover hit, peaking in the Top 10 on the country chart and the top 25 on the pop chart. Because at 20 she was still a minor, Shepard's parents signed her rights to Husky so she could tour.
In 1955, Shepard joined ABC-TV's nationally-telecast Ozark Jubilee for several years, and recorded her first studio album, Songs of a Love Affair, written by Shepard. She also charted her first solo top ten single, "A Satisfied Mind", that same year, backed by the No. 13 hit, "Take Possession". "A Satisfied Mind" peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard country chart. Shepard had another top five hit the same year with "Beautiful Lies". Its flip side, "I Thought of You", peaked in the country top ten. Her streak of hit singles led to an invitation to join the Grand Ole Opry in 1955 as one of its few female stars; Kitty Wells and Minnie Pearl were the only others.
Because she was a honky tonk singer when the Nashville sound was popular, Shepard had just two charting country singles between 1956 and 1963. She had two charting singles in 1958 and 1959, however, with "I Want to Go Where No One Knows Me" and "Have Heart Will Love"; and was also named Cash Box's Top Female Artist of 1959.
In 1960, Shepard married fellow Opry star Hawkshaw Hawkins, whom she had met on Ozark Jubilee. He died three years later in the same plane crash that killed Patsy Cline and Cowboy Copas. Shepard gave birth to their son Hawkshaw Jr. just one month after the crash. She later married country music musician and singer Benny Birchfield and they remain married.
Shepard returned to the top ten in 1964 with "Second Fiddle (To an Old Guitar)", which began a string of hits and proved a commercial comeback as well. In 1964 and 1965, she had two Top 40 hits with "A Tear Dropped By" and "Someone's Gotta Cry", from the Heart, We Did All We Could LP released in 1967. In 1966, Shepard recorded a duet with country singer Ray Pillow titled, "I'll Take the Dog", which peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard country chart. This was followed by two solo hit singles the same year: the top ten hit, "If the Teardrops Were Silver" and the top 15 hit, "Many Happy Hangovers to You".
In 1967, Shepard had two top 20 hits with the title track of Heart, We Did All We Could and the single "Your Forevers Don't Last Very Long". The following year she had only one Top 40 hit, but continued to release albums, which included 1968's A Real Good Woman. In 1969, Shepard's LP, Seven Lonely Days, produced the hit single of the same name that reached the top 20. With the release of 1969's "Then He Touched Me", Shepard had a top ten hit; followed by three hits in 1970, including the top 15 hit, "Another Lonely Night". Shepard had one more Top 40 hit with Capitol, 1971's "With His Hand in Mine", and shortly afterward her singles began to drop out of the Top 40.
In the early 1970s, Shepard moved to United Artists Records. Her first single for the label in 1973, the Bill Anderson-penned “Slippin' Away,” was her biggest solo hit since the fifties. The single peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard country chart and also charted on the Billboard pop chart, peaking outside the Top 40. With the success of the single, an LP of the same name was released the same year and peaked at No. 15 on the Top Country Albums chart. Shepard's hits continued throughout the 1970s, though as the decade wore on she hit the Top 40 less frequently. She had three top 20 hits in 1974, beginning with the No. 13 smash "At the Time", and "I'll Do Anything it Takes (To Stay With You)". In 1975, Shepard recorded an album of songs written by Bill Anderson titled, Poor Sweet Baby (And Ten More Bill Anderson Songs). Both singles from the album were top 20 hits on the Billboard country chart between 1974 and 1975, and were also her last Top 40 singles.
She created controversy when she served as president of the Association of Country Entertainers, formed in response to Olivia Newton-John’s CMA Female Vocalist of the Year win in 1974. The organization was intended to keep country music "pure" and criticized the pop influences at the time. Shepard would come out in defense of "pure" country music again nearly forty years later, criticizing singer and TV personality Blake Shelton for a comment in which he referred to fans of traditional country as "old farts and jackasses": "We’ve got a young man in country music who has made some pretty dumb statements lately. What did he say? That traditional country music is for old farts and jack-you-know-whats? Well, I guess that makes me an old fart. I love country music. I won’t tell you what his name is…but his initials is BS…and he’s full of it!"
In 1975 and 1976, Shepard recorded two albums, I'm a Believer and Mercy/Ain't Love Good, before leaving the label in 1976. In response, United Artists released a Greatest Hits compilation. Between 1977 and 1978, she recorded for the smaller GRT label, which produced minor hit singles on the Billboard country chart. She had her last charting record in 1978 under the label with "The Real Thing".
After departing GRT at the end of the 1970s, Shepard did not record again until 1981, when she released a final studio album under the label Laselight titled, Dear John, which included remakes of her hits, including "A Dear John Letter" and "Slippin' Away", but also included a new song, "Too Many Rivers".
She continued to perform at the Grand Ole Opry and tour, particularly in the UK, where she had a strong fan base. Her work has also been reissued by Bear Family Records. Although in her eighties, Shepard continues to regularly tour and perform. Her touring show, "The Jean Shepard Show," has toured the U.S. and she performs at the Grand Ole Opry regularly.
In 2005, Shepard celebrated 50 years as a member of the Opry and at the time of her death was the longest running living member of the Opry.
In 2011, Shepard was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame with fellow Oklahoma native Reba McEntire and songwriter Bobby Braddock.
On November 21, 2015, Shepard became the first female to be a member of the Grand Ole Opry for 60 consecutive years. A feat that only one other person has achieved. She then retired from the stage that night.
On September 25, 2016 Jean Shepard, passed away from Parkinson's Disease.
Leave Me Alone
Jean Shepard Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I don't believe I'll take another chance on loving you
I have found the sweetest love that I have ever known
So do me a favor and leave me alone
If you pass us on the street don't stop and say hello
He might guess that you were once the one that I loved so
I have found in him a love that you have never shown
So do me a favor and leave me alone
Give me this second chance the first one's gone
What's the use of holding on to a love of yesterday
You're only holding on to heartaches that might go away
Find yourself somebody new I did while you were gone
So do me a favor and leave me alone
Do me a favor leave me alone
Give me this second chance the first one's gone
What's the use of holding on to a love of yesterday
You're only holding on to heartaches that might go away
Find yourself somebody new I did while you were gone
So do me a favor and leave me alone
The lyrics to Jean Shepard's "Leave Me Alone" tell the story of someone who has found a new love and wants to move on from the past relationship. The singer tells their former lover that they don't want them anymore and that they've found someone new who they believe is the sweetest love they've ever known. They ask their former lover to do them a favor and leave them alone, even avoiding saying hello if they pass on the street to avoid stirring up old memories.
The singer emphasizes that they want to move on from the past love and that holding onto it will only lead to heartaches that might not go away. They encourage their former lover to find someone new as they did while their former lover was gone. The refrain of the song repeats the request to be left alone and the reminder that the first chance at love has already passed.
The song paints a picture of someone who has found closure in a past relationship and wants to move on with their life. The singer's strong voice and straightforward lyrics capture the emotions of someone ready to start anew.
Line by Line Meaning
I don't want you anymore I found somebody new
I am no longer interested in being with you because I have found someone else.
I don't believe I'll take another chance on loving you
I do not wish to pursue a romantic relationship with you again.
I have found the sweetest love that I have ever known
I have found a love that is far better than anything I have experienced before.
So do me a favor and leave me alone
Please respect my wishes and give me space from now on.
If you pass us on the street don't stop and say hello
If you see me with my new partner, please do not approach us.
He might guess that you were once the one that I loved so
If you approach us, my new partner may suspect that we used to be romantically involved.
I have found in him a love that you have never shown
My new partner's love for me surpasses what you have ever shown me.
Do me a favor leave me alone
Please give me the space I need to move on with my life.
Give me this second chance the first one's gone
I do not want to go back to the old relationship, as it has already ended.
What's the use of holding on to a love of yesterday
What is the point of clinging onto a love that has already ended?
You're only holding on to heartaches that might go away
By holding onto the past, you are only prolonging your own heartache.
Find yourself somebody new I did while you were gone
As you were not around, I found someone else to love.
So do me a favor and leave me alone
Please respect my decision to move on and give me the space I need.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Songtrust Ave, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: NICOLAS (GROUPE FFF) BABY FOURCADE, CHRISTIAN (GROUPE FFF) MONTHIEUX, PHILIPPE (GROUPE FFF) NIEL, STANISLAS (GROUPE FFF) POUPAUD, MARCO (GROUPE FFF) PRINCE
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