Deborah Allen (born Deborah Lynn Thurmond on September 30, 1953)
is an American
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
singer and songwriter.
Since 1976, Allen has issued 12 albums and charted 14 singles on the ''Billboard''
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States.
This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...
chart. She recorded the 1983 crossover hit "
Baby I Lied
"Baby I Lied" is a song recorded by American country music artist Deborah Allen. It was released in August 1983 as the first single from the album ''Cheat the Night''. The song reached number 4 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks ch ...
", which reached No. 4 on the country chart and No. 26 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100. Allen has also written No. 1 singles for herself,
Janie Fricke
Jane Marie Fricke ( ; born December 19, 1947), known professionally as Janie Fricke, is an American country music singer, songwriter, record producer, and clothing designer. She has placed seventeen singles in the top ten of the ''Billboard'' Ho ...
, and
John Conlee
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second E ...
; Top 5 hits for
Patty Loveless
Patty Loveless (born Patricia Lee Ramey, January 4, 1957) is an American country music singer. She began performing in her teenaged years before signing her first recording contract with MCA Records' Nashville division in 1985. While her first ...
and
Tanya Tucker
Tanya Denise Tucker (born October 10, 1958) is an American country music singer and songwriter who had her first hit, "Delta Dawn", in 1972 at the age of 13. Over the succeeding decades, Tucker became one of the few child performers to mature int ...
; and a Top 10 hit for
The Whites
The Whites is an American country music vocal group from Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It consists of sisters Sharon White and Cheryl White, and their father, Buck White. Sharon on guitar, Cheryl on bass and Buck on Mandolin. Formed in 1972, ...
.
Early life and rise to fame
Allen was born Deborah Lynn Thurmond in
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
.
She was a
beauty queen
A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...
when she was a teenager.
Musically, she was influenced by
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
,
Roy Orbison
Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...
,
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...
,
Al Green
Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), better known as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Take Me to the River", ...
,
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...
,
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
,
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
,
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
and the current music which was being played in Memphis on
WHBQ and
WDIA
WDIA (1070 AM) is a radio station based in Memphis, Tennessee. Active since 1947, it soon became the first radio station in the United States that was programmed entirely for African Americans. It featured black radio personalities; its success in ...
, as well as country musicians such as
Brenda Lee
Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Performing rockabilly, pop and country music, she had 47 US chart hits during the 1960s and is ranked fourth in that decade, surpassed only ...
,
Patsy Cline
Patsy is a given name often used as a diminutive of the feminine given name Patricia or sometimes the masculine name Patrick, or occasionally other names containing the syllable "Pat" (such as Cleopatra, Patience, Patrice, or Patricia). Among I ...
,
Tammy Wynette
Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music artist, as well as an actress and author. She is considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Ly ...
,
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...
,
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...
,
Waylon Jennings
Waylon Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He pioneered the Outlaw Movement in country music.
Jennings started playing guitar at the age of eight and performed at age f ...
and
Johnny Cash
John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...
. At 19, Allen moved to Nashville to begin pursuing her career in music.
She worked a short stint as a waitress at the local
Music Row
Music Row is a historic district located southwest of downtown Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Widely considered the heart of Nashville's entertainment industry, Music Row has also become a metonymous nickname for the music industry as a w ...
IHOP restaurant. While there one day, Deborah met Roy Orbison and songwriter
Joe Melson
Joe Melson (born May 1935) is an American singer and a BMI Award-winning songwriter.
Life and career
Joe Melson was born in Bonham, Fannin County, Texas, United States. He was reared on a farm until he was sixteen. He attended high school in ...
. Two weeks later, Orbison and Melson, who admired her spunk, decided to hire Allen to sing background on a couple of Orbison tracks.
Allen also auditioned for and landed a job at the
Opryland USA
Opryland USA (later called Opryland Themepark and colloquially "Opryland") was a theme park in suburban Nashville, Tennessee. It operated seasonally (generally March to October) from 1972 to 1997, and for a special Christmas-themed engagement eve ...
theme park. She was soon chosen by Opryland as a featured soloist and dancer for a state department exchange tour of Russia starring
Tennessee Ernie Ford
Ernest Jennings Ford (February 13, 1919 – October 17, 1991), known professionally as Tennessee Ernie Ford, was an American singer and television host who enjoyed success in the country and western, pop, and gospel musical genres. Noted for ...
.
[Betts, Stephen L., AOL Music; Deborah Allen interview, Nov. 2011]
Upon her return from Russia, Allen gravitated to the Nashville offices of Waylon Jennings, the
Tompall & the Glaser Brothers
Tompall & the Glaser Brothers were an American country music group composed of three brothers: Chuck (February 27, 1936 – June 10, 2019), Jim (December 16, 1937 – April 6, 2019), and Tompall (September 3, 1933 – August 13, 2013) Glaser. The ...
and
John Hartford
John Cowan Hartford (December 30, 1937 – June 4, 2001) was an American folk, country, and bluegrass composer and musician known for his mastery of the fiddle and banjo, as well as for his witty lyrics, unique vocal style, and extensive kno ...
where her close friend, Marie Barrett, worked as a secretary. There she met her soon-to-be songwriting mentor, poet, playwright, artist and songwriter
Shel Silverstein
Sheldon Allan Silverstein (; September 25, 1930 – May 10, 1999) was an American writer, poet, cartoonist, singer / songwriter, musician, and playwright. Born and raised in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, Silverstein briefly attended universit ...
.
After watching her perform during a happy hour show at the Spence Manor on Nashville's Music Row, Silverstein advised Allen to pursue songwriting as an extension of her creativity and career path.
Allen also began to pursue a singing career in her own right when she was chosen to be a regular on
Jim Stafford
James Wayne Stafford (born January 16, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and comedian. While prominent in the 1970s for his recordings " Spiders & Snakes", "Swamp Witch", "Under the Scotsman's Kilt", "My Girl Bill", and "Wildwoo ...
's
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
summer replacement series. She went on to serve as an opening act for many of Stafford's personal appearances. Jim and producer
Phil Gernhard
Phillip Arnold Gernhard (February 5, 1940 – February 22, 2008) was an American record producer, record label executive, and songwriter. He is best known for his successful collaborations in the 1960s and 1970s with Maurice Williams and the Zod ...
brought Allen back to Nashville to record a
CB radio
Citizens band radio (also known as CB radio), used in many countries, is a land mobile radio system, a system allowing short-distance person-to-many persons bidirectional voice communication among individuals, using two way radios operating on ...
novelty record called "Do You Copy". It was recorded live and was released as a single on
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...
. Although she appreciated the opportunity to record with Stafford and Gernhard, Allen was disheartened that after waiting patiently for two years to record her first record, it was a novelty tune. She decided to move back to Nashville to follow her true musical direction.
In 1979, while singing at a private party, she was discovered by producer Bud Logan, who invited her to sing on five unfinished duet tracks by the late
Jim Reeves
James Travis Reeves (August 20, 1923July 31, 1964) was an American country and popular music singer-songwriter. With records charting from the 1950s to the 1980s, he became well known as a practitioner of the Nashville Sound. Known as "Gentleman ...
. Three of these songs were "Don't Let Me Cross Over," "Oh, How I Miss You Tonight" and "Take Me in Your Arms and Hold Me."
All three duets were released as singles, and made the Top 10 on the country charts for Reeves' longtime label, RCA Records. She was billed as "The Mystery Singer" on the first release, an innovative promotion by label head, Joe Galante.
Career peak: 1980s
In 1980, Allen signed with
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
. Her debut album for the label was 1980's ''
Trouble in Paradise.''
The album produced her initial solo hit "Nobody's Fool" peaking at No. 24 on Billboard country chart. Subsequent chart singles included (although none never made it on to an album) "You (Make Me Wonder Why)," "You Look Like the One I Love" (a song she had co-written) and "After Tonight," co-written by
Troy Seals
Troy Harold Seals (born November 16, 1938, in Bighill, Madison County, Kentucky, United States) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist.
He is a member of the prominent Seals family of musicians that includes Jim Seals (of Seals and C ...
, each peaking at #20, #33 and #82 on Billboard Country Chart. At the same time, Allen had written a song called "Don't Worry 'Bout Me Baby" with
Bruce Channel
Bruce Channel ( ; born November 28, 1940) is an American singer-songwriter best known for his 1962 million-selling number-one hit record, "Hey! Baby".
Career
Channel performed originally for the radio program ''Louisiana Hayride'' and the ...
and
Kieran Kane
Kieran Kane (born October 7, 1949) is an American country music artist, as well as the owner of Dead Reckoning Records, an independent record label. Between 1986 and 1990, he and Jamie O'Hara comprised The O'Kanes, a duo which charted seven si ...
. Although she pleaded with her record label, Capitol, to let her record it and release it as a single, they refused. With the encouragement of music publisher
Don Gant
Donald W. Gant (October 24, 1942 – March 15, 1987) was an American singer, songwriter and record producer.
With Tupper Saussy, in the late 1960s he formed The Neon Philharmonic. Singing vocals, with Saussy on the keyboards, they recorded five ...
, Janie Fricke's producer,
Jim Ed Norman
Jim Ed Norman is an American musician, multi-platinum record producer, arranger and label-head. As an arranger and producer, he was one of the principal architects of the distinctive sound of West Coast 1970s pop and country rock. He was Preside ...
, heard "Don't Worry 'Bout Me Baby" and recorded it with Fricke. The single became Deborah's first No. 1 single on the Billboard charts as a songwriter.
By 1982, she had begun collaborating with Rafe Van Hoy for songwriting. The couple married that year.
In 1983, Deborah moved to
RCA Records
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...
, where she achieved her greatest success, releasing the album ''
Cheat the Night
''Cheat the Night'' is an extended play by country pop singer Deborah Allen. Released in 1983 via RCA Records, the album includes the singles "Baby I Lied," "I've Been Wrong Before," and "I Hurt for You." Although this has never been on CD, four ...
.''
The first single from the album, "Baby I Lied", became Allen's signature song and only crossover hit. The song peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard country chart and crossed over to the
''Billboard'' Hot 100, reaching No. 26 in January 1984.
The song also climbed into the Top 10 of the
Adult Contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...
chart. Allen followed the crossover hit with the country single "
I've Been Wrong Before", which went to No. 1 on the
Cashbox country chart and #2 on Billboard Country Chart in the spring of 1984. It also earned her nominations for the
Grammy Award for Best Country Song
The Grammy Award for Best Country Song (sometimes known as the Country Songwriter's Award) has been awarded since 1965. The award is given to the songwriter(s) of the song, not to the artist, except if the artist is also the songwriter.
There ha ...
and
Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance, Female. Later that year, "I Hurt For You", also from Allen's breakthrough album, became a Top 10 country hit. In 1984, she recorded ''Let Me Be the First'', the first album to be digitally recorded in, and released from, Nashville. In 1984, Allen made the charts once again with "Heartache and a Half" (written by Allen with her then-husband, Rafe Van Hoy and Muscle Shoals songwriter Eddie Struzick).
In 1987, Allen released a single called "Telepathy" written by
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
, under the alias "Joey Coco". An album of the same name was also issued and was considered more pop oriented. In 1987, Allen released her last single for RCA, "You're the Kind of Trouble".
1990s–present
After the No. 1 co-written hit, "Don't Worry 'Bout Me Baby" and the Tanya Tucker hit "Can I See You Tonight", Allen won another No. 1 for Janie Frickie, "Let's Stop Talking About It", as well as the No. 1 John Conlee release, "I'm Only in It for the Love", which she co-wrote with
Kix Brooks
Leon Eric Brooks III, better known by his stage name Kix Brooks (born May 12, 1955), is an American country music artist, actor, and film producer best known for being one half of the duo Brooks & Dunn and host of radio's ''American Country Co ...
and Van Hoy.
During this time, Allen recorded the album ''
Delta Dreamland
''Delta Dreamland'' is the fourth album by Deborah Allen and released by Giant Records (Warner), Giant Records. This 1993 album marked the return of Allen as a singer as her last album was released in 1987. Lead single "Rock Me (In the Cradle of L ...
'' which she co-produced and financed on her own. She then signed a contract with
Giant Records
In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: '' gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...
to release the album under their label in 1993. The first single released was "Rock Me (In the Cradle of Love)", which charted at No. 29 on the Billboard country chart. The video of "Rock Me" was filmed on Allen's own 16 mm Ariflex SR film camera and edited on her own Sony editing machine. Allen won the Music City Summit Award for her co-producing and co-directing. Allen also had one other charting single from the ''Delta Dreamland'' album with, "If You're Not Gonna Love Me".
Allen's 1994 album, ''All That I Am'', which was co-produced by Allen and label head James Stroud, was also well received with her single release "Break These Chains".
In addition to Allen's personal albums, she contributed to the soundtrack of the 1993 film ''The Thing Called Love'' performing "Blame It on Your Heart" (also covered by
Patty Loveless
Patty Loveless (born Patricia Lee Ramey, January 4, 1957) is an American country music singer. She began performing in her teenaged years before signing her first recording contract with MCA Records' Nashville division in 1985. While her first ...
) and the Don Schlitz ballad "Ready and Waiting".
Allen signed a co-publishing deal and record deal with Curb music publishing and Curb Records. She released one album with Curb Records in 2000, titled ''The Best Of'', that included a new version of her 1983 hit "Baby I Lied". Five of Allen's songs were recorded by
LeAnn Rimes
Margaret LeAnn Rimes Cibrian (born August 28, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She originally rose to success as a country music artist at age 13 with 1996's "Blue". She has since crossed over into pop, contemporary Chris ...
. Two of Allen's songs appeared on the multi-platinum "Blue" album and three songs on her "Sittin' On Top of the World" album. Allen's song "We Can Get There", performed by Mary Griffin, appeared in the film ''
Coyote Ugly"".
Allen"s album ''Hear Me Now'' was released through Delta Rock Records and GMV Nashville on August 16, 2011.
The first single was "Anything Other Than Love", co-written by Gary Burr. The album also contains Allen's song "Amazing Graceland", a tribute to Elvis Presley.
Allen's publishing companies, Delta Queen Music and Delta Rose Music are currently co-published with partner Delta Rock Music. She is represented by Raymond Hicks of Rolling Thunder Management.
In 2013, she released her first Christmas album, ''Rockin' Little Christmas'', through Weblast Records, and played Christmas shows at the Fontanel Mansion in Nashville, that same year.
On March 22, 2019,
Bill Lee, the
Governor of Tennessee
The governor of Tennessee is the head of government of the U.S. state of Tennessee. The governor is the only official in Tennessee state government who is directly elected by the voters of the entire state.
The current governor is Bill Lee, a ...
, officially designated June 5, 2019, as a Day of Recognition to honor Allen.
In 2021, she signed with a new record label, Audium/BFD Nashville. The first single, "Blue Collar Baby", was released in January 2022, followed by her first album for the label, ''The Art Of Dreaming'', on March 18, 2022.
Personal life
In a 2019 interview with ''Guitar Girl'', Allen shared that she was physically abused by her first husband.
Allen lives in Franklin, Tennessee.
She is married to music producer and promoter Raymond Hicks. Allen is a Christian.
She goes by the name "Deborah Allen" not to be confused with actress/choreographer Debbie Allen.
Discography
* ''
Trouble in Paradise'' (1980)
* ''
Cheat the Night
''Cheat the Night'' is an extended play by country pop singer Deborah Allen. Released in 1983 via RCA Records, the album includes the singles "Baby I Lied," "I've Been Wrong Before," and "I Hurt for You." Although this has never been on CD, four ...
'' (1984)
* ''
Let Me Be the First'' (1993)
* ''
Delta Dreamland
''Delta Dreamland'' is the fourth album by Deborah Allen and released by Giant Records (Warner), Giant Records. This 1993 album marked the return of Allen as a singer as her last album was released in 1987. Lead single "Rock Me (In the Cradle of L ...
'' (1994)
References
External links
*
Official Videos*
Authorized Deborah Allen Baby I Lied Home Page, Founded 1998
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Deborah
American acoustic guitarists
American country guitarists
American women country singers
American country singer-songwriters
Capitol Records artists
Country musicians from Tennessee
Living people
Musicians from Memphis, Tennessee
RCA Records artists
Singer-songwriters from Tennessee
Guitarists from Tennessee
20th-century American women guitarists
20th-century American guitarists
20th-century American women singers
1953 births
People from Franklin, Tennessee
20th-century American singers