"Don't Touch Me" is a song written by

Hank Cochran Garland Perry "Hank" Cochran (August 2, 1935 – July 15, 2010) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Starting during the 1960s, Cochran was a prolific songwriter in the genre, including major hits by Patsy Cline, Ray Price, Eddy ...

. It was originally written for and recorded by American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

artist

Jeannie Seely Marilyn Jeanne Seely (born July 6, 1940) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, actress and author. Primarily identified with country music, Seely found success with the Grammy Award-winning song " Don't Touch Me" (1966). Her soul-ins ...

. The song was released as a single on

Monument Records Monument Records is an American record label co-founded in 1958 by Fred Foster. Originally founded in Washington, D.C., the label moved to Nashville in 1960, and experienced success over the next two decades with a number of artists including ...

in March 1966 and became a major ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' country hit. "Don't Touch Me" became Seely's

signature song A signature (; from , "to sign") is a depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. Signatures are often, but not always, handwritten or styliz ...

and her biggest hit as a solo artist. It would later appear on her debut studio album and be re-recorded by Seely in later years. "Don't Touch Me" has been covered by various artists, including country artist Wilma Burgess. Burgess's version was released shortly after Seely's recording. The song became a major hit for Burgess as well, but reached a lower position on the ''Billboard'' country chart than Seely's. Burgess's cover of "Don't Touch" appeared on her studio album of the same name. It was also recorded by American R&B artist Bettye Swann whose version charted on the ''Billboard'' pop and R&B singles charts. "Don't Touch Me" has since been recorded in different musical genres by other musical artists.

Background and recording

"Don't Touch Me" was originally written by songwriter

. Country artist

Buck Owens Alvis Edgar "Buck" Owens Jr. (August 12, 1929 – March 25, 2006) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was the frontman for The Buckaroos, which had 21 No. 1 hits on the ''Billboard'' country music chart. He pioneered what came ...

had first wanted to record the track for himself. However, Cochran was not set on having Owens record it. At the same time, Jeannie Seely had just moved from

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, to pursue a music career. Cochran had promised Seely the opportunity to collaborate musically. When she asked Cochran if the offer still stood, Cochran replied, "Yes, if you're going to let me make the decisions and do what I know is best for you." Seely agreed and in response, Cochran gave her the composition to record. Seely then signed with

in Nashville and recorded "Don't Touch Me" in her first session with producer Fred Foster. The session took place at the Fred Foster Sound Studio in February 1966. An additional track was cut during Seely's first recording appointment called "You Tied Tin Cans to My Heart".

Release and chart performance

"Don't Touch Me" was released as a single in March 1966 on Monument Records. It was issued as a 7" single with "You Tied Tins to My Heart" on the release's

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

. By June, the single had reached number 2 on the ''

Hot Country Singles 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 along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart. It was also her first and only track to reach the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), ...

, climbing to number 85. It would also be her only single to reach the ''Billboard''

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 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

chart, peaking at number 29. The song was later released on her debut studio album, ''

The Seely Style ''The Seely Style'' is the debut studio album of American country artist Jeannie Seely. It was released in September 1966 by Monument Records and was produced by Fred Foster. The album consisted of 12 songs, many of which were covers of songs fro ...

'', which was also issued in 1966. "Don't Touch Me" was Seely's biggest hit as a recording artist and has since been considered her

. In 1967, Seely's original version of "Don't Touch Me" won the

Best Female Country Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance was first awarded in 1965, to Dottie West Dottie West (born Dorothy Marie Marsh; October 11, 1932 – September 4, 1991) was an American country singer and songwriter. She also had s ...

accolade at the

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

. The song's success also led to an invitation for Seely to become a member of The Grand Ole Opry. She joined the cast soon after and has been an active member since. "Don't Touch Me" helped jump-start Seely's recording career as a country artist. She found success with songs that evoked a similar musical style to "Don't Touch Me". These further country hits were popular for Seely in the 1960s and 70s. Examples of this were " It's Only Love" (1966), "

I'll Love You More (Than You'll Need) "I'll Love You More (Than You'll Need)" is a song written by Hank Cochran that was originally recorded by American Country music, country singer Jeannie Seely. Released in 1968 as a Single (music), single by Monument Records, it became her third to ...

" (1968) and " Lucky Ladies" (1974).

Legacy

Since its release, Seely's version of "Don't Touch Me" has been praised and mentioned by various music journalists and writers. Publications have considered it both a "standard" and a "classic" in country music.

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

commented on its legacy in an article from the 1970s. "In 1966, Seely's 'Don't Touch Me' took country women's sexuality from the

honky-tonk A honky-tonk (also called honkatonk, honkey-tonk, honky tonk, or tonk) is either a bar that provides country music for the entertainment of its patrons or the style of music played in such establishments. It can also refer to the type of piano ...

into the bedroom even though it didn't end up there, and the on-again-off-again ache in her voice retained its savor afterwards," he wrote. In 2003, Mary Bufwack and Robert K. Oermann called Seely's version "a throbbing song of unfulfilled passions". They also praised Seely's vocals on the track, describing her voice as having "aching conviction". In 2005, the Seely's version was featured in David Cantwell and Bill Friskics-Warren's book, ''Heartaches By the Number: Country Music's 500 Greatest Singles''. In 2019,

Ken Burns Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle American history and culture. His work is often produced in association with WETA-TV or the Nati ...

discussed her version in the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

documentary ''

Country Music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

''. Burns described it as "a song of unfulfilled passion." In 2019, ''The Boot'' ranked it among their "Top 5 Jeannie Seely Songs" for it being able to prove that "women can sing about sex too."

Track listings

;1966 7" vinyl single (Monument Records) * "Don't Touch Me" – 2:59 * "You Tied Tin Cans to My Heart" – 2:06 ;1981 7" vinyl single (Gusto Records) * "Don't Touch Me" – 3:14 * " Can I Sleep in Your Arms" – 3:13

Charts

Weekly charts

Cover versions

Since its original recording, "Don't Touch Me" has been notably covered by several music artists in different genres. Among its first covers was by

Tammy Wynette Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music singer and songwriter, considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Lynn, Wynette helped bring a ...

in 1967, whose version appeared on her debut studio album ''

Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad ''Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad'' is a studio album by American Country music, country artist Tammy Wynette. It was released in May 1967 and contained ten tracks. The majority of the album was a collection of cover tunes Wynette recorded, includin ...

''.

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...

covered the tune in 1968 on her studio album entitled '' Misty Blue''. In 1969, American R&B artist Bettye Swann released a version of the song as a single on

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

. Swann's version became a top-40 hit on the

and reached number 14 on the ''Billboard'' R&B singles chart. In 1994, country artist

Lorrie Morgan Loretta Lynn Morgan (born June 27, 1959) is an American country music singer and actress. She is the daughter of George Morgan, widow of Keith Whitley, and ex-wife of Jon Randall and Sammy Kershaw, all of whom are also country music singers. ...

recorded a version of the song for her studio album '' War Paint''. In 1997,

Etta James Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer and songwriter. Starting her career in 1954, James frequently performed in Nashville's R&B clubs, collectively known as the Ch ...

recorded "Don't Touch Me" for her studio album '' Love's Been Rough on Me''.

Wilma Burgess version

Among the notable covers of "Don't Touch Me" was a 1966 version recorded by American

artist Wilma Burgess. Burgess's version was recorded and released within a month of Seely's original. The song was recorded on March 24, 1966, at the Columbia Recording Studio in

. The session was produced by

Owen Bradley William Owen Bradley (October 21, 1915 – January 7, 1998) was an American musician, bandleader and record producer who, along with Chet Atkins, Bob Ferguson, Bill Porter, and Don Law, was a chief architect of the 1950s and 60s Nashville sou ...

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

. In the same session, Burgess cut two other tracks including " Misty Blue", another major hit for Burgess in 1966. Her version of "Don't Touch Me" was released in April 1966, a month following the original version's release. The song also became a major hit, peaking at number 12 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles chart. Burgess's version of "Don't Touch Me" was released on her 1966 studio album of the same name. Her vocal delivery of the song was given positive reviews following its release. In 2003, Mary Bufwack and Robert K. Oermann described her voice on the track (along with several other hits of this time period) as having "a warmth of tone" and a "yearning soprano". In 1966, ''Billboard Magazine'' reviewed the track alongside her album of the same name. "Wilma Burgess has two very important factors working in her favor on this LP -- 'Don't Touch Me' and 'Baby'," writers commented.

Track listings: 7" vinyl single

* "Don't Touch Me" – 2:59 * "Turn Around Teardrops" – 2:20

Weekly charts

References

Footnotes

Books

* *

External links

"Don't Touch Me" lyrics
by Jeannie Seely at

Genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for the future, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabiliti ...

{{authority control 1966 singles 1966 songs Decca Records singles Ella Fitzgerald songs Etta James songs Jeannie Seely songs Lorrie Morgan songs Monument Records singles Songs written by Hank Cochran Song recordings produced by Fred Foster Song recordings produced by Owen Bradley Tammy Wynette songs Wilma Burgess songs