Margie Singleton born 12 October 1935

Margie Singleton (born 12 October 1935)* is an American country music singer and songwriter.

She was born Margaret Louis Ebey in Coushatta, Louisiana, United States, a tiny town bordering the Red River. Only later would she adopt Margie as her stage name. Beyond the month and year of her birth, October of 1935, there are differing versions of her exact birth date. Margie's mother, Janie Ebey, was part Cajun, and her father, John Ebey, was of Native American descent. He worked as a share cropper to support his wife and their seven children. When Margie was 11, the family moved forty-five miles north to Shreveport, where her father worked as a night watchman at a furniture factory, a job he kept until he died in his seventies. As a young child, she was influenced by blues and gospel music. In 1949, at the age of 13, she married Shelby Singleton. They worked at a munitions plant near Shreveport, Louisiana, during the Korean War. She began to play guitar and write songs as a teenager after the birth of her first child, Stephen Singleton, in 1950. She had her second son, Sidney Singleton, in 1955.

                                        

In 1957, she signed with Starday Records, and released her first single that same year called "One Step (Nearer to You)". The flip side of the single was called "Not What He's Got". Both of these songs were self-penned. In 1958, she made her radio and professional debut on Louisiana Hayride. That same year, she released two other singles, "Nothing but True Love" and "Teddy" with a great B-side, the outstanding rockabilly "Oo-wee (you're the one for me)all penned by Shelby Singleton and her. "Nothing but true love" was more successful, becoming a minor hit on the country music chart, reaching the top 25. She regularly appeared on Louisiana Hayride before moving to Jubilee USA in 1960.

Shelby & Margie with Papa Daily

Singleton released another single in 1959 called "Eyes Of Love". The song gave Singleton her first major hit when it reached the Top 20 in 1960. In 1961, she switched to Mercury Records where her husband Shelby Singleton was a producer. With his help, Singleton recorded a duet with George Jones called "Did I Ever Tell You". The song became another hit for Singleton, and was released in 1961. The following year, the duo had equal success together with another country hit called "Waltz Of The Angels".

Singleton continued to be an avid songwriter. She wrote a pop music hit for Brook Benton called "Lie To Me". In 1963, he had another pop hit with another song written by Singleton called "My True Confession". The year 1963 was also the year Singleton made her debut on country music's most coveted show, the Grand Ole Opry; and had another hit with the song "Old Records". In addition to being a solo and duet star, she also sang as a back-up vocalist with The Jordanaires. Numerous performers recorded many of her songs, including Teresa Brewer, Tammy Wynette and Charley Pride. In 1964, Singleton teamed up with singer Faron Young. Together they recorded the song "Keeping Up With The Joneses". That year, the song reached the country top 5, and became Singleton's biggest hit. The flip side of the single, "No Thanks, I Just Had One", was a Top 40 country hit. They continued to release singles and record together.

During the first half of the 1960s, Margie Singleton tried on as many diverse musical roles as any woman then working in the country field. As well as Faron Young, she also recorded duets with George Jones, and well before the Melba Montgomery or Tammy Wynette eras at that. She wrote or co-wrote much of her own material, and put her ornately expressive vocal imprint on songs from other sources. She was versatile enough to supply songs and background vocals not only to country acts, but also major pop and R&B recording artists like Clyde McPhatter and Fats Domino.

By 1965, Singleton was divorced from Shelby Singleton. That same year, she married Leon Ashley, and soon moved to United Artists Records. In 1967, she moved to her husband's label, Ashley Records. That year, she recorded a cover version of the Bobbie Gentry hit song "Ode to Billie Joe", which reached the country Top 40. he had a Top 60 duet with her husband called "Hangin' On" in 1968. That same year, she appeared in a movie with Marty Robbins called Road to Nashville. Her chart success was fading rapidly, although she continued to record, including recording the first version of "Harper Valley PTA" that was later a huge crossover hit by Jeannie C. Riley.

Margie Singleton's commercial success was modest compared to the chart triumphs of some of her peers, but the sounds that came out of her were easily distinguishable from other female country acts of the decade. Her late '50s and '60s recordings, some of which were never released and the rest of which have long languished out-of-print, reveal a distinctive stylist, one who didn't quite fit any of the familiar down-home, uptown, demure or brassy models for girl singers, one whose intimate, vibrato-laden delivery drew a wellspring of emotion to the surface of her performances.

Singleton continued to record for her husband's label, but with no further chart entries. She toured with her husband Leon with the Country Music Spectacular, and with his band, Strings of Nashville. He died in 2014. Singleton returned to the studio, recording a new gospel CD, as well as revisiting yesterday and re-recording some of her past hits and favourites. She continued to play dates and enjoys writing. She has recorded and released a video for her self-penned song, "Heaven or Hell" (2018). As of 2021 Margie was working out of her home studio with her son Steve, a veteran songwriter and former operation manager for Monument Records. 

She has continued to release singles into the 2020s, including "Resurrecting Old Memories" (2022).Today, she remains mostly cantered on song writing, studio work at her home studio in Tennessee, and managing her catalogue via Ashley Records.

(Edited from Wikipedia, Bear Family notes, Wide Open Country & Gemini)

*(Since publishing this post I found out that during an interview Margie stated that "Actually, on my birth certificate it says I was born October 12, 1935,"she said. "But my mama said I was born the 5th. That's what I went by all my life until me and my [second] husband [Leon Ashley] had a tour over in Germany and Europe and had to get a passport." I note that a few sources are now giving the 5th as her birthday just to confuse everyone.