Betty Jack Davis born 4 March 1932

Betty Jack (B.J.) Davis (4 Mar 1932 – 2 Aug 1953) was the founder member of the Davis Sisters, who were an American country music duo consisting of two unrelated singers, Skeeter Davis and Betty Jack Davis. One of the original female country groups, they are 
best known for their 1953 No. 1 country hit "I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know" and the duo's debut single "Jealous Love" on Fortune Records.

Betty Jack, for her part, was born in Corbin, Kentucky and had been intensely interested in music for all her young life. She met Mary Frances Penick at Dixie Heights High School in Edgewood, Kentucky in 1947. They formed a close relationship as friends and musicians. Also sharing a career in the music business, singing and recording, they decided to perform as The Davis Sisters, as Penick later used Skeeter Davis as her stage name.

The duo began appearing regularly on radio shows in nearby Cincinnati, Ohio and Detroit, Michigan. They first started recording in Detroit at Fortune Records in 1952.

 The pair recorded "Jealous Love," (Fortune 170) a song written by Devora Brown, co-owner of the Fortune label. Two other singles followed in 1953: "Kaw-Liga / Sorrow And Pain" (Fortune 174) and "Heartbreak Ahead / Steel Wool" (Fortune 175).

                              

In 1953, they landed a recording contract with RCA Records. While recording for RCA, the sessions were backed up by future country star and producer Chet Atkins. That same year, they released their first single, "I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know". 

The mournful and heartbreaking song became a No. 1 country hit, as well as a top 20 pop hit. While their vocals invoked the sound of older Appalachian harmony duos such as the Blue Sky Boys and the Delmore Brothers, the Nashville Sound backing made the overall sound more in line with their more polished contemporaries the Louvin Brothers.

During the next three months, events unfolded with dizzying speed. Penick and Davis were booked for appearances at major country music venues, including a series of appearances with Eddy Arnold on Perry Como's popular TV variety show. The Grand Ole Opry 

was about to hire them for its Prince Albert Show, and they were set for a series of fall appearances with the Opry's cast.

Shortly after the release of "I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know", the Davis Sisters were returning home from a radio appearance when they had a car accident just outside of Cincinnati, Ohio on August 2, 1953. A soldier on leave fell asleep at the wheel of his car and crashed, head on, into their automobile. Betty Jack was killed instantly. She was only 23 years old. Skeeter suffered a concussion and various internal injuries.

A few days later, on August 6, 1953, Betty Jack was laid to rest in Highland Cemetery. At the urging of Betty Jack's family, Skeeter recorded with Georgie Davis, Betty Jack's older sister, for awhile. These two created a fine harmony sound, but the vital chemistry- the magical spontaneity and innocence- that had existed between Betty Jack and Skeeter- was no longer there. After their last RCA Victor sessions in 1957, Georgie returned to Kentucky and Skeeter- two years later- joined the Grand Ole Opry as a solo artist.

Skeeter  continued to perform frequently throughout much of the 1990s and into 2000. In 2001 she became incapacitated by the breast cancer that would claim her life. While Davis remained a member of the Grand Ole Opry until her death, she last appeared on the program in 2002. She died of breast cancer in a Nashville hospice, at the age of 72, on September 19, 2004.

(Edited from Wikipedia and article by Bob Allen)