Connie Hall
Encyclopedia
Connie Hall is an American
country music singer, who had brief success as a country music
artist in the late 1950s and 1960s. She is also a songwriter
.
artist in the late 1950s and 1960s. This was helped by her two hits "Fool Me Once" and "It's Not Wrong". Hall was born in Walden, Kentucky
, but she grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio
. She started singing and performing as a teenager. At age 21, Hall worked at the Jimmie Skinner Music Center in Ohio
. She soon got a spot on a radio show, on "WZIP" in Covington, Kentucky
, the birthplace of popular 1960s Country singer Skeeter Davis
. It was In 1954, that Jimmie Skinner
hired Hall to sing on his radio show at "WNOP" in Newport, Kentucky
, and Hall soon accepted. She appeared on his show and others regularly for several years and also worked as a weather girl on Jimmy Skinner's television show.
. Her recording debut came that same year. The debut single was a duet with Jimmie Skinner
called "We've Got Things In Common". The song was very successful, climbing to Top 10 in Billboard. She released her first single as a solo artist
in 1958, with the song "I'm the Girl In the USA". Once again, her single climbed onto the charts.
The following year, 1959, proved to be more successful than the previous two years. The single she released that year called "The Bottle or Me" peaked in the Country Top 40, and came close to making the Top 20. In 1960, Hall signed on with Decca Records
(which would become the future home of Patsy Cline
and Loretta Lynn
). Her producer Harry Silverstein promised Connie would have a hit. With his help, she soon achieved one. He produced Hall's first two singles, which were released on a back-to-back single. The A-side of the single was the song "There's Poison In Your Hand". The A-side made it all the way to the Country Top 25 in 1960. Its B-side "It's Not Wrong" (which was an answer song
to the 1958 Warner Mack
hit "Is it Wrong (For Loving You)?"), became Hall's biggest hit. The song reached the Country Top 20, meaning Connie Hall finally achieved an official hit song.
For three more years, Hall remained under Decca Records
, making seven more respectable hits, like "Sleep, Baby Sleep" and "Fool Me Once". Also during this time, she performed on the Grand Ole Opry
, Louisiana Hayride
, and Midwestern Hayride
.
and switched to Musicor Records
, where she remained until 1967. Married in 1950, Hall continued to reside in Independence, Kentucky
, until 1970, when she and her husband moved to the Louisville
area, where she resides today.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
country music singer, who had brief success as a country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
artist in the late 1950s and 1960s. She is also a songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
.
Early life and rise to fame
Connie Hall had a brief career as a country musicCountry music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
artist in the late 1950s and 1960s. This was helped by her two hits "Fool Me Once" and "It's Not Wrong". Hall was born in Walden, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, but she grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
. She started singing and performing as a teenager. At age 21, Hall worked at the Jimmie Skinner Music Center in Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
. She soon got a spot on a radio show, on "WZIP" in Covington, Kentucky
Covington, Kentucky
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 43,370 people, 18,257 households, and 10,132 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,301.3 people per square mile . There were 20,448 housing units at an average density of 1,556.5 per square mile...
, the birthplace of popular 1960s Country singer Skeeter Davis
Skeeter Davis
Mary Frances Penick , better known as Skeeter Davis, was an American country music singer best known for crossover pop music songs of the early 1960s. She started out as part of The Davis Sisters as a teenager in the late 1940s, eventually landing on RCA Records. In the late '50s, she became a solo...
. It was In 1954, that Jimmie Skinner
Jimmie Skinner
Jimmie Skinner was an American country and bluegrass music singer and guitarist. He also was known for a mail-order record business and retail store in Cincinnati, Ohio.-Biography:...
hired Hall to sing on his radio show at "WNOP" in Newport, Kentucky
Newport, Kentucky
Newport is a city in Campbell County, Kentucky, United States, at the confluence of the Ohio and Licking rivers. The population was 15,273 at the 2010 census. Historically, it was one of four county seats of Campbell County. Newport is part of the Greater Cincinnati, Ohio Metro Area which...
, and Hall soon accepted. She appeared on his show and others regularly for several years and also worked as a weather girl on Jimmy Skinner's television show.
Brief stay at the top
In 1957, Connie Hall signed a recording contract with Mercury RecordsMercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
. Her recording debut came that same year. The debut single was a duet with Jimmie Skinner
Jimmie Skinner
Jimmie Skinner was an American country and bluegrass music singer and guitarist. He also was known for a mail-order record business and retail store in Cincinnati, Ohio.-Biography:...
called "We've Got Things In Common". The song was very successful, climbing to Top 10 in Billboard. She released her first single as a solo artist
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
in 1958, with the song "I'm the Girl In the USA". Once again, her single climbed onto the charts.
The following year, 1959, proved to be more successful than the previous two years. The single she released that year called "The Bottle or Me" peaked in the Country Top 40, and came close to making the Top 20. In 1960, Hall signed on with Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
(which would become the future home of Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline , born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Gore, Virginia, was an American country music singer who enjoyed pop music crossover success during the era of the Nashville sound in the early 1960s...
and Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn is an American country music singer-songwriter, author and philanthropist. Born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky to a coal miner father, Lynn married at 13 years old, was a mother soon after, and moved to Washington with her husband, Oliver Lynn. Their marriage was sometimes tumultuous; he...
). Her producer Harry Silverstein promised Connie would have a hit. With his help, she soon achieved one. He produced Hall's first two singles, which were released on a back-to-back single. The A-side of the single was the song "There's Poison In Your Hand". The A-side made it all the way to the Country Top 25 in 1960. Its B-side "It's Not Wrong" (which was an answer song
Answer song
An answer song is, as the name suggests, a song made in answer to a previous song, normally by another artist. It is also known as a response song. The concept became widespread in blues and R&B recorded music in the 1930s through 1950s...
to the 1958 Warner Mack
Warner Mack
Warner MacPherson , known professionally as Warner Mack, is an American country music singer-songwriter. Mack had many hits on the country charts from the late 1950s to the early 1970s, some of which crossed over to the pop charts....
hit "Is it Wrong (For Loving You)?"), became Hall's biggest hit. The song reached the Country Top 20, meaning Connie Hall finally achieved an official hit song.
For three more years, Hall remained under Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
, making seven more respectable hits, like "Sleep, Baby Sleep" and "Fool Me Once". Also during this time, she performed on the Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
, Louisiana Hayride
Louisiana Hayride
Louisiana Hayride was a radio and later television country music show broadcast from the Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium in Shreveport, Louisiana, that during its heyday from 1948 to 1960 helped to launch the careers of some of the greatest names in American music...
, and Midwestern Hayride
Midwestern Hayride
Midwestern Hayride, sometimes known as Midwest Hayride, was an American country music show originating in the 1930s from WLW-AM and later from WLWT-TV in Cincinnati, Ohio. During the 1950s it was carried nationally by NBC and then ABC television...
.
Later career
In 1964, Hall left Decca RecordsDecca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
and switched to Musicor Records
Musicor Records
Musicor Records was a New York City based record label, active during the 1960s and 1970s. The label was founded by songwriter Aaron Schroeder and distributed by United Artists Records...
, where she remained until 1967. Married in 1950, Hall continued to reside in Independence, Kentucky
Independence, Kentucky
Independence is a suburban city in Kenton County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 14,982 at the 2000 census and estimated to be 22,105 in 2009. It is one of two county seats of Kenton County...
, until 1970, when she and her husband moved to the Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
area, where she resides today.
Singles
| Year | Single | US Country Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales... |
Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | "We've Got Things in Common" (with Jimmie Skinner Jimmie Skinner Jimmie Skinner was an American country and bluegrass music singer and guitarist. He also was known for a mail-order record business and retail store in Cincinnati, Ohio.-Biography:... ) |
— | singles only |
| 1958 | "I'm the Girl in the USA" | — | |
| 1959 | "You Deserved Your Invitation to the Blues" | — | |
| "Third Party at the Table" | — | ||
| "The Bottle or Me" | 21 | ||
| 1960 | "It's Not Wrong" | 17 | |
| "There's Poison in Your Hand" | 25 | ||
| 1961 | "Sleep, Baby, Sleep" | 20 | Connie Hall |
| "I'm as Lonely as Anyone Can Be" | — | Country Songs | |
| 1962 | "What a Pleasure" | 23 | Connie Hall |
| "Half the Time" | — | Country Songs | |
| 1963 | "Fool Me Once" | 14 | |
| "It's Not Revenge I Want" | — | ||
| "Second Best" | — | ||
| 1964 | "Daddy Doesn't Live Here" | — | |
| "Yellow Roses" | — | Connie Hall | |
| "I Wish I Was in the Bottle" | — | singles only | |
| 1965 | "King and Queen of Fools" | — | |
| "The Crowd" | — | ||
| 1966 | "Making My Plans" | — | |
| "You Didn't Take Me" | — |
Albums
| Year | Album |
|---|---|
| 1962 | Connie Hall |
| 1965 | Country Songs |
| 1967 | Country Style |