Shelby Singleton
Encyclopedia
Shelby Singleton was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

 and record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

 owner.

Early Life

He was born Shelby Sumpter Singleton, Jr. in Waskom, Texas
Waskom, Texas
Waskom is a city in Harrison County, Texas, United States. It lies about east of the county seat, Marshall, on U.S. Route 80. To the east is Shreveport, Louisiana...

. His parents were Shelby Sumpter Singleton, Sr. and Alvina Marcantel. As a youngster, living in Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....

, Singleton was known as "Sonny Boy".

Career

Singleton joined the Marine Corps
Marine corps
A marine is a member of a force that specializes in expeditionary operations such as amphibious assault and occupation. The marines traditionally have strong links with the country's navy...

, and after his military discharge he was hired by the Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....

 branch of Mercury Records
Mercury 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...

 doing promotional work. He rose in the company until he was a record producer and executive. In 1960 he achieved first hit single
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...

, Brook Benton
Brook Benton
Brook Benton was an American singer and songwriter who was popular with rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and pop music audiences during the late 1950s and early 1960s, when he scored hits such as "It's Just A Matter Of Time" and "Endlessly", many of which he co-wrote.He made a comeback in 1970...

's recording
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...

 of "The Boll Weevil Song", which became a #2 single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 chart the following year. Singleton spent nine years at Mercury and its sister label Smash Records
Smash Records
Smash Records is an American record label. It was founded in 1961 as a subsidiary of Mercury Records by Mercury executive Shelby Singleton and run by Singleton with Charlie Fach. Fach took over after Singleton left Mercury in 1966...

 during which he was involved in producing many hit records, including "Walk On By
Walk On By (Leroy Van Dyke song)
"Walk on By" is a 1961 song written by Kendall Hayes and Gary Walker and performed by Leroy Van Dyke. "Walk on By" was Van Dyke's most successful single, spending 37 weeks on the country chart and a record-breaking 19 at the number-one position...

", Leroy Van Dyke
Leroy Van Dyke
Leroy Frank Van Dyke is an American country music singer best known for his hits, "The Auctioneer" and "Walk On By" .-Biography:...

; "Ahab the Arab
Ahab The Arab
"Ahab the Arab" is a novelty song recorded by Ray Stevens in 1962. In the song, Arab is pronounced "Ay-rab" to rhyme with Ahab.- Lyrics :The song portrays a "sheik of the burning sands" named Ahab. He is highly decorated with jewelry, and every night he hops on Clyde, his camel, on his way to see...

", Ray Stevens
Ray Stevens
Ray Stevens is an American country music, pop singer-songwriter who has become known for his novelty songs.-Early career:...

; "Wooden Heart
Wooden Heart
"Wooden Heart " is a song best known for its use in the 1960 Elvis Presley film G.I. Blues. The song was a hit for Presley in the United Kingdom, making number one for six weeks, but wasn't released as a single in the United States until November 1964 as the B-side to "Blue Christmas"...

", Joe Dowell
Joe Dowell
Joe Dowell is an American pop singer.-Career:He was born in Bloomington, Indiana, but moved to Bloomington, Illinois, as a child. He first performed at a ninth-grade talent show, and later attended the University of Illinois...

; and producing acts such as Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...

, Roger Miller
Roger Miller
Roger Dean Miller was an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor, best known for his honky tonk-influenced novelty songs...

, Charlie Rich
Charlie Rich
Charles Rich was an American country music singer and musician. A Grammy Award winner, his eclectic-style of music was often hard to classify in a single genre, playing in the rockabilly, jazz, blues, country, and gospel genres.In the latter part of his life, Rich acquired the nickname The Silver...

, Dave Dudley
Dave Dudley
Dave Dudley , born David Darwin Pedruska, was an American country music singer best-known for his truck-driving country anthems of the 1960s and 1970s and his semi-slurred baritone. His signature song was "Six Days on the Road," and he is also remembered for "Vietnam Blues," "Truck Drivin'...

 and Brook Benton
Brook Benton
Brook Benton was an American singer and songwriter who was popular with rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and pop music audiences during the late 1950s and early 1960s, when he scored hits such as "It's Just A Matter Of Time" and "Endlessly", many of which he co-wrote.He made a comeback in 1970...

.

In 1962 Singleton bought the master recording of "Hey Paula" by Jill and Ray, originally released on LeCam Records. He changed the duo's names to Paul & Paula
Paul & Paula
Paul & Paula , were a pop singing duo, best known for their 1963 million selling #1 hit record, "Hey Paula."-Biography:...

 and issued the song on Mercury's newly acquired label, Philips. The song spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

. In 1966 Singleton resigned from Mercury and formed several music labels, including SSS International and Plantation Records
Plantation Records
Plantation Records was a country music record label started by Shelby Singleton. The label is best known for the Jeannie C. Riley 45rpm single, "Harper Valley P.T.A." which was a number one pop record in 1968....

, achieving his first #1 hit in 1968 with "Harper Valley P.T.A." The following year he purchased Sun Records
Sun Records
Sun Records is a record label founded in Memphis, Tennessee, starting operations on March 27, 1952.Founded by Sam Phillips, Sun Records was known for giving notable musicians such as Elvis Presley , Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash...

 from Sam Phillips
Sam Phillips
Samuel Cornelius Phillips , better known as Sam Phillips, was an American businessman, record executive, record producer and DJ who played an important role in the emergence of rock and roll as the major form of popular music in the 1950s...

, including its rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

 catalog. Singleton was on the nominating committee of the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.

Private life

He graduated from Byrd High School in Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....

 at the age of 15. Two years later he married
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 his first wife Margaret Ebey, who later rose in the 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...

 scene as Margie Singleton
Margie Singleton
Margaret Louis Ebey , known professionally as Margie Singleton, is an American country music singer and songwriter. In the 1960s, she was a popular duet and solo recording artist, working with country stars George Jones and Faron Young. Singleton had her biggest hit with Young called "Keeping Up...

. After 16 years of marriage they divorced. Singleton married three more times and had four children: Stephen, Sidney, Shana, and Stuart.
Additionally, Singleton had several grandchildren including Shelby Sumpter Singleton, III. He married Barbara MacCollum right before achieving fame with the Harper Valley hit. Shortly after that they were divorced.

Death

Singleton resided in Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

, where he died, aged 77, on October 7, 2009, following a battle with brain cancer
Brain tumor
A brain tumor is an intracranial solid neoplasm, a tumor within the brain or the central spinal canal.Brain tumors include all tumors inside the cranium or in the central spinal canal...

. He had been admitted to St. Thomas Hospital a week earlier after suffering a seizure
Seizure
An epileptic seizure, occasionally referred to as a fit, is defined as a transient symptom of "abnormal excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain". The outward effect can be as dramatic as a wild thrashing movement or as mild as a brief loss of awareness...

, according to his longtime friend and associate Jerry Kennedy
Jerry Kennedy
Jerry Glenn Kennedy is an American record producer, songwriter and guitar player.-Early years:Kennedy was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. As a child, he recalls "beating on broomsticks and other things" as his initial forays into music-making...

.
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