Jeanne Pruett, Donna Fargo, Sandy Posey - Ladies of 60's Country-Pop: Jeanne Pruett, Donna Fargo & Sandy Posey (2012)

Donna Fargo:
In the early '70s, Donna Fargo was an unusual country star for a couple of reasons. She was one of the few female country singers to write her own material, and one of the few country singers of any sort to cross over to the pop charts in a big way, which she did in 1972 with "The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A." (number 11) and "Funny Face" (number five). She never made the pop Top 40 again, but placed over a dozen more singles in the country Top Ten in the '70s, most written by herself. As an artist, she was squarely in the mainstream, her slightly lisping voice delivering upbeat, sweetly produced homilies to romance, home, and America. She faded after developing multiple sclerosis in 1979, although she continued writing and performing.

Sandy Posey:
Walking the line separating girl group pop and the Nashville Sound, Sandy Posey scored a pair of major hits with her first two singles, "Born a Woman" and "Single Girl," both number 12 Billboard hits in 1966. Posey possessed a high, keening voice that bore only the slightest twang, a characteristic she would begin to emphasize after "I Take It Back" became her last Top 40 hit in 1967 (it, like its predecessors, peaked at 12). With the help of Tammy Wynette's producer Billy Sherrill, Posey transitioned to country music in the '70s, earning a string of country hits that ran through the decade. After several quiet decades, Posey returned to the studio in the 2000s, recording an album for King Records and re-recording her hits elsewhere. Those original hits proved to be her lasting legacy: power popper Nick Lowe, in particular, was a fan, covering both "Born a Woman" and her deep cut "Halfway to Paradise" during his frenzied Jesus of Cool days.
A native of Arkansas, Sandy Posey was born in Jasper, Alabama on June 18, 1944. After graduating from a high school in West Memphis, Arkansas, she started to pursue a musical career in Memphis. Landing a job as a receptionist in a recording studio, she also started to work as a session singer. After issuing a single called "Kiss Me Goodnight" under the pseudonym Sandy Carmel on Bell Records in 1965, Posey came to the attention of producer Chips Moman. Hearing her demo of "Born a Woman," a song written by Martha Sharp, convinced Moman to help Posey secure a contract with MGM Records.
Moman produced "Born a Woman," which was released by MGM in the summer of 1966. The single climbed to number 12 that August, a big enough of a hit to snag Posey two Grammy nominations in 1967: one for Best Contemporary (R&R) Solo Vocal Performance and one for Best Vocal Performance, Female. "Single Girl" appeared shortly after "Born a Woman," and by January 1967, it also peaked at number 12. After "What a Woman in Love Won't Do" reached 31, Posey again occupied the number 12 position with "I Take It Back."
As quickly as she shot up the charts, Posey shot back down. "Are You Never Coming Home" topped out at 59 in 1967, with "Something I'll Remember" failing to chart in 1968. By 1971, she refashioned herself as a country singer, signing with Columbia and working with producer Billy Sherrill to achieve her first country hit with "Bring Him Safely Home to Me" that year. Over the next few years, she was modestly successful on the country charts, with "Happy Happy Birthday Baby" reaching 36 in 1972 and "Don't" peaking at 39 in 1973. Posey switched to Monument Records in 1976. "Born to Be with You" gave her a number 21 hit in 1978, a success that was nearly matched by "Love, Love, Love/Chapel of Love" later that year and "Love Is Sometimes Easy" in 1978; both singles peaked at 26.
After "Can't Get Used to Sleeping Without You" reached 88 on the country charts, Posey retreated from performing. Occasionally, she'd work as a session singer or tour with her Elvis Presley impersonator husband Wade Cummings, but by the mid-'80s, she was effectively retired. Two quiet decades passed before she returned with a new album in 2004; she also re-recorded some of her hits during this decade. Strawberry released the double-disc anthology Born a Woman: Complete MGM Recordings 1966-1968 in 2023.

Jeanne Pruett:
Best known for her chart-topping smash "Satin Sheets," Jeanne Pruett was a country-pop singer and songwriter who enjoyed a measure of success in the '70s and early '80s. Born Norma Jean Bowman in Pell City, AL, in 1937, she started singing in high school and moved to Nashville in 1956 with her husband Jack Pruett, who went on to become Marty Robbins' guitarist. Pruett herself began writing songs while raising the family, and Robbins signed her to his publishing company in 1963 and recorded several of her songs (1966's "Count Me Out" being the biggest). In the meantime, Pruett also tried her hand at recording, cutting a few singles for RCA beginning in 1963 and giving it another shot with Decca in 1969. 1971's "Hold On to My Unchanging Love" was her first chart single, and after moving to MCA, 1973's "I'm Your Woman" took her into the country Top Ten for the first time. That same year, she scored her first and only number one with "Satin Sheets," whose accompanying album of the same name also topped the charts. She continued to record and release singles through the rest of the '70s, but none duplicated that success, and while she enjoyed singing, she always made domestic life a priority. Pruett enjoyed a brief commercial resurgence in 1980, when she signed with the smaller IBC label and landed three straight Top Ten hits: "Back to Back," "It's Too Late," and "Temporarily Yours." A few more albums followed in the early '80s, none with similar results, and Pruett returned to domestic life, winning prizes for her cooking and gardening skills and authoring her own cookbook.