Everyday Creation

More Than a Backup Singer, Sandy Posey Had Her Own Top 20 Hits and also Sang Country and Gospel

Kate Jones Season 2 Episode 99

Sandy Posey began her career as a session singer in Memphis, working with artists such as Percy Sledge and Elvis Presley. She had three top 20 hits in the 1960s: "Born a Woman," which peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and sold over 1 million copies; "Single Girl"; and "I Take It Back." 

The image of Posey in this episode's chapters and thumbnail is from her album "Single Girl: The Very Best of the MGM Years." Also in the chapters, you'll see an image of Posey's "22 All-Time Favorites: Country, Bluegrass, Gospel." Both CDs are available on Amazon.

To watch a 1967 recording of Posey singing "Single Girl," you can go to this video.

This tribute is one of 41 stories that Sheldon Zoldan, a longtime journalist, has written and recorded in honor of the music notables who passed away in 2024. He's written tributes for other years as well. You can listen to the ones from 2023 on Everyday Creation. We'll have the 2022 tributes available later this year.

Sheldon also is the creator of Song of the Day, a story that he sends by email to a list of subscribers. To get on his subscriber list, email shzoldan@comcast.net with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Audible, iHeart and Spotify.

Sheldon:
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Twelve was a lucky number for Sandy Posey.

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She had three top 20 hit songs in

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the 1960s,

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and all of them peaked at number 12

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on Billboard's Hot 100.

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Posey died July 20 in Lebanon, Tennessee, from

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complications of dementia.

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She was 80 years old.

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The Song of the Day is paying tribute

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to the singers, songwriters and musicians who died

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in 2024.

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Posey started as a session singer in Memphis.

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She was a backup singer on Percy Sledge's

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"When a Man Loves a Woman"

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and for Elvis Presley and Bobby Goldsboro.

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Her first solo attempt went nowhere.

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She did much better when she cut a

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demo of the song "Born A Woman," written

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by Martha Sharp.

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Record producer Chips Moman liked it so much,

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he got Posey a contract with MGM Records

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in Nashville.

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The song reached number 12 on the Hot

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100 in 1966

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and became a gold record, selling more than

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1 million copies.

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Sharp also wrote

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Posey's second hit,

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"Single Girl."

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The song was about a woman who, by

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the final verse, hopes that a man will

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save her from her loneliness.

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One commentator said "Single Girl" "touched a nerve

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with every wallflower

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who possessed a record player."

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The song did better than 12 in Australia,

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Canada and New Zealand, where it rose to

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number five on the charts.

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Posey's last top 20 hit was "I Take

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It Back" in July

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1967.

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She turned to country music in the 

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1970s and had three top 30 country songs.

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Many of her songs had a religious bent

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after she became a Christian in 1973.

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She started working again as a session singer

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as her solo career slowed.

Kate:

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That was Song of the Day creator Sheldon

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Zoldan.

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And I'm Kate Jones,

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host of Everyday Creation.

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Thank you for joining us today.

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