Skeeter Davis spent 22 years on RCA records racking up country and pop hits internationally. The song she's best known for, "The End Of The World," became her signature song in 1963. However, Skeeter Davis was not always a solo act.

Skeeter (nee Mary Francis Penick) and her high school pal Betty Jack Davis were musical kindred spirits who played locally in the Northern Kentucky suburbs of Cincinnati during high school. After graduating high school, they went to Detroit to record for Fortune Records. After a year, they connected with Steve Sholes of RCA. They signed with RCA in 1953 where they recorded their first hit, "I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know." Tragedy struck on August 23, 1953. Betty Jack died in a car accident while returning home from a concert in Wheeling, WV. Skeeter was seriously injured and spent more than a year recovering from the physical and emotional wounds.

Eventually, Skeeter resumed the Davis Sisters act with Betty Jack's sister Georgia. This pairing only lasted about three more years. This CD includes three songs from that period including "Single Girl" which has never before been released in the United States. There is a 1954 live recording of the duo singing "Rock-A-Bye Boogie" in Little Rock, Arkansas. "Foggy Mountain Top" features Chet Atkins on guitar and fellow RCA artists, Homer & Jethro.

In 1957, Skeeter began working with producer Chet Atkins who launched her solo career with the dawning of the Nashville Sound era. It only took two singles to get her into the Top 20. In 1959, "Homebreaker" earned her membership to the Grand Ole Opry.

In 1960, Davis recorded an album full of answer songs, which were becoming the rage with female singers at that time. Hank Locklin had a hit record with "Please Help Me, I'm Falling" and Skeeter answered back with her own hit, "(I Can't Help You) I'm Falling Too." This song went to #2 on the country charts and was her first appearance on the pop charts peaking at #39.

Her string of pop hits ranged from 1960-1964 with other such songs as "My Last Date," "He Says The Same Things To Me," "I'm Saving My Love" and "Gonna Get Along Without You Now." Her pop success waned with the appearance of a new Rock era that included The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

Regardless, this did not deter her country chart success. She continued to put out the hits throughout the 60's and early 70's with songs like "Bus Fare To Kentucky," "There's A Fool Born Every Minute" and "What Does It Take (To Keep A Man Like You Satisfied)."

In 1967, Skeeter recorded an album of Buddy Holly tunes yielding "Oh Boy!" She did other tribute albums to Flatt & Scruggs and Dolly Parton.

By 1973, her chart success was dying down, but she reached #12 with "I Can't Believe That It's All Over," making this her last major hit with RCA. In 1974, Skeeter and RCA parted ways after a 22 year relationship.

This CD compilation gave me a renewed appreciation for Skeeter Davis' music. To revisit these songs is to revisit an entire era of music history. If you want to add history to your music collection, here is 22 years worth that you can't possibly go wrong with.