Deborah Allen Biography
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Deborah Lynn Thurmond, 30 September 1953, Memphis, Tennessee, USA. A singer-songwriter, whose songs have proved major successes for other artists, including ‘Don’t Worry ’Bout Me Baby’ (Janie Fricke) and ‘Can I See You Tonight?’ (Tanya Tucker), Allen’s own first US country chart success came in 1979 when she was working as a session singer. Owing to the miracles of modern recording techniques and the thoughtfulness of RCA Records producer Bud Logan, she was chosen to superimpose her vocals over recordings made years earlier by Jim Reeves, a star then dead for almost 15 years. These so-called ‘duets’ produced three Top 10 US country hits, ‘Don’t Let Me Cross Over’, ‘Oh, How I Miss You Tonight’ and ‘Take Me In Your Arms And Hold Me’. Between 1980 and 1984, she had eight solo country singles including ‘Baby I Lied’ (a US country number 4 and US pop number 26) and ‘I’ve Been Wrong Before’ (a country number 2). She married songwriter Rafe Van Hoy, co-wrote songs with him and sang on the soundtrack ofThe River Rat. After a long absence from the charts, which suggested that perhaps her solo singing career was over, she reappeared in December 1992. The reappearance, however, hardly matched the gentle vocals associated with the Reeves recordings. She joined the Giant label in 1992 and her debut album on the label contained 10 contemporary offerings either self-penned or written by Allen with others. She shared production with husband Van Hoy. ‘Rock Me (In The Cradle Of Love)’, the first single from the album, accompanied by a raunchy video, made the US country Top 30. A follow-up single, ‘If You’re Not Gonna Love Me’, managed only a Top 50 placing and the year ended sadly for her when she and Rafe Van Hoy parted. The following year’s All That I Am was another strong collection.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.
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