Jody Miller - Career

Career

Discovered by actor Dale Robertson, she began her career in the early 1960s as a folk/pop singer, singing in the Los Angeles area and appearing on Tom Paxton's television series. She released her first album on Capitol Records in 1964 and had a modest pop hit that year with "He Walks Like a Man".

In 1965, she participated in the San Remo Festival as a team companion of Pino Donaggio. Since the Festival was created as a composers' competition, Miller and Donaggio presented differently arranged versions of the entry "Io Che Non Vivo (Senza Te)". The song came in on # 7 and was only a moderate hit until Dusty Springfield recorded an English version in 1966 which was eventually released as "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me". Also in 1965, Jody Miller released an answer record to Roger Miller's blockbuster hit "King of the Road", titled "Queen of the House" (which became her signature hit, peaking at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number 5 on the country singles chart). Miller won the Grammy award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for the song in 1966.

Miller also scored a second top 40 pop hit that year with "Home of the Brave", a No. 25 Hot 100 hit that was historically significant for tackling the issue of noncomformity and tolerance. Ahead of its time, its theme prevented it from making any headway on the more conservative country charts of 1965. By the mid 1960s, Miller became a pioneer crossover female vocalist, opening the doors for Linda Ronstadt, Anne Murray, and Olivia Newton-John, and others as a pop singer recording a strong country influence and finding success in both genres. Miller's pop success petered out by the late 1960s. Tammy Wynette's record producer, Billy Sherrill, was a fan of Miller's and signed her to Epic Records in 1970 to record specifically for the country market. She had two country hits right off the bat in 1970 with "Look At Mine" nearly making the Top 20 and a Top 20 hit with "If You Think I Love You Now (I Just Started)" in early 1971. She recorded a remake of the Chiffons 1963 hit "He's So Fine", which hit the top 5 on the country chart and No. 55 on the pop chart that summer, garnering another Grammy award nomination.

Several major country hits followed, many of them remakes of pop/rock classics such as "Baby I'm Yours," "Be My Baby," and "To Know Him is to Love Him". Among the new country songs she had hits with were the top tens "There's a Party Goin' On," "Good News," and "Darling, You Can Always Come Back Home." She also continued to have hits with cover versions of pop hits like "House of the Rising Sun", a hit for The Animals, "Reflections" (different from the Diana Ross and the Supremes hit), and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman", an Aretha Franklin hit.

Miller's last top 30 country hit was 1977's "When the New Wears Off Our Love" and two years later she made her final chart appearance. She went into semi-retirement in the 1980s, at which time she and her husband owned a ranch in Oklahoma.

She later emerged as a Christian music artist, releasing several albums. In 1999, the Country Gospel Music Association inducted Miller into its Hall of Fame, along with Loretta Lynn, Barbara Mandrell, Andy Griffith, David L. Cook and Lulu Roman. For a short while Jody and her daughter Robin recorded and toured together. She continues to perform live and sings her secular hits as well as her gospel material.