Jody Miller

Myrna Joy "Jody" Miller (November 29, 1941 – October 6, 2022) was an American singer, who had commercial success in the genres of country, folk and pop. She was the second female artist to win a country music accolade from the Grammy Awards, which came off the success of her 1965 song "Queen of the House". By blending multiple genres together, Miller's music was considered influential for other music artists.

Miller was born in Arizona, but raised in Blanchard, Oklahoma. With a passion for folk music, she moved to Los Angeles, California following high school to pursue a music career. Her singing attracted the attention of Capitol Records, which signed her to a recording contract in 1963. The label released her debut studio album titled Wednesday's Child Is Full of Woe in 1963. It was Miller's answer song to Roger Miller's "King of the Road" titled "Queen of the House" that became her first commercial success. It became a top 20 pop song and a top five country song. It was followed by the top 25 pop single "Home of the Brave" that discussed social conformity. Miller remained at Capitol recording various material until 1969.

Miller was then signed to the country music label, Epic Records. Under the direction of Billy Sherrill, she remade pop hits into singles for the country market. She had top ten country singles with covers of "He's So Fine" (1971), "Baby I'm Yours" (1971) and original songs like "There's a Party Goin' On" (1972). The Epic label released a series of singles and albums that made the North American country music charts through the end of the 1970s. She was nominated for another Grammy for Epic material and appeared on several popular country television programs during the decade.

Miller left her recording career in the early 1980s. She spent time with her domestic duties and to assist her husband's new business raising quarter horses in Oklahoma. In 1988, she returned with a pair of new studio albums including a project of patriotic music called My Country. It attracted the attention of George H. W. Bush, who had Miller perform at his campaign rallies and other presidential events. In the 1990s, Miller found solace in the religion of Christianity and released several albums of gospel material. This included Real Good Feelin (1992) and Higher (1999). Miller continued her career through the 2020s, before her death from Parkinson's disease in 2022.

Early life Myrna Joy Miller was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1941 while her family was on their way to start a new life in Oakland, California. She was the youngest of four sisters born to Johnny Bell Miller and Fay Miller. Miller's father was a mechanic, who made fiddles and played them too. Her mother was a homemaker who enjoyed singing around the house. Together, Miller would sing harmony with her four sisters. Miller graduated from Blanchard High School in 1959. Robertson helped Miller get an audition with Capitol Records and she signed with the label in 1963. In 1963, the label released her debut LP titled Wednesday's Child Is Full of Woe. Its background session performers included Cher and Glen Campbell, both of whom were not yet individual recording artists. The album failed to become a commercial success due to the decline of folk music's popularity. In 1965, Miller participated in Italy's Sanremo 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 placed at number seven and was moderately successful in Italy. It was then recorded in English by Dusty Springfield and released as "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me".

Upon returning to the United States, Miller was given a new record producer named Steve Douglas. Douglas was given a song recently written in response to Roger Miller's (no relation) cross-genre hit "King of the Road". Titled "Queen of the House", the song described the domestic duties of a housewife. number four on the Billboard adult contemporary chart and number five on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Miller's second LP of the same name then appeared on Capitol in June 1965. At the 8th Annual Grammy Awards, Miller took home the Best Female Country Vocal Performance accolade, becoming only the second female artist to win a country Grammy.

Miller toured amidst her commercial breakthrough. Among her gigs was a tour of Hawaii alongside The Beach Boys. Capitol Records paired Miller alongside The Rolling Stones for television appearances including Shindig! and Hollywood a Go-Go. A new agent booked her for shows with entertainers Bob Hope and Bob Newhart.

Miller's country radio success from "Queen of the House" also influenced her label to have her record more country music, despite her original opposition to the genre. Producer Steve Douglas attempted to embed country into Miller's Capitol recordings, but his formula was not successful. "They saw right through us! We weren't country people," she explained in 2018. and another country album in 1968 titled The Nashville Sound of Jody Miller. The latter featured a cover of "Long Black Limousine", a song about a funeral procession. Although Elvis Presley recorded its most notable version, Miller's cover made the Billboard country chart in 1968.

1970–1979: Country music focus and newfound commercial success Miller briefly retired from her music career due to limited commercial success and a lack of well-run management. Instead her family moved back to Oklahoma and spent time on their newly acquired ranch. Miller was determined to restart her career after hearing Tammy Wynette's "Stand by Your Man". She located the song's producer, Billy Sherrill, called his office in Nashville and the two later met. Both of the LP's singles (the title track and "If You Think I Love You Now") reached the top 40 of the American and Canadian country charts.

At first, Sherrill found it challenging to find Miller's musical identity. This was because Miller did not have the phrasing of a country performer. His idea instead was to pair Miller's voice with older pop songs and rework them for the country market. "We were pioneers of sorts putting pop music into country and we sold a lot of records," she recalled in 1990. Miller had continued country chart success during the early 1970s. and number one on the RPM country chart. Her final chart appearance occurred in 1979 and her Epic contract expired the same year. It included covers of "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "The Ragged Old Flag". Miller's daughter Robin coaxed her into recording as a mother-daughter duo and the pair attempted to sign a country music recording contract in Nashville. Their first gig was at the 1989 Oklahoma State Fair. "Robin and I really do split the vocals 50–50, so we're more like the Everly Brothers than the Judds. It's an honest sound," she told the press in 1990.

In 1993, Miller discovered Christianity and began recording music in the gospel format in the years that followed. "It's the gift that I've been given, to sing. I think my Lord deserves recognition for that ... so I love to use that gift," she later commented. It was followed in 1999 by another gospel project titled Higher. by opening their shows together, followed by Miller performing her own songs and concluded by her family performing separately. Following Miller's death in 2022, the Heart of Texas label released an extended play of her final recordings titled Wayfaring Stranger. The project was described as being a collection of "old-time spirituals".

Artistry Miller's artistry was defined by the musical genres of folk, Critics have commented that Miller's musical versatility lacked consistency for her as an artist. In reviewing her 1970 Look at Mine album, Greg Adams of AllMusic commented, "The wide variety of songs she recorded and her chameleonic vocals prevented Miller from establishing a signature sound." In reviewing one of her compilations, Richie Unterberger wrote, "Miller is most often categorized as a country singer, but in the 1960s she was actually pretty eclectic, roving among and combining country, folk, pop, and girl group-like pop\rock. That means there isn't much stylistic consistency here, though there are some good songs." Ed Shanahan of The New York Times described Miller's as "a versatile singer with a rich, resonant voice". In 2021, Miller's hometown of Blanchard named a new performing arts center after Miller. In November 2021, she participated in a ceremony dedicated to its opening. It will be named the "Jody Miller Performing Arts Center" Miller's career was also shown in a Grammy exhibit titled Stronger Together: The Power of Women in Country Music that was shown at the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Personal life and death In January 1962 Miller married her high school sweetheart, Monty Brooks. The couple lived in Los Angeles, California for the first eight years of the marriage. She died on October 6, 2022, in Blanchard, Oklahoma, from complications caused by the disease, at age 80. I'll Praise the Lamb (1996)

Awards and nominations 1965 Academy of Country Music Awards Top Female Vocalist

Best Country & Western Vocal Performance, Female: "Queen of the House"

Best New Country & Western Artist 1968 Academy of Country Music Awards Top Female Vocalist

Top Female Vocalist – Singles Record World Top Female Vocalist

14th Annual Grammy Awards Best Country Vocal Performance, Female: "He's So Fine"

Top Female Vocalist – Albums

Top Female Vocalist – Singles

Best Female Vocalist

Best New Duo Country Music Association Awards Vocal Duo of the Year

Most Promising Duo

Top Female Vocalist – Singles Top Female Vocalist – Albums

Top Female Vocalist – Albums

Top Female Vocalist – Singles 1976 Cashbox Top Female Vocalist

2017 Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame Hall of Fame