CONNIE EATON
(Singer)
Date of Birth: March 1, 1950
Where Born: Nashville, Tennessee
Connie was born in the year that her father, Bob Eaton, a former Opry performer, had his successful record Second Hand Heart. By the time she was 14, she was a talent to watch. The Tennessean newspaper named her as the discovery of 1964. She attended David Lipscomb College but was suspended for leaving the dormitory after hours. However , she redeemed herself by becoming the runner up in the Miss Nashville beauty talent contest.
By 1968, she had won an acting award and then met Cliff Williamson, A & R man for Chart Records ; they later married. Connie started to appear on TV talent shows and beat the Carpenters into second place on one. She made appearances on the Lawrence Welk Show and Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts as well as Hee Haw. In 1969, Connie signed with Chart Records and released her fust album, I Got Life to Live. It was with her third single of the year that success came her way . The song Angel of the Morning would later provide both Juice Newton and Merrilee Rush with major hits, but in Connie's hands, it reached the Top 40. Shortly after, she got into a duet mode, first with Tony Martin and then with actor/singer David Peel. With Peel she cut the 1970 album Hit the Road Jack. The single of that name made the Top 50. The follow-up single, It Takes Two, had originally come out of the Motown stable via Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston. Connie and David took it into the Top 60.
Cash Box and Record World both voted Connie "Most Promising Female Vocalist " in 1970. She had two more solo entries on Chart , but her chart strike rate left a lot of good records not being successful. She stayed with the label until 1973 without any further action. It was not until she moved to Dunhill Records in 1974 that she tasted a sizable hit. Lonely Men, Lonely Women hit the charts in 1975 and reached the Top 25 and was on the charts for some three months . Shortly afterward, Dunhill was absorbed into ABC Records and they released just one single, If I Knew Enough to Come Out of the Rain, which just scraped into the Top 100. Since then, Connie released sides on Musictown and Enterprise , but then she vanished from the scene. (Source: The Ultimate Enclyclopedia of Country Music & it's Performers)
RECOMMENDED ALBUMS
"I Got Life to Live" (Chart)(1969)
"Hit the Road Jack" (Chart)(1970) [With David Peel]
"SomethingSpecial" (Chart)(1971)
"Connie Eaton" (ABC)(1975)
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