Sandy Posey - a real pal

 Sandy Posey became my favorite singer when I was in summer school, the year of 2015. In my sophomore year of high school, the first song I ever heard by Sandy Posey was Single Girl in the cold snowy winter of '15. I was not a fan upon hearing it, the song lyrics were simple, more like bubble gum pop to me. But later in the spring I heard “Born A Woman” and it was an instant favorite for me. I loved the lyrics, even though it was painful. I was in love with the sound. I had never heard a sound better than that of country-pop. 

 That summer, I realized I was not so taken back by the pre-feminism. I was used to being a traditional guy. I liked the housewives and the life of a mother. But the career girl life was being expressed by sandy as well. She was every woman, a sixties prodigy. I listened to her songs, her albums, and read everything I could find about her. 

 My favorite was “I take it back,” “bread and butter,” and “something I’ll remember.” Sandy had three songs that went to #12 on the billboard, “born a woman,” “single girl” & “I take it back.” “Born A Woman,” was nominated for two Grammy’s, ‘best female pop vocal performance,’ & ‘best contemporary performance male or female rock n’ roll. Sandy was close to winning in the female category, but the award went to Eydie Gorme. Sandy was up against some of the finest singers there was in the biz as a fairly unknown. 

 Sandy recorded four albums and had six songs that broke into the billboard chart. She never crossed over into the country or middle of the road chart, even though she had the appeal. She sold over five million records and was as popular at the time as Cher & Nancy Sinatra. Sandy was a notable backup singer in country music and sang on many hit songs in the country pop style with the Herschel Wiggington singers. 

 Sandy got to record her songs at American Sound in Memphis and be a big part of the Memphis Sound. She was the most popular female singer in town besides maybe Carla Thomas, who recorded at Stax. Sandy herself was a shy and sweet lady; she did not wish to take on attention. She was shy in her performances and preferred her time in the studio. Sandy for many years in the late sixties always wore a short bouffant hairstyle, or she did her hair up in a beehive. She wore career girl clothes and house dresses for her role in music was very important to her. 

 One of the first things she thought sitting in her car before going into music was “I reckon I can sing as well as everyone else.” This was before going on a local tv show her aunt had worked at. She had confidence in herself and became a secretary for Chips Moman, the producer and founder of American Sound. That was when "Born a Woman" was brought in by Gary Walker a music publisher and he later became her manager. 

 It was these things that impressed me about Sandy. 

 In conclusion, I think Sandy is an often-misunderstood singer. She was a part of her time to the extent that she stayed in that time and still was thinking ahead and futuristic in her sound. This had a lot to do with Memphis. The past and the future both meshed together. Sandy was not willing or able to go out and perform for the crowd and she did not fit into the celebrity lifestyle by many means. She had the beauty; she could’ve been a fine actress for MGM if given the opportunity to do just one film. The way she was an actress in her songs proves that to be true. Sandy said in an interview, “I love to watch TCM.” And one thing I’ve learned is she does not like to be misquoted or compared to anybody like Martha Sharp who wrote her first two songs.  

 We love Sandra Louise Posey!