Biography
Jean Chapel entered the world as Opal Jean Amburgey in Neon, Kentucky. At thirteen she departed that hometown to sing daily with her sisters as the Sunshine Sister Band on WLAP in Lexington, Kentucky, beginning in 1938. Even then her commanding presence stood out, since she handled lead vocals on nearly every number. Two years earlier her father had traded several carpentry tools for a banjo so she could join the act at eleven. By fifteen she had turned to songwriting, ultimately composing and placing more than 170 numbers before her death in 1995; those compositions reached Rosemary Clooney, Dean Martin, Patsy Cline, Roy Rogers, and Eddy Arnold.
In 1940 the sisters relocated to WSB in Atlanta, where station staff began calling her “Mattie.” Seven years later she wed performer Floyd “Salty” Holmes. The couple shared stages at the Grand Ole Opry, on radio and television broadcasts, and in live appearances for years afterward. During the first half of the 1950s she cut sides both under the name Opal Jean and with the Sunshine Sisters. She adopted the professional name Jean Chapel in 1956, when Sun Records issued her rockabilly single “I Won’t Be Rocking Tonight.” The label billed her as the female Elvis Presley and paired her song “Welcome to the Club” on the flip side of one of Presley’s own releases.
After divorcing Holmes, Chapel settled in Nashville and devoted the 1960s chiefly to writing. She soon lived next door to Tammy Wynette, who began cutting Chapel’s material and later shared a duet with her titled “Crazy Me.” Wynette was also briefly married to Chapel’s brother. In 1973 the Country Music Association selected her composition “To Get to You” as one of the five outstanding songs of the year.
In 1940 the sisters relocated to WSB in Atlanta, where station staff began calling her “Mattie.” Seven years later she wed performer Floyd “Salty” Holmes. The couple shared stages at the Grand Ole Opry, on radio and television broadcasts, and in live appearances for years afterward. During the first half of the 1950s she cut sides both under the name Opal Jean and with the Sunshine Sisters. She adopted the professional name Jean Chapel in 1956, when Sun Records issued her rockabilly single “I Won’t Be Rocking Tonight.” The label billed her as the female Elvis Presley and paired her song “Welcome to the Club” on the flip side of one of Presley’s own releases.
After divorcing Holmes, Chapel settled in Nashville and devoted the 1960s chiefly to writing. She soon lived next door to Tammy Wynette, who began cutting Chapel’s material and later shared a duet with her titled “Crazy Me.” Wynette was also briefly married to Chapel’s brother. In 1973 the Country Music Association selected her composition “To Get to You” as one of the five outstanding songs of the year.
Albums
