Greene was born on January 7, 1930, in Maryville, Tennessee. In the early 1950’s, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where he formed his own band, The Peach Tree Boys as a lead vocalist, drummer, and guitarist. In 1959, he moved back to Tennessee and settled in Nashville and formed his own band, The Tennessee Mountain Boys. One day in 1961, the band opened for Ernest Tubb, and Ernest noticed Jack’s talents and asked him to join his band, which he did. For the next few years, he was a drummer, guitarist, vocalist, and M.C. in Ernest Tubb’s band, The Texas Troubadors. He soon was starting to open shows for Ernest playing guitar and singing and in 1964, Jack released his first solo record with “The Last Letter” which first appeared on one of Tubb’s live albums. The song got attention from Ernest’s record label Decca Records who released it as a single. Another single followed in 1965 with “Don’t You Ever Get Tired Of Hurtin’ Me” but this didn’t chart as it came out at the same time as Ray Price’s version. Tubb encouraged him to pursue a solo career, and Greene achieved great success right away. His first Top 40 hit came in early 1966 with “Ever Since My Baby Went Away”. Later that year, he released a song that put him on top. The song was “There Goes My Everything” and it was a monster hit, staying on top of the Country charts for 7 weeks, and even becoming a crossover hit, the album stayed #1 for an entire year. The success continued into 1967 as well with another number 1 smash in “All The Time” (on top for 5 weeks) and a number 2 hit with “What Locks The Door”. In 1967, he received the prestigious awards for Male Vocalist of the Year, Single of the Year, and Album of the Year from the Country Music Association. In all, he has recorded nine number one country hits on various charts including 5 number one Billboard hits. His success continued into 1968 with another number 1 with “You Are My Treasure” and the top 5 hit “Love Takes Care Of Me”. In 1969, he had 2 number 1 hits with “Until My Dreams Come True” and “Statue Of A Fool”. He completed the year out with the Top 5 “Back In The Arms Of Love”. In 1970, Jack gained a duet and a touring partner in Jeannie Seely, and together they had a number 2 hit with the song “Wish I Didn’t Have To Miss You”. Jack and Jeannie’s stage show became one of the biggest touring acts during the 1970’s. Jack continued to have both solo hits and duets with Jeannie Seely. Among the biggest of these hits during the 70’s included “Lord, Is That Me” (1970), “There’s A Lot About A Woman A Man Don’t Know” (1971), and 2 more duets with Jeannie with “Much Oblige” (1972) and “What In The World Has Gone Wrong With Our Love” (1972). Jack’s career continued when Decca became MCA Records and he continued to chart with “Satisfaction” (1973), “I Need Somebody Bad” (1973), and “It’s Time To Cross That Bridge” (1974). Afterwards, his chart success declined rapidly as another song in 1974 and one song in 1975 were minor hits and he was dropped by MCA Records in 1976. Jack enjoyed a brief comeback to the charts in 1980 with the Top 30 hit “Yours For The Taking” on Frontline Records. He achieved several more minor hits on Frontline and then on EMH and Step One. He continues to tour regularly and appears on The Grand Ole Opry, where he has been a member since 1967, and 2007 marked his 40th anniversary with the Opry. He died in Nashville, TN on 15 March, 2013, from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. He was 83. | |
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