Countryobit: Billie Jo Spears

I'm doubly sad to hear of the death of Billie Jo Spears.

It's sad news in its own right, of course, but also there's a personal note of sadness. My Mum didn't show much interest in popular music when I was a kid - she'd tap along to a James Last album, and would always have Radio 2 on, but there wasn't very much of the excited connection with music that I was starting to feel back then.

Billie Jo Spears was one of the exceptions to this, though: I think it's the only time she ever expressly requested a record for Christmas.

Like many people, it was this song which sparked my Mum's admiration for Spears:



And the album? She played it a couple of times, but didn't think that most of the album tracks were up to the standard of the single. A sentiment which I would grow used to feeling myself over the ensuing years.

Billie Jo Spears died on Wednesday, in Silsbee, Texas. She was 73.