She is celebrating 40 years in country music. There will be a celebration of Deborah Allen on October 15 by Mayor Strickland and Memphis City Council. “That feels great. I am shocked and honored by the proclamation and the upcoming recognition by the City Council in my hometown of Memphis. That means so much to me. It really has been amazing,” she said.
Her songwriting and publishing catalog has over 2,000 songs. She charted 14 singles in the Billboard Hot Country charts. She released 13 studio albums and earned two Grammy nominations. Her smash hits include “Baby I Lied,” “I’ve Been Wrong Before,” “I Hurt For You,” “Rock Me,” and “If You’re Not Gonna Love Me,” among others. “When you are working and being productive, you don’t realize all those things. You are just living your life, enjoy it and moving forward to your dreams and goals,” she said.
Allen was the first artist to use over-dub technology on posthumous duets with Jim Reeves. “A lot of people don’t realize that. Ours was actually the first. I was honored when I got a call from his bass player. He thought my voice would be perfect to blend with Jim Reeves,” she said. “I felt Jim’s spirit in the studio when I went to record the song.”
She has also collaborated with such country giants as George Jones and Billy Ray Cyrus. Allen holds the distinction of being the sole county artist produced by the late but great Prince. “I met Prince at a basketball court at the studio where I was recording in California. That was our chance meeting. I went back home and I just said a ‘prayer.’ All of a sudden, I thought about Prince. I wrote him a letter at the studio and a couple of days later, his engineer called me up and told me that he written a song for me and asked to produce it. This was a song [‘Telepathy’] that he wrote for me,” she said.
Allen acknowledged that Prince’s death hit her hard. “I was devastated. To lose him was a great loss in the music world. I met him personally and spent time with him personally. I am so glad I did. He had such a big image. He was such a gentleman to me and so generous. Prince was an inspiration to so many,” she said.
Let Me Be The First was the first totally digital album that was recorded and released from Nashville, Tennessee. “We took a big chance with that. We recorded it at The Castle, which looks like a castle,” she said.
In 2017, Allen was inducted into the International Rockabilly Hall Of Fame in 2017. “That was another thing I was so surprised about and happy about,” she said. “I’m originally from Memphis and I love it. The R&B really got into my soul there and so did the rockabilly.”
On being an artist in this digital age, Allen said, “I really like it. The digital age levels the playing field. If you are creative and if you follow the trends, you can find outlets for your music. There are always going to be the big labels, but there is a lot of satellite and Internet radio, as well as streaming and downloads.”
Allen defined the word success as having a “great relationship with God.” “We are all little drops of the Holy Spirit here on earth and I feel like that life takes us on this journey, and even the disappointments, are a way to show us that we are on our way to our destination,” she said.
To learn more about country songstress Deborah Allen, check out her official website and her Facebook page.
