Janie Frickie

Before her commercial success as a country music artist, Janie Fricke sang backing vocals on over 1,200 albums (mostly recorded in Nashville). In 1978, shortly after she began recording her own music, she recorded a hit duet with Charlie Rich entitled "On My Knees." Her sporadic singing style finally solidified on the 1981 album, Sleeping With Your Memory. It was here that Fricke found a formula that worked. Her dynamic and versatile singing voice was now inflecting an old-timey feel with modern production to create country ballads that won her a gigantic fan base. After three hits from this album, she test drove some more up-tempo, fast-rocking numbers on the similarly successful It Ain't Easy album. Throughout the '80s, Fricke experimented with different country styles and kept her music interesting and fresh with each release.