"Second Fiddle (To an Old Guitar)" is a song written by Betty Amos that was originally recorded by American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

singer

Jean Shepard Ollie Imogene "Jean" Shepard (November 21, 1933 – September 25, 2016), was an American country singer who was considered one of the genre's first significant female artists. Her commercial success ran from the 1950s to the 1970s while also be ...

. It was released as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

in 1964, reaching the top five of the US Country chart. The song featured Shepard

yodeling Yodeling (also jodeling) is a form of singing which involves repeated and rapid changes of pitch between the low-pitch chest register (or "chest voice") and the high-pitch head register or falsetto. The English word ''yodel'' is derived from t ...

and was her first top ten single in ten years. The song would later be nominated by the

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

Background and recording

One of the first female country artists to find commercial success in a solo career, Jean Shepard rose to fame during the 1950s

honky tonk A honky-tonk (also called honkatonk, honkey-tonk, honky tonk, or tonk) is either a bar that provides country music for the entertainment of its patrons or the style of music played in such establishments. It can also refer to the type of piano ...

era. While she topped the country chart with "

A Dear John Letter "A Dear John Letter", or "Dear John" is a popular country music song written by Billy Barton, Fuzzy Owen and Lewis Talley. It was popularized by Ferlin Husky and Jean Shepard, and was a crossover country-pop hit in 1953. The song played on the c ...

" as a pairing with

Ferlin Husky Ferlin Eugene Husky (December 3, 1925 – March 17, 2011) was an American country music singer who was equally adept at honky-tonk, ballads, spoken recitations, rockabilly and pop tunes. From 1948 to 1953, he recorded under the stage name Terry ...

, she had top ten singles as a solo act with "

A Satisfied Mind "A Satisfied Mind" is a country music song written by Joe "Red" Hayes and Jack Rhodes. Hayes explained the origin of the song in an interview: "The song came from my mother. Everything in the song are things I heard her say over the years. I put ...

" and " Beautiful Lies". In the second half of the 1950s, her popularity waned with the new

country pop Country pop (also known as urban cowboy or even urban country) is a fusion genre of country music and pop music that was developed by members of the country genre out of a desire to reach a larger, mainstream audience. Country pop music blends g ...

sounds that became in-vogue. Her first major success would be 1964's "Second Fiddle (To an Old Guitar)". The song was written by Betty Amos and featured Shepard

. It was recorded on January 27, 1964 at the

Columbia Studios Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film production and distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Entertainment's Sony Pictures ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. The recording session was produced by Marvin Hughes. On the same day, Shepard also recorded "He Plays the Bongo (I Play the Banjo)" and "Two Little Boys". The session was produced by Marvin Hughes.

Release, chart performance and reception

"Second Fiddle (To an Old Guitar)" was released as a single in April 1964. It was issued as a seven-inch vinyl record by Capitol Records, featuring "

Two Little Boys "Two Little Boys" is a sentimental song about two friends who grow up to be soldiers. Recorded as early as 1903 in the United States, it became an international hit for Australian Rolf Harris 66 years later. It was published in 1903 by American ...

" on the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

. The song was described as Shepard's comeback recording for restoring her commercial success. It became Shepard's first charting single since 1959's " Have Heart, Will Love", peaking at the number five position on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart in 1964. It was her first top ten single since 1955's " I Thought of You" and one of ten top ten singles in her career. It was later included on Shepard's 1967 studio album '' Heart We Did All That We Could''. In 1965, it was nominated for the

Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance The Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as ...

. Author Kurt Wolff found that the lyrics of "Second Fiddle (To an Old Guitar)" were both "proto-feminist" and "down-right bold" in his book ''Country Music: The Rough Guide''. In 2003, it was voted among the "500 greatest singles" in the book ''Heartaches by the Number: Country Music's 500 Greatest Singles''.

Track listings

;7" vinyl single * "Second Fiddle (To an Old Guitar)" – 2:11 * "

" – 2:48

Charts

Accolades

! , - , 1965 ,

7th Annual Grammy Awards The 7th Annual Grammy Awards were held on April 13, 1965, at Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills. They recognized accomplishments of musicians for the year 1964. João Gilberto & Stan Getz won 4 awards. Award winners The following awards were t ...

, Best Country Vocal Performance, Female , , align="center", , -

References

{{Jean Shepard 1964 singles 1964 songs Capitol Records singles Jean Shepard songs