Jerry Gillespie Explained

Jerry Wayne Gillespie (born Decatur, Alabama) is an American country songwriter. He co-wrote "Do You Love as Good as You Look", a #1 song in 1981 for The Bellamy Brothers^[1] and wrote "Heaven's Just a Sin Away", a #1 country hit in 1977 for The Kendalls. He co-wrote "Somebody's Knockin'", a Grammy Award finalist in 1982 for Terri Gibbs, and "I Just Can't Stay Married to You", a #5 hit for Christy Lane in 1979.

He wrote or co-wrote a number of successful songs for Tommy Overstreet, including "Gwen (Congratulations)", co-written with Ricci Mareno,^[2] a #5 country hit in 1971, and "That's When My Woman Begins^[3] a #6 country hit in 1975. Gillespie also worked as a producer with Christy Lane, The Kendalls, and Micki Fuhrman.^[4]

Gillespie's first music venture was with his cousin Gary in a Nashville-area teenaged rock band named "The Valiants". The band put out two singles in 1965-1966 with songs written by Gillespie.^{[5] [6]}

Other Gillespie songs that charted

• "Catch the Wind" (Jerry Gillespie, Ricci Mareno) Jack Barlow, #26 Country, 1971
• "A Seed Before the Rose" (Jerry Gillespie, Ricci Mareno)^[7] Tommy Overstreet, #16 Country, 1972
• "It'll Be Me" (Gillespie/Clement/Bourke) Tom Jones, #34 Country, 1983
• "You Really Go for the Heart" (Charles Black, Tommy Rocco, Jerry Gillespie) Dan Seals, #37 Country, 1983
• "We Just Gotta Dance" (Jerry Gillespie) Karen Taylor-Good, #66 Country, 1984
• "I Love You By Heart" (Jerry Gillespie, Stan Webb), Sylvia and Michael Johnson, #9 Country, 1985
• "She's Ready for Someone to Love Her" (Charles Black, Jerry Gillespie, Tommy Rocco) The Osmond Brothers, #67 Country, 1983. Also covered by Kenny Rogers and Jerry Reed
• "Baby Wants", The Osmond Brothers, #45 Country, 1986

"Heaven's Just a Sin Away" also charted in a minor way for Kelly Willis in 1993 (#63 Country). "Old Pictures" and "Dr. Dr." were written by Gillespie with K. T. Oslin, and appeared on her platinum-selling 1987 debut album 80s Ladies. His Christmas song "Blue Decorations" was covered by B. B. King on his 2001 Grammy-winning album A Christmas Celebration of Hope.

References

1. https://web.archive.org/web/20120217165459/http://www.alamhof.org/gmusachv.html Alabama Music Hall of Fame entry for Gillespie
2. http://www.45cat.com/record/doa17375 "Gwen (Congratulations)"
3. http://www.45cat.com/record/doa17552 "That's When My Woman Begins"
4. Billboard, Feb. 2, 1982, p. 62, "First Collaboration 'A Charm'"
5. https://www.wilsonpost.com/community/digging-the-moles/article_b5d343fa-1ba9-5c97-9cb8-ad96969a31d7.html "Digging 'The Moles'", Ken Beck, The Wilson Post, December 12, 2013
6. https://garagehangover.com/the-valiants-with-jerry-gillespie-dot-records/ "The Valiants with Jerry Gillespie on Dot Records", Chris Bishop, GarageHangover, January 30, 2019
7. http://www.45cat.com/record/doa17418 "Seed Before The Rose"