Jerry Gillespie

For the politician, see Jerry Gillespie (politician).

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]

  1. ^ Alabama Music Hall of Fame entry for Gillespie (now offline: Internet Archive page retrieved October 12, 2014)
  2. ^ "Gwen (Congratulations)" (Mareno-Gillespie), release details at 45cat.com, retrieved October 5, 2014; see also copyright details at ASCAP Archived 2013-03-06 at the Wayback Machine, Work ID: 370100426
  3. ^ "That's When My Woman Begins" (Gillespie), release details at 45cat.com, retrieved October 5, 2014; see also copyright details at SESAC, Song number: 151105
  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