Kenny O'Dell

about

Kenny O'Dell (Kenneth Guy Gist Jr., Antlers, Oklahoma, June 21, 1944 - March 27, 2018) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Early in his career, he worked with guitarist Duane Eddy, and his own band, Guys and Dolls. He is best known for writing the country hit "Behind Closed Doors", which Charlie Rich recorded, and "Mama He's Crazy" for The Judds. "Behind Closed Doors" won a Grammy Award in 1973 for Best Country & Western Recording. O'Dell also wrote pop and soft rock songs, including Next Plane to London which was a Top 20 hit in 1967 for Rose Garden. O'Dell is credited as "Kenny Gist, Jr" on the record label. Rich also had a top 10 hit in 1972 with the O'Dell-penned song "I Take It On Home". O'Dell was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. His only Billboard Top 40 appearance came in 1967 when "Beautiful People" climbed to number 38, and his only other Billboard Top 100 appearance came in 1968 with the local hit "Springfield Plane". O'Dell also had a top 10 country hit on his own with "Let's Shake Hands and Come Out Lovin'" in 1978. When O'Dell first moved to Nashville, he ran Bobby Goldsboro's publishing company. He has had other hit covers including "Trouble in Paradise" by Loretta Lynn in 1974. His 1973 b-side "Homecoming Queen" is still frequently misidentified as an unreleased song called "Penny O'Dell" from Paul McCartney and Wings, this being the result of a bootleg album from the latter 1970s erroneously making this claim. Discog

top songs

albums

Beautiful People

Rare Teen Oldies Vol. 1

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Soft Sounds for Gentle People Presents: Mystic Males

Soft Sounds For Gentle People: Mystic Males

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Mystic Males: Tripped-Out Troubadours From 1965-1970

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Billboard #1s: Classic Country Disc 2

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Mystic Males

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Sunshine Days, Vol. 3: 60's Pop Classics

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Out Of Nowhere - The White Whale Story 2

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Soft Sounds For Gentle People [Mystic Males]

The Land Of Sensations & Delights: The Psych Pop Sounds Of White Whale Records, 1965–1970

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Peaches

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