Song:Somebody's Knockin'
Album:The Best Of Terri Gibbs
Somebody's Knockin' was the biggest hit for country music singer Terri Gibbs in 1981. Not only was it a top ten country hit but it crossed over to the pop top twenty. When Terri faded in the mid 80s, she turned to gospel music. She was born June 15, 1954 in Miami and grew up in the Augusta, GA suburb of Grovetown. Terri was born blind and learned to play piano as a child. She grew up singing in church and performed locally as a teen. She met country music legend Chet Atkins and he told her to move to Nashville. She did but failed to land a record deal and moved to Miami and joined the band Sound Dimension. One of her demos got the attention of former Boston DJ and MCA Records producer Ed Penney. He liked Terri's voice but thought she needed better songs. He signed her and Somebody's Knockin' was the first single in 1981. It reached #8 on the Country Singles chart and #13 on the Billboard Hot 100. Terri won the 1981 ACM Top Female Vocalist award and the CMA Horizon award for best new artist. And Somebody's Knockin' was nominated for Best Country Song Grammy. So it was a big hit at the time. Penney wrote Somebody's Knockin' with veteran songwriter Jerry Gillespie. He wrote and produced songs for Christy Lane and The Kendalls. Somebody's Knockin' turned out to be Terri's biggest hit as subsequent singles and albums didn't do as well. You can get all her hits on this comp. After four albums for MCA, Terri recorded one album for Warner Bros. and then turned to Contemporary Christian Music. She did well in that market and got another Grammy nomination. Terri became a full time minister in 1991 and has recorded occasionally but for the most part she is retired from the music business. The Best Of Terri Gibbs is self released but Terri has licensed her original recordings from Universal. Here's Terri Gibbs performing Somebody's Knockin' on the 1981 Music City News Awards show.
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