Juice Newton - Biography
By J Poet
Juice Newton, the Grammy winning, multi-platinum selling country singer and songwriter crossed over to pop and rock audiences in a big way with her sixth album Juice (1981 Capital, 1997 DCC.) It went 3X platinum and spawned three Top 10 hits - "Angel of the Morning," "Queen of Hearts," and "The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known.)" Quiet Lies (1982 Capital) went gold behind the pop hit “Love's Been a Little Bit Hard on Me” and the #2 country entry "Break It To Me Gently," which won her a Best Female Country Vocal Performance Grammy in 1982. She’s been semi-retired since the late 80s, but continues to tour on a limited basis and records for her own label.
Newton was born in Lakehurst, New Jersey and raised in Virginia. She played folk guitar in her teens and went to Foothills College in Los Altos Hills, California where she met Otha Young, another guitar playing singer/songwriter. They put together a folk rock band called Dixie Peach, and played the northern California folk and rock circuit. Dixie Peach slowly morphed into Juice Newton & Silver Spur, with a more mainstream country sound. In 1975, Newton and Young moved to LA and signed with RCA. After three solid, but commercially disappointing albums - Juice Newton & Silver Spur (1975 RCA, 2009 Wounded Bird), After the Dust Settles (1977 RCA, 2009 Wounded Bird), and Come to Me (1977 Capitol) – they fired the band and continued on as a duo billed as Juice Newton.
They continued experimenting with their sound and broke big with Juice (1981 Capital, 1997 DCC.) It went 3X platinum and spawned three Top 10 hits - "Angel of the Morning," "Queen of Hearts," and "The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known.)" Quiet Lies (1982 Capital) went gold behind the pop hit “Love's Been a Little Bit Hard on Me” and a #2 country entry "Break It To Me Gently," which won her a Best Female Country Vocal Performance Grammy.
Dirty Looks (1983 RCA) had a harder country sound, but didn’t produce a hit and Newton resigned with RCA for Can't Wait All Night (1984 RCA, 2009 Wounded Bird.) She got back on the charts with "You Don't Know Me," the rocker "Let's Dance," Otha Young’s "Eye of the Hurricane," and "(You Don't Hear) The One That Gets You By." Old Flame (1985 RCA, 2009 Wounded Bird) produced three more hits “Stuck in the Middle With You," "One Touch," and "Let Your Woman Take Care of You." After the hard-core country of Emotion (1987 RCA) and two more hits, the Top 10 country song "Tell Me True" and "First Time Caller," Newton retired. She married professional polo player Tom Goodspeed and raised two children, playing only occasional pop gigs.
Newton re-recorded a bunch of her hits for her comeback album The Trouble with Angels (1998 A&M.) American Girl (1999 Renaissance) included two new Newton and Young tunes with some well-chosen covers. Newton started her own label for Every Road Leads Back to You (2002 OJM), American Girl, Vol. II (2003 OJM), which includes most of American Girl and a few new tracks, and The Gift of Christmas (2007 OJM.) In 2010 she released Duets: Friends & Memories.
