Meanwhile, a sober and happy Hank Cochran made a trip to Chicago to appear on a local television show. Also on the program happened to be country music mega-star Buck Owens. Buck was very familiar with the writer and his work. He had recorded one of Cochran’s songs, “A-11,” and put it in an album in mid-1964, a full year and a half before Johnny Paycheck logged his first chart appearance with it. During a break, Hank played “Don’t Touch Me,” for Owens and Buck immediately wanted it. Cochran told him that he couldn’t have it because he’d already given it to Jeannie Seely. “Who the heck is Jeannie Seely?” Owens asked. “I’ve never heard of her.” The writer laughed and slyly told Buck, “You will, just as soon as this song comes out.”
Monument pulled Jeannie into the studio when she returned to Nashville. Producer Fred Foster put together a solid recording of Hank’s new song, then quickly pressed and shipped the record. Released in March, Jeannie Seely’s “Don’t Touch Me” was on the charts by mid-April. It was almost unheard of for a new act to get that kind of early chart action. Owen Bradley at Decca noted those early numbers with great interest. He believed it was the song’s quality more than anything else that was propelling the new artist. The producer had always liked Cochran’s work, and thought “Don’t Touch Me” was one of the best things he had written. Owen quickly hatched a plan and met with one of the newest female singers in his Decca stable, Wilma Burgess. Wilma had just put her song “Baby” into the Top Ten, and needed a follow-up. Bradley and Burgess decided to immediately cover Seely’s record and make a rush-shipping in order to try to beat Jeannie’s single up the playlist.
