Paul & Paula (Ray Hildebrand, born December 21, 1940, Joshua, Texas; Jill Jackson, born May 20, 1942, McCamey, Texas) were a pop singing duo, best known for their 1963 #1 hit record, "Hey Paula."
Hildebrand and Jackson were attending Howard Payne College in Brownwood, Texas in 1962 when a local disc jockey, Riney Jordan, asked listeners to come to the studio and sing their songs to help the American Cancer Society. The duo sang a song called "Hey...
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Paul & Paula (Ray Hildebrand, born December 21, 1940, Joshua, Texas; Jill Jackson, born May 20, 1942, McCamey, Texas) were a pop singing duo, best known for their 1963 #1 hit record, "Hey Paula."
Hildebrand and Jackson were attending Howard Payne College in Brownwood, Texas in 1962 when a local disc jockey, Riney Jordan, asked listeners to come to the studio and sing their songs to help the American Cancer Society. The duo sang a song called "Hey Paula," which Hildebrand wrote, and were encouraged by everyone in town to make a record of it.
Shelby Singleton of Mercury Records eventually signed them, but not before changing their professional name (Singleton reasoned that a pair named Ray and Jill singing about "Hey, hey Paula" and "Hey, hey Paul" didn't quite make sense). The pairing of Paul & Paula was credited with inspiring other famous male/female pairings down the line, mostly from record companies that had originally turned the duo down in 1962: Jerry Butler was quickly paired...
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