Kris Jensen is an American singer and guitarist.

Jensen began his career in music cutting records for Colpix

Colpix Records

Colpix Records was the first recording company for Columbia Pictures–Screen Gems. Colpix got its name from combining Columbia and Pictures . It was founded by Jonie Taps and Harry Cohn in 1958, and was based in New York City. Paul Wexler headed the label. Stu Phillips was in charge of A&R...

, for whom he recorded his first single in 1959. He graduated from high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

 in Fort Lauderdale in 1960 and then recorded with Kapp Records

Kapp Records

Kapp Records was an independent record label started in 1954 by David Kapp, brother of Jack Kapp . David Kapp founded his own label after stints with Decca Records and RCA Victor Records. Kapp licensed its records to London Records for release in the UK.In 1967, David Kapp sold his label to MCA Inc...

 and its subsidiary, Leader Records. In 1962 he moved on to Hickory Records

Hickory Records

Hickory Records is a United States record label founded by Acuff-Rose Music in 1954 which operated the label up to 1979. Present owner Sony/ATV Music Publishing revived the label in 2007. Originally based in Nashville, functioning as an independent label throughout its history, it has had several...

, where he began recording many numbers by Nashville

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

 staff songwriter

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

s such as Boudleaux and Felice Bryant, Roy Orbison

Roy Orbison

Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...

, Joe Melson

Joe Melson

Joe Melson , is an American singer and a BMI Award–winning songwriter.Melson was born in Bonham, the seat of Fannin County in northeast Texas. He was reared on a farm until he was sixteen. He attended high school in Gore, Oklahoma, and in Chicago before he returned to Texas to study at the two-year...

, and John D. Loudermilk

John D. Loudermilk

John D. Loudermilk is an American singer and songwriter.-Biography:Born in Durham, North Carolina, Loudermilk grew up in a family who were members of the Salvation Army faith and was influenced by the church singing. His cousins Ira and Charlie Loudermilk were known professionally as the Louvin...

.

In 1962 he recorded "Torture", which Loudermilk had originally written for The Everly Brothers

The Everly Brothers

The Everly Brothers are country-influenced rock and roll performers, known for steel-string guitar playing and close harmony singing...

. The song became a hit, reaching #20 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

, and after its success the Everly Brothers decided to record it as well. The song proved to be Jensen's only hit, though he recorded at least 32 songs over the course of his career. Reissues of his catalog were released to LP by Bear Family Records

Bear Family Records

Bear Family Records is a Germany-based independent record label that specializes in reissues of archival material ranging from country music to 1950s rock and roll to old German movie soundtracks.-History:...

 in 1979 and to CD by Sparkletone Records in 1995.