Singleton joined the Marine Corps, and after his military discharge was hired by Mercury Records to do promotional work, based in Shreveport, Louisiana. He rose in the company to become a record producer and executive in Mercury’s Nashville office. In 1960, he achieved his first hit single, Brook Benton‘s recording of “The Boll Weevil Song“, which became a #2 single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart the following year.[2] Singleton spent nine years at Mercury and its sister label, Smash Records, during which he was involved in producing many hit records, including Leroy Van Dyke‘s “Walk On By“; “Ahab the Arab” by Ray Stevens; and “Wooden Heart” by Joe Dowell. Singleton also acted as producer for such artists as Jerry Lee Lewis, Roger Miller, Charlie Rich, Dave Dudley, and Brook Benton.[3]