I was Board so I made a tribute to
the Statler Brothers, its not the best video ever but it'll do. Also
this is a Different version of the original song...
Donald Sidney "Don" Reid (born 1945 in Staunton, Virginia) is the retired lead singer and main songwriter of the Americancountry music vocal group, The Statler Brothers.[1] He wrote or co-wrote 40 of the Statler Brothers' 66 songs that made the Billboard country chart, including the No. 1 hit "Do You Know You Are My Sunshine."
In the early 1960s, Reid replaced Joe McDorman at lead vocals in a
quartet that was changing its name from the Four Star Quartet to the
Kingsmen. They would go on to become the Statler Brothers. McDorman had
formed the group in 1955 with Lew DeWitt and Don's older brother Harold Reid while the three were teenagers.
Since the Statler Brothers' retirement in 2002, Reid has pursued a second career as an author, with seven books to his credit: Heroes and Outlaws of the Bible, Sunday Morning Memories, You'll Know It's Christmas When..., O Little Town, The Statler Brothers: Random Memories, which was co-authored with his brother, Harold Reid, One-Lane Bridge and The Mulligans of Mt. Jefferson.
He, along with fellow ex-Statlers Harold Reid and Phil Balsley, are elders in their local Presbyterian church
Harold Reid (born August 21, 1939 in Staunton, Virginia) is the former bass singer for the country vocal group The Statler Brothers.
He wrote or co-wrote 17 songs that were hit singles for the group,
including "Bed of Roses" and the No. 1 hit "Do You Know You Are My
Sunshine."
The latter was written with his younger brother, Don Reid, the lead singer for the group. The Statler Brothers disbanded and retired following a farewell tour in 2002.
Lewis Calvin "Lew" DeWitt (March 12, 1938 - August 15, 1990) was an Americancountry musicsinger and composer.
He was also a well known country music and gospel tenor singer who was
also one of the original tenor vocalists of the Statler Brothers
Quartet.
For most of his career DeWitt sang tenor for The Statler Brothers. Songs he wrote for the group include "Flowers on the Wall,"
"Things," "Since Then," "The Strand," "The Movies," and "Chet Atkins'
Hand."
He retired from the group in 1982 due to health problems stemming
from Crohn's disease, from which he had suffered since adolescence. DeWitt was replaced by Jimmy Fortune as the group's tenor.
In 1968, Columbia Records released two solo recordings by DeWitt:
"She Went A Little Bit Farther" and "Brown Eyes" (the latter was penned
by DeWitt).
After leaving the Statler Brothers, DeWitt made a brief
comeback as a solo artist, touring and releasing two albums: On My Own (1985)[1] and Here to Stay (1986). He also charted a solo single on the country charts: the No. 77 "You'll Never Know" in 1985. DeWitt died in 1990.
"Elizabeth" recently was a top bluegrass release for Dailey & Vincent.
He spent 21 years touring, singing, and performing with them until Don,
Harold and Phil, the other three members of the group retired in 2002.
Since then he has continued an extensive performance schedule in the
U.S. and Canada. He has continued as a songwriter and has recorded a
number of projects in Nashville.
Named after a brand of tissues, the four members of the Statler Brothers
did not in fact share a fraternal bond; what they did share, however,
was the distinction of being one of the most successful vocal harmony
groups in the history of country music.
Formed in the group's home base
of Staunton, VA, in 1955, the Statlers were originally a church trio
comprised of bass vocalist Harold Reid (born August 21, 1939), baritone
Phil Balsley (August 8, 1939), and tenor Lew DeWitt (March 8, 1938). In
1960, Reid's younger brother Don (born June 5, 1945) signed on to take
the lead vocal reins, and the quartet performed gospel music under the
name the Kingsmen.
After arranging a meeting with the promotional
department for a local Johnny Cash concert, the Kingsmen were asked to
open the performance. Cash was so impressed that he invited the group to
join the tour, and after changing their name to the Statler Brothers,
they remained on the road with Cash from 1963 to 1971.
The Statlers
signed to Columbia Records in 1964 and a year later scored a huge
country and pop hit with DeWitt's "Flowers on the Wall," which also lent
its name to their 1966 debut album. 1967's The Statler Brothers Sing
the Big Hits held true to its title's promise, generating a pair of Top
Ten singles in "Ruthless" and "You Can't Have Your Kate and Edith, Too."
In
1969, the quartet moved to Mercury Records, where they remained for
over two decades; their first single for the label, 1970's "Bed of
Rose's," was a Top Ten hit. In the same year, they held their first
Fourth of July picnic; for decades, the celebration remained an annual
holiday staple, drawing tens of thousands of fans each summer.
Throughout the first half of the 1970s, the Statlers remained fixtures
on the Top 40 charts thanks to a string of nostalgic singles like 1972's
"Do You Remember These" and "The Class of '57," 1973's "Carry Me Back,"
and 1974's "Whatever Happened to Randolph Scott."
Their LPs of the
period were often concept records: 1972's The Statler Brothers Sing
Country Symphonies in E Major was whimsically formatted like an
orchestral performance (complete with side-break "intermission"), while
1975's joint release Holy Bible/Old Testament and Holy Bible/New
Testament fulfilled a long-standing dream to record a gospel project.
1973's Alive at the Johnny Mack Brown High School, on the other hand,
was a tongue-in-cheek effort recorded under the group's comic alias
Lester "Roadhog" Moran & the Cadillac Cowboys.
The
sentimental "I'll Go to My Grave Loving You" was a Top Five hit in 1975
and was included on the Statlers' first best-of compilation, released
later in the same year. After a series of Top Ten hits that included
1977's "The Movies" (another recurring Statler theme) and "I Was There,"
they earned their first chart-topper in 1978 with "Do You Know You Are
My Sunshine," from the album Entertainers...on & off the Record.
In
1980 the Statler Brothers celebrated their first decade on Mercury with
10th Anniversary, which featured the smash "Charlotte's Web," taken from
the film Smokey and the Bandit, Pt. 2, in which the group also
co-starred.
After 1982's The Legend Goes On, DeWitt was forced to
leave the group as a result of Crohn's disease; the illness ultimately
killed him on August 15, 1990.
The remaining Statlers tapped Jimmy
Fortune as his successor, and immediately Fortune earned the group its
second number one with his "Elizabeth" (an homage to actress Elizabeth
Taylor), from the album Today.
Their next two LPs, 1984's Atlanta Blue
and 1985's Pardners in Rhyme, were credited to simply the Statlers; each
record generated a number one hit -- "My Only Love" and "Too Much on My
Heart," respectively -- again composed by Fortune.
They returned as the
Statler Brothers for the 1986 inspirational release Radio Gospel
Favorites, followed later in the year by Four for the Show. 1987's Maple
Street Memories produced the Top Ten single "Forever"; 1989's "More
Than a Name on the Wall," which peaked at number six, was their last
significant hit.
They continued releasing albums, however, and in
addition to remaining a popular touring act in the 1990s, the Statler
Brothers also hosted a long-running variety show on TNN.
In 2002,
the Statler Brothers announced their retirement from the road. On
October 26, they played their last concert at the 10,000-seat Salem
Civic Center in Salem, VA, not far from Staunton, where they'd started
and where they continued to maintain their headquarters. ~Jason
Ankeny, All Music Guide
Originally performing gospel music at local churches, the group billed themselves as The Four Star Quartet, and later The Kingsmen.[1]
In 1963, when the song "Louie, Louie" by the garage rock band also called The Kingsmen
became famous, the group elected to bill themselves as The Statler
Brothers. Despite the name, only two members of the group (Don and
Harold Reid) are actual brothers and none have the surname of Statler.
The band, in fact, named themselves after a brand of facial tissue they had noticed in a hotel room (they joked that they could have turned out to be the Kleenex Brothers).[2]
DeWitt died on August 15, 1990, of heart and kidney disease, stemming from complications of Crohn's disease.[4]
The band's style was closely linked to their gospel roots. "We took
gospel harmonies," said Harold Reid, "and put them over in country
music."[1]
The group remained closely tied to their gospel roots, with a
majority of their records containing at least one gospel song. They
produced several albums containing only gospel music and recorded a
tribute song to the Blackwood Brothers, who influenced their music. The Statler Brothers also wrote a tribute song to Johnny Cash, who discovered them. The song was called "We Got Paid by Cash," and it reminisces about their time with Cash.[1]
Career
The Statler Brothers started their career at a performance at Lyndhurst Methodist Church near their hometown of Staunton.[1]
In 1964, they started an eight and a half year run with Johnny Cash as his opening act.[2]
This period of their career was memorialized in their song "We Got Paid
by Cash." They were featured regularly on Cash's hit show The Johnny Cash Show on ABC.
The show ran from 1969-1971.
Due to their expanding career the Statlers
left Cash's entourage in 1972 to pursue their own careers. They left
Cash on good terms.
Two of their best-known songs are "Flowers on the Wall," their first major hit that was composed and written by Lew DeWitt, and the socially conscious "Bed of Rose's." In the 1980s, the Statlers were a mainstay on TNN, where their videos were shown regularly. Also on TNN, between 1991 and 1998, they hosted their own show, The Statler Brothers Show, a weekly variety show which was the channel's top-rated program for its entire run.[5][6]
Throughout their career, much of their appeal was related to their
incorporation of comedy and parody into their musical act, thanks in
large part to the humorous talent of Harold Reid; they were frequently
nominated for awards for their comedy as well as their singing. They
recorded two comedy albums as Lester "Roadhog" Moran and the Cadillac
Cowboys, and one-half of one side of the album Country Music Then and Now was devoted to satirizing small-town radio stations' Saturday morning shows.
The Statler Brothers purchased and renovated their former elementary
school in Staunton, and occupied the complex for several years. The
complex consisted of offices for the group, a small museum and
auditorium, as well as an adjacent building which served as office space
for unrelated businesses. A garage was built to store the two tour
buses that the group had used for many years. The group has since sold
the building which has been converted back into a school.[citation needed]
In 1970, the group began performing at an annual Independence Day festival in Gypsy Hill Park in Staunton. The event lasted for 25 years and included many country music figures including Mel Tillis, Charley Pride
and many others. The event drew as many as 100,000 fans each year. The
group also honored their hometown with the song "Staunton, Virginia" on
their 1973 album Do You Love Me Tonight.
Margo Smith (born Betty Lou Miller April 9, 1942 in Dayton, Ohio) is an American
country music singer. In the 1970s, she was a popular female country
vocalist, acquiring two No. 1 hits on the country charts during that
time, "Don't Break the Heart That Loves You" and "It Only Hurts for a Little While", both country music remakes of previous pop music standards.
She is also considered a "world class yodeler".
However, in the late '70s, after releasing 1979's A Woman
album, Smith's image underwent a metamorphosis, wearing much riskier
clothing, and recording much riskier material, like 1979's top 10
country hit, "Still a Woman".
Ohio-native Margo Smith was already a popular country singer when she emerged with a new sexy image in the late 70s. This new kind of image made Margo Smith more of a star than she already was.
Margo Smith was born Betty Lou Miller in 1942 in Dayton, Ohio. Smith had been singing since childhood, but decided to pursue a career in kindergarten teaching instead, graduating from Wittenberg University. Since childhood, Margo Smith learned how to yodel.
She soon found work as a kindergarten teacher, but always aspired to make it big in Nashville. During this period, Smith would write songs that she would use frequently in her lesson plans during the day at school. She soon began singing at PTA meetings, and began singing her songs on the radio.
She developed a following wherever she went. She soon cut a demo for various record companies. One record company noticed Smith's voice (20th Century Records) and liked what they heard. They soon signed Smith to their label in 1975. She soon began recording for the label in Nashville, Tennessee.
The height of her career in the '70s & '80s
Early music success: Good girl image
One of her first recordings under 20th Century Records was the song "There I Said It". The song was released as a single in 1975, and debuted on her first album, simply entitled Margo Smith.
"There I Said It" became a top ten country hit for Smith that year, and
tuned Smith into a country success overnight. Her follow-up single to
her big hit was the song "Paper Lovin'". Although not as successful as
"There I Said It", it still made the country top 30, giving her a minor
hit that year. In 1976, Smith had to switch record companies, as 20th Century Records shut down its division in Nashville, Tennessee.
She soon began cutting recordings for Warner Bros. and worked with producer Norro Wilson. She had more success under her new record company with hits like "Save Your Kisses for Me"
and "Take My Breath Away", which were both Top 10 hits in 1976, proving
that Smith could continue to have hits, even if she switched record
companies. In 1977 she had a Top 15 hit with "Love's Explosion".
Smith kept her image as the girl next door and a good Christian girl. In 1978, she had her biggest success when two of her singles went to No. 1, first starting with "Don't Break the Heart That Loves You" (a No. 1 pop hit for Connie Francis in 1962) and then followed by "It Only Hurts For a Little While" (originally by the Ames Brothers in 1956).
These two songs were her only chart toppers. She had another hit in 1978, that reached the top 5 called "Little Things Mean a Lot", which previously had been No. 1 pop hit by Kitty Kallen in 1954.
Later music success: Risque image
The year 1979 was a great change for Smith. This was the year Smith
turned her image completely around and emerged into the country
spotlight with a new image. However, she wasn't the only female country
singer doing this.
Country singer Dottie West, who had been around since the 1960s, also changed her image to a more sexy image. In 1979, Smith released a new album called A Woman.
She soon released singles from the album, starting with "Still a Woman"
in 1979. Although the song seemed very risky to record, it ended up
being a hit that year, making the country top 10.
That year, she had another top 10 hit from the same album called "If I Give My Heart to You", which was again another risky song (and another remake of an oldie, previously a hit for Doris Day in 1954).
This kind of country music sounded more pop than country, and
most of the artists coming out of Nashville at the time recorded this
kind of country. Her stage show got more a more flashy as time
progressed. She soon began wearing Spandex and satin outfits.
Because of this, Smith's fan base grew larger. She also married producer Richard Cammeron
of Cammeron Records in 1982, a record company for which Smith later
recorded. Into 1980, her career was in its peak, with hits like "Baby My
Baby", "The Shuffle Song" and "My Guy" (a hit for Mary Wells in the 1960s).
She had her last major hits in 1981, duetting with Rex Allen Jr.,
on the top 20 hit "Cup of Tea", along with a Top 30 hit called "While
the Feeling's Good". Their duet "Cup of Tea" nominated the duo for Top Duet of the Year by the Academy of Country Music in 1981. In 1982, she moved to AMI Records,
but with minor charting singles.
She continued to label jumping through
much of the early 80s, having a charting single in 1984 with "Please
Tell Him I Said Hello".
In 1985, she released an album entitled The Best of the Tennessee Yodeler, which paid a tribute to one of Smith's favorite singers, Bonnie Lou. The album was sold on television. Her last hit on the national charts came in 1988 was with the hit "Echo Me" on Playback Records.
She switched over to her Cammeron Records. She also briefly acted on the TNN show I-40 Paradise. She and her daughter, Holly became a Christian music group, called Margo Smith and Holly, and they recorded for Homeland Records.
She and her daughter were popular Christian singers throughout much of
the 1980s. They even had some Christian hits. Her daughter, now married
and called Holly Watson,
continues her career as a TV spokeswoman and actress.
She recorded on
and off for labels in the 1990s. Most recently, Smith contributed her vocals to the CD, The Littlest Star: A Musical Story, which is also a picture book.
In 2005, she released a new album, her first in many years called Nothing to Lose, produced by Dave Moody and released by Lamon Records.
She also continues to tour. Margo Smith is also a professional yodeler. One of her students, Taylor Ware, was the runner-up on the NBC show America's Got Talent in August 2006. Today, she is still married to Richard Cammeron, and they live in Brentwood, Tennessee.
Barbara started her career at a very young age singing country music.
She cut her very first single at only 15 years old. In 1963, she moved
to St. Louis, MO,
and by 1965, she was a regular on a local TV show and recorded for a
local label, Norman Records, but none of her singles released were much
more than regional hits.
In 1968, after high school graduation, she decided to follow her dream and moved to Nashville. She briefly signed with Kapp Records with no success. She also recorded briefly for MCA Records.
He listened to Barbara's songs and decided that she was ready for a major record deal and he signed her with Columbia Records
in 1969.
Her first single in 1969, "Love Is A Gentle Thing", was a
minor hit as was her next single, "A Woman's Hand".
In 1970, she scored
her first Top 40 hit with "A Girl Who'll Satisfy Her Man".
Between 1970
and 1972, Barbara scored 4 more Top 40 hits, the biggest of these being
"Love's Old Song" and "Thanks For The Mem'ries".
The success of "Teddy Bear Song"
1973 would turn out to be the breakthrough year for Barbara as she
released the biggest hit of her career with "Teddy Bear Song".
It not
only became a number 1 hit on the country charts but also reached the
pop charts as well peaking at No. 32. It was also nominated for a Grammy
that year.
"Teddy Bear Song" spent 2 weeks at the No. 1 spot and became
Fairchild's signature song. She followed up "Teddy Bear Song" very well
with another smash hit with "Kid Stuff" that year which reached number 2
on the country charts and barely made the Top 100 on the pop charts at
No. 95.
In 1974, she scored another Top 10 with the song "Baby Doll".
Between 1974 and 1977, she had several other major successes among these
being "Standing In Your Line", "Little Girl Feelin'", "Mississippi" (originally recorded by the Dutch band Pussycat), "Cheatin' Is" and "Let Me Love You Once Before You Go".
But by 1978, her country success began to rapidly fade away as her
singles began to show up in the lower regions of the charts.
In 1980,
she signed with Paid Records where she recorded several duets with Billy Walker but none of these singles brought her back into the upper regions of the charts.
In 1986, she signed with Capitol Records
in an attempt at a comeback but the single released "Just Out Ridin'
Around" only reached No. 84 and would represent her last single to
chart.
Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988), also known by the nickname The Big O, was an American singer-songwriter,
best known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions,
and dark emotional ballads.
His career stagnated through the 1970s, but several covers of his songs and the use of "In Dreams" in David Lynch's Blue Velvet revived his career in the 1980s.
His life was marred
by tragedy, including the death of his first wife and his two eldest
sons in separate accidents.
Orbison was a natural baritone, but music scholars have suggested that he had a three- or four-octave range.[1]
The combination of Orbison's powerful, impassioned voice and complex
musical arrangements led many critics to refer to his music as operatic,
giving him the sobriquet "the Caruso of Rock".[2][note 1]
Elvis Presley and Bono have stated his voice was, respectively, the greatest and most distinctive they had ever heard.[3]
While most men in rock and roll in the 1950s and 1960s portrayed a
defiant masculinity, many of Orbison's songs instead conveyed a quiet,
desperate vulnerability. He was known for performing while standing
still and solitary, wearing black clothes and dark sunglasses which lent
an air of mystery to his persona.
Rolling Stone
placed Orbison at number 37 on their list of The Greatest Artists of
All Time, and number 13 on their list of The 100 Greatest Singers of All
Time.[4]
In 2002, Billboard magazine listed Orbison at number 74 in the Top 600 recording artists.[5]
Roy Orbison was born in Vernon, Texas,
the middle son of Orbie Lee Orbison, an oil well driller and car
mechanic, and Nadine Shultz, a nurse.
Both of Orbison's parents were
unemployed during the Great Depression. Searching for work, the family moved to Fort Worth
during his childhood. He attended Denver Ave. Elementary School, until a
polio scare prompted them to return to Vernon. Later, the family moved
to Wink, Texas.
Orbison would later describe the major components of life in Wink as "Football, oil fields, oil, grease and sand",[6] and in later years expressed relief that he was able to leave the desolate town.[note 2]
All the Orbison children were afflicted with poor eyesight; Roy used thick corrective lenses from an early age. A bout with jaundice
as a child gave him a sallow complexion, and his ears protruded
prominently. Orbison was not particularly confident in his appearance;
he began dyeing his nearly white hair black when he was young.[7]
He was quiet and self-effacing, remarkably polite and obliging—a
product, biographer Alan Clayson wrote, of his Southern upbringing.[8]
However, Orbison was readily available to sing, and often became the
focus of attention when he did.
He considered his voice memorable if not
great.[6]
On his sixth birthday, Orbison's father gave him a guitar. Orbison
later recalled that, by the age of seven, "I was finished, you know, for
anything else"; music would be his life.[9] Orbison's major musical influences as a youth were in country music.
He was particularly moved by the way Lefty Frizzell sang, slurring syllables.[10] He also enjoyed Hank Williams and Jimmie Rodgers. One of the first musicians he heard in person was Ernest Tubb
playing on the back of a flatbed truck in Fort Worth.
In West Texas,
however, he was exposed to many forms of music: "sepia"—a euphemism for
what became known as rhythm and blues (R&B); Tex-Mex; orchestral Mantovani, and zydeco.
The zydeco favorite "Joli Blon" was one of the first songs Orbison sang
in public.
At eight, Orbison began appearing on a local radio show. By
the late 1940s, he was the host.[11]
In high school, Orbison and some friends formed The Wink Westerners, an informal band that played country standards and Glenn Miller songs at local honky-tonks, and had a weekly radio show on KERB in Kermit.[12]
When they were offered $400 to play at a dance, Orbison realized that
he could make a living in music. Following high school, he enrolled at North Texas State College, planning to study geology so that he could secure work in the oil fields if music did not pay.[13]
He formed another band called The Teen Kings, and sang at night while
working in the oil fields or studying during the day. Orbison saw
classmate Pat Boone
get signed for a record deal, further strengthening his resolve to
become a professional musician.
His geology grades dropping, he switched
to Odessa Junior College to consider becoming a teacher.
While living in Odessa, Orbison drove to Dallas to be shocked at the on-stage antics of Elvis Presley, who was only a year older and a rising star in the music scene.[14]
In their conversation, Phillips told Orbison curtly, "Johnny Cash doesn't run my record company!"[note 3] but he was convinced to listen to a song composed by Dick Penner and Wade Moore in mere minutes atop a fraternity house at North Texas State, named "Ooby Dooby", that the Teen Kings had recorded on the Odessa-based Je–Wel record label.[6]
Phillips was impressed and offered the Teen Kings a contract in 1956.
1957–59: Sun Records and Acuff-Rose
The Teen Kings went to Memphis and although Orbison had grown weary
of "Ooby Dooby", Phillips wanted to cut the record again in a better
studio.
Orbison rankled quietly at Phillips' dictating what the band
would play and how Orbison was to sing it.[15] However, with Phillips' production, the record broke into the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 59 and selling 200,000 copies.[6]
The Teen Kings toured with Sonny James, Johnny Horton,
and Cash. Much influenced by Elvis Presley, Orbison performed
frenetically, doing "everything we could to get applause because we had
only one hit record".[16]
The Teen Kings also began writing more material such as "Go! Go! Go!"
and "Rockhouse", generally in standard rockabilly style. The band
ultimately split over disputed writing credits and royalties, but
Orbison stayed in Memphis and asked his 16-year-old girlfriend,
Claudette Frady, to join him.[note 4]
They stayed in Phillips' home, where they slept in separate rooms; in
the studio Orbison concentrated on the mechanics of recording. Sam
Phillips remembered being much more impressed with Orbison's mastery of
the guitar than his voice;[17] a ballad Orbison wrote called "The Clown" was met with lukewarm appreciation at best.
Sun Records producer Jack Clement told Orbison after hearing it that he would never make it as a ballad singer.[18]
He found a modicum of success at Sun Records and found his way into
Elvis Presley's social circle, once going to pick up a date for Presley
in his purple Cadillac. Orbison sold "Claudette", a song he wrote about
Frady, whom he married in 1957, to The Everly Brothers and it appeared on the B-side of their smash hit "All I Have To Do Is Dream".
The first and perhaps only royalties Orbison earned from Sun Records
enabled him to make a down-payment on his own Cadillac. However,
frustrated at Sun, Orbison gradually stopped recording, toured music
circuits around Texas to make a living, and for seven months in 1958
quit performing completely.[19]
His car repossessed and in dire financial straits, he often depended on family and friends for funds.[20]
For a brief period in the late 1950s Orbison made his living at Acuff-Rose,
a songwriting firm concentrating mainly on country music. After
spending an entire day writing a song, he would make several demo tapes
at a time and send them to Wesley Rose, who would try to find the musical acts to record them.
Orbison attempted to sell to RCA Victor songs he recorded that were written by other writers as well, working with and being completely in awe of Chet Atkins who had played guitar with Presley.
Orbison tried one song penned by Boudleaux Bryant
called "Seems to Me". Bryant's impression of Orbison was "a timid, shy
kid who seemed to be rather befuddled by the whole music scene. I
remember the way he sang then—softly, prettily but almost bashfully, as
if someone might be disturbed by his efforts and reprimand him."[21]
Playing shows late into the night, and living with his wife and young
child in his tiny apartment, Orbison often sought refuge by taking his
guitar to his car and writing songs there. Songwriter Joe Melson,
an acquaintance of Orbison's, tapped on his car window one day in Texas
in 1958 and the two decided to try to write some songs together.[22]
During three recording sessions in 1958 and 1959, Orbison and Melson recorded seven songs at RCA Nashville, with Atkins producing, but only two songs were judged worthy of release by RCA;[23] Wesley Rose maneuvered Orbison into the sights of producer Fred Foster at Monument Records.
Although he started out singing straight-up country and western material in the 1970s, he moved towards a more pop-friendly
sound in the 1980s, bringing him further success on not just the
country charts, but the pop charts as well.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration,
Gilley is a licensed pilot, who holds an instrument rating with
commercial pilot privileges for multi-engine airplanes, as well as
private pilot privileges for single engine aircraft.[1]
For many years, Gilley lived in the shadow of his cousin, Jerry Lee Lewis, the rock and roll singer and musician in the 1950s.
The two as children grew up close by each other; Gilley lived just across the Mississippi River from Louisiana where Lewis grew up.
Gilley, Lewis, and another cousin Jimmy Swaggart played piano together as children. This is when Gilley first learned to play the piano.
Together, they all sang boogie-woogie and Gospel
music, however, Gilley did not consider himself a professional singer
until Jerry Lee hit the top of the charts in the 1950s.
Mickey cut a few
singles on his own in late 1950s and played sessions in New Orleans with producer Huey Meaux. In 1958, he had a record "Call Me Shorty" on the Dot label and it sold well.
In the 1960s, he played at many clubs and bars, getting a following at the Nesadel Club in Pasadena, Texas.
In 1967, Paula Records released Gilley's first album called Down the Line and the following, he had a minor hit from the album called "Now I Can Live Again".
In 1970 Gilley opened up his first club in Pasadena, Texas, called Gilley's Club,
replacing the club that was there called Shelley's Club.
The club later
became known as the "world's biggest honky tonk."
He owned "Gilley's
Club" with former owner of Shelley's Club, Sherwood Cryer, who asked Gilley to re-open the bar with him.
The club portion of Gilley's burned in 1990, and later the rodeoarena portion was razed in 2005 to make way for a school.
Recording career in the 1970s before Urban Cowboy
In 1974, Gilley recorded a song that originally was only supposed to
be recorded for fun entitled "Room Full of Roses", written by Tim Spencer of the Sons of the Pioneers, which was a one-time hit for George Morgan.
The song was released by Astro Records that year, and then Playboy Records
got a hold of the single, and got national distribution for "Room Full
of Roses".
From then on, Gilley was signed to Playboy Records working
with his long-time friend Eddie Kilroy.
"Room Full of Roses" became the song that put Gilley on national radar,
hitting the very top of the Country charts that year, as well as making
it to No. 50 on the pop music charts.
"Room Full of Roses" today
remains as one of his signature songs.
He had a string of top tens and No. 1s throughout the 1970s.
He remained a popular Country act for the rest of the 1970s.
Other hits
in the 1970s include "Chains of Love" (1977), "Honky Tonk Memories"
(1977), "She's Pulling Me Back Again" (1977), and "Here Comes the Hurt Again" (1978).
These songs were a mix of honky tonk and countrypolitan that brought Gilley to the top of the charts in the 1970s.
However, a new breed of singers were entering Country Music.
These singers were Country-crossover artists that brought Country
success with them onto the pop charts.
In order to compete with these new breed of Country singers, Gilley had
to sound like them and have that kind of country-pop success that these
singers were having.
In 1978, Gilley signed on with Epic Records, when Playboy Records
was bought by Epic. By 1979, his success was fading slightly.
Songs
like "The Power of Positive Drinkin'", "Just Long Enough to Say
Goodbye", and "My Silver Lining" just made the Top Ten.
He also turned his attention to Branson, Missouri, where he became one of the first to build a theater there, which was a soon-to-be boom town for the Country Music industry.
On March 2, 2002, Gilley, along with his two famous cousins Lewis and Swaggart, were inducted into the Delta Music Museum Hall of Fame in Ferriday, Louisiana.
Gilley also appeared on "Urban Cowboys", episode 9 in the third season of American Pickers,
which aired originally on September 5, 2011.
In 2012, Gilley signed a
Branson-based vocal group, Six, to a three-year lease to perform in his
theater, with an option to buy it when the contract expires.[3]
Personal
Gilley's first wife was Geraldine Garrett, who he married in 1953 and
divorced in 1961. She was the mother of three of his four children
(Keith Ray, Michael, and Kathy). Geraldine died on March 6, 2010.
Gilley's second wife is the former Vivian McDonald, by whom he has another son, Gregory. They married in 1962.[2]
Gilley's children Kathy and Keith are in the music business.
In July 2009, Gilley was helping a neighbor move some furniture when he fell with the love seat
falling on top of him, crushing four vertebrae.
The incident left him
temporarily paralyzed from the neck down, but with some intense physical
therapy he was able to walk again and return to the stage a year later.
However, he still lacks the hand coordination necessary to play the
piano.[4]
Recording career in the 1970s before Urban Cowboy
In 1974, Gilley recorded a song that originally was only supposed to
be recorded for fun entitled "Room Full of Roses", written by Tim Spencer of the Sons of the Pioneers, which was a one-time hit for George Morgan.
The song was released by Astro Records that year, and then Playboy Records
got a hold of the single, and got national distribution for "Room Full
of Roses".
From then on, Gilley was signed to Playboy Records working
with his long-time friend Eddie Kilroy.
"Room Full of Roses" became the song that put Gilley on national radar,
hitting the very top of the Country charts that year, as well as making
it to No. 50 on the pop music charts.
"Room Full of Roses" today
remains as one of his signature songs.
He remained a popular Country act for the rest of the 1970s.
Other hits
in the 1970s include "Chains of Love" (1977), "Honky Tonk Memories"
(1977), "She's Pulling Me Back Again" (1977), and "Here Comes the Hurt Again" (1978).
These songs were a mix of honky tonk and countrypolitan that brought Gilley to the top of the charts in the 1970s.
However, a new breed of singers were entering Country Music.
These singers were Country-crossover artists that brought Country
success with them onto the pop charts.
In order to compete with these new breed of Country singers, Gilley had
to sound like them and have that kind of country-pop success that these
singers were having.
In 1978, Gilley signed on with Epic Records, when Playboy Records
was bought by Epic. By 1979, his success was fading slightly. Songs
like "The Power of Positive Drinkin'", "Just Long Enough to Say
Goodbye", and "My Silver Lining" just made the Top Ten.
Recording career in the 1980s with the success of Urban Cowboy
His career was given a second go-around when
one of his recordings was featured on the box-office-selling movie Urban Cowboy.
The song was the Country remake of the Soul standard "Stand by Me".
As the movie was becoming successful, so was "Stand by Me".
The song
rose to the top of the Country charts in 1980, as well as hitting the
Top 5 of the Adult Contemporary
charts, as well as making the Pop Top 40.
The song turned Gilley into a
pop-country crossover success, yet, despite it being his only Adult
Contemporary hit, it did become one of his signature songs.
All these songs from 1983 were No. 1 hits for
Gilley. In 1984, he had a hit, which just missed topping the Country
charts called "You've Really Got a Hold On Me".
Another hit followed
with a duet with Charly McClain,
"Candy Man," and a solo hit with "Too Good To Stop Now", both of which
made the Top 5 that year.
However, his stream of hits was beginning to
start coming to an end.
Up until 1986, Gilley struggled to make it into the Top 10. He was
only releasing two singles each year.
The year 1985 brought Top 10's
with "I'm the One Mama Warned You About" and "You've Got Something On
Your Mind", followed by a Top 5 with "Your Memory Ain't What It Used To
Be", and a Top 10 with "Doo-Wah Days" in 1986.
Not only was his chart success fading, but Gilley has a series of financial problems that led to the closing of his club in Pasadena, Texas.
In 1988, Gilley signed with Airborne Records, and released an album, Chasin' Rainbows, which resulted in his last Top 40 country hit in "She Reminded Me Of You," which made No. 23 that year.
Overall in his career, that spanned 15 years of chart success, Gilley has had 17 No. 1 hits on the Country charts.
