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Henry Rollins | |
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Rollins performing in 2006 |
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Born | Henry Lawrence Garfield February 13, 1961 Washington, D.C., U.S. |
Nationality | American |
Occupation | Spoken word artist |
Years active | 1980–present |
Known for | Musician, Spoken word artist |
Website | |
21361.com |
Henry Rollins (born 13 February 1961) is an American spoken word artist, writer, journalist, publisher, actor, comedian, radio DJ, activist and formerly singer-songwriter.
After performing for the short-lived Washington D.C.-based band State of Alert in 1980, Rollins fronted the California hardcore punk band Black Flag from August 1981 until mid-1986. Following the band's breakup, Rollins established the record label and publishing company 2.13.61 to release his spoken word albums, as well as forming the Rollins Band, which toured with a number of lineups from 1987 until 2003, and during 2006.
Since Black Flag disbanded, Rollins has hosted numerous radio shows, such as Harmony in My Head on Indie 103, and television shows such as The Henry Rollins Show, MTV's 120 Minutes, and Jackass. He had a recurring dramatic role in the second season of Sons of Anarchy and has also had roles in several films. Rollins has also campaigned for various political causes in the United States, including promoting LGBT rights, World Hunger Relief, and an end to war in particular, and tours overseas with the United Service Organizations to entertain American troops.[1]
Rollins stated in a 1998 interview with NY Rock, "I don't want a wife and I don't want kids. I'm 36 and if I met a woman of my own age and married her, I'd also be marrying her former life, her past."[2] Rollins dated fellow KCRW-DJ Liza Richardson.[3] Rollins has been close friends with musician Ian MacKaye since childhood.[4]
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Born Henry Lawrence Garfield in Washington, D.C., the only child of Iris, a federal employee in the health and education sectors, and Paul J. Garfield, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who was a World War II veteran and Economist with a "Ph.D. in economics".[5][6] When he was two years old, his parents divorced and he was raised by his mother in the affluent Glover Park neighborhood of the city.[7][8]
As a child and teenager, Rollins suffered from depression and low self-esteem.[9] In the fourth grade, he was diagnosed with hyperactivity and took Ritalin for several years so that he could focus during school. His mother taught him how to read before he was enrolled in kindergarten;[10] however, due to "bad grades, bad attitude, poor conduct," he was soon enrolled at The Bullis School, then an all-male preparatory school in Potomac, Maryland.
According to Rollins, the Bullis School helped him to develop a sense of discipline and a strong work ethic.[9] It was at Bullis that he began writing; his early literary efforts were mainly short stories about "blowing up my school and murdering all the teachers."[10]; "it was a very rough upbringing in a lot of other ways. I accumulated a lot of rage by the time I was seventeen or eighteen." He has also mentioned that a "Ramones" concert helped shape his thoughts on music into becoming the musician he is today.
After high school, Rollins attended American University in Washington D.C. for one semester, but dropped out in December 1979.[11] He began working minimum-wage jobs, including a job as a courier for liver samples at the National Institutes of Health.[12] Rollins got into punk rock after he and his friend Ian MacKaye procured a copy of The Ramones's eponymous debut album; he later described it as a "revelation." From 1979 to 1980, Rollins was working as a roadie for Washington bands, including Teen Idles. When the band's singer Nathan Strejcek failed to appear for practice sessions, Rollins convinced the Teen Idles to let him sing. Word of Rollins's ability spread around the punk rock scene in Washington; Bad Brains singer H.R. would sometimes get Rollins on stage to sing with him.[13]
In 1980, the Washington punk band The Extorts lost their frontman Lyle Preslar to Minor Threat. Rollins joined the rest of the band to form State of Alert, and became its frontman and vocalist. He put words to the band's five songs and wrote several more. S.O.A. recorded their sole EP, No Policy, and released it in 1981 on MacKaye's Dischord Records.[14] S.O.A. disbanded after a total of a dozen concerts and one EP. Rollins had enjoyed being the band's frontman, and had earned a reputation for fighting in shows. He later said: "I was like nineteen and a young man all full of steam [...] Loved to get in the dust-ups." By this time, Rollins had become the manager of the Georgetown Häagen-Dazs ice cream store; his steady employment had helped to finance the S.O.A. EP.[15]
In 1980, a friend gave Rollins and MacKaye a copy of Black Flag's Nervous Breakdown EP. Rollins soon became a fan of the band, exchanging letters with bassist Chuck Dukowski and later inviting the band to stay in his parents' home when Black Flag toured the East Coast in December 1980.[16] When Black Flag returned to the East Coast in 1981, Rollins attended as many of their concerts as he could. At an impromptu show in a New York bar, Black Flag's vocalist Dez Cadena allowed Rollins to sing "Clocked In", as Rollins had a five-hour drive back to Washington, D.C., to return to work after the performance.[17]
Unbeknownst to Rollins, Cadena wanted to switch to guitar, and the band was looking for a new vocalist.[17] The band was impressed with Rollins' singing and stage demeanor, and the next day, after a semi-formal audition at Tu Casa Studio in NYC, they asked him to become their permanent vocalist. Despite some doubts, he accepted, in part because of MacKaye's encouragement. His high level of energy and intense personality suited the band's style, but Rollins' diverse tastes in music were a key factor in his being selected as singer; Black Flag's founder Greg Ginn was growing restless creatively and wanted a singer who was willing to move beyond simple, three-chord punk.[18]
After joining Black Flag in 1981, Rollins quit his job at Häagen-Dazs, sold his car, and moved to Los Angeles, California. Upon arriving in Los Angeles, Rollins got the Black Flag logo tattooed on his left biceps[12] and changed his surname from Garfield to Rollins, a surname he and MacKaye had used as teenagers.[18] Rollins was in a different environment in Los Angeles; the police soon realized he was a member of Black Flag, and he was hassled as a result. Rollins later said: "That really scared me. It freaked me out that an adult would do that. [...] My little eyes were opened big time."[19]
Before concerts, as the rest of the band tuned up, Rollins would stride about the stage dressed only in a pair of black shorts, grinding his teeth; to focus before the show, he would squeeze a pool ball.[20] His stage persona impressed several critics; after a 1982 show in Anacortes, Washington, Sub Pop critic Calvin Johnson wrote: "Henry was incredible. Pacing back and forth, lunging, lurching, growling; it was all real, the most intense emotional experiences I have ever seen."[21]
By 1983, Rollins' stage persona was increasingly alienating him from the rest of Black Flag. During a show in England, Rollins assaulted a member of the audience; Ginn later scolded Rollins, calling him a "macho asshole."[22] A legal dispute with Unicorn Records held up further Black Flag releases until 1984, and Ginn was slowing the band's tempo down so that they would remain innovative. In August 1983, guitarist Dez Cadena had left the band; a stalemate lingered between Dukowski and Ginn, who wanted Dukowski to leave, before Ginn fired Dukowski outright.[23] 1984's heavy metal music-influenced My War featured Rollins screaming and wailing throughout many of the songs; the band's members also grew their hair to confuse the band's hardcore punk audience.[24]
Black Flag's change in musical style and appearance alienated many of their original fans, who focused their displeasure on Rollins by punching him in the mouth, stabbing him with pens, or scratching him with their nails, among other methods. He often fought back, dragging audience members on stage and assaulting them. Rollins became increasingly alienated from the audience; in his tour diary, Rollins wrote "When they spit at me, when they grab at me, they aren't hurting me. When I push out and mangle the flesh of another, it's falling so short of what I really want to do to them."[25] During the Unicorn legal dispute, Rollins had started a weight-lifting program, and by their 1984 tours, he had become visibly well-built; journalist Michael Azerrad later commented that "his powerful physique was a metaphor for the impregnable emotional shield he was developing around himself."[24] Rollins has since replied that "no, the training was just basically a way to push myself."[26]
Before Black Flag disbanded in August 1986, Rollins had already toured as a solo spoken word artist.[27] He released two solo records in 1987, Hot Animal Machine, a collaboration with guitarist Chris Haskett, and Drive by Shooting, recorded as "Henrietta Collins and the Wifebeating Childhaters";[28] Rollins also released his second spoken word album, Big Ugly Mouth in the same year. Along with Haskett, Rollins soon added Andrew Weiss and Sim Cain, both former members of Ginn's side-project Gone, and called the new group Rollins Band. The band toured relentlessly,[29] and their 1987 debut album, Life Time, was quickly followed by the outtakes and live collection Do It. The band continued to tour throughout 1988; 1989 marked the release of another Rollins Band album, Hard Volume.[30] Another live album, Turned On, and another spoken word release, Live at McCabe's, followed in 1990.
Rollins and Weiss released Fast Food For Thought, an EP by their one-off side project Wartime in 1990. It was sonically in many ways more reminiscent of Weiss's work with Ween than the Rollins Band. The music, while heavy and driving, had a distinctly psychedelic bent, culminating in the final track, a cover of "Franklin's Tower" by The Grateful Dead. Early pressings were simply credited to "Wartime" while later releases added the phrase "featuring Henry Rollins" to the cover.
1991 saw the Rollins Band sign a distribution deal with Imago Records and appear at the Lollapalooza festival; both improved the band's presence. However, in December 1991, Rollins and his best friend Joe Cole were accosted by two armed robbers outside Rollins's home. Cole was murdered by a gunshot to the head, Rollins escaped without injury but police initially suspected him in the murder and detained him for ten hours.[31] Although traumatized by Cole's death, as chronicled in his book Now Watch Him Die, Rollins continued to release new material; the spoken-word album Human Butt appeared in 1992 on his own record label, 2.13.61. The Rollins Band released The End of Silence, Rollins's first charting album.[30]
The following year, Rollins released a spoken-word double album, The Boxed Life.[32] The Rollins Band embarked upon the End of Silence tour; bassist Weiss was fired towards its end and replaced by funk and jazz bassist Melvin Gibbs. According to critic Steve Huey, 1994 was Rollins's "breakout year".[30] The Rollins Band appeared at Woodstock 94 and released Weight, which ranked on the Billboard Top 40. Rollins released Get in the Van: On the Road with Black Flag, a double-disc set of him reading from his Black Flag tour diary of the same name; he won the Grammy for Best Spoken Word Recording as a result. Rollins was named 1994's "Man of the Year" by the American men's magazine Details and became a contributing columnist to the magazine. With the increased exposure, Rollins made several appearances on American music channels MTV and VH1 around this time, and made his Hollywood film debut in 1994 in The Chase playing a police officer.[33]
In 1995, the Rollins Band's record label, Imago Records, declared itself bankrupt. Rollins began focusing on his spoken word career. He released Everything, a recording of a chapter of his book Eye Scream with free jazz backing, in 1996. He continued to appear in various films, including Heat, Johnny Mnemonic and Lost Highway. The Rollins Band signed to Dreamworks Records in 1997 and soon released Come in and Burn, but it did not receive as much critical acclaim as their previous material. Rollins continued to release spoken-word book readings, releasing Black Coffee Blues in the same year. In 1998, Rollins released Think Tank, his first set of non-book-related spoken material in five years.
By 1998, Rollins felt that the relationship with his backing band had run its course, and the line-up disbanded. He had produced a Los Angeles hard rock band called Mother Superior, and invited them to form a new incarnation of the Rollins Band. Their first album, Get Some Go Again, was released two years later. The Rollins Band released several more albums, including 2001's Nice and 2003's Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three. After 2003, the band became inactive as Rollins focused on radio and television work. During a 2006 appearance on Tom Green Live!, Rollins stated that he "may never do music again"[34] a feeling which he reiterated in 2011 when talking to Trebuchet magazine.[35] In an interview with Culture Brats, Henry admitted he had sworn off music for good - "... and I must say that I miss it every day. I just don't know honestly what I could do with it that's different." [36]
As a vocalist, Rollins has adopted a number of styles through the years. Rollins was initially noted in the Washington, D.C. hardcore scene for what journalist Michael Azerrad described as a "compelling, raspy howl".[13] With State of Alert, Rollins "spat out the lyrics like a bellicose auctioneer".[15] He adopted a similar style after joining Black Flag in 1981. By their album Damaged however, Black Flag began to incorporate a swing beat into their style; Rollins then abandoned his S.O.A. "bark" and adopted the band's swing.[37] Rollins later explained: "What I was doing kind of matched the vibe of the music. The music was intense and, well, I was as intense as you needed."[38]
In both incarnations of the Rollins Band, Rollins combined spoken word with his traditional vocal style in songs such as "Liar" (the song begins with a one minute spoken diatribe by Rollins), as well as barking his way through songs (such as "Tearing" and "Starve") and employing the loud-quiet dynamic. Rolling Stone's Anthony DeCurtis names Rollins a "screeching hate machine" and his "hallmark" as "the sheets-of-sound assault".[39]
With the Rollins Band, his lyrics focused "almost exclusively on issues relating to personal integrity," according to critic Geoffrey Welchman.[40]
In the 1980s, Henry Rollins produced an album of acoustic songs for the convicted murderer Charles Manson titled Completion. The record was supposed to be released by SST Records, but the project was later canceled due to the label receiving death threats for working with Manson. Only five test presses of Completion were pressed, two of which remain in Rollins' possession.[41]
As Rollins rose to prominence with the Rollins Band, he began to present and appear on television. These included Alternative Nation and MTV Sports in 1993 and 1994 respectively. 1995 saw Rollins appear on an episode of Unsolved Mysteries that explored the murder of his best friend Joe Cole[42] and present State of the Union Undressed on Comedy Central. Rollins began to present and narrate VH1 Legends in 1996.[43] Rollins, busy with the Rollins Band, did not present more programs until 2001, but made appearances on a number of other television shows, including Welcome to Paradox in 1998 in the episode "All Our Sins Forgotten", as a therapist that develops a device that can erase the bad memories of his patients. Rollins also voiced Mad Stan in Batman Beyond in 1999 and 2000.[44][45] He also did the voice in Apple's 1999 G4 Cube Ad with Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" playing as the theme song.
Rollins was a host of film review programme Henry's Film Corner on the Independent Film Channel, before presenting the weekly The Henry Rollins Show on the channel. The Henry Rollins Show is now being shown weekly on Film24 along with Henry Rollins Uncut. The show also lead to a promotional tour in Europe that led to Henry being dubbed a “bad boy goodwill ambassador” by a NY reviewer.[46]
2002 saw Rollins guest star on an episode of the sitcom The Drew Carey Show as a man whom Oswald would find on eBay and pay to come to his house and kick his ass. He co-hosted the British television show Full Metal Challenge, in which teams built vehicles to compete in various driving and racing contests, from 2002–2003 on Channel 4 and TLC. He has made a number of cameo appearances in television series such as MTV's Jackass and an episode of Californication, where he played himself hosting a radio show.[47] In 2006, Rollins appeared in a documentary series by VH1 and The Sundance Channel called The Drug Years.[48]
Rollins appears in FX's Sons of Anarchy's second season, which premiered in the fall of 2009 in the United States. Rollins plays A.J. Weston, a white-supremacist gang leader and new antagonist in the show's fictional town of Charming, California, who poses a deadly threat to the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club.[49]
Rollins was a voice actor in the animated Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker and voiced Robotman (Cliff Steele)[50] in two episodes of Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
Rollins was also interviewed in the National Geographic series Explorer "Born To Rage". He was interviewed regarding his possible link to the MAO gene (Warrior gene) and violent behavior.[51]
Rollins has done voice over work for Verizon Wireless and Infiniti luxury automobiles (2011).[52]
On May 19, 2004, Rollins began hosting a weekly radio show, Harmony in My Head, on Indie 103.1 radio in Los Angeles. The show aired every Monday evening, with Rollins playing music ranging from early rock and jump blues to hard rock, blues rock, folk rock, punk rock, heavy metal and rockabilly, and touching on hip hop, jazz, world music, reggae, classical music and more. Harmony In My Head often emphasizes B-sides, live bootlegs and other rarities, and nearly every episode has featured a song either by the Beastie Boys or British group The Fall.
Rollins put the show on a short hiatus to undertake a spoken-word tour in early 2005. Rollins posted playlists and commentary on-line; these lists were expanded with more information and published in book form as Fanatic! through 2.13.61 in November 2005. In late 2005, Rollins announced the show's return and began the first episode by playing the show's namesake Buzzcocks song. As of 2008, the show continues each week despite Rollins's constant touring with new pre-recorded shows between live broadcasts. In 2009 Indie 103.1 went off the air, although it continues to broadcast over the Internet.
In 2007 Rollins published Fanatic! Vol. 2 through 2.13.61. Fanatic! Vol. 3 was released in the fall of 2008.
On February 18, 2009, KCRW announced that Rollins would be hosting a live show on Saturday nights starting March 7, 2009.[53]
In 2011 Rollins was interviewed on Episode 121 of American Public Media's podcast, "The Dinner Party Download", posted on November 3, 2011.
Rollins began his film career appearing in several independent films featuring the band Black Flag. His film debut was in 1982's The Slog Movie, about the West Coast punk scene.[54] An appearance in 1985's Black Flag Live followed. Rollins' first film appearance without Black Flag was the short film The Right Side of My Brain with Lydia Lunch in 1985.[55] Following the band's breakup, Rollins did not appear in any films until 1994's The Chase. Rollins appeared in the 2007 direct-to-DVD sequel to Wrong Turn (2003), Wrong Turn 2: Dead End as a retired Marine Corps officer who hosts his own show which tests the contestants' will to survive. Rollins has also appeared in Punk: Attitude, a documentary on the punk scene, and in American Hardcore (2006).
Some feature length movies Henry Rollins has appeared in include:
Rollins has written a series of books based on his travel journals referred to as the Black Coffee Blues trilogy. They include the namesake book, Black Coffee Blues, Do I Come Here Often?, The First Five and Smile, You're Traveling. Others include See a Grown Man Cry, Now Watch Him Die, Get in the Van, Eye Scream, Broken Summers, Roomanitarian, and Solipsist.
For the audiobook version of the 2006 novel World War Z Rollins voiced the character of T. Sean Collins, a mercenary hired to protect celebrities during a mass panic caused by an onslaught of the undead. Rollins' other audiobook recordings include 3:10 to Yuma and his own autobiographical book Get in the Van, for which he won a Grammy Award.
In September 2008 Rollins began contributing to the "Politics & Power" blog at the online version of Vanity Fair magazine.[56] Since March 2009 his posts have appeared under their own sub-title, Straight Talk Espresso.[57] His posts consistently direct harsh criticism at conservative politicians and pundits, although he does occasionally target the left wing as well. In August 2010 he began writing a music column for the LA Weekly, an alternative newspaper in Los Angeles.[58]
Rollins also has toured doing spoken word performances which range from stand up comedy to more introspective commentaries on his childhood, such as the death of his friend, Joe Cole. He also speaks about experiences he's had with eccentric people. Rollins' spoken word style varies greatly, ranging from intense commentaries on society to playful, sometimes vulgar, anecdotes.
Rollins has become an outspoken human rights activist, most vocally for gay rights. Rollins frequently speaks out on social justice on his spoken word tours and promotes equality, regardless of sexuality.[59] He was the host of the WedRock benefit concert, which raised money for a pro-gay-marriage organization.
During the 2003 Iraq War, he started touring with the United Service Organizations to entertain troops overseas while remaining against the war, leading him to once cause a stir at a base in Kyrgyzstan when he told the crowd: "Your commander would never lie to you. That's the vice president's job."[60] Rollins believes it is important that he performs to the troops so that they have multiple points of contact with the rest of the world, stating that, "they can get really cut loose from planet earth".[61] He has made 8 tours, including visits to bases in Kuwait, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan (twice), Egypt, Turkey, Qatar, Honduras, Japan, Korea and the United Arab Emirates.[62] He has also been active in the campaign to free the "West Memphis Three"—three young men believed by their supporters to have been wrongfully convicted of murder. Rollins appears with Public Enemy frontman Chuck D on the Black Flag song "Rise Above" on the benefit album Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three, the first time Rollins had performed Black Flag's material since 1986.[63]
Continuing his activism on behalf of troops and veterans, Rollins joined Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) in 2008 to launch a groundbreaking national public service advertisement campaign, CommunityofVeterans.org, which helps veterans coming home from war reintegrate into their communities. In April 2009, Rollins helped IAVA launch the second phase of the campaign which engages the friends and family of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans at SupportYourVet.org.
On December 3, 2009, Rollins wrote of his support for the victims of the Bhopal disaster in India, in an article for Vanity Fair[64] 25 years – to the day – after the methyl isocyanate gas leak from the Union Carbide Corporation's pesticide factory exposed more than half a million local people to poisonous gas and resulted in the death of 17,000. He spent time in Bhopal with the people, to listen to their stories. In a later radio interview in February 2010[65] Rollins summed-up his approach to activism, "This is where my anger takes me, to places like this, not into abuse but into proactive, clean movement".[66]
Song | Artist | Album | Year |
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"We Are 138" | Misfits | Evilive | 1982 |
"Kick Out the Jams" | Bad Brains | Pump Up the Volume Soundtrack | 1990 |
"Let There Be Rock" | Hard-Ons | Released as a single | 1991 |
"Bottom" | Tool | Undertow | 1993 |
"Wild America" | Iggy Pop | American Caesar | 1993 |
"Sexual Military Dynamics" | Mike Watt | Ball-Hog or Tugboat? | 1995 |
"Delicate Tendrils" | Les Claypool and the Holy Mackerel | Highball with the Devil | 1996 |
"T-4 Strain" | Goldie | Spawn: The Album | 1997 |
"War" | Bone Thugs-n-Harmony & Edwin Starr | Small Soldiers | 1998 |
"Laughing Man (In the Devil Mask)" | Tony Iommi | Iommi | 2000 |
"I Can't Get Behind That" | William Shatner | Has Been | 2004 |
All tracks | The Flaming Lips | The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches Doing the Dark Side of the Moon | 2009 |
In 1993, Rollins appeared on the Tool album, Undertow where he and Tool front man, Maynard James Keenan, performed the vocals in the song "Bottom". Rollins appeared on the 1996 studio album Les Claypool and the Holy Mackerel Presents Highball with the Devil, narrating "Delicate Tendrils". He also appears on Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi's solo record Iommi which was released in 2000.
Rollins appeared as Vanilla Ice in the 1991 music video "Pop Goes the Weasel" by hip-hop trio 3rd Bass; and as Duke in the 2009 music video "The Ballad of G.I. Joe" on the website Funny or Die. He also appeared in the 2010 music video "Haifisch" by German industrial metal band Rammstein.
Rollins has made several voice acting performances in video games including the main character Mace Griffin in Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter and as himself in Def Jam: Fight for NY.
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Lorrie Morgan | |
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Morgan in concert in Choctaw, Mississippi[disambiguation needed ] on December 6, 2008 |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Loretta Lynn Morgan |
Born | June 27, 1959 |
Origin | Nashville, Tennessee, USA |
Genres | Country |
Occupations | Singer |
Instruments | Vocals |
Years active | 1972–present |
Labels | ABC, MCA RCA, BNA, Image, Stroudavarious |
Associated acts | George Morgan Keith Whitley Jon Randall Sammy Kershaw, Mindy McCready |
Website | http://www.lorrie.com/ |
Loretta Lynn "Lorrie" Morgan (born June 27, 1959, in Nashville, Tennessee) is an American country music singer. She is the daughter of George Morgan, a country music singer who charted several hit singles between 1949 and his death in 1975. Lorrie Morgan charted her first single in 1978, although she did not break into the top of the U.S. country charts until her 1989 single, "Trainwreck of Emotion." Since then, she has charted more than 25 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts, with three number one hits: "Five Minutes," "What Part of No" and "I Didn't Know My Own Strength." She has also recorded more than 15 studio albums. At various points in her life, Morgan has been married to three different country singers: Keith Whitley, Jon Randall and Sammy Kershaw. She has sold over 6 million records worldwide.
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Morgan made her first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry at age 13, performing Fred Spielman and Janice Torre's "Paper Roses." After her father died in 1975, she took over his band at age 16 and began leading the group through various club gigs. Within a few years she disbanded the group, and in 1977 she joined the Little Roy Wiggins band. She then became a receptionist and demo singer at Acuff-Rose Music, where she also wrote songs. In the late 1970s, she was the featured vocalist on a morning television show hosted by Ralph Emery, on Nashville's WSM-TV (now WSMV); Emery was a longtime friend of her father, who appeared on Emery's Opry Star Spotlight, an overnight music and interview show that ran for many years on WSM-AM.
Morgan had one minor hit single in 1978; the following year she recorded another minor hit with "I'm Completely Satisfied With You," an electronically dubbed duet with her late father. She began touring Nashville nightclubs and opened for a number of acts, including Jack Greene, Billy Thunderkloud and Jeannie Seely. She toured as a duet partner with George Jones and spent two years as part of the Opryland USA bluegrass show and as a regular singer on TNN's Nashville Now.
In 1984, Morgan scored a minor hit with "Don't Go Changing." That year she became the youngest singer ever to join the Grand Ole Opry.[1] Four years later, she signed with RCA Records, her first major label; her first album on that label, Leave the Light On, was released in 1989.
In 1990, Morgan had her first number one single, "Five Minutes." Morgan's second album, Something in Red, was released in 1991 and went platinum. The same year, she married her third husband, Brad Thompson, Clint Black's bus driver. Watch Me, her third album, was released on RCA's newest label, BNA Records; it contained the number-one single, "What Part of No." Watch Me also was certified platinum, making Morgan the first female country artist to have three albums in a row to be certified platinum. Morgan's romantic life gained tabloid attention with Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman.
In 1994 she was voted "Female Vocalist of the Year" by the fans in TNN's Music City News Awards. She would earn this honor again in 1996, 1997 and 1998. Morgan also appeared on Frank Sinatra's Duets II album, singing a version of "How Do You Keep the Music Playing" intertwined with Sinatra's "My Funny Valentine."
Morgan's Greatest Hits album, which produced her third and, to date, last number-one single in the song "I Didn't Know My Own Strength", was released in 1995. The next year, Morgan was featured on the Beach Boys' now out-of-print album, Stars and Stripes Vol. 1, performing a cover of their 1964 hit, "Don't Worry Baby." The Beach Boys provided the harmonies and backing vocals. Lorrie appeared on the 2006 album She Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool: A Tribute to Barbara Mandrell.
Lorrie's album A Moment in Time was released on October 27, 2009, on the Stroudavarious label. It features 14 covers of traditional country favorites.
Lorrie released her new album I Walk Alone on iTunes and Amazon download December 2010.
Morgan is known for her turbulent personal life—she told Larry King in a July 2004 interview that "drama is something that lets you know you're still alive."[2]
She has a daughter, Morgan Anastasia Gaddis (b. Dec. 22, 1980) from her first marriage to Ron Gaddis, a former bass player in George Jones' band; they were married for only a brief time from 1979 to 1980. She has a son, Jesse Keith Whitley (b. June 15, 1987) with her second husband, Keith Whitley. That marriage lasted from 1986 until his death in 1989. After that marriage, she had a lengthy involvement with Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman. In 1991, she married a one-time bus driver for Clint Black named Brad Thompson; they divorced in 1993.
Morgan was also romantically linked from 1994 to 1996 with Fred Thompson, the politician/actor. In her autobiography Forever Yours, Faithfully: My Love Story, Morgan describes their relationship:
"It was great to go out with an older man [Thompson] who was very successful on his own. . . . For a while, I enjoyed my first exposure to politics. It was interesting to hear about political conversations, and people even began talking about Fred as a potential president. . . . I put myself to the task of being a great companion to a stimulating and important man, and as a result I became boring. . . . I had to stop and think about the political implications of everything before I uttered a word in public. . . . For a while, I wanted to marry Fred, but I knew he could not accept me as I am."[3]
In 1996 Morgan married Jon Randall, a singer/songwriter now credited with writing the 2004 Brad Paisley/Alison Krauss hit "Whiskey Lullaby"; they divorced three years later in 1999. She married her fifth husband, singer Sammy Kershaw, on September 29, 2001. That marriage lasted six years. Citing irreconcilable differences, she filed for divorce on October 23, 2007.[4]
In October 2008, Morgan filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, citing up to $10 million in liabilities while listing her own assets as valued between $500,000 and $1 million.[5]
In 2010 Morgan will perform on Broadway in the show Pure Country. She will play Lula, the manager of the lead character Dusty, played by fellow country artist George Strait.
On September 15, 2010, Morgan married her sixth husband, Randy White (not to be confused with the former Dallas Cowboy defensive tackle with the same name), in a beach side ceremony.
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The Association | |
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The group in 1968. Top row, from left: Jim Yester, Brian Cole, Ted Bluechel; bottom row, from left: Russ Giguere, Larry Ramos, Terry Kirkman |
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Background information | |
Origin | California, United States |
Genres | Sunshine pop, baroque pop, folk rock, psychedelic folk |
Years active | 1965–1978; 1979-present |
Labels | Jubilee, Valiant, Warner Bros., Columbia, Mums, RCA, Elektra |
Website | The Association Official website |
Members | |
Russ Giguere Larry Ramos Jim Yester Bruce Pictor Del Ramos Jordan Cole |
|
Past members | |
Jules Gary Alexander Terry Kirkman Brian Cole Ted Bluechel Jr |
The Association is a pop music band from California in the folk rock or soft rock genre. During the 1960s, they had numerous hits at or near the top of the Billboard charts and were the lead-off band at 1967's Monterey Pop Festival. As of 2011[update], they are still performing.
Contents |
Jules Alexander (born September 25, 1943, Chattanooga, Tennessee) was in Hawaii in 1962 serving a stint in the Navy when he met Terry Kirkman (born December 12, 1939, Salina, Kansas), a visiting salesman. The two young musicians jammed together and promised to get together once Alexander was discharged. That happened a year later; the two eventually moved to Los Angeles and began exploring the city's music scene in the mid-1960s. (Kirkman played in groups with Frank Zappa for a time before Zappa went on to form The Mothers of Invention). Eventually, at a Monday night hootenanny at the LA nightclub The Troubadour, in 1964, an ad hoc group called The Inner Tubes was formed by Terry, Jules and Doug Dillard, whose rotating membership contained, at one time or another, Cass Elliot, David Crosby and many others who drifted in and out. This led, in 1965, to the forming of The Men, a 13 piece folk-rock band. This group had a brief spell as the house band at The Troubadour.
After a short time, however, The Men disbanded, with six of the members electing to go out on their own (some of the remaining players continued on as Tony Mafia's Men, one of the others, Mike Whalen, joined The New Christy Minstrels). At the suggestion of Kirkman's then-fiancée, Judy, they took the name The Association. The original lineup consisted of Alexander (using his middle name, Gary, on the first 2 albums) on vocals and lead guitar; Kirkman on vocals and a variety of wind, brass and percussion instruments; Brian Cole (born September 8, 1942, Tacoma, Washington) on vocals, bass and woodwinds; Russ Giguere (born October 18, 1943, Portsmouth, New Hampshire) on vocals, percussion and guitar; Ted Bluechel, Jr. (born December 2, 1942, San Pedro, California) on drums, guitar, bass and vocals; and Bob Page (born May 13, 1943) on guitar, banjo and vocals. However, Page was replaced by Jim Yester (born November 24, 1939, Birmingham, Alabama) on vocals, guitar, and keyboards before any of the group's public performances.
The new band spent about five months rehearsing before they began performing around the Los Angeles area, most notably a regular stint at The Ice House in Pasadena and its sister club in Glendale.[1] They also auditioned for record labels but faced resistance due to their unique sound. Eventually, the small Jubilee label issued a single of "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" (a song originally recorded by Joan Baez, later popularized by Led Zeppelin) but nothing happened. Finally, Valiant Records gave them a contract, with the first result being a version of Bob Dylan's "One Too Many Mornings".
The Men were first managed by Doug Weston, owner of the Troubador, before switching to actor Dean Fredericks, who remained onboard when the Association was formed and helped get them the Valiant deal. In 1966 Fredericks turned the reins over to Pat Colecchio, who managed the group for the next eight years.
Their national break would come with the song "Along Comes Mary", written by Tandyn Almer.[1] Alexander first heard the song when he was hired to play on a demo version and persuaded Almer to give The Association first crack at it. The recording went to #7 on the Billboard charts, and led to the group's first album, And Then... Along Comes the Association, produced by Curt Boettcher. A song from the album, "Cherish", written by Kirkman,[1] would become The Association's first #1 in September 1966.
The group followed with their second album, Renaissance, released in early 1967. Somewhat surprisingly, the band changed producers, dumping Boettcher in favor of Jerry Yester (brother of Jim and formerly of The Modern Folk Quartet). The album did not spawn any major hits (the highest charting single, "Pandora's Golden Heebie Jeebies" stalled at #35) and the album only reached #34, compared with a #5 showing for its predecessor.
In late 1966 Warner Bros. Records, which had been distributing Valiant, bought the smaller label (and with it, The Association's contract). In 1967, Jules Alexander left the band to study meditation in India and was replaced by Larry Ramos (born Hilario Ramos on April 19, 1942, Waimea, Kauai, Hawaii) on vocals and guitar. Ramos had previously performed with The New Christy Minstrels and recorded solo singles for Columbia Records. He would later sing co-lead (along with Russ Giguere and Terry Kirkman) on two of The Association's biggest hit singles, "Windy" and "Never My Love".
With the lineup settled, the group returned to the studio, this time with Bones Howe in the producer's chair. The first fruits of this pairing would be the single "Windy" ( sample (help·info)) written by Ruthann Friedman, topping the Hot 100 in July 1967 and preceded by the album Insight Out, which reached #8 in June. On June 16, 1967, The Association had the unique honor of being the first act to perform at the Monterey Pop Festival. (The Criterion Collection DVD of the festival includes their performance of "Along Comes Mary" on disc 3.)
The group's winning streak continued with their next single, "Never My Love", written by Don and Dick Addrisi; it went to #2 in Billboard and #1 in Cash Box in October 1967. It became the group's only double-sided charted record as its B-side, "Requiem For The Masses", made a brief showing on the Billboard chart. Like "Cherish" and "One Too Many Mornings", "Never My Love" had a vocal arrangement that was provided by Clark Burroughs, a former member of the Hi-Los.
"Never My Love" has been accredited by BMI as the song with the second most US airplay in the 20th century.[2]
After rejecting the recording of an entire cantata written by Jimmy Webb, which included the song "MacArthur Park", the group, in early 1968, produced its fourth album, Birthday, with Bones Howe again at the controls. This album spawned "Everything That Touches You", the group's last Hot 100 top 10 hit, and the more experimental "Time for Livin'", the group's last Hot 100 top 40 hit. Later that year, the group released a self-produced single, the harder-edged "Six Man Band". This song would also appear on Greatest Hits, released in November.
In early 1969, Jules Alexander returned to the group, which now made The Association a seven-man band (they acknowledged by changing the title and lyric of "Six-Man Band" to match.) The first project with the seven-piece band was music for the soundtrack of Goodbye, Columbus, the film version of Philip Roth's best-selling novel. The title track, written by Yester, rose to #80. John Boylan, one third of the unknown Hamilton Streetcar, and who would become one of the most important record producers of the '70s and '80s, worked with the group on the soundtrack and stayed on board for the next album, The Association. Not surprisingly, many of the tracks have a decidedly country-rock feel. None of the singles made any impact, so the group re-teamed with Curt Boettcher for a one-off single, "Just About the Same", a reworking of a song Boettcher had recorded with his group, The Millennium. This failed to hit as well.
Despite all this, the band remained a popular concert draw and on April 3, 1970, a Salt Lake City performance was recorded for The Association Live. In 1971 Russ Giguere left the band; he would release a solo album, Hexagram 16, that same year. The Association replaced him with keyboardist/singer Richard Thompson (no relation to the English singer-songwriter/guitarist), who had contributed to previous albums and would go on to be known primarily in jazz circles. 1971 also saw the release of Stop Your Motor. Despite some good tracks (notably a cover of Jimmy Webb's "P.F. Sloan" with Brian Cole imitating Roy Rogers in the bargain), the album was their worst selling to date, reaching only #158 on the Billboard chart.
Stop Your Motor also marked the end of The Association's tenure at Warner Bros. In early 1972, they resurfaced on Columbia with Waterbeds in Trinidad!, produced by Lewis Merenstein (best known for producing Van Morrison's Astral Weeks). The album fared even worse than Stop Your Motor, reaching #194, while a single of The Lovin' Spoonful's "Darlin' Be Home Soon" failed to break the Hot 100.
For their 1972 tour, the group expanded to nine members, bringing in session players Wolfgang Meltz and Mike Berkowitz on bass and drums respectively to add more musical versatility on stage and free up Brian Cole and Ted Bluechel to concentrate on singing only. But on August 2, 1972, 29-year-old Cole was found dead in his Los Angeles home of an overdose of heroin. For the rest of the 1970s, The Association was in a state of flux, releasing singles now and then along with sporadic touring.
At the end of 1972, Kirkman departed, as did Meltz and Berkowitz. The group was then moved over to the CBS distributed Mums label (which had been formed by Bobby Roberts[disambiguation needed ], formerly of Dunhill Records) and put out a new single "Names, Tags, Numbers & Labels". It failed to make much of an impression, though, and Mums folded by the end of 1974.
Thompson left at the beginning of 1973 and the remaining foursome of Alexander, Bluechel, Yester & Ramos brought in new members Maurice Miller (vocals, drums, percussion), Art Johnson (vocals, guitar) and David Vaught (vocals, bass, and later a member of the Lopez Beatles) and continued touring. Jim Yester was briefly replaced by his brother Jerry later this same year, only to return in 1974. When Jules Alexander left soon after to join Russ Giguere in a new vocal outfit, Bijou, Jerry again came in to play with the group until the end of that year.
1975 saw the band now on RCA and they put out another single, "One Sunday Morning". An album called The Association Bites Back was to follow but never got released. Membership was a bit fluid in 1975-1976. Dwayne Smith (vocals, keyboards) joined and appeared on the above single but was replaced by Andy Chapin by the end of 1975. Ramos departed as well in mid-1975 and was replaced by Larry Brown (vocals, guitar), who came in for three years. Art Johnson stayed onboard for a short while longer but was likewise gone by the end of 1975. The increased tour schedule led to Chapin's departure in 1976. (He later played for artist Rick Nelson and perished along with Nelson and his band when his plane crashed on December 31, 1985.) Chapin was replaced, first by Jay Gruska, who had just finished a stint with Three Dog Night, and then by David Morgan in mid-1976.
During this period the band was offered a production deal with Mike Curb who wanted them to record a disco version of the prior hits, "Cherish", "No Fair At All" and an original song which Larry Brown wrote and sang entitled "It's High Time To Get High". Reportedly, Curb was dissatisfied with the drum tracks and wanted to bring in session drummer Jim Gordon to play and the band refused, sinking the deal.
In 1978 Brown left to concentrate on session work and was replaced by Cliff Woolley. However, the prime gigs were fewer and far between by this time and Yester left, leaving Bluechel as the only original member. Keyboardist Ric Ulsky stepped in at this point and the group had two keyboardists for a short time. Russ Levine (who had played with Bobby Womack, Donna Summer and Ultimate Spinach) also arrived to replace Miller on drums but the band then dissolved shortly afterwards, leaving Bluechel with a huge debt. To help clear away some of it, on November 1, 1978, he leased the group's name to another company who put a fake Association out on the road.
In 1979 the surviving key members: Terry Kirkman, Jules Alexander, Russ Giguere, Ted Bluechel, Jim Yester & Larry Ramos, along with Richard Thompson and new bassist Joe Lamanno, reunited at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles for an HBO special called Then and Now (Kirkman was working for HBO at the time) and a charity show hosted by Ed McMahon in Dallas called Ed McMahon and Company. This led, in the early '80s, to a few singles on Elektra Records (one of which, "Dreamer", made the Hot 100 with virtually no promotion) and more touring.
In 1980 the originals (with Ric Ulsky returning in place of Thompson and Alexander taking over the bass) went back on the road for a concert tour. With the genuine article back out touring, the bogus band was eventually put out of business.
Jim Yester left again in 1983 and the group added Keith Moret (bass, backing vocals) as Alexander went back to playing guitar. Moret stayed only briefly until Joe Lamanno returned in 1984. That same year the group was invited to appear on the Happy Together Again tour, a multi-bill of 60s acts produced by David Fishof, headlined by the Turtles, and also including Gary Puckett and Spanky McFarlane of Spanky & Our Gang. Gary's brother, Brian Puckett, played drums in the show for Gary and Spanky and likewise joined the Association for their set as well. But by the end of the year, there was a mass exodus as Kirkman, Bluechel, Ulsky, Lamanno, and Brian Puckett all departed.
In 1985 the band carried on as Alexander, Giguere, and Ramos recruited new members: Paul Beach (vocals, bass, who'd also played in the Happy Together Again show band), Bruce Pictor (vocals, drums, percussion) and Donni Gougeon (vocals, keyboards). Gougeon was briefly replaced in 1986 by Chris Urmston, but was back by the following year. Paul Holland took Gougeon's place in 1988 before moving over to bass in 1989 when Beach quit. Gougeon then rejoined for a ten-year stint from 1989–1999, succeeded by Bob Werner, who had been the band's light man and road manager in 1974-75 and fill-in member, as needed, from 1994 on. Jules Alexander turned in his notice in early 1989. Larry Ramos's brother Del, who was doing sound for the group, then began adding his voice to the mix from that point on. Eventually, he was promoted to full onstage membership as bassist for the group.
During the 1980s & 1990s the group's recorded output was minimal. They recorded a few new tracks and some covers of popular 60s songs for a few compilation albums on the Hitbound label made through Radio Shack's Tandy Corporation in the mid-80s, re-recorded some of their older material for another album, Vintage, for CBS in 1983 and put out another album full of cover tunes, The Association '95: A Little Bit More, in 1995. But most of what has been released from the 80s on have been various collections of their hits.
In September 2003, they were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, joined by former members Yester, Alexander, Kirkman and Bluechel at the induction ceremony at Cafaro Field, a Cleveland Indians Minor League Baseball Stadium in Niles, Ohio. Yester, Alexander, Kirkman, and Bluechel again rejoined the others for the taping of a PBS 60s rock music special 60s Experience on December 9, 2004 at Dover Downs Showroom in Dover, DE.
By 2010, the band included Russ Giguere, Larry Ramos, Jim Yester (who rejoined again in 2007 as Bob Werner departed after an eight year stint), Del Ramos, Bruce Pictor, and Jordan Cole (son of Brian) on keyboards, who joined in 1999. The Association continued to tour, mostly on bills with similar styled acts of the late 1960s, like The Grass Roots, The Buckinghams, Tommy James of Tommy James and the Shondells, and Gary Puckett. During the summer of 2011, The Association appeared in a heavy touring schedule throughout the U.S. as part of the "Happy Together: 2011" tour, along with The Grass Roots, Mark Lindsay, The Buckinghams, and The Turtles featuring Flo & Eddie.[3]
The Happy Together appearances featured only Yester, Giguere and Ramos, who were backed up by the Happy Together show band.[citation needed]
The following songs were certified as having sold over one million copies, and were each awarded a gold disc: "Cherish", "Windy", and "Never My Love".[4]
A-Side / B-Side Titles B-sides correspond to same album as A-sides except where indicated |
Label & No. | Year | Billboard | Cashbox | Album |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
"Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You" b/w "Baby, Can't You Hear Me Call Your Name" |
Jubilee 5505 | 1965 | - | - | Non-album tracks |
"One Too Many Mornings" b/w "Forty Times" |
Valiant 730 | 1965 | - | - | |
"Along Comes Mary" b/w "Your Own Love" |
Valiant 741 | 1966 | #7 | #9 | And Then...Along Comes The Association |
"Cherish" b/w "Don’t Blame It on Me" |
Valiant 747 | 1966 | #1 | #1 | |
"Pandora's Golden Heebie Jeebies" b/w "Standing Still" (from And Then...Along Comes The Association) |
Valiant 755 | 1966 | #35 | #26 | Renaissance |
"No Fair at All" b/w "Looking Glass" |
Valiant 758 | 1967 | #51 | #53 | |
"Windy" b/w "Sometime" |
Warner Bros. 7041 | 1967 | #1 | #1 | Insight Out |
"Never My Love" / "Requiem for the Masses" |
Warner Bros. 7074 | 1967 | #2 / #100 |
#1 | |
"Everything That Touches You" b/w "We Love Us" (from Insight Out) |
Warner Bros. 7163 | 1968 | #10 | #11 | Birthday |
"Time for Livin'" b/w "Birthday Morning" |
Warner Bros. 7195 | 1968 | #39 [#27-AC] | #22 | |
"Six Man Band" b/w "Like Always" (from Birthday) |
Warner Bros. 7229 | 1968 | #47 | #29 | Greatest Hits |
"Goodbye Columbus" b/w "The Time It is Today" (from Birthday) |
Warner Bros. 7267 | 1969 | #80 [#22-AC] | #78 | Goodbye Columbus soundtrack |
"Under Branches" b/w "Hear in Here" (from Birthday) |
Warner Bros. 7277 | 1969 | #117 | - | The Association |
"Yes, I Will" b/w "I Am Up For Europe" |
Warner Bros. 7305 | 1970 | #120 | - | |
"Dubuque Blues" b/w "Are You Ready" |
Warner Bros. 7349 | 1970 | - | #84 | |
"Just About the Same" b/w "Look At Me, Look At You" (from The Association) |
Warner Bros. 7372 | 1970 | #106 | #91 | Non-album track |
"Along the Way" b/w "Traveler’s Guide" |
Warner Bros. 7429 | 1970 | - | - | Stop Your Motor |
"P.F. Sloan" b/w "Traveler's Guide" |
Warner Bros. 7471 | 1971 | - | - | |
"Bring Yourself Home" b/w "It’s Gotta Be Real" |
Warner Bros. 7515 | 1971 | - | - | |
"That’s Racin’" b/w "Makes Me Cry" (non-album track) |
Warner Bros. 7524 | 1971 | - | - | |
"Darlin' Be Home Soon" b/w "Indian Wells Woman" |
Columbia 45602 | 1972 | #104 | #90 | Waterbeds In Trinidad! |
"Come the Fall" b/w "Kicking the Gong Around" |
Columbia 45654 | 1972 | - | - | |
"Names, Tags, Numbers and Labels" b/w "Rainbows Bent" |
Mums 6061 | 1973 | #91 [#27-AC] | #85 | Non-album tracks |
"One Sunday Morning" b/w "Life Is a Carnival" |
RCA 10217 | 1975 | - | - | |
"Dreamer" b/w "You Turn the Light On" |
Elektra 47094 | 1981 | #66 [#17-AC] | - | |
"Small Town Lovers" b/w "Across the Persian Gulf" |
Elektra 47146 | 1981 | - | - |
|
File:Jeannie.jpg|Jeannie on The cover of Her 1981 album Jeannie C. Riley's Greatest Hits
</gallery>
Jeannie C. Riley | |
---|---|
February 4, 1973 in the Lansing Civic Center (Lansing Michigan) February 4, 1973 in the Lansing Civic Center (Lansing Michigan) |
|
Background information | |
Birth name | Jeanne Carolyn Stephenson |
Born | Anson, Texas, United States | October 19, 1945
Origin | Anson, Texas |
Genres | Country music, gospel |
Occupations | Singer |
Years active | 1968–present |
Labels | Little Darlin Records Plantation Records Capitol Records MGM Records Mercury Records Warner Bros. Records MCA Records |
Associated acts | Connie Smith, Dottie West, Jeannie Seely |
Website | JeannieC.com |
Jeannie C. Riley (born Jeanne Carolyn Stephenson, October 19, 1945)[1] is an American country music and gospel singer. She is best known for her 1968 country and pop hit "Harper Valley PTA" (written by Tom T. Hall), which missed (by one week) becoming the Billboard Country and Pop number one hit at the same time.[2] In subsequent years, she had moderate chart success with country music, but never again duplicated the success of "Harper Valley PTA". She became a born-again Christian and began recording gospel music during the late 1970s.
Contents |
Riley was born in 1945 in Anson, Texas. As a teenager, she married Mickey Riley and gave birth to a daughter, Kim Michelle Riley on January 11, 1966.[1] Later, they moved to Nashville, Tennessee after receiving a letter from Weldon Myrick, who heard a demo tape of Jeannie's and believed she could be successful.[1] In Nashville, Riley worked as a secretary for Passkey Music while recording demos on the side.[3]
Riley's career was stagnant until former Mercury Records producer Shelby Singleton received a demo tape of Riley's voice. Singleton was starting and succeeding with his own label, Plantation Records, at the time. He worked with Riley in the recording of the Tom T. Hall demo song that Singleton saw potential in, "Harper Valley PTA."[3] The record quickly became one of the best-known country music songs of all time.
"Harper Valley PTA" was released in 1968. The song immediately became a hit for Riley and went to number one on both the Billboard Pop and Country charts,[2] a feat not repeated until 1981 when Dolly Parton released "9 to 5". The song is about a widowed woman by the name of Mrs. Johnson, who confronts a group of members of the PTA after her daughter brings home a note from school that's critical of her (Mrs. Johnson's) habits of wearing miniskirts, going out with men, and other behavior of which they do not approve. The climax of the song comes when Mrs. Johnson turns the tables on the PTA and exposes their hypocrisy, one member at a time.
Riley and the song became an overnight sensation, and the song earned her the Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and the Country Music Association 'Single of the Year' award. Riley also became one of the very few country artists ever nominated in the major pop Grammy categories of "Best New Artist" and "Record of the Year". Globally it sold over five and a half million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. just four weeks after the song's release. The album of the same name sold over one million units to gain a further gold disc for Riley.[4]
The song was a phenomenon which led to Riley making country music history in 1969 as the first female vocalist to have her own major network variety special Harper Valley U.S.A., which she hosted along with Jerry Reed.[citation needed] Then in 1978 a film and the 1981 Harper Valley PTA television show were made.
During the late 1960s and into the very early 1970s, Riley ranked among the most popular female vocalists in the country music industry. She had five Grammy Award nominations and four Country Music Association nominations, and performed a duet with Loretta Lynn.[5] She had success on the country charts again, but on a lesser scale.
Other hits following "Harper Valley PTA" include "The Girl Most Likely," "There Never Was A Time," "The Rib," "The Back Side of Dallas," "Country Girl," "Oh Singer," and "Good Enough to Be Your Wife."
Riley became known as much for her sex appeal and beauty as for her music, foreshadowing Shania Twain and other contemporary female vocalists by nearly three decades. At a time when many country queens were keeping a wholesome image by wearing gingham dresses, Riley kept in tune with typical late-60s fashion by donning miniskirts and go-go boots for her stage outfits. Her mod persona opened many doors (and perhaps started a sexual revolution) in country music, but Riley herself was not comfortable with her image, and she eventually abandoned it for a more conservative wardrobe. In the 1993 CBS documentary The Woman of Country, she noted that during the "Harper Valley" period, it was largely her publicist and manager who were responsible for creating and playing up her sexy image (replicating somewhat the look of the protagonist in the song).
Riley's great success brought a number of offers from Hollywood, and she appeared with Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Bette Davis, Tom Jones, Ed Sullivan and others on various television programs.[6]
Riley left Plantation Records for MGM Records in 1972, recording several albums, but only two of her singles from the period, "Good Morning Country Rain" and "Give Myself A Party," cracked the top 30. Later stints at Mercury Records and Warner Bros. Records produced only a couple of charted singles, but Riley remained highly in demand as a concert artist well into the 1980s.
In the 1970s, she became a Born Again Christian and began recording gospel music.[7] As result of her conversion, she distanced herself from the song for a time, due to its content. However, it was never removed from her live set and she still performs it. In 1980, she published her autobiography, From Harper Valley to the Mountain Top, which told her story of stardom in pop music to moving more into gospel music. The following year, she released a new gospel album with the same title.
In the 1990s, Riley was suffering from clinical depression after her split from Mickey and severing ties with a manager that left her broke.[7] She was bed-ridden for six years and was receiving disability payments as her weight expanded from a size 6 to a size 26.[7] After family intervention and subsequent treatment for her depression, Riley says "I've never been so happy in all my life. I've never had such peace of mind. I trust the Lord with everything."[7]
Year | Album | Chart Positions | RIAA | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
US Country | US | CAN | |||
1968 | Sock and Soul | — | — | — | — |
Harper Valley PTA | 1 | 12 | 5 | Gold | |
1969 | Yearbooks and Yesterdays | 9 | 187 | — | — |
Things Go Better with Love | 14 | 142 | — | — | |
1970 | Country Girl | 25 | — | — | — |
Generation Gap | 34 | — | — | — | |
1971 | The Girl Most Likely | — | — | — | — |
Greatest Hits | 22 | — | — | — | |
Jeannie | 34 | — | — | — | |
1972 | Give Myself a Party | — | — | — | — |
Down to Earth | 43 | — | — | — | |
The World of Country | — | — | — | — | |
1973 | When Love Has Gone Away | 40 | — | — | — |
Just Jeannie | — | — | — | — | |
1977 | From Nashville with Love | — | — | — | — |
1979 | Wings to Fly | — | — | — | — |
1981 | From Harper Valley to the Mountain Top | — | — | — | — |
1984 | Total Woman | — | — | — | — |
1986 | Jeannie C. Riley | — | — | — | — |
1991 | Here's Jeannie C. Riley | — | — | — | — |
1995 | Praise Him | — | — | — | — |
The Best | — | — | — | — | |
2000 | Good Ol' Country | — | — | — | — |
Year | Song | Chart Positions | Album | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US Country | US | CAN Country | CAN | |||
1968 | "Harper Valley PTA"A | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Harper Valley PTA |
"The Girl Most Likely" | 6 | 55 | 1 | 34 | Yearbooks and Yesterdays | |
1969 | "The Price I Pay to Stay" | 35 | — | 22 | — | Sock and Soul |
"There Never Was a Time" | 5 | 77 | 12 | 76 | Things Go Better With Love | |
"Rib" | 32 | 111 | — | — | ||
"The Back Side of Dallas" | 33 | — | — | — | ||
"Things Go Better With Love"B | 34 | 111 | 3 | — | ||
1970 | "Country Girl" | 7 | 106 | 16 | — | Generation Gap |
"Duty Not Desire" | 21 | — | 13 | — | ||
"My Man" | 60 | — | — | — | ||
"The Generation Gap"C | 62 | — | — | — | ||
1971 | "Oh Singer" | 4 | 74 | 5 | 62 | Jeannie |
"Good Enough to Be Your Wife" | 7 | 97 | 22 | 67 | ||
"Roses and Thorns" | 15 | — | 15 | — | ||
"The Lion's Club" | — | — | 36 | — | single only | |
"Houston Blues" | 47 | — | — | — | Give Myself a Party | |
1972 | "Give Myself a Party" | 12 | — | 37 | — | |
"Good Morning Country Rain" | 30 | — | — | — | ||
"One Night" | 57 | — | — | — | Down on Earth | |
1973 | "When Love Has Gone Away" | 44 | — | — | — | When Love Has Gone Away |
"Hush" | 51 | — | — | — | Just Jeannie | |
"Another Football Year" | 57 | — | — | — | single only | |
1974 | "Missouri" | — | — | — | — | Just Jeannie |
"Plain Vanilla" (with The Red River Symphony) | 89 | — | — | — | singles only | |
1976 | "The Best I've Ever Had" | 94 | — | — | — | |
"Pure Gold" | — | — | — | — | ||
1977 | "Reach for Me" | — | — | — | — | |
1979 | "It's Wings That Make Birds Fly" | — | — | — | — | Wings to Fly |
1982 | "From Harper Valley to the Mountain Top" | — | — | — | — | From Harper Valley to the Mountain Top |
1984 | "Return to Harper Valley" | — | — | — | — | Total Woman |
Year | Award Program | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1968 | Grammy Awards | Record of the Year, "Harper Valley PTA" | Nominated |
Best New Artist | Nominated | ||
Best Female Country Vocal Performance "Harper Valley PTA" | Won | ||
CMA Awards | Single of the Year, "Harper Valley PTA" | Won | |
Album of the Year, "Harper Valley PTA" | Nominated | ||
Female Vocalist of the Year | Nominated | ||
1969 | Grammy Awards | Best Female Country Vocal Performance, "The Back Side of Dallas" | Nominated |
CMA Awards | "Female Vocalist of the Year" | Nominated |