Larry Wayne Gatlin (born May 2, 1948) is an American country music singer/songwriter. He is perhaps best known for teaming up with his brothers Steve and Rudy in the late 1970s, becoming one of country music's most successful acts of the 1970s and 1980s. Gatlin has had a total of 33 Top 40 singles (combining his solo recordings and those with his brothers). As their fame grew, the band became known as Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers.
Their popularity lasted throughout much of the 1980s. Their biggest hits together include, "Broken Lady", "All the Gold in California", "Houston (Means I'm One Day Closer to You)", "She Used to Be Somebody's Baby", and "Talkin' to the Moon". Larry Gatlin is known for his rich tenor voice and for the string of pop-inflected hit songs he wrote and recorded throughout the 1970s and 80s.
During this time, country music trended heavily towards polished pop music arrangements in a style that came to be known as Countrypolitan. Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers came to prominence and enjoyed their greatest success during this period with hit singles that showcased the brothers' powerful three-part harmonies and Larry's evocative falsetto voice.
| Larry Gatlin | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Larry Wayne Gatlin |
| Born | May 2, 1948 Seminole, Texas, United States |
| Genres | Country, countrypolitan |
| Occupations | Singer, songwriter, actor |
| Years active | 1973–present |
| Labels | Monument, Columbia, Universal, Capitol, Curb |
| Associated acts | The Imperials, Dottie West, Kris Kristofferson, Janie Fricke, Kenny Rogers |
| Website | Larry Gatlin & Gatlin Brothers Official Site |
Biography
Larry Gatlin was born in Seminole, Texas. He was raised listening to country and gospel music. Even since childhood, he and his brothers, Steve and Rudy have always sung and performed together. When they were younger, they often sang in their local church. They sometimes performed on local radio stations, and occasionally on television shows.They also recorded a gospel music album for the Gospel label Sword and Shield. The brothers even managed to beat out the legendary Roy Orbison in a local talent contest around this same time. After graduating from Odessa High School in 1966, Gatlin attended college at the University of Houston. A wide receiver on the football team, he caught a touchdown pass in a game in which the University of Houston scored 100 points.
He later auditioned for, and joined the gospel music group, the Imperials.[1][2] The Imperials went on to perform in Las Vegas, Nevada in January 1971 at Jimmy Dean's Las Vegas Revue. While walking through the showroom, he caught legendary country singer Dottie West's attention when she thought he looked like Mickey Newbury.
West soon met Gatlin and was impressed with his songwriting skills. She was so impressed, in fact, that she recorded two of Gatlin's compositions, "You're the Other Half of Me" and "Once You Were Mine." West also passed one of Gatlin's demo tapes around Nashville, Tennessee, and even arranged for him to relocate there, purchasing a plane ticket for him—a story he related on the 11/12/09 episode of "Larry's Country Diner" on RFD-TV. West later recorded other compositions by Gatlin that would later become hits for him, including "Broken Lady", which was put on West's 1978 album, Dottie.
Work as a solo artist
With West's help, Gatlin found work in Nashville as a background singer for Kris Kristofferson. In 1973, Gatlin finally landed a solo recording contract with Monument Records.In 1973, Gatlin released his first album, The Pilgrim. Two singles were released from the album: "Sweet Becky Walker" and "Bitter They Are, Harder They Fall"; however, both singles failed. One stand-out composition called "Bitter They Are" was eventually recorded by Elvis Presley (who also later recorded Gatlin's Help Me). In 1974 came the release of a new album (Rain/Rainbow) and a new song ("Delta Dirt"). The album and single proved more successful.
"Delta Dirt" was a Top 20 Country hit, peaking at No. 14. The song was also Gatlin's only entry on the Pop charts, when it reached No. 84. In 1975, Gatlin had his first major hit with his composition, "Broken Lady", which reached No. 5 on the Hot Country Songs chart in 1976. The song was so successful that Gatlin won a Grammy award for the song in 1977 for Best Country Song. A new album, High Time, was released in 1976.
Brothers Steve and Rudy made their first appearance on Larry's 1976 album Larry Gatlin with Family & Friends. They were featured on some of Gatlin's other hits he had during the late 1970s, notably "I Don't Wanna Cry", "Love Is Just a Game", and "Statues Without Hearts". In 1978, Gatlin gained his first number one hit with "I Just Wish You Were Someone I Love." Gatlin continued his music success as a solo act up until 1978, when he released his last solo album, Oh Brother, which featured the top 10 hits "I've Done Enough Dyin' Today" and "Night Time Magic", the latter of which also made an entry into the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.
Both songs spotlighted Gatlin's soaring falsetto that became a trademark of his vocal style. Soon it became quite obvious that his brothers wanted to become country performers as well, and Gatlin decided to have his brothers as part of his band.
The Gatlin Brothers
In 1979, when Gatlin signed with Columbia Records, he decided to officially have his brothers billed on his singles and on his albums. That year, their name was officially "Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers". In October, they released the album, Straight Ahead. It spawned the classic single "All the Gold in California", which became their biggest hit together, taking the No. 1 spot on the Hot Country Songs list.This was Larry Gatlin's second number one hit, and led to his being awarded "Top Male Vocalist of the Year" by the Academy of Country Music that year. On June 06, 1980, Straight Ahead was certified gold.
The group's next big hit came in early 1980, with "Take Me To Your Lovin' Place", which peaked at No. 5 in 1981; they followed up with "What Are We Doin' Lonesome", which peaked at No. 4 later in the year.
They continued their hit success, garnering top 10 and top 20 hits, with "In Like With Each Other" (1982), "She Used to Sing on Sunday" (1982), "Sure Feels Like Love" (1982), "Almost Called Her Baby By Mistake" (1983), and "Denver" (1984). In 1983, the group had their third (and last) No. 1 hit, "Houston (Means I'm One Day Closer to You)".
On January 19, 1985, the Gatlin Brothers sang "All the Gold in California" at the nationally-televised 50th Inaugural Gala, the day before the second inauguration of Ronald Reagan. Even though the group never achieved another No. 1 hit, they had hits that came close, like the jaunty release in 1986, "She Used to Be Somebody's Baby" (which peaked at No. 2), as well as 1987's "Talkin' to the Moon", and 1988's "Love of a Lifetime" (both of which peaked at No. 4).
The Gatlin Brothers were also one of the first country groups to have music videos, like 1984's "The Lady Takes the Cowboy Everytime". In 1985, Gatlin wrote the song "Indian Summer" with Barry Gibb, which he recorded as a duet with Roy Orbison. In 1989, the Gatlin Brothers sang National Anthem before game three of the 1989 World Series, played at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California.
Later work
When the "Neotraditional country" singers entered Nashville in 1986 with singers like Dwight Yoakam and Randy Travis pushing Gatlin and other Country-Pop-styled vocalists off the Top 10 list, Gatlin's chart success declined greatly. He had a duet recording in 1987 with another Country-Pop styled vocalist, Janie Fricke.[3]However, their duet only reached No. 21. He briefly signed with Universal Records in 1989, where he recorded his last singles. His last charted single came in 1989, called "Number One Heartache Place". Gatlin underwent surgery on his vocal cords in 1991 after the years of wear and tear on his voice. In concert, he had begun to struggle with the high falsetto notes that were featured prominently in most of his songs. After recovery, Gatlin worked briefly with an opera coach and his vocals took on a powerful operatic style in the early 1990s.
After more than a decade of singing together, in December 1992, the Gatlin Brothers embarked on a farewell tour before retiring to their own theater in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Larry Gatlin went on to star in the Broadway production of The Will Rogers Follies. In 1994, Gatlin and his brothers opened a 2,000-seat theater in Myrtle Beach. In 1995, he played himself in the TV-movie about Dottie West's life, Big Dreams & Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story. West had died four years before in a major car accident.
Larry Gatlin co-wrote with celebrity biographer Jeff Lenburg a memoir called All the Gold in California that was published in 1998. In 1999 Larry toured and entertained troops of the 1st CAV division in Bosnia.
Since 2010, Larry Gatlin has contributed to Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network as a political and social commentator. In the summer of 2010, Gatlin acted as substitute host for Don Imus on Imus in the Morning [4] and Fox Across America with Spencer Hughes on March 16, 2011.
Source: Wikipedia
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