Orin Glenn Troutman, 24 October 1934, Joplin, Missouri, USA. From 1948 Glenn was raised in San Dimas, California, and began performing music professionally from the end of 1952. This early music making was as a country singer and guitarist and he met and played with another guitarist, Gary Lambert, the pair naming themselves the Missouri Mountain Boys. They made a few records and appeared on local television on a show with Porter Wagoner, a relative by marriage, and were also supporting act for some country stars. Then, after seeing Elvis Presley live at San Diego, in April 1956, Troutman switched direction and began singing and playing rockabilly, changing his name along the way to Glen Trout. Eventually signing a contract with Era Records, he made records such as ‘Everybody’s Movin’’ (his own composition), and ‘Blue Jeans And A Boy’s Shirt’, accompanied by Lambert and Wynn Steward (guitar), Conrad ‘Guybo’ Smith (bass), and Joe O’Dell (drums). His name was again changed, this time by the record company, and Glen Glenn was ready to rock ‘n’ roll. Unfortunately, soon after the session he and Lambert were drafted and although Glenn was offered an appearance on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand, this was overridden by his military duties. By late 1959, when he was back in civilian life, Glenn had been forgotten. He tried a few more tours, made a record or two, but, married from 1961, decided to settle down.
It was not until the 80s that Glenn began putting his career back on track. In the intervening two decades, he worked in the stores of General Dynamics, imagining that any musical ambitions were long dead. Instead, the 80s saw not only a revival of interest in rockabilly in general but in Glenn in particular, an interest that was generated by the release of a UK album of his handful of 50s singles. He began appearing in public, performing concerts in Europe and the UK, working the same stages as Brian Setzer’s Stray Cats and playing as opening act for Bob Dylan, and found that not only did he have an audience who remembered him from the past but also a new audience fastening onto the music owing to retro acts that were reviving the music. In 2003 Glenn appeared at the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in Memphis, Tennessee.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.
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Orin Glenn Troutman, 24 October 1934, Joplin, Missouri, USA. From 1948 Glenn was raised in San Dimas, California, and began performing music professionally from the end of 1952. This early music making was as a country singer and guitarist and he met and played with another guitarist, Gary Lambert, the pair naming themselves the Missouri Mountain Boys. They made a few records and appeared on local television on a show with Porter Wagoner, a relative by marriage, and were also supporting act for some country stars. Then, after seeing Elvis Presley live at San Diego, in April 1956, Troutman switched direction and began singing and playing rockabilly, changing his name along the way to Glen Trout. Eventually signing a contract with Era Records, he made records such as ‘Everybody’s Movin’’ (his own composition), and ‘Blue Jeans And A Boy’s Shirt’, accompanied by Lambert and Wynn Steward (guitar), Conrad ‘Guybo’ Smith (bass), and Joe O’Dell (drums). His name was again changed, this time by the record company, and Glen Glenn was ready to rock ‘n’ roll. Unfortunately, soon after the session he and Lambert were drafted and although Glenn was offered an appearance on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand, this was overridden by his military duties. By late 1959, when he was back in civilian life, Glenn had been forgotten. He tried a few more tours, made a record or two, but, married from 1961, decided to settle down.