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William Harold Dean Jnr., 2 April 1962, Quincy, Florida, USA. Dean was raised in a farming community and played in his father’s part-time country band. He accumulated many influences, including James Taylor and Dan Fogelberg, and he sang ‘My Way’ at his graduation ceremony. He won the Wrangler Star Search competition and settled in Nashville where he was given
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25 December 1954, Noblesville, Indiana, USA. Wariner played in his father’s country group from the age of 10. One night he had a residency at a club near Indianapolis and the starring attraction, Dottie West, went on stage to harmonize with him. He then played bass for West and after that, for Bob Luman. Luman recorded several of Wariner’s songs, while Wariner revi
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Ronnie Lee Millsaps, 16 January 1943, Robbinsville, North Carolina, USA. Milsap’s mother had already experienced a stillbirth and the prospect of raising a blind child made her mentally unstable. Milsap’s father took him to live with his grandparents and divorced his mother. What little vision young Ronnie had was lost after receiving a vicious punch from a schoolm
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Country duo comprising Homer Howard Bellamy (2 February 1946, Darby, Florida, USA) and David Milton Bellamy (b. 16 September 1950, Darby, Florida, USA). The Bellamy Brothers became one of the top country acts of the 80s and 90s after beginning their career in pop and soul. The brothers’ father played bluegrass music but David Bellamy’s first professional job was as
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6 September 1942, Checotah, Oklahoma, USA. McDaniel began working in bands around Tulsa - first on trumpet, then on guitar - and J.J. Cale wrote and produced his first single, ‘Lazy Me’. He moved to Nashville in 1969, and after two years of knocking on doors, his brother found him steady work at a club in Anchorage, Alaska. In the mid-70s, he began recording demos
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4 February 1962, Long Branch, New Jersey, USA. Black was born in New Jersey when his father was working there, but the family soon headed back to their home of Houston, Texas. Black was playing the harmonica at the age of 13 and the guitar at 15. He spent several years playing country music in Houston clubs, and his career took off when he met local musician Hayden Nicholas.
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Comprising John Dittrich (7 April 1951, Union, New Jersey, USA; drums, vocals), Paul Gregg (b. 3 December 1954, Altus, Oklahoma, USA; bass, vocals), Dave Innis (b. 9 April 1959, Bartlesville, Oklahoma, USA; keyboards, vocals), Greg Jennings (b. 2 October 1954, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; guitar, vocals), Larry Stewart (b 2 March 1959, Paducah, Kentucky, USA; lead vocals, g
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Harold Lloyd Jenkins, 1 September 1933, Friars Point, Mississippi, USA, d. 5 June 1993, Springfield, Missouri, USA. His father, a riverboat pilot, named him after a silent-film comedian and gave him a guitar when he was five years old. The family moved to Helena, Arkansas, and Twitty’s schoolboy friends - Jack Nance, Joe E. Lewis and John Hughey - have since played in h
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Statistically the biggest US country rock act of the 80s and 90s, Alabama’s origins can be traced back to Fort Payne in northern Alabama. The band was originally formed in 1969 as Young Country by cousins Randy Owen (14 December 1949, Fort Payne, Alabama, USA; vocals/guitar) and Teddy Gentry (b. 22 January 1952, Fort Payne, Alabama, USA; bass/vocals), with Jeff Cook (b.
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17 December 1966, Beaumont, Texas, USA. Neo-traditionalist country singer Byrd paid $8 to sing Hank Williams’ ‘Your Cheatin’ Heart’ over a pre-recorded backing track in a shopping mall. The store manageress was so impressed by Byrd’s voice that she booked him for a talent show. On that show he sang ‘Weary Blues’ and ‘Folsom Prison Blue
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3 July 1958, Pensacola, Florida, USA. Tippin was raised in South Carolina and was granted a pilot’s licence when he was 15. At that time he wanted to be an airline pilot but circumstances changed when he lost his job in the aircraft industry and his marriage broke up, and when he was 28 Tippin found himself working in Nashville as a songwriter. Charley Pride recorded &#
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Country pop outfit formed in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada by school friends Brad Mates (Bradley Mates, 21 July 1978, Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada; vocals/guitar), Pat Allingham (b. 9 July 1978, Ill-A-La-Cross, Saskatchewan, Canada; fiddle), and Chris Hartman (b. 2 January 1978, Grand Prairie, Alberta, Canada; keyboards). Originally called 12 Gauge, the trio added Jeff
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Floyd Collin Wray, 22 August 1959, DeQueen, Arkansas, USA. Country rock and ballad performer Raye was raised in Texas, where his mother often opened shows for visiting star performers. For many years he and his brother Scott worked in Oregon and then in casinos in Las Vegas and Reno, but their contract to record for Warner Brothers Records as the Wray Brothers and as the Wra
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Edward Thomas Rabbitt, 27 November 1941, Brooklyn, New York City, USA, d. 7 May 1998, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Rabbitt, whose name is Gaelic, was raised in East Orange, New Jersey. His father, Thomas Rabbitt, a refrigeration engineer, played fiddle and accordion and is featured alongside his son on the 1978 track ‘Song Of Ireland’. On a scouting holiday, Rabbitt
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