Earl Thomas Conley
Earl Thomas Conley | |
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Warner Bros., Sunbird, RCA |
Earl Thomas Conley (October 17, 1941 – April 10, 2019)[1] was an American country music singer-songwriter. Between 1980 and 2003, he recorded ten studio albums, including seven for RCA Records. In the 1980s and into the 1990s, Conley also charted more than 30 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, of which 18 reached Number One. His 18 Billboard Number One country singles during the 1980s were the third most by any artist in any genre during that decade, after Alabama and Ronnie Milsap.[1]
Biography
Early life
Conley was born October 17, 1941, in
Career
In his early days before fame, Conley worked in a steel mill near Portsmouth, Ohio. Until one day he made the bold decision to pack up and move to Nashville. Feeling that he wasn't making any progress in Nashville, Conley moved to Huntsville, Alabama. There, he met record producer Nelson Larkin, who helped him sign with independent record label GRT in 1974. Conley released four singles on that label, none of which became hits. At the same time, he was selling songs that he had written to other artists, including Conway Twitty and Mel Street, who were having much success with them.[3]
Conley returned to Nashville, now writing for Nelson Larkin's publishing house. In 1979, he signed a recording contract with
Later years
By the end of the 1980s, Conley began collaborating with Randy Scruggs, son of banjo virtuoso Earl Scruggs, in the hope that he could bring his music back to his country roots. His record sales began to drop in the 1990s, as country took a more progressive turn, and Conley was dropped from his record label in 1992. He took a seven-year recording hiatus between 1991 and 1997 due to a number of factors, including vocal problems, disenchantment with record label politics, road fatigue, and mental burnout.[2] He began recording again in 1998.[3] In late 2013, Conley gave a telephone interview with Pods o' Pop. Conley recalled that he may have been the only country artist to have appeared on the Soul Train television program (he performed his duet with Pointer) and went into detail about the string of hits Randy Scruggs and he co-wrote.[5][6]
In 2002, Blake Shelton charted in the Top 20 with "All Over Me", which Conley co-wrote with Shelton and longtime friend, songwriter Michael Pyle.
Death
Conley died on April 10, 2019, from cerebral atrophy.[7][8]
Discography
References
- ^ a b Wood, Gerry. (1998). "Earl Thomas Conley". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 108.
- ^ a b Dennis, Paul W. (August 1, 2009). "Forgotten Artists: Earl Thomas Conley". Engine 145. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
- ^ Allmusic. Retrieved September 8, 2010.
- ^ "Jean Carne/Glenn Jones", Soul Train, Tribune Broadcasting, October 20, 1986
- ^ Thibodeaux, Tracy (December 2, 2013). "Pods o' Pop-Earl Thomas Conley-Part 1". Interview. Pods o' Pop. Archived from the original on December 22, 2013. Retrieved December 21, 2013.
- ^ Thibodeaux, Tracy (December 2, 2013). "Pods o' Pop-Earl Thomas Conley-Part 2". Interview. Pods o' Pop. Archived from the original on December 22, 2013. Retrieved December 21, 2013.
- ^ Farrell, Paul (April 10, 2019). "Earl Thomas Conley Dead: Country Legend Dies at 77". Heavy.com. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
- ^ Friskics-Warren, Bill (April 11, 2019). "Earl Thomas Conley, Country Star of the 1980s, Is Dead At 77". nytimes.com. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
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