Vern Gosdin: Difference between revisions
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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* [http://www.verngosdinthevoice.com/ True Life Stories About "The Voice" Vern Gosdin] |
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* [http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/gosdin_vern/artist.jhtml CMT.com: Vern Gosdin] |
* [http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/gosdin_vern/artist.jhtml CMT.com: Vern Gosdin] |
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* [http://www.thevoiceofcountrymusic.com/ Vern Gosdin official website] |
* [http://www.thevoiceofcountrymusic.com/ Vern Gosdin official website] |
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Revision as of 21:58, 4 May 2009
 | This article is currently being heavily edited because its subject has recently died. Information about their death and related events may change significantly and initial news reports may be unreliable. The most recent updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. |
Vern Gosdin |
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Vern Gosdin (August 5, 1934 – April 28, 2009) was an American country music singer. He idolized The Louvin Brothers and The Blue Sky Boys as a young man and sang in a gospel quartet called The Gosdin Brothers. An inheritor of the soulful honky tonk style of Lefty Frizzell and Merle Haggard, Gosdin was nicknamed "The Voice" by his peers. He had 19 top-ten solo hits on the Country music charts from the late 1970's through the early 1990's. Three of these hits went to number one: "I Can Tell By The Way You Dance (You're Gonna Love Me Tonight)", "Set 'em Up Joe" and "I'm Still Crazy".[1]
Career
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion with: More biographical info, details on each album, critical reception. You can help by adding to it. (April 2009) |
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As the sixth child in a family of nine[2], Vern Gosdin began singing in a church in Woodland, Ala., where his mother played piano. Vern and two brothers sang gospel on radio station WVOK.[2]. Vern later moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he ran the D&G Tap.
In 1961, he moved to California, where he joined the West Coast Country music movement, first as a member of the Golden State Boys, which became the Hillmen, and included Chris Hillman.[2] Vern then formed The Gosdin Brothers with brother Rex. The duo hit the charts in the late '60s with "Hangin' On" on the Bakersfield International label, then with "Till The End" on Capitol Records.
He retired from performing during the 1970s and moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where he operated a glass company.[2] In 1976, he signed with Elektra Records and his first hit was a remake of "Hangin' On", which featured Emmylou Harris on harmony vocals and peaked at #16. His next single, "Yesterday's Gone", which also featured Harris, became his first Top 10 hit in 1977. Several more hits followed between 1977 and 1979 with the biggest of these hits being a remake of "Till the End" and a cover of The Association's "Never My Love" which also featured harmony vocals from Janie Frickie.
In 1981, Vern signed with Ovation Records and scored a Top 10 hit with "Dream of Me". After Ovation Records closed their doors later in 1981, Vern signed with AMI Records where he scored a Top 10 hit in 1982 with "Today My World Slipped Away". (This song later became a number-three hit for George Strait).
He signed with Compleat Records in the early '80s, and in 1984 released "There Is A Season," picked by the Los Angeles Times as best country album of the year.
He made the top 10 consistently in the early '80s, really hitting his stride when he teamed with Max D. Barnes as a songwriting collaborator. The pair specialized in songs of cheating and barroom romance, often delivering an over-the-top emotionalism that got Gosdin compared to the ultimate legend of honky tonk vocals -- George Jones. In 1983, Gosdin had two top 5 hits — "If You're Gonna Do Me Wrong (Do It Right)" and "Way Down Deep." The following year, he had his first No. 1 single with "I Can Tell by the Way You Dance (You're Gonna Love Me Tonight)",[1] which had previously been recorded by Gary Morris.[2]
After Compleat Records went bankrupt, Gosdin signed with Columbia in 1987. He had success right off the bat with "Do You Believe Me Now." He hit No. 1 once again with a tribute to Ernest Tubb called "Set 'Em Up Joe."[1] Gosdin's "Chiseled in Stone," co-written with Barnes, won the Country Music Association's Song of the Year award in 1989.
His 1989 album Alone was a concept album in a traditional country style. It chronicled the dissolution of Gosdin's marriage and included his final number-one hit: "I'm Still Crazy".[1] From 1989-1991, he released a number of songs and three more made the Billboard top 10: "Right in the Wrong Direction," "That Just About Does It" and "Is It Raining at Your House." "Raining" has been covered by Brad Paisley.
In 2008, Gosdin released "40 Years of the Voice," a four-CD career retrospective. The boxed set on VGM Records features 101 songs, including 14 previously unreleased tracks recorded 35 years ago. The collection also offers 11 newly recorded songs, as well as hits such as "Chiseled in Stone," "Set 'Em Up Joe," "Today My World Slipped Away" and "I Can Tell by the Way You Dance".
Death
Gosdin, who suffered a stroke at the start of April 2009, died peacefully in his sleep at a Nashville hospital the evening of April 28, 2009 at the age of 74.[3]
Discography
Albums
| Year | Album | US Country | RIAA | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Sounds of Goodbye (The Gosdin Brothers) | 39 | Capitol | |
| 1977 | Till the End | 10 | Elektra | |
| 1978 | Never My Love | 24 | ||
| 1979 | You've Got Somebody | |||
| The Best of Vern Gosdin | ||||
| 1982 | Today My World Slipped Away | 30 | A&M | |
| 1983 | If You're Gonna Do Me Wrong (Do It Right) | 17 | Compleat | |
| 1984 | There Is a Season | 17 | ||
| 1985 | Time Stood Still | 31 | ||
| 1986 | Greatest Hits | 48 | ||
| 1988 | Chiseled in Stone | 7 | Gold | Columbia |
| 1989 | Alone | 11 | ||
| 1990 | 10 Years of Hits - Newly Recorded | 21 | Gold | |
| 1991 | Out of My Heart | 41 | ||
| 1993 | Nickles, Dimes and Love | |||
| 2008 | 40 Years of The Voice - Box Set | VGM/Tangent |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | CAN Country | |||
| 1967 | "Hangin' On" (The Gosdin Brothers) | 37 | — | Single only |
| 1976 | "Hangin' On" (with Emmylou Harris) | 16 | 15 | Till the End |
| 1977 | "Yesterday's Gone" (with Emmylou Harris) | 9 | 11 | |
| "Till the End" | 7 | 37 | ||
| "Mother Country Music" | 17 | 27 | ||
| 1978 | "It Started All Over Again" | 23 | — | |
| "Never My Love" | 9 | 30 | Never My Love | |
| "Break My Mind" | 13 | 17 | ||
| 1979 | "You've Got Somebody, I've Got Somebody" | 16 | 27 | You've Got Somebody |
| "All I Want and Need Forever" | 21 | 52 | ||
| "Sarah's Eyes" | 57 | — | ||
| 1981 | "Too Long Gone" | 28 | — | Today My World Slipped Away |
| "Dream of Me" | 7 | — | ||
| 1982 | "Don't Ever Leave Me Again" | 28 | — | |
| "Your Bedroom Eyes" | 22 | — | ||
| "Today My World Slipped Away" | 10 | — | ||
| 1983 | "If You're Gonna Do Me Wrong (Do It Right)" | 5 | 39 | If You're Gonna Do Me Wrong (Do It Right) |
| "Friday Night Feelin'" | 49 | — | Single only | |
| "Way Down Deep" | 5 | 3 | If You're Gonna Do Me Wrong (Do It Right) | |
| "I Wonder Where We'd Be Tonight" | 10 | 10 | ||
| 1984 | "I Can Tell By the Way You Dance (You're Gonna Love Me Tonight)" |
1 | 1 | There Is a Season |
| "What Would Your Memories Do" | 10 | 9 | ||
| "Slow Burning Memory" | 10 | 7 | ||
| 1985 | "Dim Lights, Thick Smoke (And Loud, Loud Music)" | 20 | 16 | Time Stood Still |
| "I Know the Way to Love You by Heart" | 35 | 27 | ||
| 1986 | "It's Only Love Again" | 68 | — | |
| "Was It Just the Wine" | 61 | — | ||
| "Time Stood Still" | 51 | — | ||
| 1987 | "Do You Believe Me Now" | 4 | 13 | Chiseled in Stone |
| 1988 | "Set 'Em Up Joe" | 1 | 2 | |
| "Chiseled in Stone" | 6 | * | ||
| 1989 | "Who You Gonna Blame It on This Time" | 2 | * | |
| "I'm Still Crazy" | 1 | 1 | Alone | |
| "That Just About Does It" | 4 | 3 | ||
| 1990 | "Right in the Wrong Direction" | 10 | 6 | |
| "Tanqueray" | 75 | 65 | ||
| "This Ain't My First Rodeo" | 14 | 19 | 10 Years of Hits - Newly Recorded | |
| "Is It Raining at Your House" | 10 | 8 | ||
| 1991 | "I Knew My Day Would Come" | 64 | — | Out of My Heart |
| "The Garden" | 51 | — | ||
| "A Month of Sundays" | 54 | 71 | ||
| 1993 | "Back When" | 67 | — | Nickels, Dimes and Love |
References
- Hines, Geoffrey (1998). "Vern Gosdin". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 206–7.