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Gary Nicholson (singer)

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Gary Nicholson
BornGarland, Texas, United States[1]
OriginNashville, Tennessee, United States
GenresCountry
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter
Record producer
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar
Years active1970s-present

Gary Nicholson is a number one hit songwriter, two time Grammy winning producer, recording artist, world traveling performer, and session guitarist.[2]

Nicholson's songs have been recorded by Reba McEntire, the Dixie Chicks, George Jones, Montgomery Gentry, Garth Brooks, the Mavericks, Emmylou Harris, Ringo Starr, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, Billy Ray Cyrus, Waylon Jennings, Patty Loveless, Tanya Tucker, Conway Twitty, Suzy Bogguss, Keith Whitley, and many more. He has also worked in other popular music fields ranging from pop to R&B and blues, his clients including Dave Edmunds, John Mayall, Neil Diamond and B.B. King.[3]

In addition to his Grammy winning records with Delbert McClinton, who has recorded over fifty of his songs, he has produced records for The Judds, Wynonna, Pam Tillis, Billy Joe Shaver, T Graham Brown, Chris Knight, Taylor Hicks, Seth Walker and others.[2]

His work has been included in many major motion pictures and television, the song “Falling and Flying “ is featured in the Oscar winning film “Crazy Heart” performed by Jeff Bridges.[2]

In 2006 he was nominated to the Nashville Songwriter’s Hall of Fame and in 2011 he was inducted into the Texas Songwriter’s Hall of Fame.[2]

Biography

Nicholson grew up in Garland, Texas in the mid 1950's. He took up the guitar and started playing folk and country music, making his public debut in his school’s eighth grade talent show and winning it. Then along came the Ventures and Nicholson took up electric guitar. As a teen he played in British Invasion-inspired bands as the Valiants, the Catalinas and the Untouchables.[4] While studying at North Texas State University in nearby Denton, Nicholson fell in with such other musical students as soon-to-be Eagle Don Henley and pianist/producer/arranger Jim Ed Norman, later president of the Warner Bros. Nashville label. Nicholson worked at night in club bands, and was also recruited to tour with the Nazz after Todd Rundgren left the group. Following a night in 1970 hanging out with Gram Parsons, Nicholson left college and, urged on by Parsons, moved with his band to Los Angeles.[5]

When Gram Parsons traveled through Texas, he befriended Nicholson, leading to a small publishing deal in Los Angeles. Nicholson continued writing for his own band, in a vein he described as 'pre-Eagles country rock.' [6] Nicholson worked as a guitarist in Delbert McClinton’s band throughout the rest of the 1970s. He also started a group called Hot Sauce that melded country-rock and blues and were sometimes joined by his guitar hero Freddie King at their weekly Sunday residency at Mother Blues in Dallas.[7] Nicholson's breakthrough came in 1980 when Mickey Gilley sang his song 'Jukebox Argument' in the movie Urban Cowboy.[8] Jim Ed Norman then invited him to relocate to Nashville to write for his publishing company in 1980. [9]

Nicholson relocated to Nashville, Tennessee in 1980.[10] During this period he continued picking up gigs as a hired guitar, playing for such artists as Billy Joe Shaver and Guy Clark.

In 1983 Nicholson signed a publishing contract with Tree Publishing (now Sony/ATV Music Publishing).[11][12] He achieved his first number 1 hit in 1984 with the song "That's the Thing About Love", recorded by Don Williams. Dozens more country hits followed including "One More Last Chance" by Vince Gill, "The Trouble With The Truth" by Patty Loveless, "She Couldn't Change Me" by Montgomery Gentry, and "When Love Get's A Hold Of You" by Reba McEntire.[13]

His songs have been heard in the movies Crazy Heart, Major League, City of Hope, Message in a Bottle and Where the Heart Is.[14]

Nicholson was nominated to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2006 and inducted into Texas Heritage Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2011. He has also won several ASCAP songwriting awards.[15]

Songwriting Discography

For further information on songs recorded: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Songs_written_by_Gary_Nicholson

For full discography: http://www.garynicholson.com/songwriting-discography/

There are over five hundred recordings of his songs in various genres including country, rock, blues, folk, bluegrass, and pop by such diverse artists as BB King, Garth Brooks, Bonnie Raitt, George Strait, Fleetwood Mac, Willie Nelson, Vince Gill, Etta James, John Prine, Dixie Chicks, Don Williams, Stevie Nicks, Buddy Guy, Emmylou Harris, Keb Mo, Ringo Starr, George Jones, The Neville Brothers, Reba McEntire, Robert Plant, Waylon Jennings, Patty Loveless, Kenny Chesney, Guy Clark and the list goes on.[16]

Discography

Year Album Label
1971 Uncle Jim's Music - Uncle Jim Kapp
1972 Uncle Jim's Music - There's A Song In This Kapp
2000 Gary Nicholson - The Sky Is The Limit Gary Nicholson
2000 Fortunate Sons - Fortunate Sons Fortune
2008 Whitey Johnson - Whitey Johnson Palo Duro
2010 Gary Nicholson - Nashville Songbook Fearless Recordings
2011 Gary Nicholson - Texas Songbook[17] Bismeaux Productions

References

  1. ^ "Gary Nicholson | The Sky Is Not The Limit | CD Baby Music Store". Cdbaby.com. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  2. ^ a b c d [1]
  3. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/artist/gary-nicholson-mn0000153133/biography. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ^ http://nodepression.com/article/gary-nicholsons-new-album-texas-songbook-pays-homage-home-state-bimeaux-records. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ^ http://nodepression.com/article/gary-nicholsons-new-album-texas-songbook-pays-homage-home-state-bimeaux-records. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/artist/gary-nicholson-mn0000153133/biography
  7. ^ http://nodepression.com/article/gary-nicholsons-new-album-texas-songbook-pays-homage-home-state-bimeaux-records. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/artist/gary-nicholson-mn0000153133/biography
  9. ^ http://nodepression.com/article/gary-nicholsons-new-album-texas-songbook-pays-homage-home-state-bimeaux-records. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. ^ GoMemphis: Entertainment News from The Commercial Appeal
  11. ^ Interviewed by Michael Laskow. "TAXI A&R Interview: Gary Nicholson, Songwriting Producer". Taxi.com. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  12. ^ Gary Nicholson. "Gary Nicholson - Music Biography, Credits and Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  13. ^ http://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/blogcritics/article/Music-Review-Gary-Nicholson-Texas-Songbook-1407759.php. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. ^ http://nodepression.com/article/gary-nicholsons-new-album-texas-songbook-pays-homage-home-state-bimeaux-records. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. ^ Gary Nicholson | The John Jarrard Foundation
  16. ^ https://beta.prx.org/stories/131935/details. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference autogenerated1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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