Spotlight Artist
Bobby Bare
"Click" Photos & Logos below for Bobby Bare Websites
__
__
__
__
=================================================
Bobby Bare (born Robert Joseph Bare on April 7, 1935 in Ironton, Ohio) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He is the father of Bobby Bare, Jr., also a musician.
Early career
Bobby Bare had many failed attempts to sell his songs in the 1950s. He finally signed with Capitol Records and recorded a few rock and roll songs without much chart success. Just before he was drafted into the Army, he wrote a song called "The All American Boy" and did a demo for his friend, Bill Parsons, to learn and record. Instead of using the version Bill Parsons did later, the record company, Fraternity Records, decided to use the original demo done by Bobby Bare. The record reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, but they made an error: the singles' labels all credited the artist as being "Bill Parsons."
Career at RCA (1962–1970)
Bare's big break in country music came when RCA Records' Chet Atkins signed him. The first song he released on the label was "Shame On Me" in 1962. His second RCA release, "Detroit City," was his first top-ten Country single, reaching number six. It also hit number 16 on the pop charts. Then a surge of hits followed, including "500 Miles Away from Home" (based on a traditional folk ballad written by Hedy West as "500 Miles") and Ian Tyson's "Four Strong Winds." He also recorded with Skeeter Davis, Norma Jean and Liz Anderson. In 1968, he recorded an album with a group from England called The Hillsiders. In 1969, he had a Top 5 hit with Tom T. Hall's "(Margie's At) The Lincoln Park Inn".
Career at Mercury (1970–1972)
Bobby Bare moved to Mercury Records in 1970 and immediately scored a Top 3 hit with "How I Got To Memphis" and had two Top 10 hits from early Kris Kristofferson compositions, "Come Sundown" (1971) and "Please Don't Tell Me How The Story Ends," (1971). He also scored a #12 hit in 1972 with a version of Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show's pop hit "Sylvia's Mother", written by Shel Silverstein.
Second Career at RCA (1973–1977)
After a couple of years at Mercury, Bobby returned to RCA Records in 1973 and scored with Billy Joe Shaver's "Ride Me Down Easy" which nearly made the Top 10.
Bobby Bare started to release novelty songs recorded live with selected audiences. One such song, "Marie Laveau," reached the number one position on the country chart in 1974; it was his only number one hit. This song was co-written by his friends Shel Silverstein and Baxter Taylor, who received a BMI Award for the song in 1975.
Silverstein penned other songs for Bare including a Grammy-nominated hit, "Daddy What If," which he recorded with his five year old son, Bobby Bare, Jr. The song was an immediate success as well not only reaching #2 on the country charts but nearly reaching the Top 40 on the Pop charts. Bare's album, "Lullabyes, Legends and Lies" became his most commercially successful album and Bobby had a new audience with pop radio once again playing his songs and a new following with college kids. These two songs, however, would become Bobby's last Top 10 hits. Bare later recorded a very successful album with his family, written mainly by Silverstein, called "Singin' in The Kitchen." It was nominated for best group category in Grammy Awards, but was declined by Bobby himself. He continued to record critically acclaimed albums and singles. His biggest hits during this time included "Alimony" (1975), "The Winner" (1976), and "Drop Kick Me Jesus (Through The Goalposts Of Life)" (the world's only Christian-football waltz, and a 1976 Grammy nominee. In 1977 he recorded "Redneck Hippie Romance" and "Vegas" (a duet with his wife Jeannie).
Concept albums were nothing new for Bobby, In 1967, Bare came up with a concept album called "Bird Named Yesterday," which was very successful. His most successful concept album is "Lullabyes, Legends and Lies". He also is the first to be given full control of his work and thus the very first Outlaw.
Career at Columbia Records (1978–1983)
Bobby signed with Columbia Records and continued to have hits like "Sleep Tight Good Night Man" a near Top 10 in 1978 and releasing critically acclaimed albums like "Bare" and "Sleeper Wherever I Fall". In 1979, he started off Roseanne Cash's career in a big way by singing a duet with her called "No Memories Hangin' Round" which went Top 20 for them. In 1980, he scored a near Top 10 with "Numbers" which came from his album "Down and Dirty" where Bare started to experiment with Southern rock and continued this with his next album "Drunk and Crazy". In 1981, Bobby released an album entitled "As Is" which was produced by Rodney Crowell and returned Bobby back to his country roots with songs like "New Cut Road". Bare was still doing well chartwise into the early 1980s. In 1983, he released a Top 30 duet with Lacy J. Dalton called "It's A Dirty Job". His last trip into the Top 30 came that summer with the novelty song "The Jogger".
Film career
Bobby Bare was also given an opportunity to star in the movies. He acted in a Western with Troy Donahue, A Distant Trumpet, and a few episodes of the TV series No Time for Sergeants. He turned his back on Hollywood to pursue his career in country music.
Later career in country music and today
From 1983 to 1988, Bobby hosted Bobby Bare and Friends on The Nashville Network which featured Bobby interviewing songwriters who sang their hit songs on the show.
In 1985, Bobby signed with EMI America Records where he scored 3 charted singles, but none of these reached the upper regions of the charts.
In 1998, he formed the band, Old Dogs, with his friends Jerry Reed, Mel Tillis and Waylon Jennings.
In nearly 50 years of making music, Bobby has made many firsts in country music. Bare is credited for introducing Waylon Jennings to RCA. He is also one of the first to record from many well- known song writers such as Jack Clement, Harlan Howard, Billy Joe Shaver, Mickey Newbury, Tom T. Hall, Shel Silverstein, Baxter Taylor and Kris Kristofferson. In 2006, he recorded a new album after over 20 years, called The Moon Was Blue, produced by his son Bobby Bare, Jr., who is also a musician. He continues to tour today.
Early career
Bobby Bare had many failed attempts to sell his songs in the 1950s. He finally signed with Capitol Records and recorded a few rock and roll songs without much chart success. Just before he was drafted into the Army, he wrote a song called "The All American Boy" and did a demo for his friend, Bill Parsons, to learn and record. Instead of using the version Bill Parsons did later, the record company, Fraternity Records, decided to use the original demo done by Bobby Bare. The record reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, but they made an error: the singles' labels all credited the artist as being "Bill Parsons."
Career at RCA (1962–1970)
Bare's big break in country music came when RCA Records' Chet Atkins signed him. The first song he released on the label was "Shame On Me" in 1962. His second RCA release, "Detroit City," was his first top-ten Country single, reaching number six. It also hit number 16 on the pop charts. Then a surge of hits followed, including "500 Miles Away from Home" (based on a traditional folk ballad written by Hedy West as "500 Miles") and Ian Tyson's "Four Strong Winds." He also recorded with Skeeter Davis, Norma Jean and Liz Anderson. In 1968, he recorded an album with a group from England called The Hillsiders. In 1969, he had a Top 5 hit with Tom T. Hall's "(Margie's At) The Lincoln Park Inn".
Career at Mercury (1970–1972)
Bobby Bare moved to Mercury Records in 1970 and immediately scored a Top 3 hit with "How I Got To Memphis" and had two Top 10 hits from early Kris Kristofferson compositions, "Come Sundown" (1971) and "Please Don't Tell Me How The Story Ends," (1971). He also scored a #12 hit in 1972 with a version of Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show's pop hit "Sylvia's Mother", written by Shel Silverstein.
Second Career at RCA (1973–1977)
After a couple of years at Mercury, Bobby returned to RCA Records in 1973 and scored with Billy Joe Shaver's "Ride Me Down Easy" which nearly made the Top 10.
Bobby Bare started to release novelty songs recorded live with selected audiences. One such song, "Marie Laveau," reached the number one position on the country chart in 1974; it was his only number one hit. This song was co-written by his friends Shel Silverstein and Baxter Taylor, who received a BMI Award for the song in 1975.
Silverstein penned other songs for Bare including a Grammy-nominated hit, "Daddy What If," which he recorded with his five year old son, Bobby Bare, Jr. The song was an immediate success as well not only reaching #2 on the country charts but nearly reaching the Top 40 on the Pop charts. Bare's album, "Lullabyes, Legends and Lies" became his most commercially successful album and Bobby had a new audience with pop radio once again playing his songs and a new following with college kids. These two songs, however, would become Bobby's last Top 10 hits. Bare later recorded a very successful album with his family, written mainly by Silverstein, called "Singin' in The Kitchen." It was nominated for best group category in Grammy Awards, but was declined by Bobby himself. He continued to record critically acclaimed albums and singles. His biggest hits during this time included "Alimony" (1975), "The Winner" (1976), and "Drop Kick Me Jesus (Through The Goalposts Of Life)" (the world's only Christian-football waltz, and a 1976 Grammy nominee. In 1977 he recorded "Redneck Hippie Romance" and "Vegas" (a duet with his wife Jeannie).
Concept albums were nothing new for Bobby, In 1967, Bare came up with a concept album called "Bird Named Yesterday," which was very successful. His most successful concept album is "Lullabyes, Legends and Lies". He also is the first to be given full control of his work and thus the very first Outlaw.
Career at Columbia Records (1978–1983)
Bobby signed with Columbia Records and continued to have hits like "Sleep Tight Good Night Man" a near Top 10 in 1978 and releasing critically acclaimed albums like "Bare" and "Sleeper Wherever I Fall". In 1979, he started off Roseanne Cash's career in a big way by singing a duet with her called "No Memories Hangin' Round" which went Top 20 for them. In 1980, he scored a near Top 10 with "Numbers" which came from his album "Down and Dirty" where Bare started to experiment with Southern rock and continued this with his next album "Drunk and Crazy". In 1981, Bobby released an album entitled "As Is" which was produced by Rodney Crowell and returned Bobby back to his country roots with songs like "New Cut Road". Bare was still doing well chartwise into the early 1980s. In 1983, he released a Top 30 duet with Lacy J. Dalton called "It's A Dirty Job". His last trip into the Top 30 came that summer with the novelty song "The Jogger".
Film career
Bobby Bare was also given an opportunity to star in the movies. He acted in a Western with Troy Donahue, A Distant Trumpet, and a few episodes of the TV series No Time for Sergeants. He turned his back on Hollywood to pursue his career in country music.
Later career in country music and today
From 1983 to 1988, Bobby hosted Bobby Bare and Friends on The Nashville Network which featured Bobby interviewing songwriters who sang their hit songs on the show.
In 1985, Bobby signed with EMI America Records where he scored 3 charted singles, but none of these reached the upper regions of the charts.
In 1998, he formed the band, Old Dogs, with his friends Jerry Reed, Mel Tillis and Waylon Jennings.
In nearly 50 years of making music, Bobby has made many firsts in country music. Bare is credited for introducing Waylon Jennings to RCA. He is also one of the first to record from many well- known song writers such as Jack Clement, Harlan Howard, Billy Joe Shaver, Mickey Newbury, Tom T. Hall, Shel Silverstein, Baxter Taylor and Kris Kristofferson. In 2006, he recorded a new album after over 20 years, called The Moon Was Blue, produced by his son Bobby Bare, Jr., who is also a musician. He continues to tour today.
=================================================
NOTE from Lonnie - I always feel a little guilty because I never have time to listen to mp3's new artists and songwriters send me, unsolicited I might add. I hate it but I just delete them because I finally figured out I could try to be a nice guy or I could try to work and pay my bills. My banker had a very stern suggestion that I needed to keep working and be a nice guy on my own time after all my bills were paid. Turns out that spare time does not exist so I just had to give up on listening to unsolicited mp3's, CD's and giving my opinions and suggestions. Now I just concentrate on my music business out of necessity but I figure I can give you some links that will answer your questions better than I could anyway.
Here's some books available this week on EBAY
..
........
=================================================
__
| "You gotta peel a few taters & mop a few floors" by Lonnie Ratliff I suppose one of the things I have never understood about some singers is how unprepared they are to actually be singers. They will practice singing and playing their guitar for hours on end but that is where they seem to think it should all end. You ask them about even the most basic element of how to run their business as a singer and you get the classic "I'm not interested in the business part I just wanna sing" answer. Well let me tell you, Nashville is full of people getting rich off these singers who are not interested in the business side of music. This type artist is also the one who wastes more time looking for a manager than it would take to learn how to manage themselves. My answer to anyone who says they need to find a manager has always been "manage what" ? ? If you're not making any money or being approached by a major label wanting to sign you then there is nothing to manage. . I always look at the music business like I would any other business. You start out by doing everything yourself and you only hire other people when you can afford them. If you are the best cook in the county and decide to open a restuarant but you are on a shoe string budget then you have to do everything yourself. You've got to cook all the meals which you love to do but you also have to mop the floors and peel the taters, that kinda sucks. If you want to have a succesful restaurant some day there is no way around doing this grunt work yourself because you have no extra money to pay tater peelers & floor moppers. One good thing you will learn from this non-cooking labor is that once everyone in the county figures out how good a cook you are your cafe will be packed for dinner every evening. Then and only then you can then afford to hire some help. When you hang that "Help Wanted" sign in the cafe window you will already know how long it should take to peel a peck of taters and you will have learned that you have to change the water in the mop bucket a few times to get the floor good and clean. With this insider information you are now gonna know who is a good floor mopper or tater peeler when they ask you for a job just by talking to them. When you do hire someone, because of your familiarity with exactly what their job will entail that person will be an asset who will help your business, not bankrupt it. . Just like the restuarant business or any other business It isn't easy to learn all one needs to know and the smart ones will keep on learning as long as they are in the business. That knowledge they pick up will be reflected in their success. You can't make a couple of phone calls or read an article and figure it all out in one afternoon but you can figure it out eventually. It's not rocket science. You are just singing songs and entertaining folks who already like music and by now you already figured out that you can sing. All you gotta do is turn that into a career instead of an expensive hobby. Always keep in mind that most of the people you know probably hate their jobs. If you can figure out how to make a living singing you will be one of the lucky ones who can spend a lifetime doing something they love. That should be worth peelin' a few taters and moppin' a few floors. Just set your mind to figuring out how the business side of your music career works. . As that famous "Okie" Will Rogers once said there are three ways to learn how to do something. Some people will learn by reading books, some will learn by watching what others do and there will be those who just have to piss on the electric fence to figure it out. I guess in the end it doesn't matter how you learn as long as you learn. |
Copr 2009 Lonnie Ratliff
=================================================
Getting to know Joni Compretta
1. Where were you raised up and where do you now work out of. Are you from a large city, small town or out in the country ?
I am from a small town on the Mississippi Gulf Coast called Bay Saint Louis. After my hometown was destroyed in 2005 due to Hurricane Katrina, I decided to move to Nahville to pursue my dreams in the Country music industry.
2. Have you recorded any CD's. If so what are the titles and where can someone buy them ?
Yes, shortly after moving to Tennessee, I met producer Lonnie Ratliff and finished my first CD titled "Out Of Mississippi". The CD may be purchased online at CD Baby, Amazon.com, jonicompretta.com , the Nashville Showcase website as well as many other downloadable websites online.
3. What is your main outlet for live performances ? Nightclubs, Festivals, Linedance Clubs.
We perform at a variety of venues such as festivals, fundraisers and night clubs. We will perform pretty much anywhere there is the need! Lol!
4. Who would you say are your favorite country artists ? Major Label
My favorite artists vary across genres: Elvis, Wanda Jackson, Conway Twitty, Dolly, Alabama,Martina McBride,Faith Hill, Miranda Lambert, Lonnie Mack, Melissa Ethridge, Jerry Lee Lewis and so many others!
5. Who would you say are your favorite country artists ? Independent Label
Erin Hay, Bengt Pederson, Brent McAthey, Thornbirds & Perley Curtis
6. What is the highest profile "Gig" you have ever played ? Did you open for Garth or The Beatles ? Play for the Queen or at the White House ?
We played at Relay For Life in Pigeon Forge alongside Louise Mandrell. She is a very delightful and charming lady!
7. What is the most personally satisfying "Gig" you have ever played ? Disaster benefit, Uncle Joe's 100 year birthday party, hospital, old folks home etc!
I would have to say Relay For Life, my heart was touched when I was able to meet and talk to all of those affected by cancer, especially the few children I met. They are such an inspiration to me, what strength they have!
8. What is the most obscure CD sale and/or fan you have ever heard from ? Sold a CD in Russia or Got an E Mail from a soldier in Iraq Etc!
I received an email from a fan in Zimbawbe Africa! I think that's how it's spelled! Lol!
9. What is your favorite 3 songs you have recorded and also your favorite 3 cover tunes you sing at gigs.
Favorite 3 songs I have recorded are: Driftaway, I Love You and Only Lonely
Favorite 3 Cover songs I perform at gigs are: Gunpowder & Lead, Stay and Jailhouse Rock .
10. What do you see on the horizon for your career in the next 12 months ? Recording a new CD or going on tour to Switzerland etc!
I hope to get back into the studio soon to have some new material produced. I will be going back to Sweden for 3 weeks in July to perform at some major Country music festivals there and will also be returning in October to do a tour with "Wanda Jackson" The Female Elvis. Wow! What a dream come true!
BONUS QUESTION BELOW - Use this space to ASK YOURSELF A QUESTION & THEN ANSWER IT. I probably forgot a good question that your fans would like to have the answer to so give it your best shot.
11. Where do you see your career in 5 Years, 10 Years?
I am working very hard at getting out there and being heard, I hope to be a household name in the near future! Lol!
