More Info on Earl Thomas ConleySimilar Undetermined MusicSearch Artistopia
Biography
Infobox musical artist | name = Earl Thomas Conley| image = ETC country singer in concert.jpg| caption = Earl Thomas Conley in concert (Photo by Michelle McCown)| image_size =| background = solo_singer| birth_name = Earl Thomas Conley| alias =| birth_date = Birth date and age|1941|10|17| origin = Dayton, Ohio , USA | instrument = Vocals , Guitar | genre = Country music|Country | occupation = Singing|Singer | years_active = 1974–present| label = GRT, Warner Bros. Records|Warner Bros. , Sunbird, RCA Records|RCA | associated_acts = Keith Whitley | website = http://www.earlthomasconley.com EarlThomasConley.com Earl Thomas Conley (born October 17, 1941, Portsmouth, Ohio , United States )Wood, Gerry. (1998). "Earl Thomas Conley". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music . New York: Oxford University Press. p.& nbsp;108.) is an United States|American country music singer-songwriter . Between 1980 and 2003, he recorded ten studio albums, including seven for the RCA Records label. In the 1980s and into the 1990s, Conley also charted more than thirty singles on the Billboard (magazine)|Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, of which eighteen reached Number One. Conley's eighteen Billboard Number One country singles during the 1980s marked the most Number One hits by any artist in any genre during that decade.
Throughout his career, Conley's music has been referred to as "thinking man's country." This is because the narrator looks into the heart and soul of his characters in each song.cite web|url=Allmusic|class=artist|id=p65968|pure_url=yes|title=Earl Thomas Conley biography|last=Roland|first=Tom|work= Allmusic |accessdate=8 September 2010
Biography
Early life
When Conley was 14, his father lost his job with the railroad, forcing the young boy to move in with his older sister in Dayton, Ohio . He was offered a scholarship to an art school, but rejected it in favor of joining the U.S. Army . While in the Army, Conley became a member of a Christian-influenced trio, where his musical talent and vocal ability first began. Conley then decided to consider performing as a serious career option. He shifted more deeply into the classic country sounds of artists such as Merle Haggard and George Jones . During this period he first tried his hand at songwriting. In 1968, after his discharge from the Army, Conley began commuting from Dayton to Nashville. In 1973 while in Nashville, Conley met Dick Herd, who produced country music singer Mel Street . This meeting eventually led to the Conley-Herd collaboration on the song "Smokey Mountain Memories," which made the top 10 for Street.cite web |last=Dennis |first=Paul W.|title=Forgotten Artists: Earl Thomas Conley|url= http://www.the9513.com/forgotten-artist-earl-thomas-conley/ |date=2009-08-19 |work=The 9513 |accessdate=2011-06-17 After being honorably discharged from the military, he began playing in clubs in Nashville, Tennessee , at night, supporting himself working blue-collar jobs during the day.
Career
Feeling that he wasn't making any progress in Nashville, Conley moved to Huntsville, Alabama|Huntsville , Alabama to work in a steel mill . 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 large 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.
Conley returned to Nashville, now writing for Nelson Larkin's publishing house. In 1979, he signed a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records . Two years later, he had his first Top 40 hit, "Dreamin's All I Do". He left the label in 1979 and joined Sunbird Records, where he again worked with Nelson Larkin. This time, Conley found success, with a Top Ten and a Number One single within the next two years. He continued to have success over the next few years, and in 1983, he was nominated for multiple Grammy Awards for his song " Holding Her and Loving You ". He set a record the following year as the first artist in any genre to have four Number One singles from the same album.
Later years
By the end of the 1980s, Conley began collaborating with Randy Scruggs (son of legendary country singer Earl Scruggs ), in the hopes that he could bring his music back to his country roots. His record sales began to drop in the 1990s, as country music took a more traditional turn, and Conley was dropped from his record label in 1992. He took a seven year recording hiatus between 1991 to 1997 due to a number of factors, including vocal problems, disenchantment with record label politics, road fatigue and mental burnout. He began recording again in 1998.
In 2002, Blake Shelton charted in the Top 20 with "All Over Me," which Conley co-wrote with Shelton and songwriter Mike Pyle.
Discography
Main|Earl Thomas Conley discography
References
reflist
External links
http://www.earlthomasconley.com Official website
Earl Thomas Conley Persondata | NAME = Conley, Earl Thomas | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = 1941-10-17 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Conley, Earl Thomas Category:1941 births Category:Living people Category:American country singers Category:American male singers Category:People from Portsmouth, Ohio Category:Musicians from Ohio Category:RCA Records artists
