Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers
Larry
Gatlin is best-known for his '80s hits with the
Gatlin Brothers, but prior to forming and leading
that family trio, he enjoyed a successful solo
career with occasional support from his brothers.
Gatlin was born in Seminole, TX, in 1948, and raised
on country gospel music. He and his brothers, Steve
and Rudy, often sang together in church, as well as
on local radio and television every once in a while;
they also recorded an album for the small gospel
label Sword Shield. After high school, Gatlin
enrolled at the University of Houston, where he
joined a gospel group called the Imperials. the
Imperials went on to perform in Jimmy Dean's Las
Vegas revue, where Gatlin met Dottie West. Impressed
by his songwriting, West recorded two of his
compositions, "You're the Other Half of Me" and
"Once You Were Mine"; not only that, she passed his
demo tape around Nashville, and even paid for him to
relocate there. Gatlin quickly found work as a
backup singer for Kris Kristofferson, and not long
after, he landed a solo deal with Monument in 1973.
Gatlin
issued his debut album, The Pilgrim, later that
year, and it produced his first charting country
single, "Sweet Becky Walker," which inched into the
Top 40. 1974's "Delta Dirt" was his first Top 20
hit, taken from the album Rain Rainbow. Gatlin's
brothers first made their presence felt on his third
album, 1976's Larry Gatlin With Family Friends,
which gave him his first Top Five hit in "Broken
Lady." Sometimes accompanied by his brothers, Gatlin
scored three more Top Five singles in 1977 ("I Don't
Wanna Cry," "Love Is Just a Game," and "Statues
Without Hearts"), and in 1978 scored his first
number one, "I Just Wish You Were Someone I Love."
When Gatlin left Monument for Columbia in 1979, he
started crediting the Gatlin Brothers Band on all of
his recordings, starting with that year's number one
smash "All the Gold in California." Although the
group's subsequent releases had several variations
on the Gatlin Brothers name, and often billed Larry
out front, it was all essentially Gatlin Brothers
music from then on.
The
Gatlin Brothers' success continued for much of the
'80s, bringing them nine more Top Ten hits and
another number one with 1983's "Houston (Means I'm
One Day Closer to You)." Their last big hit came in
1987 with the Top Five "Talkin' to the Moon," but
their brand of smooth country-pop was soon eclipsed
by the new traditionalist movement. After a
commercial decline of several years, the group
decided to retire in 1991 and embarked on a
successful farewell tour. Larry Gatlin starred in
the Broadway production of +The Will Rogers Follies,
and in 1993 the group opened their own theater in
Branson, MO. In 1998, Gatlin released the solo
gospel album In My Life.
http://www.thealabamaband.com/
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