'Gary Allan' (born 'Gary Allan Herzberg' on
December 5,
1967) is an
American country music singer. To date, Gary has recorded six studio albums and a Greatest Hits package, in addition to scoring nine Top Ten hits (three of which reached Number One) on the ''Billboard''
Hot Country Songs charts.
Early years
Allan is the son of Harley and Mary Herzberg.
[1] He was raised in
Whittier, California. To ensure that the family would focus on music, Allan's mother insisted that the family guitars remain visible. At age thirteen, Allan began playing in
honky tonks with his father.
Two years later he was offered his first recording contract, but rejected the deal. His father felt that Allan had not developed his own distinctive style yet, and they wanted him to finish his education.
Despite his commitment to finishing school, Allan reflects that he was rarely alert in class. "I played the bars at night, I was half asleep when I got to school. I thought sleep was what you did when you got to school."
[3]
He continued to play in the bars with his band, the Honky Tonk Wranglers. Many of the venues they played were packed, and promoters often tried to move them to larger clubs. The moves would have required him to stop playing some of the older country music, such as covers of
George Jones songs, so Allan refused.
After his high school graduation, Allan took a job selling cars. He left a demo tape in the glove box of a car purchased by a wealthy couple. When they discovered that he was the singer, they immediately wrote him a check for $12,000 so that he could chase his dream. Six weeks later he moved to
Nashville. After signing a record deal he repaid the couple.
In 2004, Gary's wife, Angela Herzberg, committed suicide in their
Hendersonville TN home.
Career
''Used Heart for Sale''
His first deal, with
Decca Records, produced the 1996 album ''Used Heart For Sale.''
The album was named "Best of the Month" by ''Stereo Review''.
It advanced to the top 20 of the charts, and produced a Top 10 country hit with the track "Her Man". Other tracks from the album, however, proved less successful.
''It Would Be You''
His second album,"It Would Be You," was released in 1998. Although Allan had been writing songs since he was a teenager,
he does not hesitate to bump his work from his albums in favor of those written by other songwriters he respects. For his second album, Allan replaced one of his songs with "No Judgement Day", written by Allen Shamblin. Although the song was a hidden acoustic track, radio stations began giving it heavy airplay, and it became a single.
The title track of the album became Allan's second top 10 hit of the year, remaining in the top 10 after 21 weeks of radio play, "way beyond the tenure of most disposable radio hits."
[4] At the beginning of 1999, Decca Records folded, and when Allan moved to the parent label,
MCA Nashville, ''It Would be You'' was left in limbo.
Allan was labeled "Country Music's Sexy Star" by ''
People Magazine''. He also delved into the acting world in the TV
mini-series ''Shake, Rattle, & Roll,'' playing the lead role of
Eddie Cochran. He followed that role with a part in the CBS TV series ''Pensacola - Wings of Gold,'' but describes his acting experience as "tedious."
''Smoke Rings in the Dark''
In 1999, Allan released ''Smoke Rings in the Dark'',
an album he recorded while in the midst of a divorce from his second wife,
Versace model Danette Day after only seven months of marriage.
Unlike his first two albums, ''Smoke Rings in the Dark'' made fuller use of background singers and stringed instruments, "resulting in a lusher, fuller sound."
[5] The new album avoided the "devil-may-care brashness" of the first two, instead presenting a tone balanced between youthful optimism and "the knowledge that some of life's experiences exact a high toll."
''Smoke Rings In The Dark'' was certified platinum, and it included two successful singles.
''Alright Guy''
In 2001 the album ''Alright Guy'' was released.
It contained the single "Man To Man," which became his first ''Billboard'' No. 1 hit.
The same year, Allan married for the third time, to Angela, a
flight attendant he met on an airplane.
''See If I Care''
Despite his previous success and eight years in the music business, Allan was nominated for the
Country Music Association's Horizon Award, typically given to newcomers, in 2003. The same year he released his fifth album, ''See If I Care.'' Allan had to fight to keep the title, which he felt epitomized his attitude towards the music business, that he would continue to make the music that he wanted to make regardless of whether the record label chose to back him or people chose to buy the album.
[6] ''See If I Care'' included his second and third Number One singles, "
Tough Little Boys" and "
Nothing On But The Radio".
[7][8] "Songs About Rain" was a top 15 hit.
''Tough All Over''
In 2003, Allan and his wife, Angela Herzberg, moved to
Tennessee from California with their six children (three each from previous marriages). There, they lived a few blocks from Allan's first ex-wife. On
October 25,
2004, Angela Herzberg committed suicide after suffering for
depression and
migraines. Allan initially put his career on hold, but soon turned to music to deal with the loss of his wife. This resulted in 2005's "heart-wrenchingly personal album," ''Tough All Over.''
[9] He included several songs which he wrote or cowrote, including "Puttin' Memories Away" and "I Just Got Back From Hell," which dealt directly with his grief.
''Tough All Over'' sold over 99,000 copies in its first week, debuting at No. 3 on the
Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the magazine's Top Country Albums chart.
[10] It was subsequently certified gold by the RIAA as of
December 20,
2006, and contained the top 10 singles "Best I Ever Had" (written by
Vertical Horizon's Matt Scannell) and "Life Ain't Always Beautiful."
[11]
''Greatest Hits''
Allan's newest album, a greatest hits collection, was released on
March 6,
2007 and debuted the following week at the top of the Billboard Country Charts. One single, "A Feelin' Like That" (co-written by
David Lee Murphy and
Trick Pony's Ira Dean), was released to radio and became a top 15 hit. Allan's latest single, "Watching Airplanes", was released to country radio in late July 2007 as the first single from Allan's upcoming album. Allan recorded the music video for "Watching Airplanes" during a live concert at the legendary open air
Red Rocks Amphitheatre in
Morrison, CO.
Sound
Allan's voice is described as "raspy and unpolished."
[12] The ''
New York Times'' describes his music as "elegant, often deadpan songs [that] tend toward manly understatement."
[13] His sound is heavily influenced by the
Bakersfield scene, especially
Buck Owens and
Merle Haggard. He prefers this sound to that of the more pop country that is prevalent on country radio, because "the songs have got to have soul, have real meaning....Country music is...what happens during the week. Rock 'n roll is about what happens at the weekend."
Because his sound is different from many of the current crop of country singers, Allan has at times had difficulty getting radio to play his singles. He says he has to "walk a real fine line" to "make sure that I get traditional stuff on the radio."
Discography
★ 1996 ''
Used Heart For Sale''
★ 1998 ''
It Would Be You''
★ 1999 ''
Smoke Rings in the Dark''
★ 2001 ''
Alright Guy''
★ 2003 ''
See If I Care''
★ 2005 ''
Tough All Over''
★ 2007 ''
Gary Allan - Greatest Hits''
★ 2007 ''
Living Hard'' (to be released October 23)
[14]
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album |
|---|
| U.S. Country | U.S. Hot 100 |
|---|
| 1996 | "Her Man" | 7 | | ''Used Heart For Sale'' |
| 1996 | "Please Come Home For Christmas"A | 70 | | |
| 1997 | "Forever And A Day" | 44 | | ''Used Heart For Sale'' |
| 1997 | "From Where I'm Sitting" | 43 | | ''Used Heart For Sale'' |
| 1997 | "Living In A House Full Of Love" | 43 | | ''Used Heart For Sale'' |
| 1998 | "It Would Be You" | 7 | 101 | ''It Would Be You'' |
| 1999 | "No Man In His Wrong Heart" | 43 | | ''It Would Be You'' |
| 1999 | "I'll Take Today" | 47 | | ''It Would Be You'' |
| 1999 | "No Judgment Day" | | | ''It Would Be You'' |
| 2000 | "Smoke Rings In The Dark" | 12 | 76 | ''Smoke Rings In The Dark'' |
| 2000 | "Runaway"A | 74 | | ''Smoke Rings In The Dark'' |
| 2000 | "Lovin' You Against My Will" | 34 | | ''Smoke Rings In The Dark'' |
| 2001 | "Right Where I Need To Be" | 5 | 42 | ''Smoke Rings In The Dark'' |
| 2001 | "Man Of Me" | 18 | 107 | ''Alright Guy'' |
| 2002 | "The One" | 3 | 37 | ''Alright Guy'' |
| 2003 | "Man To Man" | 1 | 25 | ''Alright Guy'' |
| 2003 | "Tough Little Boys" | 1 | 32 | ''See If I Care'' |
| 2004 | "Songs About Rain" | 12 | 71 | ''See If I Care'' |
| 2004 | "Nothing On But The Radio" | 1 | 32 | ''See If I Care'' |
| 2005 | "Best I Ever Had" | 7 | 51 | ''Tough All Over'' |
| 2006 | "Life Ain't Always Beautiful" | 4 | 61 | ''Tough All Over'' |
| 2007 | "A Feelin' Like That" | 12 | 94 | ''Gary Allan - Greatest Hits'' |
| 2007 | "Watching Airplanes"B | 31 | | ''Living Hard'' |
★
AAlbum cut.
★
BCurrent single.
References
1. Gary Allan's Not Blowing Smoke
2. allmusic ((( Gary Allan > Biography )))
3. Dave's Diary: Gary Allan Interview
4.
5.
6. Gary Allan: Music, Awards, and Politics
7.
8. Allan's "Nothing On but the Radio" Hits No. 1."
9.
10. Dave's Diary - Gary Allan Update
11. Gary Allan Discography - Tough All Over
12. The Edgier Side of Tradition
13.
14. http://www.garyallan.com/news.php
External links
★
Gary Allan Official Website
★
Official Gary Allan UMG Nashville Artist Page
★
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