In 1976, the compilation album Wanted! The Outlaws made history as the first Platinum-selling country album ever when it sold more than a million copies. Featuring tracks from Jessi Colter, Tompall Glaser, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson, Wanted! capitalized on the growing “outlaw country” movement — spearheaded by artists like Jennings and Nelson who managed to wrest creative control from what they felt was an often restrictive Nashville machine.
While both Jennings and Nelson went on to etch their names in country music history, the outlaw country movement could not have existed without Tompall Glaser, born in Spalding, Nebraska, on this day (September 3) in 1933. Today, we’re taking a look at his indelible impact on what would have been his 93rd birthday.
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How Tompall Glaser Got His Start in Country Music
Raised on a small Nebraska farm with his parents and five siblings, Thomas Paul “Tompall” Glaser taught his younger brothers — Jim and Chuck — to sing harmony to his lead vocals.
As preteens, they took their act to the stage, performing at county fairs and other local events.
Forming the trio Tompall & the Glaser Brothers, their big break came in 1957 following an appearance on Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts.
The siblings’ performance caught the attention of Marty Robbins, who signed the boys to his Robbins Records label. However, their lead single didn’t quite take off commercially, and Robbins sold the brothers’ contract to Decca Records in 1959.
From 1960 to 1975, the trio recorded 10 studio albums and sent nine singles to the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. After splitting up in 1973, they reunited in 1979, releasing several singles and two albums.
Once sharing a bill with Patsy Cline, the Glaser Brothers scored their biggest hit with a rendition of the Kris Kristofferson-penned “Lovin’ Her Was Easier (than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again)”, which reached number two on the country songs chart in 1981.
Flying Solo
In 1970, Tompall Glaser and his brothers opened their own studio, Glaser Sound, in Nashville. Using the funds they’d earned from performing, the brothers vowed to push back against the too-slick constraints of Music Row.
“Damn it, the fight isn’t in Austin and it isn’t in Los Angeles,” said the eldest Glaser. “It’s right here in Nashville, right here two blocks from Music Row, and if we win–and if our winning is ever going to amount to anything in the long run–we’ve got to beat them on their own turf.”
Dubbed “Hillbilly Central,” Glaser Studios became a hub for the burgeoning outlaw-country movement. Waylon Jennings, Billy Joe Shaver, Kris Kristofferson, Jimmy Buffet, Kinky Friedman, John Hartford, Shel Silverstein and Mickey Newbury, all passed through its doors. Tompall Glaser produced what many consider the first-ever outlaw country album, Waylon Jennings’ 1973 Honky Tonk Heroes.
At Jennings’ insistence, Glaser contributed two tracks to Wanted! The Outlaws. One of those was his most successful solo hit, the Shel Silverstein-penned “Put Another Log On the Fire”. It peaked at number 21 on the Hot Country Songs chart.
In 1989, the Glaser Brothers sold their studio to Chet Atkins and Ray Stevens.
Tompall Glaser released his final solo album, Outlaw to the Cross, in 2007. He died in Nashville on August 12, 2013, at age 79 following a long illness.
Featured image by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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Group shot of English rock and roll band The Rolling Stones posed in 1968. Clockwise from top left: Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman, Brian Jones (1942-1969), Mick jagger and Keith Richards. (Photo by Mark Hayward Archive/Redferns)
