Thomas Paul Glaser was the son of Louis Nicholas Glaser and Alice Harriet Marie Davis Glaser. He was one of 6 children born to the couple. Tom grew up working on the family farm and playing guitar for entertainment. He and two of his brothers, Charles Vernon and James William Glaser eventually broke into the music business and were successful entertainers, writers, producers, etc. in the music industry in Nashville, TN. The trio was known as "Tompall and the Glaser Brothers". Tom and his brothers were instrumental in changing the way country music was done in Nashville. They were the first artists to own their own studio and to take control of their music.
Tom was to married to Dorothy June Johnson. He is survivied by 4 siblings and multiple nieces and nephews. He will be missed.
---------------------------------------------------
The following information was printed in the Aug 13, 2013 USA Today paper and the Tennessean.
Tompall Glaser, outlaw country artist, dies at 79
Peter Cooper, The Tennessean
"He was a seminal figure in country music's outlaw movement during the late 1960s and 1970s."
Thomas Paul "Tompall" Glaser — a staunchly independent singer, songwriter, studio owner, publisher and recording artist and a central figure in country music's much-vaunted "Outlaw Movement" of the 1970s — died Tuesday at his Nashville home after a long illness. Glaser, who was featured on Wanted! The Outlaws, country music's first million-selling album, was 79.
Glaser was an unabashed rebel in a company town. He and brothers Chuck and Jim owned the 19th Avenue South studio formally known as Glaser Brothers Sound Studios but commonly called "Hillbilly Central," where groundbreaking works including John Hartford's Aereo-Plain and Waylon Jennings' Dreaming My Dreams were recorded. Populated by a gang of misfits including Glaser, Waylon Jennings, Billy Ray Reynolds, Roger "Captain Midnight" Schutt and others, Hillbilly Central was a kingdom unto its own.
"That building was a fortress," said Glaser Sound secretary and publicist Hazel Smith, in Michael Bane's book Outlaws: Revolution In Country Music. "It was a place where they could go and hide. It was home to them, and there were no Picasso's on the wall."
The Hillbilly Central scene reached its pop peak in 1976, when RCA Records released Wanted! The Outlaws, featuring Glaser, Jennings, Willie Nelson and Jessi Colter. That album, a cobbled-together work featuring previously released material from each of the four artists, topped country charts and solidified the singers' reputation as "outlaws," a term meant to convey idiosyncratic artistry rather than actual lawlessness. But by 1976, Glaser and the other "outlaws" were well known in Music City for their restless creativity and for their night-owl habits.
"I discovered two principles of Glaser nightlife," wrote journalist Dave Hickey in 1973. "First, no pinball machine is passed by unplayed, and, secondly, any establishment which possesses a pinball machine hasn't much luck in trying to close while Tompall is playing the machine."
Glaser was born in Spalding, Neb., and was raised on a Nebraska farm. He and his brothers sang on local radio and in area venues and, in 1957, on Arthur Godfrey's network television show
In 1959, the brothers came to Nashville at the request of singing star Marty Robbins, who hired them to sing harmony vocals at his concert and signed them to his own Robbins Records. The Glasers also toured with Johnny Cash and sang harmonies on recordings such as Cash's Ring Of Fire, Roy Orbison's Leah and Robbins' El Paso.
As Tompall & The Glaser Brothers, the vocal trio recorded a series of country singles, aided by producer Cowboy Jack Clement, and in 1966 Bobby Bare had a major hit with Streets Of Baltimore, a song written by Glaser and Harlan Howard. Streets Of Baltimore would later be covered by Charley Pride, The Statler Brothers, Gram Parsons, Nanci Griffith and dozens of others.
The brothers Glaser also established a publishing business beginning in 1962, handling songs including Gary Puckett & the Union Gap's Woman, Woman (co-written by Jim Glaser) and Hartford's mega-successful Gentle On My Mind.
Money earned from publishing such hits helped to build Glaser Sound Studios, which opened in 1970, the same year the Glaser Brothers were voted the Country Music Association's top vocal group. In 1971, the brothers scored a No. 7 country hit with Rings, but the group disbanded in 1973 and Glaser embarked on a solo career. By then, Glaser and Jennings had become close friends and business partners, bound by shared affinities for music and pinball and by a shared disdain for convention.
"Before Waylon and Tompall got together, they didn't know there was anybody else like them," Smith told author Michael Streissguth for his book, Outlaw: Waylon, Willie, Kris And The Renegades Of Nashville. "I think both of them secretly thought they might be crazy. They'd both been going their own way alone for so long, it never even entered their minds that somebody else might feel the same way about country music and Nashville."
Glaser and Jennings co-produced Jennings' landmark Honky Tonk Heroes album, released in the summer of 1973 and featuring nine songs penned by Billy Joe Shaver. They shared a vision of musicians operating independently, outside of the traditional Music Row systems. And they starred together on Wanted! The Outlaws. But the men fell out over a publishing dispute, and Glaser rejoined his brothers in 1980, signing with Elektra Records and notching a No. 2 hit with Kris Kristofferson's Lovin' Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again).
The regrouping was brief, and the brothers called it quits in 1982. Glaser recorded another solo album in 1986, then sold Hillbilly Central and retreated from the public eye.
A private family memorial is being planned.
-------------------------------------------------
Tom's Obituary (written by nephew Louis Glaser)
Note: The obituary was intentionally kept short as so much had already been printed in the days following Tom's death.
Found in the Tennessean, Sunday, Aug. 18, 2013.
Thomas Paul GLASER
Obituary
GLASER, Thomas Paul "Tompall"Age 79, passed away on Monday, the twelfth of August in Nashville after a long illness. Mr. Glaser was born in Spalding, Nebraska, son of the late Louis Nicholas and Alice Harriet Marie Glaser. Glaser is survived by his loving wife of 36 years, June Johnson. He is also survived by his sister, Eleanor Ryan of Lincoln, Nebraska; his brother, John of Omaha, Nebraska, Chuck, and Jim Glaser of Nashville; and by his numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his brother, Robert of Spalding, Nebraska. The family held a private service at The Cathedral of the Incarnation on Friday, the 16th of August. For those who desire to honor Tompall's memory, donations may be sent to the American Diabetes Association .
--------------------------------------------
Article by Billboard Magazine can be found online at:
http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-615/5650638/country-outlaw-tompall-glaser-dead-at-79
The basic information contained there includes the following information:
Country Outlaw Tompall Glaser Dead at 79
By Chuck Dauphin, Nashville | August 13, 2013 4:46 PM EDT
If you were to look at just his chart statistics as a solo artist, the career of Tompall Glaser might not seem particularly legendary. He only placed eight singles on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart between 1973 and 1978, with only two rising to the top 40. However, Glaser -- who passed away Tuesday morning at age 79 after battling an undisclosed illness -- was one of the true revolutionaries of the business, bucking the Nashville system at many turns throughout his career, and being a key part of one of the format's most successful albums of all time, "Wanted: The Outlaws," along with Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Jessi Colter.
Tompall Glaser: 1933-2013
Gram Parsons' cover of Glaser's
"Streets of Baltimore"
Born Thomas Paul Glaser on September 3, 1933 in Spalding, Nebraska, Glaser began his musical career performing with his brothers Chuck and Jim in the 1950s. They were persuaded to move to Nashville by Marty Robbins, who hired them to sing backup for him. They were signed to Decca and began recording as early as 1959, but didn't make their chart bow until 1966, when "Gone, On The Other Hand," hit No. 24. It would become the first of a dozen top 40 records through 1972, with the biggest of that string being 1971's "Rings," which peaked at No. 7. During that period, they became members of the Grand Ole Opry, and were the winners of the 1970 Vocal Group of the Year trophy from the Country Music Association.
Glaser also achieved success as as a songwriter during this period, co-penning Bobby Bare's hit "The Streets Of Baltimore" with Harlan Howard. Other artists who've covered the song about losing a woman to the charms of "Charm City" include Gram Parsons, The Little Willies and The Lemonheads.
Feeling restrained artistically by the Nashville business system, the brothers went their separate ways in the mid 1970s. Tompall began to chart with solo releases, with the biggest being 1975's Shel Silverstein-written "Put Another Log On The Fire (Male Chauvinist National Anthem)," which peaked at No. 21. The song would see new life a year later as one of two Glaser cuts on "Wanted."
While Glaser was part of the legendary album that seemed to cement Jennings, Nelson. Colter, and himself as rebels in Music City, he had arguably had more of an impact behind the scenes than he did with his own recordings.
Glaser opened – along with Chuck and Jim – their own publishing company and recording studio, known affectionately as "Hillbilly Central." Their publishing company had success with songs such as "Gentle On My Mind" and "Woman, Woman." Many artists began to use the studios for their own recordings – much to the ire of the powers-that-be in Nashville. One of the many notable albums that was recorded there was Jennings' "Dreaming My Dreams" – produced by "Cowboy" Jack Clement, who passed away last week. It was Jennings' first No. 1 album, and also his first to be certified Gold.
Recording-wise, Tompall reunited with his brothers as Tompall and The Glaser Brothers in the early 1980s, scoring their biggest success with 1981's "Lovin' Her Was Easier Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again," which climbed all the way to number two. They hit the charts together for the final time in 1982 with "Maria Consuela."
A private family memorial is being planned, according to a family spokesman.
----------------------------------------------
A documentary entitled,Nebraska Ranchers to Nashville Rebels: The Story of Tompall & the Glaser Brothers was recently produced by The Northwoods Call and Newshound Productions. The following information provides information about the video.
From Nebraska Ranchers to Nashville Rebels: The Story of Tompall & the Glaser Brothers
The Glaser Brothers are widely recognized for their fine vocals and soaring harmonies. But they were much more than talented singers. They were savvy businessmen and innovative pioneers in the music industry.
The youngest of six children born to Louis and Alice Marie Glaser, the three brothers learned the value of hard work and self-reliance growing up on the family's 1,200-acre spread near Spalding, Nebraska.
From Nebraska Ranchers to Nashville Rebels follows Tompall, Chuck and Jim from their earliest days on the prairie to the pinnacle of Nashville's recording industry.
Never satisfied with the status quo, the Glasers challenged what they believed to be unfair business practices that kept recording artists and songwriters subservient to corporate record labels.
In response, they formed their own production and publishing companies, offered talent management and booking services and built their own recording studio. Along the way, they helped many singers and songwriters retain control of their own music.
While not containing much original Glaser music (due to costly licensing agreements) this oral history tells a compelling story. It includes discussions about each of the brothers, as well as a look at the so-called "outlaw" years that spawned the careers of Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Billy Joe Shaver and others.
Included are comments by Glaser family members, and various musicians, songwriters, music producers and others, such as Cowboy Jack Clement, Kyle Lehning, Ronny Robbins, Gordon Stoker, Marshall Chapman, Kinky Friedman, Gary Puckett, Bobby Bare and more.
--------------------------------------------------
Multiple video clips of the Glaser Brother's performing can be found on Youtube.
Tom was to married to Dorothy June Johnson. He is survivied by 4 siblings and multiple nieces and nephews. He will be missed.
---------------------------------------------------
The following information was printed in the Aug 13, 2013 USA Today paper and the Tennessean.
Tompall Glaser, outlaw country artist, dies at 79
Peter Cooper, The Tennessean
"He was a seminal figure in country music's outlaw movement during the late 1960s and 1970s."
Thomas Paul "Tompall" Glaser — a staunchly independent singer, songwriter, studio owner, publisher and recording artist and a central figure in country music's much-vaunted "Outlaw Movement" of the 1970s — died Tuesday at his Nashville home after a long illness. Glaser, who was featured on Wanted! The Outlaws, country music's first million-selling album, was 79.
Glaser was an unabashed rebel in a company town. He and brothers Chuck and Jim owned the 19th Avenue South studio formally known as Glaser Brothers Sound Studios but commonly called "Hillbilly Central," where groundbreaking works including John Hartford's Aereo-Plain and Waylon Jennings' Dreaming My Dreams were recorded. Populated by a gang of misfits including Glaser, Waylon Jennings, Billy Ray Reynolds, Roger "Captain Midnight" Schutt and others, Hillbilly Central was a kingdom unto its own.
"That building was a fortress," said Glaser Sound secretary and publicist Hazel Smith, in Michael Bane's book Outlaws: Revolution In Country Music. "It was a place where they could go and hide. It was home to them, and there were no Picasso's on the wall."
The Hillbilly Central scene reached its pop peak in 1976, when RCA Records released Wanted! The Outlaws, featuring Glaser, Jennings, Willie Nelson and Jessi Colter. That album, a cobbled-together work featuring previously released material from each of the four artists, topped country charts and solidified the singers' reputation as "outlaws," a term meant to convey idiosyncratic artistry rather than actual lawlessness. But by 1976, Glaser and the other "outlaws" were well known in Music City for their restless creativity and for their night-owl habits.
"I discovered two principles of Glaser nightlife," wrote journalist Dave Hickey in 1973. "First, no pinball machine is passed by unplayed, and, secondly, any establishment which possesses a pinball machine hasn't much luck in trying to close while Tompall is playing the machine."
Glaser was born in Spalding, Neb., and was raised on a Nebraska farm. He and his brothers sang on local radio and in area venues and, in 1957, on Arthur Godfrey's network television show
In 1959, the brothers came to Nashville at the request of singing star Marty Robbins, who hired them to sing harmony vocals at his concert and signed them to his own Robbins Records. The Glasers also toured with Johnny Cash and sang harmonies on recordings such as Cash's Ring Of Fire, Roy Orbison's Leah and Robbins' El Paso.
As Tompall & The Glaser Brothers, the vocal trio recorded a series of country singles, aided by producer Cowboy Jack Clement, and in 1966 Bobby Bare had a major hit with Streets Of Baltimore, a song written by Glaser and Harlan Howard. Streets Of Baltimore would later be covered by Charley Pride, The Statler Brothers, Gram Parsons, Nanci Griffith and dozens of others.
The brothers Glaser also established a publishing business beginning in 1962, handling songs including Gary Puckett & the Union Gap's Woman, Woman (co-written by Jim Glaser) and Hartford's mega-successful Gentle On My Mind.
Money earned from publishing such hits helped to build Glaser Sound Studios, which opened in 1970, the same year the Glaser Brothers were voted the Country Music Association's top vocal group. In 1971, the brothers scored a No. 7 country hit with Rings, but the group disbanded in 1973 and Glaser embarked on a solo career. By then, Glaser and Jennings had become close friends and business partners, bound by shared affinities for music and pinball and by a shared disdain for convention.
"Before Waylon and Tompall got together, they didn't know there was anybody else like them," Smith told author Michael Streissguth for his book, Outlaw: Waylon, Willie, Kris And The Renegades Of Nashville. "I think both of them secretly thought they might be crazy. They'd both been going their own way alone for so long, it never even entered their minds that somebody else might feel the same way about country music and Nashville."
Glaser and Jennings co-produced Jennings' landmark Honky Tonk Heroes album, released in the summer of 1973 and featuring nine songs penned by Billy Joe Shaver. They shared a vision of musicians operating independently, outside of the traditional Music Row systems. And they starred together on Wanted! The Outlaws. But the men fell out over a publishing dispute, and Glaser rejoined his brothers in 1980, signing with Elektra Records and notching a No. 2 hit with Kris Kristofferson's Lovin' Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again).
The regrouping was brief, and the brothers called it quits in 1982. Glaser recorded another solo album in 1986, then sold Hillbilly Central and retreated from the public eye.
A private family memorial is being planned.
-------------------------------------------------
Tom's Obituary (written by nephew Louis Glaser)
Note: The obituary was intentionally kept short as so much had already been printed in the days following Tom's death.
Found in the Tennessean, Sunday, Aug. 18, 2013.
Thomas Paul GLASER
Obituary
GLASER, Thomas Paul "Tompall"Age 79, passed away on Monday, the twelfth of August in Nashville after a long illness. Mr. Glaser was born in Spalding, Nebraska, son of the late Louis Nicholas and Alice Harriet Marie Glaser. Glaser is survived by his loving wife of 36 years, June Johnson. He is also survived by his sister, Eleanor Ryan of Lincoln, Nebraska; his brother, John of Omaha, Nebraska, Chuck, and Jim Glaser of Nashville; and by his numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his brother, Robert of Spalding, Nebraska. The family held a private service at The Cathedral of the Incarnation on Friday, the 16th of August. For those who desire to honor Tompall's memory, donations may be sent to the American Diabetes Association .
--------------------------------------------
Article by Billboard Magazine can be found online at:
http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-615/5650638/country-outlaw-tompall-glaser-dead-at-79
The basic information contained there includes the following information:
Country Outlaw Tompall Glaser Dead at 79
By Chuck Dauphin, Nashville | August 13, 2013 4:46 PM EDT
If you were to look at just his chart statistics as a solo artist, the career of Tompall Glaser might not seem particularly legendary. He only placed eight singles on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart between 1973 and 1978, with only two rising to the top 40. However, Glaser -- who passed away Tuesday morning at age 79 after battling an undisclosed illness -- was one of the true revolutionaries of the business, bucking the Nashville system at many turns throughout his career, and being a key part of one of the format's most successful albums of all time, "Wanted: The Outlaws," along with Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Jessi Colter.
Tompall Glaser: 1933-2013
Gram Parsons' cover of Glaser's
"Streets of Baltimore"
Born Thomas Paul Glaser on September 3, 1933 in Spalding, Nebraska, Glaser began his musical career performing with his brothers Chuck and Jim in the 1950s. They were persuaded to move to Nashville by Marty Robbins, who hired them to sing backup for him. They were signed to Decca and began recording as early as 1959, but didn't make their chart bow until 1966, when "Gone, On The Other Hand," hit No. 24. It would become the first of a dozen top 40 records through 1972, with the biggest of that string being 1971's "Rings," which peaked at No. 7. During that period, they became members of the Grand Ole Opry, and were the winners of the 1970 Vocal Group of the Year trophy from the Country Music Association.
Glaser also achieved success as as a songwriter during this period, co-penning Bobby Bare's hit "The Streets Of Baltimore" with Harlan Howard. Other artists who've covered the song about losing a woman to the charms of "Charm City" include Gram Parsons, The Little Willies and The Lemonheads.
Feeling restrained artistically by the Nashville business system, the brothers went their separate ways in the mid 1970s. Tompall began to chart with solo releases, with the biggest being 1975's Shel Silverstein-written "Put Another Log On The Fire (Male Chauvinist National Anthem)," which peaked at No. 21. The song would see new life a year later as one of two Glaser cuts on "Wanted."
While Glaser was part of the legendary album that seemed to cement Jennings, Nelson. Colter, and himself as rebels in Music City, he had arguably had more of an impact behind the scenes than he did with his own recordings.
Glaser opened – along with Chuck and Jim – their own publishing company and recording studio, known affectionately as "Hillbilly Central." Their publishing company had success with songs such as "Gentle On My Mind" and "Woman, Woman." Many artists began to use the studios for their own recordings – much to the ire of the powers-that-be in Nashville. One of the many notable albums that was recorded there was Jennings' "Dreaming My Dreams" – produced by "Cowboy" Jack Clement, who passed away last week. It was Jennings' first No. 1 album, and also his first to be certified Gold.
Recording-wise, Tompall reunited with his brothers as Tompall and The Glaser Brothers in the early 1980s, scoring their biggest success with 1981's "Lovin' Her Was Easier Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again," which climbed all the way to number two. They hit the charts together for the final time in 1982 with "Maria Consuela."
A private family memorial is being planned, according to a family spokesman.
----------------------------------------------
A documentary entitled,Nebraska Ranchers to Nashville Rebels: The Story of Tompall & the Glaser Brothers was recently produced by The Northwoods Call and Newshound Productions. The following information provides information about the video.
From Nebraska Ranchers to Nashville Rebels: The Story of Tompall & the Glaser Brothers
The Glaser Brothers are widely recognized for their fine vocals and soaring harmonies. But they were much more than talented singers. They were savvy businessmen and innovative pioneers in the music industry.
The youngest of six children born to Louis and Alice Marie Glaser, the three brothers learned the value of hard work and self-reliance growing up on the family's 1,200-acre spread near Spalding, Nebraska.
From Nebraska Ranchers to Nashville Rebels follows Tompall, Chuck and Jim from their earliest days on the prairie to the pinnacle of Nashville's recording industry.
Never satisfied with the status quo, the Glasers challenged what they believed to be unfair business practices that kept recording artists and songwriters subservient to corporate record labels.
In response, they formed their own production and publishing companies, offered talent management and booking services and built their own recording studio. Along the way, they helped many singers and songwriters retain control of their own music.
While not containing much original Glaser music (due to costly licensing agreements) this oral history tells a compelling story. It includes discussions about each of the brothers, as well as a look at the so-called "outlaw" years that spawned the careers of Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Billy Joe Shaver and others.
Included are comments by Glaser family members, and various musicians, songwriters, music producers and others, such as Cowboy Jack Clement, Kyle Lehning, Ronny Robbins, Gordon Stoker, Marshall Chapman, Kinky Friedman, Gary Puckett, Bobby Bare and more.
--------------------------------------------------
Multiple video clips of the Glaser Brother's performing can be found on Youtube.
Thomas Paul Glaser was the son of Louis Nicholas Glaser and Alice Harriet Marie Davis Glaser. He was one of 6 children born to the couple. Tom grew up working on the family farm and playing guitar for entertainment. He and two of his brothers, Charles Vernon and James William Glaser eventually broke into the music business and were successful entertainers, writers, producers, etc. in the music industry in Nashville, TN. The trio was known as "Tompall and the Glaser Brothers". Tom and his brothers were instrumental in changing the way country music was done in Nashville. They were the first artists to own their own studio and to take control of their music.
Tom was to married to Dorothy June Johnson. He is survivied by 4 siblings and multiple nieces and nephews. He will be missed.
---------------------------------------------------
The following information was printed in the Aug 13, 2013 USA Today paper and the Tennessean.
Tompall Glaser, outlaw country artist, dies at 79
Peter Cooper, The Tennessean
"He was a seminal figure in country music's outlaw movement during the late 1960s and 1970s."
Thomas Paul "Tompall" Glaser — a staunchly independent singer, songwriter, studio owner, publisher and recording artist and a central figure in country music's much-vaunted "Outlaw Movement" of the 1970s — died Tuesday at his Nashville home after a long illness. Glaser, who was featured on Wanted! The Outlaws, country music's first million-selling album, was 79.
Glaser was an unabashed rebel in a company town. He and brothers Chuck and Jim owned the 19th Avenue South studio formally known as Glaser Brothers Sound Studios but commonly called "Hillbilly Central," where groundbreaking works including John Hartford's Aereo-Plain and Waylon Jennings' Dreaming My Dreams were recorded. Populated by a gang of misfits including Glaser, Waylon Jennings, Billy Ray Reynolds, Roger "Captain Midnight" Schutt and others, Hillbilly Central was a kingdom unto its own.
"That building was a fortress," said Glaser Sound secretary and publicist Hazel Smith, in Michael Bane's book Outlaws: Revolution In Country Music. "It was a place where they could go and hide. It was home to them, and there were no Picasso's on the wall."
The Hillbilly Central scene reached its pop peak in 1976, when RCA Records released Wanted! The Outlaws, featuring Glaser, Jennings, Willie Nelson and Jessi Colter. That album, a cobbled-together work featuring previously released material from each of the four artists, topped country charts and solidified the singers' reputation as "outlaws," a term meant to convey idiosyncratic artistry rather than actual lawlessness. But by 1976, Glaser and the other "outlaws" were well known in Music City for their restless creativity and for their night-owl habits.
"I discovered two principles of Glaser nightlife," wrote journalist Dave Hickey in 1973. "First, no pinball machine is passed by unplayed, and, secondly, any establishment which possesses a pinball machine hasn't much luck in trying to close while Tompall is playing the machine."
Glaser was born in Spalding, Neb., and was raised on a Nebraska farm. He and his brothers sang on local radio and in area venues and, in 1957, on Arthur Godfrey's network television show
In 1959, the brothers came to Nashville at the request of singing star Marty Robbins, who hired them to sing harmony vocals at his concert and signed them to his own Robbins Records. The Glasers also toured with Johnny Cash and sang harmonies on recordings such as Cash's Ring Of Fire, Roy Orbison's Leah and Robbins' El Paso.
As Tompall & The Glaser Brothers, the vocal trio recorded a series of country singles, aided by producer Cowboy Jack Clement, and in 1966 Bobby Bare had a major hit with Streets Of Baltimore, a song written by Glaser and Harlan Howard. Streets Of Baltimore would later be covered by Charley Pride, The Statler Brothers, Gram Parsons, Nanci Griffith and dozens of others.
The brothers Glaser also established a publishing business beginning in 1962, handling songs including Gary Puckett & the Union Gap's Woman, Woman (co-written by Jim Glaser) and Hartford's mega-successful Gentle On My Mind.
Money earned from publishing such hits helped to build Glaser Sound Studios, which opened in 1970, the same year the Glaser Brothers were voted the Country Music Association's top vocal group. In 1971, the brothers scored a No. 7 country hit with Rings, but the group disbanded in 1973 and Glaser embarked on a solo career. By then, Glaser and Jennings had become close friends and business partners, bound by shared affinities for music and pinball and by a shared disdain for convention.
"Before Waylon and Tompall got together, they didn't know there was anybody else like them," Smith told author Michael Streissguth for his book, Outlaw: Waylon, Willie, Kris And The Renegades Of Nashville. "I think both of them secretly thought they might be crazy. They'd both been going their own way alone for so long, it never even entered their minds that somebody else might feel the same way about country music and Nashville."
Glaser and Jennings co-produced Jennings' landmark Honky Tonk Heroes album, released in the summer of 1973 and featuring nine songs penned by Billy Joe Shaver. They shared a vision of musicians operating independently, outside of the traditional Music Row systems. And they starred together on Wanted! The Outlaws. But the men fell out over a publishing dispute, and Glaser rejoined his brothers in 1980, signing with Elektra Records and notching a No. 2 hit with Kris Kristofferson's Lovin' Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again).
The regrouping was brief, and the brothers called it quits in 1982. Glaser recorded another solo album in 1986, then sold Hillbilly Central and retreated from the public eye.
A private family memorial is being planned.
-------------------------------------------------
Tom's Obituary (written by nephew Louis Glaser)
Note: The obituary was intentionally kept short as so much had already been printed in the days following Tom's death.
Found in the Tennessean, Sunday, Aug. 18, 2013.
Thomas Paul GLASER
Obituary
GLASER, Thomas Paul "Tompall"Age 79, passed away on Monday, the twelfth of August in Nashville after a long illness. Mr. Glaser was born in Spalding, Nebraska, son of the late Louis Nicholas and Alice Harriet Marie Glaser. Glaser is survived by his loving wife of 36 years, June Johnson. He is also survived by his sister, Eleanor Ryan of Lincoln, Nebraska; his brother, John of Omaha, Nebraska, Chuck, and Jim Glaser of Nashville; and by his numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his brother, Robert of Spalding, Nebraska. The family held a private service at The Cathedral of the Incarnation on Friday, the 16th of August. For those who desire to honor Tompall's memory, donations may be sent to the American Diabetes Association .
--------------------------------------------
Article by Billboard Magazine can be found online at:
http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-615/5650638/country-outlaw-tompall-glaser-dead-at-79
The basic information contained there includes the following information:
Country Outlaw Tompall Glaser Dead at 79
By Chuck Dauphin, Nashville | August 13, 2013 4:46 PM EDT
If you were to look at just his chart statistics as a solo artist, the career of Tompall Glaser might not seem particularly legendary. He only placed eight singles on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart between 1973 and 1978, with only two rising to the top 40. However, Glaser -- who passed away Tuesday morning at age 79 after battling an undisclosed illness -- was one of the true revolutionaries of the business, bucking the Nashville system at many turns throughout his career, and being a key part of one of the format's most successful albums of all time, "Wanted: The Outlaws," along with Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Jessi Colter.
Tompall Glaser: 1933-2013
Gram Parsons' cover of Glaser's
"Streets of Baltimore"
Born Thomas Paul Glaser on September 3, 1933 in Spalding, Nebraska, Glaser began his musical career performing with his brothers Chuck and Jim in the 1950s. They were persuaded to move to Nashville by Marty Robbins, who hired them to sing backup for him. They were signed to Decca and began recording as early as 1959, but didn't make their chart bow until 1966, when "Gone, On The Other Hand," hit No. 24. It would become the first of a dozen top 40 records through 1972, with the biggest of that string being 1971's "Rings," which peaked at No. 7. During that period, they became members of the Grand Ole Opry, and were the winners of the 1970 Vocal Group of the Year trophy from the Country Music Association.
Glaser also achieved success as as a songwriter during this period, co-penning Bobby Bare's hit "The Streets Of Baltimore" with Harlan Howard. Other artists who've covered the song about losing a woman to the charms of "Charm City" include Gram Parsons, The Little Willies and The Lemonheads.
Feeling restrained artistically by the Nashville business system, the brothers went their separate ways in the mid 1970s. Tompall began to chart with solo releases, with the biggest being 1975's Shel Silverstein-written "Put Another Log On The Fire (Male Chauvinist National Anthem)," which peaked at No. 21. The song would see new life a year later as one of two Glaser cuts on "Wanted."
While Glaser was part of the legendary album that seemed to cement Jennings, Nelson. Colter, and himself as rebels in Music City, he had arguably had more of an impact behind the scenes than he did with his own recordings.
Glaser opened – along with Chuck and Jim – their own publishing company and recording studio, known affectionately as "Hillbilly Central." Their publishing company had success with songs such as "Gentle On My Mind" and "Woman, Woman." Many artists began to use the studios for their own recordings – much to the ire of the powers-that-be in Nashville. One of the many notable albums that was recorded there was Jennings' "Dreaming My Dreams" – produced by "Cowboy" Jack Clement, who passed away last week. It was Jennings' first No. 1 album, and also his first to be certified Gold.
Recording-wise, Tompall reunited with his brothers as Tompall and The Glaser Brothers in the early 1980s, scoring their biggest success with 1981's "Lovin' Her Was Easier Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again," which climbed all the way to number two. They hit the charts together for the final time in 1982 with "Maria Consuela."
A private family memorial is being planned, according to a family spokesman.
----------------------------------------------
A documentary entitled,Nebraska Ranchers to Nashville Rebels: The Story of Tompall & the Glaser Brothers was recently produced by The Northwoods Call and Newshound Productions. The following information provides information about the video.
From Nebraska Ranchers to Nashville Rebels: The Story of Tompall & the Glaser Brothers
The Glaser Brothers are widely recognized for their fine vocals and soaring harmonies. But they were much more than talented singers. They were savvy businessmen and innovative pioneers in the music industry.
The youngest of six children born to Louis and Alice Marie Glaser, the three brothers learned the value of hard work and self-reliance growing up on the family's 1,200-acre spread near Spalding, Nebraska.
From Nebraska Ranchers to Nashville Rebels follows Tompall, Chuck and Jim from their earliest days on the prairie to the pinnacle of Nashville's recording industry.
Never satisfied with the status quo, the Glasers challenged what they believed to be unfair business practices that kept recording artists and songwriters subservient to corporate record labels.
In response, they formed their own production and publishing companies, offered talent management and booking services and built their own recording studio. Along the way, they helped many singers and songwriters retain control of their own music.
While not containing much original Glaser music (due to costly licensing agreements) this oral history tells a compelling story. It includes discussions about each of the brothers, as well as a look at the so-called "outlaw" years that spawned the careers of Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Billy Joe Shaver and others.
Included are comments by Glaser family members, and various musicians, songwriters, music producers and others, such as Cowboy Jack Clement, Kyle Lehning, Ronny Robbins, Gordon Stoker, Marshall Chapman, Kinky Friedman, Gary Puckett, Bobby Bare and more.
--------------------------------------------------
Multiple video clips of the Glaser Brother's performing can be found on Youtube.
Tom was to married to Dorothy June Johnson. He is survivied by 4 siblings and multiple nieces and nephews. He will be missed.
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The following information was printed in the Aug 13, 2013 USA Today paper and the Tennessean.
Tompall Glaser, outlaw country artist, dies at 79
Peter Cooper, The Tennessean
"He was a seminal figure in country music's outlaw movement during the late 1960s and 1970s."
Thomas Paul "Tompall" Glaser — a staunchly independent singer, songwriter, studio owner, publisher and recording artist and a central figure in country music's much-vaunted "Outlaw Movement" of the 1970s — died Tuesday at his Nashville home after a long illness. Glaser, who was featured on Wanted! The Outlaws, country music's first million-selling album, was 79.
Glaser was an unabashed rebel in a company town. He and brothers Chuck and Jim owned the 19th Avenue South studio formally known as Glaser Brothers Sound Studios but commonly called "Hillbilly Central," where groundbreaking works including John Hartford's Aereo-Plain and Waylon Jennings' Dreaming My Dreams were recorded. Populated by a gang of misfits including Glaser, Waylon Jennings, Billy Ray Reynolds, Roger "Captain Midnight" Schutt and others, Hillbilly Central was a kingdom unto its own.
"That building was a fortress," said Glaser Sound secretary and publicist Hazel Smith, in Michael Bane's book Outlaws: Revolution In Country Music. "It was a place where they could go and hide. It was home to them, and there were no Picasso's on the wall."
The Hillbilly Central scene reached its pop peak in 1976, when RCA Records released Wanted! The Outlaws, featuring Glaser, Jennings, Willie Nelson and Jessi Colter. That album, a cobbled-together work featuring previously released material from each of the four artists, topped country charts and solidified the singers' reputation as "outlaws," a term meant to convey idiosyncratic artistry rather than actual lawlessness. But by 1976, Glaser and the other "outlaws" were well known in Music City for their restless creativity and for their night-owl habits.
"I discovered two principles of Glaser nightlife," wrote journalist Dave Hickey in 1973. "First, no pinball machine is passed by unplayed, and, secondly, any establishment which possesses a pinball machine hasn't much luck in trying to close while Tompall is playing the machine."
Glaser was born in Spalding, Neb., and was raised on a Nebraska farm. He and his brothers sang on local radio and in area venues and, in 1957, on Arthur Godfrey's network television show
In 1959, the brothers came to Nashville at the request of singing star Marty Robbins, who hired them to sing harmony vocals at his concert and signed them to his own Robbins Records. The Glasers also toured with Johnny Cash and sang harmonies on recordings such as Cash's Ring Of Fire, Roy Orbison's Leah and Robbins' El Paso.
As Tompall & The Glaser Brothers, the vocal trio recorded a series of country singles, aided by producer Cowboy Jack Clement, and in 1966 Bobby Bare had a major hit with Streets Of Baltimore, a song written by Glaser and Harlan Howard. Streets Of Baltimore would later be covered by Charley Pride, The Statler Brothers, Gram Parsons, Nanci Griffith and dozens of others.
The brothers Glaser also established a publishing business beginning in 1962, handling songs including Gary Puckett & the Union Gap's Woman, Woman (co-written by Jim Glaser) and Hartford's mega-successful Gentle On My Mind.
Money earned from publishing such hits helped to build Glaser Sound Studios, which opened in 1970, the same year the Glaser Brothers were voted the Country Music Association's top vocal group. In 1971, the brothers scored a No. 7 country hit with Rings, but the group disbanded in 1973 and Glaser embarked on a solo career. By then, Glaser and Jennings had become close friends and business partners, bound by shared affinities for music and pinball and by a shared disdain for convention.
"Before Waylon and Tompall got together, they didn't know there was anybody else like them," Smith told author Michael Streissguth for his book, Outlaw: Waylon, Willie, Kris And The Renegades Of Nashville. "I think both of them secretly thought they might be crazy. They'd both been going their own way alone for so long, it never even entered their minds that somebody else might feel the same way about country music and Nashville."
Glaser and Jennings co-produced Jennings' landmark Honky Tonk Heroes album, released in the summer of 1973 and featuring nine songs penned by Billy Joe Shaver. They shared a vision of musicians operating independently, outside of the traditional Music Row systems. And they starred together on Wanted! The Outlaws. But the men fell out over a publishing dispute, and Glaser rejoined his brothers in 1980, signing with Elektra Records and notching a No. 2 hit with Kris Kristofferson's Lovin' Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again).
The regrouping was brief, and the brothers called it quits in 1982. Glaser recorded another solo album in 1986, then sold Hillbilly Central and retreated from the public eye.
A private family memorial is being planned.
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Tom's Obituary (written by nephew Louis Glaser)
Note: The obituary was intentionally kept short as so much had already been printed in the days following Tom's death.
Found in the Tennessean, Sunday, Aug. 18, 2013.
Thomas Paul GLASER
Obituary
GLASER, Thomas Paul "Tompall"Age 79, passed away on Monday, the twelfth of August in Nashville after a long illness. Mr. Glaser was born in Spalding, Nebraska, son of the late Louis Nicholas and Alice Harriet Marie Glaser. Glaser is survived by his loving wife of 36 years, June Johnson. He is also survived by his sister, Eleanor Ryan of Lincoln, Nebraska; his brother, John of Omaha, Nebraska, Chuck, and Jim Glaser of Nashville; and by his numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his brother, Robert of Spalding, Nebraska. The family held a private service at The Cathedral of the Incarnation on Friday, the 16th of August. For those who desire to honor Tompall's memory, donations may be sent to the American Diabetes Association .
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Article by Billboard Magazine can be found online at:
http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-615/5650638/country-outlaw-tompall-glaser-dead-at-79
The basic information contained there includes the following information:
Country Outlaw Tompall Glaser Dead at 79
By Chuck Dauphin, Nashville | August 13, 2013 4:46 PM EDT
If you were to look at just his chart statistics as a solo artist, the career of Tompall Glaser might not seem particularly legendary. He only placed eight singles on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart between 1973 and 1978, with only two rising to the top 40. However, Glaser -- who passed away Tuesday morning at age 79 after battling an undisclosed illness -- was one of the true revolutionaries of the business, bucking the Nashville system at many turns throughout his career, and being a key part of one of the format's most successful albums of all time, "Wanted: The Outlaws," along with Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Jessi Colter.
Tompall Glaser: 1933-2013
Gram Parsons' cover of Glaser's
"Streets of Baltimore"
Born Thomas Paul Glaser on September 3, 1933 in Spalding, Nebraska, Glaser began his musical career performing with his brothers Chuck and Jim in the 1950s. They were persuaded to move to Nashville by Marty Robbins, who hired them to sing backup for him. They were signed to Decca and began recording as early as 1959, but didn't make their chart bow until 1966, when "Gone, On The Other Hand," hit No. 24. It would become the first of a dozen top 40 records through 1972, with the biggest of that string being 1971's "Rings," which peaked at No. 7. During that period, they became members of the Grand Ole Opry, and were the winners of the 1970 Vocal Group of the Year trophy from the Country Music Association.
Glaser also achieved success as as a songwriter during this period, co-penning Bobby Bare's hit "The Streets Of Baltimore" with Harlan Howard. Other artists who've covered the song about losing a woman to the charms of "Charm City" include Gram Parsons, The Little Willies and The Lemonheads.
Feeling restrained artistically by the Nashville business system, the brothers went their separate ways in the mid 1970s. Tompall began to chart with solo releases, with the biggest being 1975's Shel Silverstein-written "Put Another Log On The Fire (Male Chauvinist National Anthem)," which peaked at No. 21. The song would see new life a year later as one of two Glaser cuts on "Wanted."
While Glaser was part of the legendary album that seemed to cement Jennings, Nelson. Colter, and himself as rebels in Music City, he had arguably had more of an impact behind the scenes than he did with his own recordings.
Glaser opened – along with Chuck and Jim – their own publishing company and recording studio, known affectionately as "Hillbilly Central." Their publishing company had success with songs such as "Gentle On My Mind" and "Woman, Woman." Many artists began to use the studios for their own recordings – much to the ire of the powers-that-be in Nashville. One of the many notable albums that was recorded there was Jennings' "Dreaming My Dreams" – produced by "Cowboy" Jack Clement, who passed away last week. It was Jennings' first No. 1 album, and also his first to be certified Gold.
Recording-wise, Tompall reunited with his brothers as Tompall and The Glaser Brothers in the early 1980s, scoring their biggest success with 1981's "Lovin' Her Was Easier Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again," which climbed all the way to number two. They hit the charts together for the final time in 1982 with "Maria Consuela."
A private family memorial is being planned, according to a family spokesman.
----------------------------------------------
A documentary entitled,Nebraska Ranchers to Nashville Rebels: The Story of Tompall & the Glaser Brothers was recently produced by The Northwoods Call and Newshound Productions. The following information provides information about the video.
From Nebraska Ranchers to Nashville Rebels: The Story of Tompall & the Glaser Brothers
The Glaser Brothers are widely recognized for their fine vocals and soaring harmonies. But they were much more than talented singers. They were savvy businessmen and innovative pioneers in the music industry.
The youngest of six children born to Louis and Alice Marie Glaser, the three brothers learned the value of hard work and self-reliance growing up on the family's 1,200-acre spread near Spalding, Nebraska.
From Nebraska Ranchers to Nashville Rebels follows Tompall, Chuck and Jim from their earliest days on the prairie to the pinnacle of Nashville's recording industry.
Never satisfied with the status quo, the Glasers challenged what they believed to be unfair business practices that kept recording artists and songwriters subservient to corporate record labels.
In response, they formed their own production and publishing companies, offered talent management and booking services and built their own recording studio. Along the way, they helped many singers and songwriters retain control of their own music.
While not containing much original Glaser music (due to costly licensing agreements) this oral history tells a compelling story. It includes discussions about each of the brothers, as well as a look at the so-called "outlaw" years that spawned the careers of Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Billy Joe Shaver and others.
Included are comments by Glaser family members, and various musicians, songwriters, music producers and others, such as Cowboy Jack Clement, Kyle Lehning, Ronny Robbins, Gordon Stoker, Marshall Chapman, Kinky Friedman, Gary Puckett, Bobby Bare and more.
--------------------------------------------------
Multiple video clips of the Glaser Brother's performing can be found on Youtube.
