Earl Thomas Conley
| Earl Thomas Conley | |
|---|---|
Earl Thomas Conley in concert
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| Background information | |
| Born |
October 17, 1941 Portsmouth, Ohio, United States |
| Origin | Dayton, Ohio, United States |
| Genres | Country |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Instruments | Vocals, Guitar |
| Years active | 1974–present |
| Labels | GRT, Warner Bros., Sunbird, RCA |
| Associated acts | Keith Whitley |
| Website | EarlThomasConley.com |
Earl Thomas Conley (born October 17, 1941, Portsmouth, Ohio, United States) is an 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 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 except for Alabama and Ronnie Milsap.
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.
When Conley was 14, his father lost his job with the railroad, forcing the young boy to move in with his older sister in Jamestown, 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 Heard, who produced country music singer Mel Street. This meeting eventually led to the Conley-Heard collaboration on the song "Smokey Mountain Memories," which made the top 10 for Street. 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.
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