On this day (June 10) in 2019, we bade farewell to Chuck Glaser, best known for performing alongside siblings Tompall and Jim as the country music group Tompall & the Glaser Brothers.
At 83 years old, Chuck was the last surviving Glaser brother. His younger brother, Jim, had passed just two months earlier on April 6, 2019, at age 81. Older brother Tompall Glaser died on August 13, 2013, at the age of 79.
In addition to charting nine singles with his brothers, including the top 5 hit “Lovin’ Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again),” Chuck Glaser wrote songs for Hank Snow and Johnny Cash. He also helped launch the careers of various songwriters, including John Hartford, Jimmy Payne, Kinky Friedman, Buddy Starcher, and Willis D. Hoover.
Chuck Glaser Wrote The Brothers’ First Single
Born February 27, 1936, in Spalding, Nebraska, Charles Vernon “Chuck” Glaser spent his early years helping his father manage the family’s 1,200-acre farm.
He began performing with his brothers as a teenager, at first serving as the group’s master of ceremonies and designated joke teller. Soon, he began singing.
In 1957, the Glaser brothers caught the attention of acclaimed country singer-songwriter Marty Robbins after they won the Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Show. The “I’ll Go On Alone” crooner signed the brothers to his label, Robbins Records, and offered them a spot in his traveling act.
Chuck wrote the trio’s first single, “Five Penny Nickel”, released in 1958.
Finding Success as a Trio
In 1959, the Glaser brothers left Robbins’ label for Decca Records. That same year, Chuck Glaser was drafted into the U.S. Army. He served until 1961, with childhood friend Joe Babcock briefly taking his place in the trio.
During this time, the Glaser Brothers had become highly sought-after background singers in Nashville. They accompanied Robbins on several records, including “She Was Only Seventeen”, along with Roy Orbison’s “Leah” and Claude King’s “The Comancheros.”
You can also hear them on Johnny Cash’s chart-topping hit “Ring of Fire”, and they toured with both the Man in Black and Patsy Cline.
The Glaser Brothers earned numerous awards across the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, including CMA Vocal Group of the Year in 1970. Their charting singles included “Gone, on the Other Hand,” “California Girl (and the Tennessee Square)” and “The Moods of Mary.”
The group took a hiatus from 1973 to 1978, when each brother pursued their own individual careers. They reunited in 1979 and released several singles and two albums, including a 1982 rendition of the Kris Kristofferson-penned “Loving Her was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again)”. The song spent two weeks at number two on the Billboard country charts.
After the Glaser Brothers
Outside of their music career, Chuck Glaser owned and ran Nashville’s Glaser Sound Studios with his brothers. The trio’s studio became a haven for artists who wanted more autonomy over their sounds and careers.
[RELATED: 3 Country Songs From 1971 That Deserved To Hit No. 1]
As a songwriter, Chuck Glaser had songs cut by Hank Snow, Johnny Cash and more. In 2016, he released a solo album, That’s When I Love You the Most.
Featured image by David Redfern/Redferns
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source americansongwriter.com ’
