John Conlee

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John Conlee
Background information
Born	August 11, 1946 (1946-08-11) (age 63)
Origin	Versailles, Kentucky, USA
Genres	Country
Occupations	Singer
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1978-present
Labels	ABC, MCA Nashville, Columbia, 16th Avenue
Associated acts	Bud Logan
Website	www.johnconlee.com

John Conlee (born August 11, 1946 in Versailles, Kentucky) is an American country music singer. Between 1978 and 2004, Conlee charted a total of thirty-two singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts and recorded eleven studio albums. His singles include seven Number One hits: "Lady Lay Down," "Backside of Thirty," "Common Man," "I'm Only in It for the Love," "In My Eyes," "As Long as I'm Rocking with You" and "Got My Heart Set on You." Besides these, Conlee has sent fourteen other songs into the Top Ten.

Biography

John Conlee was born August 11, 1946 on a tobacco farm in Versailles, Kentucky.^[1] By age ten, Conlee had begun singing and playing guitar, and later sang tenor in a barbershop quartet.^[2] Conlee did not immediately take up a musical career, instead becoming a licensed mortician^[2] and later a disc jockey at radio station WLAC.^[3]

Musical career

This section requires expansion with: More info on each album.

By 1971, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee in pursuit of a musical career, signing to ABC Records in 1976.^[1] Conlee charted for the first time in 1978 with "Rose Colored Glasses," a #5 hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles (now Hot Country Songs) charts, as well as the title track to his 1978 debut album.^[1] This album would go on to produce his first two Number One hits in "Lady Lay Down" and "Backside of Thirty."^[1]

Following ABC's merger with MCA Records, he released his 1979 album Forever on MCA. Its singles, "Before My Time" and "Baby, You're Something," respectively reached #2 and #7.^[3] A second MCA release, Friday Night Blues, produced two more #2 hits in the title track and "She Can't Say That Anymore," followed by the #12 "What I Had with You." 1981's With Love accounted for yet another #2 in "Miss Emily's Picture."

Conlee's 1982 album Busted was led off by a cover of the Harlan Howard song of the same name; the album's last single, "Common Man," returned him to the top of the charts in 1983.^[1] Three more Number One hits came from In My Eyes: the Kix Brooks co-write "I'm Only in It for the Love," the title track, and "As Long as I'm Rockin' with You." MCA released a Greatest Hits album later in 1983.

Blue Highway in 1984, his last studio album for MCA, produced a #2 in "Years After You." A year later, a second Greatest Hits package produced his last MCA single in the #5 "Old School" before he moved to Columbia Records. Conlee's first Columbia release, Harmony, gave him his last Number One hit in "Got My Heart Set on You" in 1986. A second and final album for Columbia, American Faces, took him into the Top 10 for the last time with "Domestic Life," followed by his last Top 40 at #11, "Mama's Rockin' Chair." From there, Conlee moved to 16th Avenue Records, releasing Fellow Travelers.

Discography

Albums

Compilation albums

Singles

References