John Wesley Ryles

Singer/songwriter John Wesley Ryles placed more than thirty singles on the charts from 1968 through 1988 yet never attained the commercial peaks reached by several peers of his era. Growing up amid the countryside of Louisiana and Texas, he belonged to a household that passed evenings performing songs together. Already playing guitar at six, he made his first radio appearance the next year. The family later organized itself as the Ryles Family Singers and performed on assorted local stations before securing regular spots on Fort Worth’s Cowtown Hoedown, an engagement that opened the door to the Big D Jamboree in Dallas. After the entire household relocated to Nashville in 1965, Ryles elected to pursue a solo career. He began cutting demos, acquired studio-engineering skills, and performed regularly with area club groups. In 1968 the eighteen-year-old issued the single “Kay” under the name John Wesley I and scored a Top Ten country hit that also crossed into the pop Top Ten. Two follow-up releases in 1969 stalled in the middle ranks, though he returned to the Top 20 in 1970 with “I’ve Just Been Wasting My Time.” The next year brought another Top 40 entry, “Reconsider Me.” Disheartened by limited progress, Ryles left Nashville and took club work elsewhere. He attempted a comeback in 1976 with two minor-charting singles. The 1977 release “Fool” initially drew no attention, yet four months later it climbed into the Top 20. Its success was eclipsed by the subsequent “Lifetime Thing,” which became his highest-charting single at No. 5. Additional mid-chart singles appeared through the close of the 1980s before Ryles shifted his focus to session work and demo singing.