Biography
Kerry Chater built his primary reputation as a Nashville-based songwriter whose material found its way to Alabama, George Strait, Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, and Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn. Before concentrating exclusively on behind-the-scenes work, he issued two soft-rock albums in the 1970s. Earlier still, he had served as bassist and live bandleader for Gary Puckett & the Union Gap, signing on at the group’s formation in 1966 and remaining until 1970, when he left amid the act’s gradual commercial decline.
Intent on writing songs, Chater used several Union Gap recordings to obtain a publishing contract with CBS. He later moved through Almo-Irving Publishing before landing at Chappell Music in 1976. Deals struck that year attracted Steve Barri’s attention at ABC; after Barri arrived at Warner in 1977, he offered Chater a recording contract.
Chater’s debut album, Part Time Love, appeared in 1977 under the joint production of Barri and Michael Omartian, who also supplied the arrangements. Neither that record nor its 1978 follow-up, Love on a Shoestring, registered strongly on the charts. Breakthrough success arrived in 1979 when Jennifer Warnes took the Chater composition “I Know a Heartache When I See One” into the Top Ten.
Steady country-chart results followed for roughly the next decade, among them Lee Greenwood’s 1983 single “I.O.U.,” nominated for a Grammy for Best Country Song; two 1983 number-one country hits, George Strait’s “You Look So Good in Love” and Reba McEntire’s “You’re the First Time I’ve Thought About Leaving”; Michael Martin Murphey’s 1984 hit “What She Wants”; and Alabama’s 1989 chart-topper “If I Had You.” Although comparable peaks did not recur, Chater remained active in Nashville, where Jessica Andrews’ “You Go First (Do You Wanna Kiss)” became his last notable charting single in 1989. He also co-wrote thriller novels with his wife, Lynn Gillespie-Chater.
Intent on writing songs, Chater used several Union Gap recordings to obtain a publishing contract with CBS. He later moved through Almo-Irving Publishing before landing at Chappell Music in 1976. Deals struck that year attracted Steve Barri’s attention at ABC; after Barri arrived at Warner in 1977, he offered Chater a recording contract.
Chater’s debut album, Part Time Love, appeared in 1977 under the joint production of Barri and Michael Omartian, who also supplied the arrangements. Neither that record nor its 1978 follow-up, Love on a Shoestring, registered strongly on the charts. Breakthrough success arrived in 1979 when Jennifer Warnes took the Chater composition “I Know a Heartache When I See One” into the Top Ten.
Steady country-chart results followed for roughly the next decade, among them Lee Greenwood’s 1983 single “I.O.U.,” nominated for a Grammy for Best Country Song; two 1983 number-one country hits, George Strait’s “You Look So Good in Love” and Reba McEntire’s “You’re the First Time I’ve Thought About Leaving”; Michael Martin Murphey’s 1984 hit “What She Wants”; and Alabama’s 1989 chart-topper “If I Had You.” Although comparable peaks did not recur, Chater remained active in Nashville, where Jessica Andrews’ “You Go First (Do You Wanna Kiss)” became his last notable charting single in 1989. He also co-wrote thriller novels with his wife, Lynn Gillespie-Chater.
Albums