Tompall & The Glaser Brothers

Born in Spalding, Nebraska, to Louis and Marie Glaser, the three youngest siblings among their six offspring—Tompall, whose full name at birth was Thomas Paul Glaser on 3 September 1933, Chuck, born Charles Vernon Glaser on 27 February 1936, and Jim Glaser, born James Wilson Glaser on 16 December 1937—grew up on a farm. From the moment Tompall reached the age of fourteen, the three brothers performed together as a vocal trio. Their entry into the professional entertainment world occurred in 1957 through victory on Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Show broadcast on television. Additional television spots came afterward, after which the trio entered Marty Robbins’ touring revue and relocated to Nashville in 1958. Early releases featured their rendition of the Coasters’ ‘Yakety Yak’; the following year US Decca Records placed them under contract as folk performers, though the group soon turned toward country material. They supplied harmonies on multiple Robbins recordings such as ‘She Was Only Seventeen’ and ‘El Paso’, while Jim and Tompall composed ‘Running Gun’. The brothers also traveled with Johnny Cash, appearing on his 1962 album The Sound Of Johnny Cash and on the international hit ‘Ring Of Fire’. Session work encompassed Roy Orbison’s ‘Leah’, Claude King’s ‘The Comancheros’, and further dates behind Patsy Cline, George Jones and Hank Snow, the last of whom cut Chuck’s composition ‘Where Has All The Love Gone?’. Jim supplied the transatlantic pop success ‘Woman Woman’ for Gary Puckett And The Union Gap, and Tompall, collaborating with Harlan Howard, created the quintessential country number ‘Streets Of Baltimore’, later cut by Bobby Bare, Charley Pride and Gram Parsons. The year 1965 saw the trio issue a folk EP under the name Charleston Trio on Bravo Records. Two years later the siblings signed with MGM, where they produced some of country music’s finest vocal harmonies. Chart entries on the US country listings included ‘Rings’, ‘Gone, On The Other Hand’, ‘The Moods Of Mary’ and ‘Faded Love’. In 1971 they opened Glaser Sound Studios in Nashville, continuing operations at the facility even after the group dissolved in 1973.

Following the multi-platinum Wanted! The Outlaws collaboration with Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, Tompall achieved solo recognition; the 1996 anniversary edition added nine tracks together with the previously unheard Steve Earle song ‘Nowhere Road’, performed by Nelson and Jennings. Numerous Nashville outlaws, Kinky Friedman among them, utilized the studios. Chuck Glaser, discoverer of John Hartford and Dick Feller, suffered a stroke in 1975 that left his vocal cords paralyzed, yet through determined rehabilitation he recovered his voice and later produced Hank Snow’s The Mysterious Lady plus the narrative album Christopher The Christmas Tree. Jim Glaser’s individual efforts stalled without solo chart success and without resources to maintain a touring band. The brothers reunited in 1979; with Tompall’s voice even more gravelly, they scored with ‘Lovin’ Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again)’ and ‘Weight Of My Chains’.

Sherrill Nielsen, also credited as Shaun Nielsen and previously heard supporting Elvis Presley’s spoken-word section on ‘Softly, As I Leave You’, replaced Jim in 1983 and issued the album The Songs I Sang For Elvis. Jim subsequently placed several singles on the US country chart: ‘The Man In The Mirror’, ‘When You’re Not A Lady’, ‘You Got Me Running’ and the number-one hit ‘You’re Gettin’ To Me Again’. His song ‘Who Were You Thinking Of (When We Were Making Love Last Night)?’ became a US pop success for Dandy and the Doolittle Band. Tompall maintained a parallel solo path that encompassed an album of World War II love songs and an unreleased tribute to Bob Wills; he also cut ‘Ugly Women And Pick-Up Trucks’ with Jimmy Payne and produced the 1986 Mac Wiseman album Born To Burn by Ethel And The Shameless Hussies.