Tommy Overstreet
Encyclopedia
Tommy Overstreet is an American country
singer
. Often known simply as "T.O." by fans and radio disc jockeys, Overstreet has five top five hit
singles
in the Billboard
country charts
and 11 top 10 singles. His popularity peaked in the 1970s.
, Overstreet grew up in both Houston
and Abilene, Texas
. He decided on a singing
career when he was very young, influenced largely by his cousin, "Uncle" Gene Austin
. Austin was a singing star of the 1920s and 1930s.
star Slim Willet
's television show in Abilene. In the late 1950s, Overstreet started a group called "The Shadows."
He first recorded at Norman Petty
's studio in Clovis, New Mexico
, along with Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs. In 1960, Overstreet recorded in New York City
at Roulette Records
, with Doc Severinsen
on trumpet
, Sam "The Man" Taylor on saxophone
and the Ray Charles Singers singing backup.
In 1967, Overstreet was hired to manage Dot Records
in Nashville, Tennessee
. In 1970, he decided to pursue a recording career, quickly establishing himself as a country hit maker that very year with a top five hit, "Gwen (Congratulations)," which peaked at #5 on the Billboard
country music chart.
Overstreet made frequent guest appearance
s on the TV variety show
Hee Haw
. His highest charting Billboard hit was 1972's "Ann (Don't Go Runnin')," which went to #2.
His other top-20 hits were "I Don't Know You Anymore" (#5 in 1971), "Heaven is My Woman's Love" (#3 in 1972), "Send Me No Roses" (#7 in 1973); "I'll Never Break These Chains" (#7 in 1973), "(Jeannie Marie) You Were a Lady" (#7 in 1974), "If I Miss You Again Tonight" (#8 in 1974), "I'm a Believer" (#9 in 1975), "That's When My Woman Begins" (#6 in 1976), "If Love was a Bottle of Wine" (#11 in 1976), "Don't Go City Girl on Me" (#5 in 1977), "Yes, Ma'am" (#12 in 1978, and "Fadin' In, Fadin' Out" (#11 in 1978).
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
singer
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
. Often known simply as "T.O." by fans and radio disc jockeys, Overstreet has five top five hit
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...
singles
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
in the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
country charts
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
and 11 top 10 singles. His popularity peaked in the 1970s.
Early life
Born in Oklahoma City, OklahomaOklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City is the capital and the largest city in the state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's population, from the 2010 census, was 579,999, with a metro-area population of 1,252,987 . In 2010, the Oklahoma...
, Overstreet grew up in both Houston
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
and Abilene, Texas
Abilene, Texas
Abilene is a city in Taylor and Jones counties in west central Texas. The population was 117,063 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Abilene Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a 2006 estimated population of 158,063. It is the county seat of Taylor County...
. He decided on a singing
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
career when he was very young, influenced largely by his cousin, "Uncle" Gene Austin
Gene Austin
Gene Austin was an American singer and songwriter, one of the first "crooners". His 1920s compositions "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street" and "The Lonesome Road" became pop and jazz standards.-Career:...
. Austin was a singing star of the 1920s and 1930s.
Career
Overstreet's musical career started when he was 17, singing on country and westernCountry music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
star Slim Willet
Slim Willet
Slim Willet was an American disc jockey, musician, and songwriter....
's television show in Abilene. In the late 1950s, Overstreet started a group called "The Shadows."
He first recorded at Norman Petty
Norman Petty
Norman Petty was an American musician, songwriter, and pioneer record producer who helped shape modern popular music, including pop and rock....
's studio in Clovis, New Mexico
Clovis, New Mexico
Clovis is the county seat of Curry County, New Mexico, United States. Its population was 32,667 at the 2000 census; according to 2010 Census Bureau estimates, the population had risen to 37,775....
, along with Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs. In 1960, Overstreet recorded in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
at Roulette Records
Roulette Records
Roulette Records is an American record label, which was founded in late 1956, by George Goldner, Joe Kolsky, Morris Levy and Phil Khals, with creative control given to producers and songwriters Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore. Levy was appointed as director...
, with Doc Severinsen
Doc Severinsen
Carl Hilding "Doc" Severinsen is an American pop and jazz trumpeter. He is best known for leading the NBC Orchestra on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.-Early life:...
on trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
, Sam "The Man" Taylor on saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
and the Ray Charles Singers singing backup.
In 1967, Overstreet was hired to manage Dot Records
Dot Records
Dot Records was an American record label and company that was active between 1950 and 1977. It was founded by Randy Wood. In Gallatin, Tennessee, Wood had earlier started a mail order record shop, known for its radio ads on WLAC in Nashville and its R&B air personality Bill "Hoss" Allen...
in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
. In 1970, he decided to pursue a recording career, quickly establishing himself as a country hit maker that very year with a top five hit, "Gwen (Congratulations)," which peaked at #5 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
country music chart.
Overstreet made frequent guest appearance
Guest appearance
In show business , a guest appearance is a participation of an outsider performer , usually called guest artist , in an event , i.e., the participation of a performer which does not belong to the regular crew In performance...
s on the TV variety show
Variety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...
Hee Haw
Hee Haw
Hee Haw is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with fictional rural Kornfield Kounty as a backdrop. It aired on CBS-TV from 1969–1971 before a 20-year run in local syndication. The show was inspired by Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, the major difference being...
. His highest charting Billboard hit was 1972's "Ann (Don't Go Runnin')," which went to #2.
His other top-20 hits were "I Don't Know You Anymore" (#5 in 1971), "Heaven is My Woman's Love" (#3 in 1972), "Send Me No Roses" (#7 in 1973); "I'll Never Break These Chains" (#7 in 1973), "(Jeannie Marie) You Were a Lady" (#7 in 1974), "If I Miss You Again Tonight" (#8 in 1974), "I'm a Believer" (#9 in 1975), "That's When My Woman Begins" (#6 in 1976), "If Love was a Bottle of Wine" (#11 in 1976), "Don't Go City Girl on Me" (#5 in 1977), "Yes, Ma'am" (#12 in 1978, and "Fadin' In, Fadin' Out" (#11 in 1978).
Albums
| Year | Album | US Country | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Gwen (Congratulations) | 33 | Dot |
| 1972 | This Is Tommy Overstreet | 22 | |
| Heaven Is My Woman's Love | 9 | ||
| 1973 | My Friends Call Me T.O. | 23 | |
| 1974 | Woman, Your Name Is My Song | 41 | |
| 1975 | I'm a Believer | 38 | ABC/Dot |
| Greatest Hits Vol. One | 18 | ||
| The Tommy Overstreet Show Live from the Silver Slipper |
36 | ||
| 1976 | Turn On to Tommy Overstreet | 46 | |
| 1977 | Vintage '77 | 26 | |
| Hangin' 'Round | 44 | ||
| 1978 | Better Me | — | |
| 1979 | I'll Never Let You Down | — | Elektra |
| 1980 | The Real Tommy Overstreet | — | |
| 1982 | The Best of Tommy Overstreet | — | |
| Dream Lover | — | Intercord | |
| 1983 | Good Lovin' Feelin | — |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales... |
US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
CAN Country | |||
| 1968 | "Every Day I Fall More in Love with You" | — | — | — | singles only |
| 1969 | "Watching the Trains Go By" | — | — | — | |
| "Games People Play" | — | — | — | ||
| "Rocking a Memory (That Won't Go to Sleep)" | 73 | — | — | ||
| 1970 | "Painted by the Wine" | — | — | — | |
| "Good Day Sunshine" | — | — | — | ||
| 1971 | "If You're Looking for a Fool" | 56 | — | — | Gwen (Congratulations) |
| "Gwen (Congratulations)" | 5 | 123 | 2 | ||
| "I Don't Know You (Anymore)" | 5 | — | 3 | ||
| 1972 | "Ann (Don't Go Runnin') Ann (Don't Go Runnin') "Ann " is a single by American country music artist Tommy Overstreet. Released in December 1971, it was the first single from his album This Is Tommy Overstreet. The song peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart, his highest-charting single on the chart. It also reached No... " |
2 | — | 1 | This Is Tommy Overstreet |
| "A Seed Before the Rose" | 16 | — | 12 | Heaven Is My Woman's Love | |
| "Heaven Is My Woman's Love" | 3 | 102 | 3 | ||
| 1973 | "Send Me No Roses" | 7 | — | 10 | My Friends Call Me T.O. |
| "I'll Never Break These Chains" | 7 | — | 10 | ||
| 1974 | "(Jeannie Marie) You Were a Lady" | 3 | — | 3 | Woman, Your Name Is My Song |
| "If I Miss You Again Tonight" | 8 | — | 2 | I'm a Believer | |
| 1975 | "I'm a Believer I'm a Believer "I'm a Believer" is a song composed by Neil Diamond and recorded by The Monkees in 1966 with the lead vocals by Micky Dolenz. The single, produced by Jeff Barry, hit the number one spot on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week ending December 31, 1966 and remained there for seven weeks,... " |
9 | — | 9 | |
| "That's When My Woman Begins" | 6 | — | 4 | The Tommy Overstreet Show Live from the Silver Slipper |
|
| "From Woman to Woman" | 16 | — | 8 | single only | |
| 1976 | "Here Comes That Girl Again" | 15 | — | 23 | Turn On to Tommy Overstreet |
| "Young Girl" | 29 | — | 37 | ||
| 1977 | "If Love Was a Bottle of Wine" | 11 | — | 12 | Vintage '77 |
| "Don't Go City Girl On Me" | 5 | — | 5 | ||
| "This Time I'm in It for the Love" | 20 | — | — | Hangin' 'Round | |
| 1978 | "Yes Ma'am" | 12 | — | 15 | |
| "Better Me" | 20 | — | 34 | Better Me | |
| "Fadin' In, Fadin' Out" | 11 | — | 18 | ||
| 1979 | "Tears (There's Nowhere Else to Hide)" (w/ The Nashville Express) |
91 | — | — | single only |
| "Cheater's Kit" | 45 | — | 32 | Better Me | |
| "I'll Never Let You Down" | 27 | — | — | I'll Never Let You Down | |
| "What More Could a Man Need" | 23 | — | — | The Real Tommy Overstreet | |
| "Fadin' Renegade" | 36 | — | — | ||
| 1980 | "Down in the Quarter" | 41 | — | — | |
| "Sue" | 47 | — | — | The Best of Tommy Overstreet | |
| "Me and the Boys in the Band" | 72 | — | — | ||
| 1983 | "Dream Maker" | 69 | — | — | Dream Maker |
| "Heart of Dixie" | 84 | — | — | ||
| 1984 | "I Still Love Your Body" | 87 | — | — | singles only |
| 1986 | "Next to You" | 74 | — | — |