Biography

Early life

Goldsboro was born in Marianna, Florida. In 1941, his family moved 35 miles north from Marianna to Dothan, Alabama. He graduated from Dothan High School in 1959 and later enrolled at Auburn University. Goldsboro left college after his second year to pursue a musical career. He played guitar for Roy Orbison from 1962 to 1964.

Career

Goldsboro's solo career picked up steam with the top ten hit "See the Funny Little Clown". The single, written by Goldsboro, reached No. 9 on the U.S. national charts in early 1964. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. It was to be the first of a string of similar awards. Goldsboro would go on to have 16 Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and 12 on the country chart. In 1966 he recorded "It's Too Late" with "Too Many People" on the B-side. Although Goldsboro was not a prolific performer of dance music, both of these songs were huge hits on the Northern soul scene in Great Britain and were played extensively. His biggest hit was 1968's "Honey", a tearjerker about the death of a man's lover. The song, written by Bobby Russell, was recorded in one take. It became the largest-selling record in the world for 1968 and topped the Hot 100 for five weeks, reached number two in the UK Singles Chart on two separate occasions (1968 and 1975), and was a number one single in Australia. It also became his first country hit.

One of Goldsboro's compositions, "With Pen in Hand", was recorded by several artists, including a Grammy-nominated pop version by Vikki Carr that reached the Hot 100's top 40 in 1969; Johnny Darrell had taken the song to No. 3 on the US country chart a year earlier. In 1970 Della Reese included a cover on her album Black Is Beautiful. Goldsboro's "The Cowboy and the Lady" became a "Top 10" country hit as "The Cowgirl and the Dandy" for Brenda Lee in 1980; Dolly Parton had also covered it in 1977, and John Denver had a hit with the song in 1981.

"Summer (The First Time)", a 1973 reminiscence about a 17-year-old boy's first sexual experience with a 31-year-old woman, was a Top 25 hit in the U.S. and reached number 9 in the UK. It was voted the all-time greatest "summer" song in England's history. Using a repeating piano riff, 12-string guitar, and an orchestral string arrangement, the song was suggestive enough to spark some controversy. A follow-up, "Hello Summertime", was written by Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway and hit No. 14 in the UK in late 1974.

From 1973 to 1975, Goldsboro hosted the successful syndicated television variety series The Bobby Goldsboro Show. In the 1990s, he composed the music for the CBS situation comedy Evening Shade. In 1995, he created the fifty-two episode children's television series The Swamp Critters of Lost Lagoon. Goldsboro voiced all the characters, wrote all the scripts, and played all the musical instruments. Goldsboro is also an accomplished oil painter.

Discography

Albums

Year	Album	Chart Positions			RIAA	Label
1964	The Bobby Goldsboro Album					United Artists
	I Can't Stop Loving You
1965	Little Things
	Broomstick Cowboy
1966	It's Too Late
	Blue Autumn
1967	Solid Goldsboro		165
	The Romantic, Wacky, Soulful, Rockin', Country, Bobby Goldsboro
	Our Way of Life	28
1968	Honey	1	5	41	Gold
	Word Pictures		116
1969	Today	34	60
1970	Muddy Mississippi Line	28	139
	Bobby Goldsboro's Greatest Hits	34	103	82
1971	We Gotta Start Lovin'	20	120
	Come Back Home		142
1972	California Wine		214
1973	Brand New Kind of Love		207
	Summer (The First Time)	10	150
1974	10th Anniversary Album		174
	Hello Summertime
1975	Through the Eyes of a Man
1976	A Butterfly for Bucky	37
1977	Goldsboro					Epic
1981	Bobby Goldsboro	54				Curb
1982	The Round-Up Saloon

Singles

Year	Single (A-side, B-side)	Chart Positions							Album
1962	"You Better Go Home"								Non-album tracks
	"Molly"		70	60	17
1963	"The Runaround"
	"That's What Love Will Do"
	"See the Funny Little Clown" 1		9	10	3				The Bobby Goldsboro Album
1964	"Whenever He Holds You"		39	41	13
	"Me Japanese Boy I Love You"		74	83	14		39		Little Things
	"I Don't Know You Anymore"		105	136
	"Little Things" 1		13	12			4	4
1965	"Voodoo Woman"		27	27			6		Broomstick Cowboy
	"If You Wait For Love" /		75	97
	"If You've Got A Heart"		60	58
	"Broomstick Cowboy"		53	52			20
1966	"It's Too Late" 1		23	28			5		It's Too Late
	"I Know You Better Than That"		56	77			23		Blue Autumn
	"Take Your Love"		114	123
	"It Hurts Me"		70	100			86
	"Blue Autumn"		35	37			20
1967	"Goodbye To All You Women" /		102	103					Pledge of Love
	"Love Is"			122
	"Trusty Little Herbert"								This Is Bobby Goldsboro
	"Jo Jo's Place" /		111						Non-album track
	"Pledge Of Love"		118	109					Blue Autumn
1968	"I Just Wasted The Rest"	56							Our Way Of Life
	"Honey" 1	1	1	1	1	1	1		Honey
	"Autumn of My Life"	15	19	14	2	2	11		Word Pictures
	"The Straight Life"	37	36	29	6	7	19
	"Look Around You (It's Christmas)"
1969	"Glad She's A Woman"	49	61	45	7		44		Today
	"I'm a Drifter"	22	46	44	14		36	9
	"Muddy Mississippi Line"	15	53	46	10	1	37	16	Muddy Mississippi Line
	"Take A Little Good Will Home"	31				31			Our Way Of Life
1970	"Mornin' Mornin'"	56	78	78	23		64	18	Muddy Mississippi Line
	"Can You Feel It"	71	75	98	8				Bobby Goldsboro's Greatest Hits
	"It's Gonna Change"		108		38				We Gotta Start Lovin'
	"My God and I"			116
	"Watching Scotty Grow" 1	7	11	8	1	7	5	1
1971	"And I Love You So"	48	83	91	8		93	7	Come Back Home
	"Come Back Home"		69	74	15		89	17
	"Danny Is A Mirror To Me" /		107	119	34
	"A Poem For My Little Lady"			130	27
1972	"California Wine"		108	113	36				California Wine
	"With Pen in Hand"		94	87	28				Bobby Goldsboro's Greatest Hits
1973	"Brand New Kind Of Love"		116	104	37			40	Brand New Kind Of Love
	"Summer (The First Time)"	100	21	17	18		19	15	Summer (The First Time)
	"Marlena"	52		101		76		70
1974	"I Believe The South Is Gonna Rise Again"	62							Through The Eyes Of A Man
	"Quicksand"
	"Hello Summertime" /	79		112	8			46	Hello Summertime
1975	"And Then There Was Gina"				15			15	Through The Eyes Of A Man
	"I Wrote A Song (Sing Along)"				16			17	A Butterfly For Bucky
1976	"A Butterfly For Bucky"	22	101	102	7	7		12
	"Reunion"
1977	"Me and The Elephants"	82	104		6			10	Goldsboro
	"The Cowboy and The Lady"	85
1979	"He'll Have To Go"
	"Black Fool's Gold"
1980	"Goodbye Marie"	17			19				Bobby Goldsboro
1981	"Alice Doesn't Love Here Anymore"	20			34	41
	"Love Ain't Never Hurt Nobody"	19				33
	"The Round-Up Saloon"	31				38			The Round-Up Saloon
1982	"Lucy and The Stranger"	49

Key: 1 Indicates titles that were awarded gold disc status.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]