BOB LUMAN

Born Robert Glynn Luman, 15 April 1937, Blackjack, Texas
Died 27 December 1978, Nashville, Tennessee

More than half of the (too) short life of Bob Luman was devoted to a musical career. Although he scored only one pop hit during those 20+ years, he was much more than a one-hit wonder. Blessed with a great voice, he was equally at home with rockabilly and country.

Born in the small community of Blackjack, just out of Nacogdoches, Texas, Luman grew up on a diet of country music. He received his first guitar when he was 13 years of age. At Kilgore High School he formed a country band, playing the hits of Lefty Frizzell and Webb Pierce. Also a talented athlete, Luman was still trying to decide whether to seek a baseball career or a country music career when ElvisPresley came to his hometown of Kilgore in August 1955. Young Bob was blown away. He switched to playing rock n roll with his band and it wasn't long before he won a talent contest sponsored by the Future Farmers of America, defeating second place winner Mac Curtis in the process. Before the end of 1955 Bob had recorded six demos (including "In the Deep Dark Jungle" and "Stranger Than Fiction") under the guidance of Jim Shell, a Texas songwriter / music honcho. These rockabilly recordings would not be released until some twenty years later, on Ronnie Weiser's Rollin' Rock label.

In 1956 Luman became a regular on the Louisiana Hayride, produced by Horace Logan, who introduced him to a young Shreveport guitar player named James Burton. Adding James Kirkland on bass and Butch White on drums, they formed a four-piece rockabilly band, the Shadows. They recorded three vocal and three instrumental numbers for Fabor Robison's Abbott label, but again these remained unreleased (until the 1990s). Finally, in early 1957, Luman was signed to a real recording contract, by Imperial Records. Three singles were released in 1957 ("Red Cadillac And A Black Moustache", "Red Hot", "Make Up Your Mind Baby"), but without commercial success. It is mainly Burton's guitar playing that makes these recordings special. That same year Bob and the Shadows appeared in the rock n roll movie "Carnival Rock", where he sang "All Night Long" and "This Is the Night". Luman moved to California and became a regular on the Town Hall Party television program.

Then, in December 1957, the Shadows left Luman to become Ricky Nelson's band. Bob was devastated by the defection, though he was happy for James Burton, who went on to become one of the greatest rockabilly guitarists in history. Two Luman sessions for Capitol in 1958 resulted in two singles, the best of which was "Try Me"/"I Know My Baby Cares". The next stop, in 1959, was at the newly established Warner Bros label. The first two Warner singles, "Class Of '59" and "Dreamy Doll"/"Buttercup" did nothing and one of his best rockers, "Loretta", would remain in the vaults until 1980. Bob Luman became increasingly disheartened with the music business and even thought about going back to baseball.

But his luck was about to change. The Everly Brothers told him about a song their mentors Boudleaux and Felice Bryant had brought to them recently. It didn't fit their style, but they thought it was perfect for Luman. Reluctantly, Bob travelled to Nashville for his first session in that city, on July 11, 1960. It turned out to be the most fateful studio date of his life. "Let's Think About Living" - a tongue-in-cheek answer to all the sad songs in the charts - became an international hit (# 7 US, # 6 UK). After four years of trying, Bob Luman had hit paydirt. But soon after the release of the fine follow-up "Why Why Bye Bye"/"Oh Lonesome Me" (a # 46 hit in the UK), Bob received the notice that Uncle Sam needed him. Stationed in Missouri, he depended on three-day weekend passes to fly to Tennessee for recording sessions. Warner Bros released an LP and eight further singles during the two years that Bob spent in the army, but he was unable to promote his records through personal appearances and sales were disappointing. "Let's Think About Living" would remain his sole entry on the pop charts.

After his demob, Bob moved to Nashville and in January 1963 he began to record for Wesley Rose's Hickory label, switching from rock n roll to country. The spirit of Wesley Rose had already loomed large over Bob's Warner recordings. John D. Loudermilk, who wrote many songs for Luman, told Hank Davis : "Wesley Rose understood very little about music. He was first and foremost a businessman. His background was in accounting, not making records. He was a domineering little guy who had some pretty negative impact on a lot of people. Artists like Bob Luman had to record a lot of material that was really out of character for them."

Over the years Luman would become a bona fide country star, scoring twenty Top 40 country hits between 1964 and 1977. Only three of these were on Hickory ; his stint at Epic (1968-1976) was much more successful, with four Top 10 hits. The highest charting of these was "Lonely Women Make Good Lovers" (# 4, 1972).

From August 1964 until his death, Luman was a member of the Grand Ole Opry. In 1976, Bob was hospitalized for nearly six months for an operation on a blocked artery. After his release, Johnny Cash brought him back into a recording studio and produced his LP "Alive And Well". But things were not well. There's no nice way to say it, but Bob Luman was an alcoholic. It affected his career, his family life, and ultimately, his health. Finally, it killed him, at the age of only 41. "Pneumonia", the press releases said. (And even now in 2012, most Internet sources still say so.) None of the fifty or so obituaries in the weeks following his death in 1978 hinted at the truth.

More info (including a discography) :
http://www.rockabillyhall.com/BobLuman.html
By Shaun Mather and Phil Davies.

Sessionography : http://countrydiscography.blogspot.nl/search/label/Luman%20Bob

Acknowledgements : Hank Davis, Steve Mander, Howard Cockburn

CD's : all the important releases are on Bear Family.
- Luman 1968-1977 (Bear Family BCD 15898) is a 5-CD box released in 1999 with the complete Epic recordings.
- Let's Think About Living : His Recordings 1955-1967 (Bear Family BCD 16259) came out in 2006. A 4-CD set. Accompanied by a 104-page hardcover book with a biography by Hank Davis.
- Bob Rocks (Bear Family BCD 16985) assembles his best rockers on a single CD. 36 tracks. Released 2008.

YouTube :
- All Night Long : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dv2p7gaxYds
- This Is the Night : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7QVqEYd4uY
(Above two from "Carnival Rock")
- Red Hot : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5guSy4rbt7g
- Try Me : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQAf22lCr1c
- Ready Teddy (live) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSYE4eD9Gho
- Let's Think About Living (live) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2hD6GYi8k8
- Oh Lonesome Me : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH219mg4GSM
- Why Why Bye Bye : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWNgYbSuJvs
- Pig Latin Song : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dv2p7gaxYds

Dik, September 2012

 
These pages were originally published as "This Is My Story" in the
Yahoo Group "Shakin' All Over". For comments or information
please contact Dik de Heer at
dik.de.heer@ziggo.nl

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