Lee Greenwood
Lee Greenwood can be booked through this site. Lee Greenwood entertainment booking site. Lee Greenwood
is available for public concerts and events. Lee Greenwood can be booked for
private events and Lee Greenwood can be booked for corporate events and
meetings through this Lee Greenwood booking page.
Unlike most middle agents that would mark
up the performance or appearance fee for Lee Greenwood, we act as YOUR agent in
securing Lee Greenwood at the best possible price. We go over the rider for
Lee Greenwood and work directly with Lee Greenwood or the responsible agent for
Lee Greenwood to secure the talent for your event. We become YOUR agent,
representing YOU, the buyer.
In fact, in most cases we can negotiate for
the acquisition of Lee Greenwood for international dates and newer promoters
providing you meet professional requirements.
Lee Greenwood Biography
Born with a good voice and a wide range, Lee Greenwood turned
it into a unique voice accidentally, by overworking it in a
less-than-healthy setting. Hailing from Sacramento, he used his musical
training on the casino circuit, working in the green-felt jungles of
Reno and Las Vegas, where he dealt cards by day and sang in dark
lounges by night. The physical toll of two jobs, the vocal strain of
performing six nights a week, and the damaging endeavor to sing in
smoky nightclubs before the advent of smoking ordinances brought
Greenwood a permanent hoarseness. He's used it to his advantage,
becoming one of country music's premier balladeers. Discovered by Mel
Tillis' road manager, Larry McFaden, Greenwood paid for his own ticket
to fly to Nashville and cut a few demos, and it took more than a year
for that effort to pay off. When it finally did, Greenwood broke
through in late 1981 with It Turns Me Inside Out, in which his
exaggerated vibrato brought frequent comparisons to Kenny Rogers. In
short order, Greenwood disposed of the Kenny clone image, but he
continued to mine romantic material for the bulk of his hits.
Occasional exceptions include Touch and Go Crazy and Mornin' Ride,
but the biggest exception is also his signature song, the self-written
God Bless the U.S.A., which earned Song of the Year honors from the
Country Music Association.
Growing up on a Sacramento farm, Greenwood was musical at a very early
age, teaching himself how to play saxophone when he was nine years old.
In his preadolescence, he played in a western dance band called My
Moondreams. At the age of 13, he moved with his recently remarried
mother to Anaheim, CA, but three years later he returned to Sacramento
to live with his grandparents. Between the two moves, he played in a
variety of country and Dixieland bands. Upon his return to Sacramento,
Greenwood joined Chester Smith's band, which raised his profile within
California. Soon, Del Reeves hired Greenwood to play saxophone, and
while he was with the singer, Lee learned how to become a showman. In
1962, he formed his own band, a pop combo named Apollo, and the group
moved to Las Vegas. Within five years, the group was renamed the Lee
Greenwood Affair and relocated to Los Angeles, where they made a
handful of records for Paramount. Once the record label went out of
business, Greenwood was asked to join the fledgling Rascals by Felix
Cavaliere and Dino Danelli, but he declined. Instead, he moved back to
Las Vegas, where he worked as an arranger, backup vocalist, and lounge
pianist, as well accompanied strippers by playing organ. By 1973, he
became the lead singer and bassist in the Bare Touch of Vegas revue,
while he continued to work as a blackjack dealer at the Tropicana. He
held down both jobs for much of the mid-'70s.
By the end of the '70s, he was singing in lounges in Reno, which is
where he met Larry McFaden, who was then leading Mel Tillis' touring
band. Greenwood was initially reluctant to record, but he eventually
travelled to Nashville, where he recorded a set of demos. Shortly
afterward, McFaden became his manager and helped the singer sign a deal
with MCA Records in June of 1981. Four months later, his first single,
It Turns Me Inside Out, climbed into the country Top 20. Greenwood's
initial success was helped enormously by the similarity between his
husky voice -- toughened up by years of working in smoky casinos -- and
that of Kenny Rogers. In March of 1982, his second single, Ring on Her
Finger, Time on Her Hands, climbed into the Top Ten, beginning a
streak of 19 Top Ten singles that ran virtually uninterrupted for the
next six years. During that time, he racked up no less than seven
number one hits: Somebody's Gonna Love You (1983), Going, Going,
Gone (1984), Dixie Road (1985), I Don't Mind the Thorns (If You're
the Rose) (1985), Don't Underestimate My Love for You (1986),
Hearts Aren't Made to Break (They're Made to Love) (1986), and
Mornin' Ride (1986). In addition to his solo hits, Greenwood had a
number of hit duets with Barbara Mandrell, including the number three
hit To Me (1984). None of Greenwood's music was close to pure country
-- it was adult contemporary country-pop, in the vein of Rogers. Unlike
Rogers, however, Greenwood rarely crossed over into the pop charts, and
when he did, it was only in 1983, when slickly produced country-pop
could make inroads on adult contemporary radio. His popularity was at
its peak during the mid-'80s, when his conservative music and
neo-conservative lyrics managed to capture the imagination of the
nation; though God Bless the U.S.A. only peaked at number seven on
the country charts in 1984, it became a recurring theme song for
several Republican political campaigns during the Reagan and Bush
administrations. Furthermore, Greenwood won many popularity polls and
awards from various country music magazines and associations.
Greenwood switched labels in 1990, signing to Capitol Records. His
initial singles for the label, Holdin' a Good Hand and We've Got It
Made, were successful, but his audience steadily declined during the
first half of the decade. Though he tried to retain his audience
through patriotic work during the 1991 Gulf War -- even earning the
Congressional Medal of Honor Society's Patriot Award and a Points of
Light Foundation Award -- he couldn't successfully battle the onslaught
of harder-edged, contemporary country artists that overtook country
radio in the early '90s. By the middle of the decade, he was no longer
charting singles, and he had begun re-recording his biggest hits for a
variety of labels; he also continued to tour and give concerts. In 2000
he attempted a comeback with his new album, Same River...Different
Bridge. ~ Tom Roland, All Music Guide
Written by Tom Roland