- Don Gibson
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For other people named Don Gibson, see Don Gibson (disambiguation).
Don Gibson Birth name Donald Eugene Gibson Born April 3, 1928 Origin Shelby, North Carolina Died November 17, 2003 (aged 75) Genres Country Occupations Singer-songwriter Instruments Guitar Years active 1948–2003 Labels RCA, Hickory Associated acts Dottie West, Sue Thompson Donald Eugene "Don" Gibson (April 3, 1928 – November 17, 2003) was an American songwriter and country musician. A Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, Gibson penned such country standards as "Sweet Dreams" and "I Can't Stop Loving You", and enjoyed a string of country hits from 1957 into the early 1970s.
Contents
Biography
Don Gibson was born in Shelby, North Carolina, into a poor working-class family, and he dropped out of school in the second grade.
His first band was called Sons of the Soil, with whom he made his first recording in 1948.
In 1957, he journeyed to Nashville to record "Oh Lonesome Me" and "I Can't Stop Loving You" for RCA. The afternoon session resulted in a double-sided hit on both the country and pop charts.
"Oh Lonesome Me" set the pattern for a long series of other RCA hits. "Blue Blue Day", recorded prior to "Oh, Lonesome Me" was a number 1 hit in 1958. Later singles included "Look Who's Blue" (1958), "Don't Tell Me Your Troubles" (1959), "Sea of Heartbreak" (1961); "Lonesome No. 1", "I Can Mend Your Broken Heart" (1962), and "Woman (Sensuous Woman)", a number one country hit in 1972.
Gibson recorded a series of successful duets with Dottie West in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the most successful of which were the Number two country hit "Rings of Gold" (1969) and the top 10 hit "There's a Story Goin' Round" (1970). West and Gibson released an album together in 1969, titled Dottie and Don. He also recorded several duets with Sue Thompson among these being the Top 40 hits, "I Think They Call It Love" (1972), "Good Old Fashioned Country Love" (1974) and "Oh, How Love Changes" (1975).
A talented songwriter, Gibson was nicknamed The Sad Poet because he frequently wrote songs that told of loneliness and lost love. His song "I Can't Stop Loving You", has been recorded by over 700 artists, most notably by Ray Charles in 1962. He also wrote and recorded "Sweet Dreams", a song that would become a major 1963 crossover hit for Patsy Cline. Roy Orbison was a great fan of Gibson's songwriting, and in 1967, he recorded an album of his songs simply titled Roy Orbison Sings Don Gibson. Gibson's wide appeal was also shown in Neil Young's recorded version of "Oh Lonesome Me" on his 1970 album After the Gold Rush, which is one of the few songs Young has recorded that he did not write.
Gibson was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1973, and in 2001, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Following his death from natural causes on November 17, 2003, he was buried in the Sunset Cemetery in his hometown of Shelby, North Carolina.
Discography
Albums
Year Album Chart Positions Label US Country US 1958 Songs by Don Gibson — — Lion Oh Lonesome Me — — RCA 1959 No One Stands Alone — — That Gibson Boy — — 1960 Look Who's Blue — — Sweet Dreams — — 1961 Girls, Guitars and Gibson — — 1962 Some Favorites of Mine — — 1964 I Wrote a Song 14 134 God Walks These Hills — — 1965 A Blue Million Tears — — The Best of Don Gibson — — Too Much Hurt 13 — 1966 Don Gibson with Spanish Guitars 4 — Great Country Songs 14 — 1967 All My Love 19 — 1968 The King of Country Soul 21 — More Country Soul 26 — 1969 Dottie and Don (with Dottie West) 21 — Don Gibson Sings All-Time Country Gold 17 — 1970 The Best of Don Gibson 2 — — Hits, The Don Gibson Way 39 — Hickory A Perfect Mountain — — 1971 Hank Williams as Sung by Don Gibson — — Country Green 17 — 1972 Woman (Sensuous Woman) 16 — The Two of Us Together (with Sue Thompson) — — 1973 Touch the Morning / That's What I'll Do 26 — Hickory/MGM 1974 Snap Your Fingers 21 — The Very Best of Don Gibson 30 — Bring Back Your Love to Me 38 — 1975 I'm the Loneliest Man 47 — Oh, How Love Changes (with Sue Thompson) 43 — Don't Stop Loving Me — — 1977 I'm All Wrapped Up in You — — If You Ever Get to Houston — — 1978 Starting All Over Again — — Look Who's Blue — — Singles
Year Single Chart Positions Album US Country US CAN Country 1956 "Sweet Dreams" 9 — — single only 1958 "Oh Lonesome Me" 1 7 — Oh Lonesome Me "I Can't Stop Loving You" 7 81 — "Blue Blue Day" 1 20 — "Give Myself a Party" 5 46 — singles only "Look Who's Blue" 8 58 — 1959 "Who Cares" 3 43 — "A Stranger to Me" 27 — — "Lonesome Old House" 11 71 — "Don't Tell Me Your Troubles" 5 85 — "I'm Movin' On" 14 — — 1960 "Big Hearted Me" 29 — — Look Who's Blue "Just One Time" 2 29 — "Far, Far Away" 11 72 — Sweet Dreams "Sweet Dreams" (re-recording) 6 93 — 1961 "What About Me" 22 100 — "Sea of Heartbreak" 2 21 — single only "Lonesome Number One" 2 59 — I Wrote a Song 1962 "I Can Mend Your Broken Heart" 5 105 — singles only "So How Come (No One Loves Me)" 22 — — 1963 "Head Over Heels in Love with You" 12 — — "Anything New Gets Old (Except My Love for You)" 22 — — I Wrote a Song 1964 "Oh Such a Stranger" — — — "Cause I Believe in You" 23 — — singles only 1965 "Again" 19 — — "Watch Where You're Going" 10 — — 1966 "A Born Loser" 12 — — Great Country Songs "(Yes) I'm Hurting" 6 — — "Funny, Familiar, Forgotten, Feelings" 8 — — More Country Soul 1967 "A Lost Highway" 51 — — Great Country Songs "All My Love" 23 — — All My Love 1968 "Ashes of Love" 37 — — The King of Country Soul "Good Morning, Dear" 71 — — "It's a Long, Long Way to Georgia" 12 — 20 More Country Soul "Ever Changing Mind" 30 — — The King of Country Soul 1969 "Solitary" 28 — — The Best of Don Gibson 2 "I Will Always" 21 — — singles only "There's a Story (Goin' 'Round)" (with Dottie West) 7 — — 1970 "Don't Take All Your Loving" 17 — 31 A Perfect Mountain "A Perfect Mountain" 16 — — "Someway" 37 — 31 Country Green 1971 "Guess Away the Blues" 19 — 4 "(I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle" 29 — 29 Hank Williams as Sung by Don Gibson "Country Green" 5 — 7 Country Green 1972 "Far, Far Away" (re-recording) 12 — 6 Woman (Sensuous Woman) "Woman (Sensuous Woman)" 1 — 1 "Is This the Best I'm Gonna Feel" 11 — 3 1973 "If You're Goin' Girl" 26 — 9 Touch the Morning /
That's What I'll Do"Touch the Morning" 6 — 5 "That's What I'll Do" 30 — 83 "Snap Your Fingers" 12 — 23 Snap Your Fingers 1974 "One Day at a Time" 8 — 30 "Good Old Fashioned Country Love" (with Sue Thompson) 31 — 29 single only "Bring Back Your Love to Me" 9 — 14 Bring Back Your Love to Me 1975 "I'll Sing for You" 27 — — "(There She Goes) I Wish Her Well" 24 — 48 I'm the Loneliest Man "Don't Stop Loving Me" 43 — — Don't Stop Loving Me "I Don't Think I'll Ever (Get Over You)" 76 — — 1976 "You've Got to Stop Hurting Me Darling" 79 — — "Doing My Time" 39 — — I'm All Wrapped Up in You "I'm All Wrapped Up in You" 23 — — 1977 "Fan the Flame, Feed the Fire" 30 — — If You Ever Get to Houston "If You Ever Get to Houston (Look Me Down)" 16 — — "When Do We Stop Starting Over" 67 — — 1978 "Starting All Over Again" 16 — — Starting All Over Again "The Fool" 22 — — "Oh, Such a Stranger" 61 — — Look Who's Blue "I Love You Because" flip — — "Any Day Now" 26 — 31 1979 "Forever One Day at a Time" 37 — 33 singles only 1980 "Sweet Sensuous Sensations" 42 — — "I'd Be Crazy Over You" — — — "Love Fires" 80 — — Singles from collaboration albums
Year Single Artist Chart Positions Album US Country CAN Country 1969 "Rings of Gold" Dottie West 2 1 Dottie & Don "Sweet Memories" 32 — 1970 "Till I Can't Take It Anymore" 46 — 1971 "The Two of Us Together" Sue Thompson 50 — The Two of Us Together 1972 "Did You Ever Think" 71 — "I Think They Call It Love" 37 — "Cause I Love You" 64 — 1973 "Go with Me" 52 49 "Warm Love" 53 52 1975 "No One Will Ever Know" — — Oh, How Love Changes "Oh, How Love Changes" 36 — "I Can't Tell My Heart That" — — 1976 "Get Ready-Here I Come" 98 — "Let's Get Together" — — References
- Wolfe, Stacey (1998). "Don Gibson". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 199.
External links
Categories:- 1928 births
- 2003 deaths
- American country singers
- American country singer-songwriters
- Country Music Hall of Fame inductees
- Grand Ole Opry members
- RCA Victor artists
- People from Shelby, North Carolina
- Hickory Records artists
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