Don King (musician)
Donald "Don" Alan King (born May 1, 1954 in Fremont , Nebraska ) is an American country musician .
Life
Don King learned the trumpet in high school and later switched to classical guitar . At 14 he learned to play the electric guitar . He made his first live appearances in bars and clubs in Omaha. In 1974 he moved to Nashville , Tennessee , where he appeared on small talent shows.
He had his first job as a singer at the Quality Inn Hotel for two years. Here he met people from the music business. These connections helped him to get a contract with Con Brio Records and in 1976 his first chart success followed with Cabin High (In the Blue Ridge Mountains) . In 1977 he had his first Top 20 hit with I've Got You to Come Home To (# 16 Country Top 100), followed shortly after by two other hits in the middle of the country charts and his first album, Dreams and Things . In 1978 Don King released his second album, Feelings So Right , and landed four other top 30 hits, including Music Is My Woman .
In 1979 Lonely Hotel entered the top 40. Two more hits followed over the next few years, and King toured with Alabama , Reba McEntire , John Anderson , The Oak Ridge Boys , Conway Twitty , and Tammy Wynette . A top 40 hit with Johnny Cash's song I Still Miss Someone followed in 1981 and a second with The Closer You Get while completing his album Whirlwind . The big breakthrough in the top ten or a number 1 hit was denied him.
King wrote Reba McEntire's hit single Why Do We Want What We Know We Can't Have together with Dave Woodward, with whom he often writes songs. He also co-wrote Janie Fricke's You Don't Know Love with Beckie Foster. The country band now known as Sawyer Brown was founded in the early 1980s as a tour band by Don King. King Can't Stop The Music had his last hit in the US country charts in 1988 .
In late 1981, Don King founded the Don King Music Group with his father . In 1985 a 24-track recording studio followed, mainly to record demos. In 1992 a video production was added. Don King is now a member of 2nd Nature , a bluegrass trio. Don King recorded 4 albums on major labels and placed about fifteen hit singles on the Billboard Country Music Charts.
Discography
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
 Country
|
|||
| 1977 | Dreams and Things |
Country42 (5 weeks) Country |
Con Brio
|
More albums
- 1978: The Feelings So Right (Con Brio)
- 1980: Lonely Hotel (Epic)
- 1981: Whirlwind (Epic)
- 1984: Tennessee Souvenirs (Kings X Music)
- 2006: Hymns of Faith (Radio Theater)
- 2008: Songs From The Mother Road (Radio Theater)
Compilations
- 2007: Don King Collection Vol.1
- 2007: Don King Collection Vol.2
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Country
|
|||
| 1976 | Cabin High (In the Blue Ridge Mountains) Dreams and Things |
Country78 (5 weeks) Country |
|
| 1977 | I've Got You (To Come Home To) Dreams and Things |
Country16 (13 weeks) Country |
|
| She's the Girl of My Dreams Dreams and Things |
Country17 (13 weeks) Country |
||
| I Must Be Dreaming Dreams and Things |
Country41 (9 weeks) Country |
||
| 1978 | Music Is My Woman The Feelings So Right |
Country29 (9 weeks) Country |
|
| Don't Make No Promises (You Can't Keep) The Feelings So Right |
Country29 (10 weeks) Country |
||
| The Feelings So Right. The Feelings So Right |
Country26 (11 weeks) Country |
||
| 1979 | You Were Worth Waiting For The Feelings So Right |
Country28 (13 weeks) Country |
|
| Live entertainment The Feelings So Right |
Country39 (8 weeks) Country |
||
| I've Got Country Music in My Soul The Feelings So Right |
Country73 (3 weeks) Country |
||
| 1980 | Lonely Hotel Lonely Hotel |
Country40 (9 weeks) Country |
|
| Here Comes That Feeling Again Lonely Hotel |
Country32 (12 weeks) Country |
||
| Take This Heart Lonely Hotel |
Country44 (8 weeks) Country |
||
| 1981 | I Still Miss Someone Whirlwind |
Country38 (11 weeks) Country |
|
| The Closer You Get Whirlwind |
Country27 (12 weeks) Country |
||
| 1982 | Running on Love Whirlwind |
Country40 (9 weeks) Country |
|
| Maximum Security (To Minimum Wage) |
Country64 (6 weeks) Country |
||
| 1986 | All We Had Was One Another |
Country71 (6 weeks) Country |
|
| 1988 | Can't stop the music |
Country86 (2 weeks) Country |
Web links
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| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | King, Don |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | King, Donald Alan (full name); King, Don Alan (nickname) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American country musician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 1, 1954 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Fremont , Nebraska |