Glen Sherley

Glen Milborn Sherley (born March 9, 1936 in Oklahoma , † May 11, 1978 in Salinas ) was an American country singer and songwriter ; he wrote Johnny Cash's famous song "Greystone Chapel," which was recorded in 1968.

Life

Sherley was born in Oklahoma in 1936 to a farm laborer. In the 1940s, they moved to California to work on cotton and potato farms. Glen Sherley was a juvenile offender and was in jail frequently for various crimes including a prison break during the 1950s and 1960s. During this time he was discovered by Johnny Cash while in 1968 in various prisons, including San Quentin and Folsom Prison, for armed theft.

In the late 1960s he wrote "Greystone Chapel" in style of the prison chapel in Folsom Prison , where he was serving his sentence at the time, and recorded this song. On January 12, 1968, Johnny Cash received a copy of the song from the prison chaplain, who was friends with Johnny Cash. It was the evening before Johnny Cash recorded his famous album At Folsom Prison at Folsom Prison .

In a 1994 interview with Life Magazine , Johnny Cash said:

"The night before I was going to record at Folsom prison, I got to the motel and a preacher friend of mine brought me a tape of a song called Greystone Chapel . He said a convict had written it about the chapel at Folsom. I listened to it one time and I said, 'I've got to do this in the show tomorrow'. So I stayed up and learned it, and the next day the preacher had him in the front row. I announced, 'This song was written by Glen Sherley'. It was a terrible, terrible thing to point him out among all those cons, but I didn't think about that then. Everybody just had a fit, screaming and carrying on. "

“The night before I made the recording at Folsom Prison , I went to the motel and a priest friend brought me the tape with the song Greystone Chapel . He said an inmate wrote it on the chapel at Folsom Prison. I heard it once and said 'I have to play this at the concert tomorrow'. So I stayed up and learned, and the next day the priest had put him in the front row. I announced, 'This song was written by Glen Sherley'. It was a terrible, terrible thing that I highlighted him from among all the inmates, but I didn't think about it then. Everyone was crazy and screaming to keep going. "

"Greystone Chapel" was first recorded by Johnny Cash during the At Folsom Prison concert on January 13, 1968.

After the release of Greystone Chapel, Glen Sherley's next big hit came in 1971 when country singer Eddy Arnold recorded the track he wrote, Portrait of My Women. This song also became the theme song for Eddy Arnold's next album.

Due to the notoriety resulting from the release of Eddy Arnold , Glen Sherley was offered to record a live album while he was in prison. The album, titled Live at Vacaville, California , was recorded and released by Mega Records and was a huge hit. With the permission of the prison authorities following an offer from Johnny Cash, he was also able to join Cash's House of Cash label .

Glen Sherley organized a concert at the Tennessee State Prison that filmed the documentary Flower Out of Place and performed by Johnny Cash, Linda Ronstadt and Roy Clark . Sherley's own appearance is unfortunately not shown in the film.

He ran into stardom problems and disappeared from the spotlight in the late 1970s. Glen Sherley worked on a cattle farm and fed 10,000 cattle a day. He lived in the cab of a semi-trailer truck and tried to avoid the public.

On May 11, 1978, Glen Sherley committed suicide. He shot himself in the head at his brother's house near Salinas, California .

Web links

• Website about Glen Sherley