Robert Charles Goldsboro (born January 18, 1941) is an American pop and

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

singer and songwriter. He had a string of pop and country hits in the 1960s and 1970s, including his signature No. 1 hit "

Honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

", which sold over 1 million copies in the United States, and the UK top-10 single "

Summer (The First Time) "Summer (The First Time)" is a song by American singer Bobby Goldsboro, recorded for his album of the same name and released as a single in June 1973. It was written by Bobby Goldsboro, Ashley Abram and Timmy Tappan, and produced by Goldsboro and ...

". Goldsboro starred in his own television show, ''The Bobby Goldsboro Show'', from 1973 to 1976. He also created the children's series '' The Swamp Critters of Lost Lagoon''.

Early life

Goldsboro was born in

Marianna, Florida Marianna is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Florida, United States, and it is home to Chipola College. The population was 6,102 at the 2010 census. In 2018 the estimated population was 7,091. The official nickname of Marianna is ...

. During his first year of life, his family moved north from Marianna to

Dothan, Alabama Dothan () is a city in Dale, Henry, and Houston counties and the Houston county seat in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is Alabama's eighth-largest city, with a population of 71,072 at the 2020 census. It is near the state's southeastern corner, ...

. He learned to play the

ukelele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrume ...

when he was around 12 years old before learning to play the guitar. He was interested in becoming a professional baseball player before turning his interest to music. Goldsboro attended

Dothan High School Dothan Preparatory Academy is located in Dothan, Alabama, USA. It is located on U.S. Highway 231 inside Ross Clark Circle, about north of the southern tip of Ross Clark Circle. The high school district roughly runs down U.S. Highway 84, which ...

. In his senior year in high school he started playing in a band called The Webbs. After graduating from high school in 1959, he enrolled at

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

, majoring in business administration. Goldsboro left college after his second year to pursue a musical career, playing guitar in the backup band for

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...

Music career

The Webs

In high school Goldsboro joined Spider and The Webs which featured Amos "Mugsby" on bass, Dave Robinson on drums, "Flying Fingers" John Rainey on lead guitar, and "Rockin" Steve Murphree on rhythm guitar. He performed semi-professionally as part of The Webs while at college. At the end of his second year in college, the manager of The Webs

Buddy Buie Perry Carlton "Buddy" Buie (January 23, 1941 – July 18, 2015) was an American songwriter, producer and publisher. He is most commonly associated with Roy Orbison, the Classics IV and the Atlanta Rhythm Section. Career Buie was born in Marian ...

arranged for the band to play for Roy Orbison who was without a backing band in a show he organized. The arrangement worked well, and The Webs then became the permanent backing band for Orbison for two-and-a-half years until 1964, touring with Orbison in the US and Europe. When they were not touring with Orbison, The Webs played in local gigs, recorded songs written by Goldsboro and had some local success. They came to the attention of an independent producer Jack Gold, who was interested in working with Goldsboro. He gave Goldsboro a song titled " Molly" for him to record, and the song managed to chart on ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in early 1963.

Solo success

Goldsboro continued performing with The Webs and Orbison until his solo career kicked off with the top 10 hit " See the Funny Little Clown". The single, written by Goldsboro, reached No. 9 on the U.S. national charts in early 1964. It sold over 1 million copies and was awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

. In the next few years, he achieved a few Top 40 hits, including " Little Things", "Voodoo Woman", and " It's Too Late". However, his attempt at more serious songs was derailed when "Broomstick Cowboy" was banned from ABC's ''

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'', abbreviated ''AB'', is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the pro ...

''. Although Goldsboro was not a prolific performer of soul music, "Too Many People" and "It's Too Late" were huge hits on the Northern soul scene in Great Britain and were played extensively. In 1968, Goldsboro released the biggest hit of his career, "

", a tearjerker about the death of a man's wife. The song, written by

Bobby Russell Bobby Russell (April 19, 1940 – November 19, 1992) was an American singer and songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, he had five singles on the Hot Country Songs charts, including the crossover pop hit "Saturday Morning Confusion". Russell w ...

, was recorded in one take.Roland, Tom (1991). ''The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits'', p.9. . It became the largest-selling record in the world for 1968 and topped the Hot 100 for five weeks, reached number two in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in 1968 and 1975, and was a number one single in Australia. It also became his first country hit. One of Goldsboro's compositions, "

With Pen in Hand "With Pen in Hand" is a song written by Bobby Goldsboro and first released on his March 1968 album, ''Honey''. The song's lyrics address the subjects of divorce and losing custody of one's child, and are sung from the perspective of the parent wh ...

", was recorded by several artists, including a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

-nominated pop version by

Vikki Carr Florencia Vicenta de Casillas-Martínez Cardona (born July 19, 1940), known by her stage name Vikki Carr, is an American vocalist. She has a singing career that spans more than four decades. Born in El Paso, Texas, to Mexican parents, she has p ...

that reached the Hot 100's top 40 in 1969;

Johnny Darrell Johnny Darrell (July 23, 1940 – October 7, 1997) was an American country music artist. Darrell was born in Hopewell, Alabama but grew up in Marietta, Georgia. After a stint in the army, he moved to Nashville and began managing a Holiday Inn ...

had taken the song to No. 3 on the U.S. country chart a year earlier. In 1970,

Della Reese Delloreese Patricia Early (July 6, 1931 – November 19, 2017), known professionally as Della Reese, was an American jazz and gospel singer, actress, and ordained minister whose career spanned seven decades. She began her long career as a s ...

included a cover on her album ''Black Is Beautiful''. Goldsboro's " The Cowboy and the Lady" became a top 10 country hit as "The Cowgirl and the Dandy" for

Brenda Lee Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Performing rockabilly, pop and country music, she had 47 US chart hits during the 1960s and is ranked fourth in that decade, surpassed only ...

in 1980;

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

covered it in 1977, and

John Denver Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, activist, and humanitarian whose greatest commercial success was as a solo singe ...

had a hit with the song in 1981.

Goldsboro reached No. 11 on ''Billboards national charts with the Mac Davis-penned song " Watching Scotty Grow". "

", a 1973 reminiscence about a 17-year-old boy's first sexual experience (with a 31-year-old woman), was a Top 25 hit in the U.S. and reached number 9 in the UK. Using a repeating piano riff, 12-string guitar, and an orchestral string arrangement, the song was suggestive enough to spark some controversy. The follow-up " Hello Summertime" was written by Roger Cook and

Roger Greenaway Roger John Reginald Greenaway, (born 23 August 1938) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer, best known for his collaborations with Roger Cook. His compositions have included "You've Got Your Troubles" and the transatlantic mill ...

and hit No. 14 in the UK in September 1974. In his career, Goldsboro had 11 Top 40 hits on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and 12 on the country chart.Whitburn, Joel (2000). ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits'', p.267. .

Television

The success of "Honey" led to numerous television appearances for Goldsboro, and he became a regular on ''

The Mike Douglas Show ''The Mike Douglas Show'' was an American daytime television talk show that was hosted by Mike Douglas. It began as a local program in Cleveland before being carried on other stations owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting. The show went into nati ...

'', co-hosting the show for a few times. Goldsboro was approached to host his own syndicated half-hour television series ''The Bobby Goldsboro Show''. The show, which ran from 1973 to 1976, was one of the more successful syndicated shows at that time. In the 1990s, he composed the music for the sitcom ''

Evening Shade ''Evening Shade'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on CBS from September 21, 1990, to May 23, 1994. The series stars Burt Reynolds as Wood Newton, an ex-professional football player for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who returns t ...

''. In 1995, he created the children's television series '' The Swamp Critters of Lost Lagoon''. Goldsboro voiced all the characters, wrote all the scripts, and played all the musical instruments in the show.

Personal life

Goldsboro was married to Mary Alice Watson, whom he met while he was in college; they had three children. They divorced in 1982 after a bitter court case where Goldsboro's daughter made accusations against him that he rejected as false. He married Dianne J. Roberts in 1985. Goldsboro is an accomplished oil painter.

Discography

References

Bibliography

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

* Wood, Gerry (1998). "Bobby Goldsboro". In ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music''. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 205.

External links

* * *
Bobby's recent radio interview show with Ronnie Allen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldsboro, Bobby 1941 births Living people People from Dothan, Alabama Auburn University alumni American male pop singers American male singer-songwriters American acoustic guitarists American country guitarists American country singer-songwriters People from Marianna, Florida Epic Records artists Laurie Records artists United Artists Records artists Northern soul musicians Singer-songwriters from Florida Guitarists from Alabama American male guitarists 20th-century American guitarists Country musicians from Alabama Country musicians from Florida 20th-century American male musicians Singer-songwriters from Alabama Television personalities from Florida