John Wesley Ryles
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John Wesley Ryles (born December 2, 1950) is an American
country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
artist. Ryles recorded a string of hit country songs, beginning in 1968 when he was still a teenager, and continuing through the 1980s. He no longer records as a headline artist but remains active in the music industry as a
session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...
.


Biography

At age 17, he made his debut in 1968 with the single " Kay", a Top Ten hit on the ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' Hot Country Singles (now
Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...
) charts, and the title track to his debut album for
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
. Ryles later recorded one album, ''Reconsider Me'', for the Plantation label, which produced a No. 39 single in its title track. It was followed by two non-album singles, "Tell It Like It Is" and "When a Man Loves a Woman," both on the Music Mill label in 1976. He then moved to
Dot Records Dot Records was an American record label founded by Randy Wood (record producer), Randy Wood and Gene Nobles that was active between 1950 and 1978. The original headquarters of Dot Records were in Gallatin, Tennessee. In 1956, the company moved ...
. His first single on ABC/Dot, "Fool", Made it to No. 18 on the Hot Country chart followed by his highest-peaking single, the No. 5 "Once in a Lifetime Thing." When that label merged with
MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...
, he issued the album ''Let the Night Begin'' there. The first single, "Liberated Woman" climbed to No. 14 on the Billboard Hot Country chart. It was followed by a rendition of " Always on My Mind, which went to #20 on the Billboard Hot Country chart.." The last song released from this album, "Perfect Strangers", reached No. 24 on the Billboard chart. Two more singles followed on the Primero label: "We've Got to Start Meeting Like This" and "Just Once," followed by "She Took It Too Well" on 16th Avenue Records in 1984. The last label for which he recorded was
Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...
between 1987 and 1988. Although he reached Top 20 with "Louisiana Rain" during his stay on Warner, he did not release an album for the label. Since the release of his last single in 1988, Ryles has served primarily as a background vocalist. Ryles is married to
Joni Lee Joni Lee Ryles ( née Jenkins; born July 2, 1957) is an American country music singer. The daughter of Conway Twitty, she recorded several singles as Joni Penn. Her most successful solo single was "I'm Sorry Charlie", which peaked at number 16 on ...
, the daughter of country singer
Conway Twitty Harold Lloyd Jenkins (September 1, 1933 – June 5, 1993), better known by his stage name Conway Twitty, was an American singer and songwriter. Initially a part of the 1950s rockabilly scene, Twitty was best known as a country music performer. ...
.


Discography


Albums


Singles

*APeaked at No. 83 on ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 88 on ''RPM'' Top Singles. *BCredited to John Wesley Ryles I.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryles, John Wesley 1950 births Living people People from Bastrop, Louisiana American country singer-songwriters Columbia Records artists Dot Records artists MCA Records artists Singer-songwriters from Louisiana Warner Records artists 16th Avenue Records artists Country musicians from Louisiana