David Frizzell (born September 26, 1941) 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, ...

singer. He is the younger brother of country musician,

Lefty Frizzell William Orville "Lefty" Frizzell (March 31, 1928 – July 19, 1975) was an American country music singer-songwriter and honky-tonk singer. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1982. Frizzell released many songs that char ...

. His career started in the late 1950s, but his biggest success came in the 1980s.

Biography

Frizzell was born in

El Dorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

, United States. He began performing in his brother's show at the age of 12. He toured with his brother throughout the 1950s and 1960s and served in the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. He signed with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...

in 1970 and finally achieved solo success, placing the single "I Just Can't Help Believing" 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 adverti ...

'' top-40 country chart. Frizzell appeared regularly on

Buck Owens Alvis Edgar Owens Jr. (August 12, 1929 – March 25, 2006), known professionally as Buck Owens, was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and band leader. He was the lead singer for Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, which had 21 No. 1 hits on ...

' ''All American TV Show'' during the 1970s, and recorded for

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of not ...

. In 1981, he recorded his first number-one country hit, "

You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma "You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma" is a song from the film ''Any Which Way You Can'', performed by American country music artists David Frizzell and Shelly West. It was written by Larry Collins and Sandy Pinkard (of Pinkard & Bowden). The so ...

," a duet with

Shelly West Shelly West (born May 23, 1958) is an American country music singer. Her mother was the country music star Dottie West, whose career spanned three decades. The younger West reached her peak in popularity during the 1980s before mostly retiring ...

. The song won the Country Music Association's Song of the Year and Vocal Duet of the Year awards in 1981, was nominated for a

Grammy Award 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 pr ...

for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, and was featured in Clint Eastwood's film ''

Any Which Way You Can ''Any Which Way You Can'' is a 1980 American action comedy film directed by Buddy Van Horn and starring Clint Eastwood, with Sondra Locke, Geoffrey Lewis, William Smith, and Ruth Gordon in supporting roles. The film is the sequel to the 1978 hi ...

''. Frizzell and West also won the

Academy of Country Music The Academy of Country Music (ACM) was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Among the founders were Eddie Miller, Tommy Wiggins, and Mickey and Chris Christensen. They wanted to promote country musi ...

award for Vocal Duo of the Year in 1981 and 1982. In August 1982, Frizzell scored his only solo number-one country single with "

I'm Gonna Hire a Wino to Decorate Our Home "I'm Gonna Hire a Wino to Decorate Our Home" is a song written by Dewayne Blackwell, and recorded by American country music artist David Frizzell. It was released in April 1982 as the first single from the album ''The Family's Fine, But This One' ...

". He continued to tour and record with West until 1986. After he parted ways with Shelly West, Frizzell continued to record solo albums, but he has not kept up the popularity he enjoyed during the early 1980s. Notwithstanding, he continues to record and tour.

Discography

Albums

Singles

*^A"I'm Gonna Hire a Wino to Decorate Our Home" also peaked at No. 20 on the '' RPM'' Top Singles chart in Canada.

Singles with Shelly West

Music videos

References

Bibliography

* Bush, John (2003). Edited by Vladimir Bogdanov, Chris Woodstra, & Stephen Erlewine. "David Frizzell." ''All Music Guide to Country'', 2nd ed. San Francisco: Backbeat Books, 2003. * Whitburn, Joel. "The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits" New York: Billboard Publications Inc., 1996.

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frizzell, David 1941 births American male singer-songwriters American country singer-songwriters Capitol Records artists Columbia Records artists Country musicians from Arkansas Living people MCA Records artists People from El Dorado, Arkansas RSO Records artists Singer-songwriters from Arkansas Warner Records artists