John Baxter Browning Bryant (January 24, 1957) is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

, whose greatest commercial popularity was before and during his early teens

Adolescence

Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development generally occurring between puberty and legal adulthood , but largely characterized as beginning and ending with the teenage stage...

.

Known professionally as Browning Bryant, he is the only progeny of Maud and Ray Bryant, and a long-time resident of Pickens, South Carolina

Pickens, South Carolina

Pickens, formerly called Pickens Courthouse, is a city in Pickens County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 3,012 at the 2000 census, at which time it was listed as a town; the change to a city was made in 1998, but not reported to the Census Bureau until 2001. It is the county seat...

. He attained success singing folk-pop that was uncharacteristically mature and introspective for a pre-teen heartthrob. In 1969, the first of his several songs to generate international sales was Games that Grown Up Children Play, leading to televised appearances on The Merv Griffin Show

The Merv Griffin Show

The Merv Griffin Show is an American television talk show, starring Merv Griffin. The series ran from October 1, 1962 to March 29, 1963 on NBC, September 20, 1965 to September 26, 1969 in first-run syndication, from August 18, 1969 to February 11, 1972 at 11:30 PM ET weeknights on CBS and again in...

, The Mike Douglas Show

The Mike Douglas Show

The Mike Douglas Show is an American daytime television talk show hosted by Mike Douglas that aired in syndication from 1961 to 1982, distributed by Westinghouse Broadcasting and for much of its run, originated from studios of two of the company's TV stations.The program featured light banter with...

, The Ed Sullivan Show

The Ed Sullivan Show

The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....

, The Kraft Music Hall (10 times), The Tonight Show

The Tonight Show

The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...

 (December 24, 1970), and a brief Las Vegas

Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

 career. He was nominated "Best Boy Singer" in a reader poll by 16 Magazine, then a favorite with teenagers.

In 1974, Bryant's last commercial album was released. New Orleans hit-maker Allen Toussaint

Allen Toussaint

Allen Toussaint is an American musician, composer, record producer, and influential figure in New Orleans R&B.Many of Toussaint's songs have become familiar through numerous cover versions, including "Working in the Coalmine", "Ride Your Pony", "Fortune Teller", "Play Something Sweet ", "Southern...

 produced the album and wrote most of its songs. It featured backing by members of the R&B group The Meters

The Meters

The Meters are an American funk band based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Meters performed and recorded their own music from the late 1960s until 1977...

. Though he was 15 and then 16 years old when the album was recorded, his mellifluous vocals are remarkably mature. His three self-penned songs also belie his age, with one, "Cure My Blues", being covered by blues singer Ellen McIlwaine

Ellen McIlwaine

Ellen McIlwaine is an American singer-songwriter and musician best known for her career as a slide guitarist.-Biography:...

. (Allmusic calls her version "majestic.") Despite recording in a style drastically different than his earlier work, it turned out that Bryant was well-paired with Toussaint's trademark syncopated funk

Funk

Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...

.

Since his early triumphs, Bryant has lived mostly in his home town, where he continues to write songs and record.

Commercial albums

Patches (1969, DOT DLP 25968)

1. Patches
2. You Mean All the World to Me
3. Hey Little Girl
4. Running Bear
5. Moods of Mary
6. What is a Youth
7. Tower of Strength
8. Games that Grown Up Children Play
9. It's a Beautiful Day
10. Poppa Says (Dawn Holds Another Day)
11. She Thinks I Still Care
12. As Usual

One Time in a Million (1970, RCA LSP 4356)

1. One Time in a Million
2. Yesterday
3. Sweet Caroline
4. Don't Wait Till Mornin' Comes
5. Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head
6. For Once in My Life
7. Happy Man
8. Today
9. What the World Needs Now
10. Jean
11. La la la (If I Had You)

Browning Bryant (1974, Reprise MS 2191)

1. You Might Say (Toussaint)
2. Say You Will (Toussaint)
3. Leave the Rest to Molly
4. This is My Day (Toussaint)
5. Cure My Blues (Bryant)
6. Liverpool Fool (Toussaint)
7. Blinded by Love (Toussaint)
8. Cover Girl (Toussaint)
9. Losing (Bryant)
10. Performance (Toussaint)
11. Home (Bryant)
    • Produced by Allen Toussaint

Private recordings

Some Favorites of Mine

1. The Girl from Ipanema
   The Girl from Ipanema
   "Garota de Ipanema" is a well-known bossa nova song, a worldwide hit in the mid-1960s that won a Grammy for Record of the Year in 1965. It was written in 1962, with music by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Portuguese lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes. English lyrics were written later by Norman Gimbel.The...
   
    (DeMorales/Jobim)
2. Suddenly (Diamond/Ocean)
3. And I Love You So
   And I Love You So (song)
   "And I Love You So" is a popular song written by Don McLean and released on his 1970 debut album, Tapestry. The song has been recorded by many artists in the years since McLean's original version, and it was a 1973 hit for singer Perry Como on his album of the same name, And I Love You So.Como's...
   
    (McLean)
4. The Christmas Song
   The Christmas Song
   "The Christmas Song" is a classic Christmas song written in 1944 by musician, composer, and vocalist Mel Tormé and Bob Wells. According to Tormé, the song was written during a blistering hot summer...
   
    (Torme)
5. The Summer Wind (Mercer/Mancini)
6. The Nearness of You
   The Nearness of You
   "The Nearness of You" is a popular song, written in 1938 by Hoagy Carmichael with lyrics by Ned Washington.The biggest selling 1938 version was recorded by the Glenn Miller Orchestra, with a vocal by Ray Eberle...
   
    (Washington/Carmichael)
7. Here's that Rainy Day (Burke/Huesen)
8. Smile (Parsons/Turner/Chaplin)
   • Recorded February 9, 1992 at Reflection Sound Studios, Charlotte, North Carolina
   • Digitally remixed at Workhorse Studio, Easley, South Carolina

Frankandsince

1. "I Could Write a Book" (Richard Rodgers
   Richard Rodgers
   Richard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
   
   , Lorenz Hart
   Lorenz Hart
   Lorenz "Larry" Milton Hart was the lyricist half of the famed Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart...
   
   )
2. "Fly Me to the Moon
   Fly Me to the Moon
   "Fly Me to the Moon" is a popular standard song written by Bart Howard in 1954. It was originally titled "In Other Words", and was introduced by Felicia Sanders in cabarets...
   
   " (Bart Howard
   Bart Howard
   Bart Howard was the composer and writer of the famous jazz standard "Fly Me To The Moon", which has been performed by singers Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson, Della Reese, Diana Krall, June Christy and Astrud Gilberto...
   
   )
3. "I've Got a Crush on You (George Gershwin
   George Gershwin
   George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
   
   , Ira Gershwin
   Ira Gershwin
   Ira Gershwin was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century....
   
   )
4. "I've Got You Under My Skin
   I've Got You Under My Skin
   "I've Got You Under My Skin" is a song by Cole Porter.I've Got You Under My Skin may also refer to:* "I've Got You Under My Skin" , a 1998 episode of the television series Charmed...
   
   " (Cole Porter
   Cole Porter
   Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
   
   )
5. "It Had to be You" (Isham Jones
   Isham Jones
   Isham Jones was a United States bandleader, saxophonist, bassist and songwriter.-Career:Jones was born in Coalton, Ohio, to a musical and mining family, and grew up in Saginaw, Michigan, where he started his first band...
   
   , Gus Kahn
   Gus Kahn
   Gustav Gerson Kahn was a musician, songwriter and lyricist.-Biography:Kahn was born in Koblenz, Germany in 1886. The family emigrated from there to the United States and moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1890...
   
   )
6. "Witchcraft
   Witchcraft (song)
   "Witchcraft" is a popular song from 1957 composed by Cy Coleman with lyrics by Carolyn Leigh. It was released as a single by Frank Sinatra, and reached number twenty in the U.S., spending sixteen weeks on the charts....
   
   " (Cy Coleman
   Cy Coleman
   Cy Coleman was an American composer, songwriter, and jazz pianist.-Life and career:He was born Seymour Kaufman on June 14, 1929, in New York City to Eastern European Jewish parents, and was raised in the Bronx. His mother, Ida was an apartment landlady and his father was a brickmason...
   
   , Carolyn Leigh
   Carolyn Leigh
   Carolyn Leigh was an American lyricist for Broadway, movies, and popular songs. She is best known as the writer with partner Cy Coleman of the pop standards "Witchcraft" and "The Best Is Yet to Come."-Biography:...
   
   )
7. "Our Love is Here to Stay
   Our Love Is Here to Stay
   "Our Love Is Here to Stay" is a popular song and a jazz standard. The music was written by George Gershwin, the lyrics by Ira Gershwin, for the movie The Goldwyn Follies which was released shortly after George Gershwin's death. It is performed in the film by Kenny Baker...
   
   " (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin)
8. "But Not for Me
   But Not for Me (song)
   "But Not for Me" is a popular song, composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin.It was written for their musical Girl Crazy and introduced in the original production by Ginger Rogers. It is also in the 1992 musical based on Girl Crazy, Crazy for You...
   
   " (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin)
9. "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" (Duke Ellington
   Duke Ellington
   Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
   
   , Bob Russell
   Bob Russell (songwriter)
   Sidney Keith "Bob" Russell, was an American songwriter born in Passaic, New Jersey.In 1968, Russell along with songwriting partner Quincy Jones was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Original Song category...
   
   )
   • Recorded July 9, 1995 at Reflection Sound Studios, Charlotte, North Carolina
   • Digitally remixed at Workhorse Studio, Easley, South Carolina

Merry Christmas From Browning Bryant

1. This Christmas
2. The Christmas Song
   The Christmas Song
   "The Christmas Song" is a classic Christmas song written in 1944 by musician, composer, and vocalist Mel Tormé and Bob Wells. According to Tormé, the song was written during a blistering hot summer...
   
   
3. Silver Bells
4. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
5. The Little Drummer Boy
6. Mary's Little Boy Child
7. Do You Hear What I Hear
8. What Child is This
9. The First Noel
   The First Noël
   The First Nowell is a traditional classical English carol, most likely from the 18th century, although possibly earlier...
   
   
10. Away in a Manger
11. Let it Snow
    Let It Snow
    "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!", also known as "Let It Snow", is a song written by lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Jule Styne in 1945. The song was written in July 1945 in Hollywood, California during one of the hottest days on record. First recorded by Vaughn Monroe, it became a popular...
    
    
12. Happy Holidays
    • Produced, arranged, all vocals and instruments by Browning Bryant, except Wade Powell, rhythm guitar and Maud Bryant, harmony vocal on Silver Bells.
    • Recorded November 2003 at Workhorse Studio, Easley, South Carolina

Various artist compilation albums

• Deep Ear (1974, Warner Bros. PRO 591); "This is My Day" from the album Browning Bryant.

Singles

• "Games that Grown Up Children Play" / "Hey Little Girl" (1969, Dot 17193)
• "She Thinks I Still Care" / "Poppa Says" (Dot 17236)
• "New Way to Live" / "Patches" (1969, Dot 17311)
• "Little Altar Boy" / "They Stood in Silent Prayer" (1969, Dot 17328)
• "One Time in a Million" / "Tina" (1970, RCA 9825)
• "Liverpool Fool" / "Cover Girl" (1974, Reprise REP 1201)

External links

• Browning Bryant (discography, lyrics, photos, articles)
• Yahoo Group: Browning Bryant
• Two Beautiful Boys For You