Don Grashey
Encyclopedia
Don Grashey was a song writer and music producer, owner of Zero Records
and Gaiety Records.
(who would later become Mayor of Vancouver), Don and Chuck formed Zero Records
. Don would run the business as President, the A&R Department and the publishing company. Trilite Music. Grashey would run the business as he saw fit, sign the acts het wanted to sign and record and promote them without interference from any of the other shareholders. He had cheque-signing privileges for the company bank account to prevent any recurrence of the fiasco of Jury Records.
In 1955 Don Grashey began to broaden his involvement in the music industry with this budding new star under his wing, Don wrote the song "Are You Mine", and had Myrna Lorrie
and Buddy DeVal record it as a duet. Their Abbott Records release in 1955 zoomed to the top of the charts in the U.S. The classic song became so popular that two other duet versions were released simultaneously in the U.S. with Ginny Wright & Tom Tall scoring a #2 hit and Red Sovine and Goldie Hill earning a Top 20 hit…all charting and being played on radio at the same time. "Are You Mine" has since been recorded by George Jones
& Margie Singleton
, Ernest Tubb
& Loretta Lynn
, Lucille Starr
& Bob Regan, Carroll Baker
& Jerry Palmer, George & June Pasher and others, making it one of the all-time classics in country “duet” songs.
In 1960, Charles Chuck William, Chuck heard 14-year-old. performing at the 'Chicken Coop", an actual barn converted by Sandi Loranger's aunt in the city limits of Vancouver
, British Columbia
, near Custer
, Washington Chuck and Grashey returned on a Sunday and Grashey believed she was 'terrific'. One claim to fame for Don was discovering Loretta Lynn. With their initial support Loretta Lynn went on to become one of country music’s ‘greats’, although biographies and movies on the The Coal Miner’s Daughter typically fail to make mention of the Grashey / Williams involvement.
Loretta Lynn signed her first contract on February 1, 1960. Grashey produced Lynn's first session, not her second. The session took place in March and her first release was shipped out by the end of the month. The session was using Western Recorders studio and Don Blake as engineer. The backup musicians were Speedy West
as steel guitarist and leader of the band, Harold hensely, fiddle, Roy Lanham on guitar, Al Williams on bass and Muddy Berry on drums. Many of the facts and events concerning Loretta Lynn were missing from her book and the movie, Coalminers Daughters.
Don Grashey along with his partner Chuck Williams
were the driving forces behind Carroll Baker the
lady with the big voice, a voice filled with the emotion that only seasoned performers were supposed to have. George Petralia, a songwriter and sculptor, heard Carroll Baker on a live radio show from the Hayloft Jamboree in Markham, Ontario
, and he introduced her to Don Grashey, and sponsored her first recording. Don Grashey went on to produce her records and managed her career from the beginning until the late nineteen eighties. George Petralia, who had written the song "Mem'ries of Home", asked Carroll Baker to record it; the resulting hit stayed on the charts for 26 weeks in 1970. Carol Baker, the singer, "Canada's Queen of Country Music and Canada's First Lady of Country", was nominated for 18 years in a row in the Women's Country of the Year category. Carroll went on to win three Juno Award
s. She was named entertainer of the year in 1979 and country artist of the year in 1980. She also received CCMA Awards
as female vocalist of the year in 1982 and 1985 and for top-selling album (Hymns of Gold) in 1986, and for best-selling album (Christmas Carroll) in 1990.
As a songwriter and music publisher, Don Grashey was nothing short of prolific. In addition to the mega success of "Are You Mine", his early career songwriting included recordings of "Are You The One" by Jim Reeves
and "I’m Your Man (I’m Your Gal)" recorded by Nashville trio The Browns
. In Canada his songs were recorded by Jerry Palmer (who cut some 20 of Grashey’s compositions, including the Top 10 hits, "Did I Forget To Tell Her", "Not Living, Not Dying (Just Hanging On)" and "A Picture’s Worth A Thousand Words"; Del Rondo, StoneRidge, Kevin Waara, Sheila Ann, Carol Artyn, John Winters, Cindi Cain
, etc.
Don Grashey’s 50-plus years were recognized in 1980 when he was presented with the RPM Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame Award; and in 1989 he was among the inaugural inductees into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame
. His career memorabilia is currently on display in the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame museum in Calgary.
and Carroll Baker at the age of 79; Carroll Baker sang at his memorial mass.
Ironically, Don Grashey’s passing occurred on the morning of the presentation of the 2005 Canadian Country Music Awards Show, and came only 10 days after the death of his longtime music business partner and friend, Chuck Williams
.
Zero Records
Zero Records is a record studio located in Vancouver, Canada. The fallout from Jury Records resulted in the formation of Zero Records.-History:In the late 50’s, Don Grashey met Charlie Chuck Williams in Thunder Bay...
and Gaiety Records.
Early life
As a teenager Grashey first dabbled as a songwriter, teaming up with singer Jim Amadeo (aka Buddy DeVal). Together they struggled for more than a decade trying to get a foothold in a music industry that was still in its infancy, especially in Canada, so most of their efforts were directed to record companies and publishing houses in the U.S.Producing career
In the late 1950s Don Grashey met Charlie Chuck Williams, Chuck, in Thunder Bay, and the pair moved to Vancouver and with the financial help of Norm Burley, a retired lumber industry executive, and Art PhillipsArt Phillips
Arthur "Art" Phillips served as the 32nd mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from 1973 to 1977. Prior to being elected to this post, he founded the Vancouver investment firm of Phillips, Hager & North. Phillips was instrumental in founding a reform-minded, centrist municipal-level...
(who would later become Mayor of Vancouver), Don and Chuck formed Zero Records
Zero Records
Zero Records is a record studio located in Vancouver, Canada. The fallout from Jury Records resulted in the formation of Zero Records.-History:In the late 50’s, Don Grashey met Charlie Chuck Williams in Thunder Bay...
. Don would run the business as President, the A&R Department and the publishing company. Trilite Music. Grashey would run the business as he saw fit, sign the acts het wanted to sign and record and promote them without interference from any of the other shareholders. He had cheque-signing privileges for the company bank account to prevent any recurrence of the fiasco of Jury Records.
In 1955 Don Grashey began to broaden his involvement in the music industry with this budding new star under his wing, Don wrote the song "Are You Mine", and had Myrna Lorrie
Myrna Lorrie
Myrna Lorrie is a Canadian country singer.Lorrie first sang publicly at age 12 on Fort William radio station CKPR. At age 14 she recorded the song "Are You Mine" with Buddy DuVall, which was released on Abbott Records...
and Buddy DeVal record it as a duet. Their Abbott Records release in 1955 zoomed to the top of the charts in the U.S. The classic song became so popular that two other duet versions were released simultaneously in the U.S. with Ginny Wright & Tom Tall scoring a #2 hit and Red Sovine and Goldie Hill earning a Top 20 hit…all charting and being played on radio at the same time. "Are You Mine" has since been recorded by George Jones
George Jones
George Glenn Jones is an American country music singer known for his long list of hit records, his distinctive voice and phrasing, and his marriage to Tammy Wynette....
& Margie Singleton
Margie Singleton
Margaret Louis Ebey , known professionally as Margie Singleton, is an American country music singer and songwriter. In the 1960s, she was a popular duet and solo recording artist, working with country stars George Jones and Faron Young. Singleton had her biggest hit with Young called "Keeping Up...
, Ernest Tubb
Ernest Tubb
Ernest Dale Tubb , nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, was an American singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of country music. His biggest career hit song, "Walking the Floor Over You" , marked the rise of the honky tonk style of music...
& Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn is an American country music singer-songwriter, author and philanthropist. Born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky to a coal miner father, Lynn married at 13 years old, was a mother soon after, and moved to Washington with her husband, Oliver Lynn. Their marriage was sometimes tumultuous; he...
, Lucille Starr
Lucille Starr
Lucille Starr is a Franco-Manitoban / British Columbian singer, songwriter, and yodeler best known for her 1964 hit single, "Quand Le Soleil Dit Bonjour Aux Montagnes" .-Biography:...
& Bob Regan, Carroll Baker
Carroll Baker
Carroll Baker is a former American actress who has enjoyed popularity as both a serious dramatic actress and, particularly in the 1960s, as a movie sex symbol...
& Jerry Palmer, George & June Pasher and others, making it one of the all-time classics in country “duet” songs.
In 1960, Charles Chuck William, Chuck heard 14-year-old. performing at the 'Chicken Coop", an actual barn converted by Sandi Loranger's aunt in the city limits of Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, near Custer
Custer, Washington
Custer is a census-designated place in Whatcom County, Washington, United States. The population was 366 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Custer is located at ....
, Washington Chuck and Grashey returned on a Sunday and Grashey believed she was 'terrific'. One claim to fame for Don was discovering Loretta Lynn. With their initial support Loretta Lynn went on to become one of country music’s ‘greats’, although biographies and movies on the The Coal Miner’s Daughter typically fail to make mention of the Grashey / Williams involvement.
Loretta Lynn signed her first contract on February 1, 1960. Grashey produced Lynn's first session, not her second. The session took place in March and her first release was shipped out by the end of the month. The session was using Western Recorders studio and Don Blake as engineer. The backup musicians were Speedy West
Speedy West
Wesley Webb West , better known as Speedy West, was an American pedal steel guitarist and record producer. He frequently played with Jimmy Bryant, both in their own duo and as part of the regular Capitol Records backing band for Tennessee Ernie Ford and many others...
as steel guitarist and leader of the band, Harold hensely, fiddle, Roy Lanham on guitar, Al Williams on bass and Muddy Berry on drums. Many of the facts and events concerning Loretta Lynn were missing from her book and the movie, Coalminers Daughters.
Chuck Williams
Charles E. Williams is the founder of the Williams-Sonoma company and author and editor of dozens of books on the subject of cooking.-Early life:...
were the driving forces behind Carroll Baker the
Carroll Baker (singer)
Carroll Baker, CM , , is a Juno Award winning Canadian country music singer and songwriter.-Biography:Carroll Baker was born in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia...
lady with the big voice, a voice filled with the emotion that only seasoned performers were supposed to have. George Petralia, a songwriter and sculptor, heard Carroll Baker on a live radio show from the Hayloft Jamboree in Markham, Ontario
Markham, Ontario
Markham is a town in the Regional Municipality of York, located within the Greater Toronto Area of Southern Ontario, Canada. The population was 261,573 at the 2006 Canadian census...
, and he introduced her to Don Grashey, and sponsored her first recording. Don Grashey went on to produce her records and managed her career from the beginning until the late nineteen eighties. George Petralia, who had written the song "Mem'ries of Home", asked Carroll Baker to record it; the resulting hit stayed on the charts for 26 weeks in 1970. Carol Baker, the singer, "Canada's Queen of Country Music and Canada's First Lady of Country", was nominated for 18 years in a row in the Women's Country of the Year category. Carroll went on to win three Juno Award
Juno Award
The Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...
s. She was named entertainer of the year in 1979 and country artist of the year in 1980. She also received CCMA Awards
Canadian Country Music Association
The Canadian Country Music Association was founded in 1976 as the Academy of Country Music Entertainment to organize, promote and develop a Canadian country music industry. The association changed its name to the Canadian Country Music Association in 1987.-Awards:The CCMA held the first Canadian...
as female vocalist of the year in 1982 and 1985 and for top-selling album (Hymns of Gold) in 1986, and for best-selling album (Christmas Carroll) in 1990.
As a songwriter and music publisher, Don Grashey was nothing short of prolific. In addition to the mega success of "Are You Mine", his early career songwriting included recordings of "Are You The One" by Jim Reeves
Jim Reeves
James Travis Reeves , better known as Jim Reeves, was an American country and popular music singer-songwriter. With records charting from the 1950s to the 1980s, he became well-known for being a practitioner of the Nashville sound...
and "I’m Your Man (I’m Your Gal)" recorded by Nashville trio The Browns
The Browns
The Browns were an American country and folk music vocal trio best known for their 1959 Grammy-nominated hit, "The Three Bells". The group, composed of Jim Ed Brown and his sisters Maxine and Bonnie Brown, had a close, smooth harmony characteristic of the Nashville sound, though their music also...
. In Canada his songs were recorded by Jerry Palmer (who cut some 20 of Grashey’s compositions, including the Top 10 hits, "Did I Forget To Tell Her", "Not Living, Not Dying (Just Hanging On)" and "A Picture’s Worth A Thousand Words"; Del Rondo, StoneRidge, Kevin Waara, Sheila Ann, Carol Artyn, John Winters, Cindi Cain
Cindi Cain
Cindi Cain is a Canadian country music artist. Cain was nominated for Best Country Female Vocalist at the Juno Awards in 1992. Her 1989 single "I Think That I'll Be Needing You" reached the Top 10 of the RPM Country Tracks chart.-Albums:-Singles:...
, etc.
Don Grashey’s 50-plus years were recognized in 1980 when he was presented with the RPM Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame Award; and in 1989 he was among the inaugural inductees into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame
Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame
The Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame, located in Merritt, British Columbia, was established in 1984 to honour Canadian country music artists, builders or broadcasters, living or deceased...
. His career memorabilia is currently on display in the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame museum in Calgary.
Death
Don Grashey died on September 12, 2005 in hospital, a songwriter and producer best known for managing the careers of Canadian Country Music Hall of Famers Myrna LorrieMyrna Lorrie
Myrna Lorrie is a Canadian country singer.Lorrie first sang publicly at age 12 on Fort William radio station CKPR. At age 14 she recorded the song "Are You Mine" with Buddy DuVall, which was released on Abbott Records...
and Carroll Baker at the age of 79; Carroll Baker sang at his memorial mass.
Ironically, Don Grashey’s passing occurred on the morning of the presentation of the 2005 Canadian Country Music Awards Show, and came only 10 days after the death of his longtime music business partner and friend, Chuck Williams
Chuck Williams
Charles E. Williams is the founder of the Williams-Sonoma company and author and editor of dozens of books on the subject of cooking.-Early life:...
.