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Lee Roy Parnell
Parnell at the Texas Songwriter's Hall of Fame 2011
Background information
Born	(1956-12-21) December 21, 1956 (age 68)
Origin	Stephenville, Texas, USA
Genres	Blues, Roots, Country
Occupation(s)	Singer, Songwriter, Guitarist
Instrument(s)	Vocals, electric guitar, slide guitar, National guitar
Years active	1990–present
Labels	Arista, Career, Arista Nashville, Vanguard, Universal South
Website	www.leeroyparnell.com

Lee Roy Parnell (born December 21, 1956) is an American Blues & Roots artist, singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Active since 1990, he has recorded eight studio albums, and has charted more than twenty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks, (now Hot Country Songs) and Blues Albums charts. His highest-charting hits are "What Kind of Fool Do You Think I Am" (1992), "Tender Moment" (1993), and "A Little Bit of You" (1995), all of which peaked at No. 2. Four more of his singles have charted in the Top Ten as well. Besides his own work, Parnell has played slide guitar and National guitar on several other country recordings.

Biography

Lee Roy Parnell is part of a long line of Texas roots-music eclectics and is among the elite few who can be identified as a triple threat. An ace guitarist, as well as a distinctive singer, and hit songwriter, his music runs the gamut of diversity. Combining the influences of Blue-Eyed Soul, Delta Blues, Road House Rock, Southern Boogie, Texas Swing, and Gospel, Parnell's sound defies conventional classification. He draws from a broad range of musical sources and combines them with seamless dexterity and, unlike many other hard-to-pigeonhole artists, Parnell has enjoyed a run of success on the country and blues charts.

Parnell was born in Abilene, TX, on December 21, 1956, and grew up on his parents’ ranch. His father had toured with a teenage Bob Wills in traveling medicine shows, and Lee Roy’s first public performance came on Wills’ radio show at age six. As a teenager, he played drums in a local band and soon picked up guitar as well, eventually concentrating on slide playing. He joined Kinky Friedman’s Texas Jewboys in his late teens and moved to Austin in 1974 to join the city’s budding music scene. Parnell spent over a decade playing clubs in Austin, Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, and New York while honing his style and songwriting.

Lee Roy moved to Nashville in 1987, where he quickly landed a publishing contract with Polygram Music, and a regular spot at the famed Bluebird Cafe. In 1989, he signed to Clive Davis' Arista Records, led by friend and mentor, Tim Dubois. Produced by Barry Beckett, of the world-famous Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, Parnell's self-titled debut album featured a collection of horn-driven country-soul. It received good reviews but didn’t break him commercially; that would happen with 1992′s Love Without Mercy, which emphasized Parnell’s searing slide guitar skills. “What Kind of Fool Do You Think I Am” and “Tender Moment” both went to number two on the charts, and the title track also made the Top Ten. 1993′s On the Road produced two more Top Tens with its title track and “I’m Holding My Own.” The Hank Williams / Ray Charles hit, “Take These Chains From My Heart” also made the Top 20.

In 1995, Lee Roy was asked to help launch Arista's sister label, Career Records, with the release of We All Get Lucky Sometimes. The album spawned two Top Five hits in “A Little Bit of You” and “Heart’s Desire” and featured duets with Trisha Yearwood and Mary Chapin Carpenter. "A Little Bit of You" was also a #1 hit on the Radio and Records Magazine charts; a first for a brand new label. During this time, Parnell's sound was becoming more defined by roots and soul music. He was also allowed the creative freedom to record with some of his heroes, such as Tex-Mex accordionist Flaco Jimenez. Their collaboration on the track "Cat Walk" garnered a Grammy Nomination for Best Country Instrumental. Parnell released "Every Night's A Saturday Night" in 1997. The album included another duet with Trisha Yearwood and the Grammy nominated boogie-woogie instrumental, "Mama Screw Your Wig On Tight," which was written and produced by Lee Roy and his entire band, "The Hot Links" (James Pennebaker / Kevin McKendree / Lee Roy Parnell / Lynn Williams / Stephen Mackey). Next up was Parnell's "Hits and Highways Ahead" in 1999. Lee Roy's recording of the Son House tune, "John The Revelator," featuring the "Fairfield Four," garnered a CMA nomination for Vocal Event of The Year. The album also included the popular track "Honky Tonk Night Time Man," handpicked and sent to him by Lee Roy's good friend and mentor, the legendary Merle Haggard. An official video was also produced for the song "Lucky You, Lucky Me."

Following his deal at Arista and Career, Parnell was ready to expand his musical horizons and partnered up with the rootsy Vanguard label in Los Angeles. His debut album with them was 2001′s Tell the Truth, which was recorded at the world-renowned Muscle Shoals Sound by Johnny Sandlin (chief engineer for Capricorn Records and The Allman Brothers Band). In keeping with his quest for more artistic freedom, he teamed back up with Universal South in 2006, to return to the studio to record Back to the Well. This album delved even further into his blues and southern soul roots. With the release of this album, Parnell received some very rare support from Gibson Guitars with a series of guitar clinics interwoven with tour dates across the country in a custom Gibson tour bus. Lee Roy's relationship with Gibson and the Les Paul is not a new one. Parnell's first Goldtop was a 1956 model he bought when he was 15-years-old and was his only guitar well into his 30's. Although he experimented for a few years after that with different guitars, searching for his own sound, he ultimately returned to his first love, the 1956 Les Paul Goldtop in 2001 and helped Gibson reinvigorate the model. Talks then came about to develop a Lee Roy Parnell signature model and culminated with a final eight months of arduous development, producing Gibson's Lee Roy Parnell Signature '57 Les Paul Goldtop. You can read more information about the guitar at gibson.com.

The year 2011 brought Lee Roy Parnell what is probably his most cherished honor to date, when he was inducted into the Texas Heritage Songwriter's Hall of Fame. Parnell continues to produce and write with some of the most influential songwriters and recording artists nationwide as co-partner in his music publishing company, Dean Parnell Music, and is currently preparing for his first independent release.

Career

Lee Roy Parnell

Parnell released his self-titled debut album for Arista Records in 1990. This album produced three chart singles in "Crocodile Tears", "Oughta Be a Law" and "Family Tree", none of which charted in the Top 40 on the Billboard country charts. A video for "Mexican Money" was created and released, but the song was not released to radio.

Love Without Mercy

Following this album was his breakthrough release, 1992's Love Without Mercy. Although its lead-off single "The Rock" also fell short of Top 40, its next three singles all reached Top Ten: "What Kind of Fool Do You Think I Am" at No. 2, the title track at No. 8, and finally "Tender Moment" also at No. 2. These three songs were all Top Ten hits on the RPM charts in Canada.

On the Road

1993's On the Road, his third album and final release for Arista proper also produced two top-10 hits: the title track and "I'm Holding My Own", at No. 6 and No. 3 respectively. The album also contained a No. 17-peaking rendition of the Hank Williams song "Take These Chains from My Heart", which Parnell recorded as a duet with Ronnie Dunn of Brooks & Dunn, although Dunn was not credited on the charts. The final single from On the Road, "The Power of Love", peaked at No. 51.

We All Get Lucky Sometimes

His fourth album, 1995's We All Get Lucky Sometimes, was also his first for Career Records, then a newly formed subsidiary of Arista Nashville. This album's lead-off single "A Little Bit of You" was the third single of his career to reach No. 2. Following it were the No. 12 "When a Woman Loves a Man" (featuring background vocals from Trisha Yearwood), the No. 3 "Heart's Desire" and another No. 12 in "Giving Water to a Drowning Man". The album's title track, which was its fifth single, peaked at No. 46. The album also included an instrumental "Mama Screw Your Wig On Tight" which was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1997 for Best Country Instrumental.

Every Night's a Saturday Night and Hits and Highways Ahead

Every Night's a Saturday Night was his final release for Career Records. This was his first album since his debut release that did not produce a Top Ten hit, and only three singles were released from it: "Lucky Me, Lucky You" at No. 35, "You Can't Get There From Here" at No. 39 (his final Top 40 hit), and "All That Matters Anymore" at No. 50. After Career Records was merged back into Arista Nashville, Parnell released his final album for the Arista label, 1999's Hits and Highways Ahead. This album's only single, "She Won't Be Lonely Long", peaked at No. 57, and by the year's end, he exited Arista's roster.

Tell the Truth and Back to the Well

Parnell signed to Vanguard Records in 2000, releasing the album Tell the Truth that year. This album's only single, "South by Southwest", failed to chart, and he soon left the label as well. His final album, Back to the Well, came in 2006 on Universal South Records, although it also produced only one non-charting single in "Daddies and Daughters."

External contributions

Besides playing slide guitar and National guitar on his albums and co-writing several of his own songs, Parnell has co-written two Top 40 country hits for other artists: "Too Much" by Pirates of the Mississippi and "That's My Story" by Collin Raye, from 1992 and 1993 respectively. In 1994, he and Steve Wariner collaborated with Diamond Rio on a cover of Merle Haggard's "Workin' Man's Blues", credited to Jed Zeppelin and recorded for a tribute album Mama's Hungry Eyes. This rendition peaked at No. 48 on the country charts. He played slide guitar on Mary Chapin Carpenter's late-1994 Number One hit "Shut Up and Kiss Me", and appeared in the song's music video. His final chart entry was in late 2004, when he was credited for playing slide guitar on David Lee Murphy's No. 46-peaking single "Inspiration", from the album Tryin' to Get There.

Personal life

Parnell has three children. Son Blake (1980) Daughter Allison (1985) & Son Jack (2011) . Parnell has a brother, Rob Roy Parnell, who excels in the harmonica.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Other charted songs

Guest singles

Music videos

References

1. "Official Website of Lee Roy Parnell".
2. ^ Rusty Russell. "Lee Roy Parnell: A Nashville hitmaker breaks out. " Guitar Player 1 Dec. 2001: General Interest Module, ProQuest. Web. 14 Jul. 2009.
3. "Lee Roy Parnell Album & Song Chart History - Country Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 11, 2010.
4. "Lee Roy Parnell Album & Song Chart History - Billboard 200". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 11, 2010.
5. "Lee Roy Parnell Album & Song Chart History - Blues Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 11, 2010.
6. "Results - RPM - Library and Archives Canada - Country Albums". RPM. Retrieved December 11, 2010.
7. "Lee Roy Parnell Album & Song Chart History - Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 11, 2010.
8. "Results - RPM - Library and Archives Canada - Country Singles". RPM. Retrieved December 11, 2010.
9. "CMT : Videos : Lee Roy Parnell : All That Matters Anymore". Country Music Television. Retrieved October 14, 2011.

External links

• Official website

Template:Persondata

• 1956 births
• American country guitarists
• American male singers
• American country singers
• American country singer-songwriters
• Living people
• People from Abilene, Texas
• Resonator guitarists
• Slide guitarists
• Musicians from Texas
• Arista Records artists