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Glenn Yarbrough's high, clear tenor has served him well throughout his long
career as a singer (that's him singing "Things go better with Coke"
on all those commercials), and although it has been many years since he placed
a song on the pop charts, he continues to have a large and loyal fan base. He
was born on January 12, 1930, in Milwaukee, WI, where he began singing at
church functions as a child.
His entry into the world of folk music came while
he was a student at St. Johns College in Annapolis, MD, in 1951, where a
late-night singing session with his roommate, Jac Holzman (who would later
found Elektra Records -- Yarbrough would release a handful of records on the
label) and a visiting Woody Guthrie would prove to be pivotal for Yarbrough.
He bought a guitar the next day.
Following a stint in the Army as a radio operator (he served in Korea) and
then a stay as a radio and television host in South Dakota, Yarbrough traveled
to New York City in 1957, where he recorded an album, Come Sit by My Side, for
New Traditions Records and began regularly playing the country's coffeehouse
circuit. He eventually settled in Aspen, CO, where he purchased a local folk
club called the Limelite.
When Yarbrough hooked up with two other folksingers,
banjo player Alex Hassilev and bassist Lou Gottlieb, the trio took the club's
name, becoming the Limeliters. The group was massively successful and recorded
several albums (as well as the aforementioned Coke commercial) before
Yarbrough left the group in late 1963.
He recorded a solo album for RCA called Time to Move On, which yielded a
number 12 pop hit in 1965, "Baby, the Rain Must Fall," and
solidified Yarbrough' s solo career. He went on to record several albums for
RCA, including a 1966 collaboration with pop poet Rod McKuen, The Lonely
Things.
By the early '70s Yarbrough had started his own label, Brass Dolphin,
and he reunited with the Limeliters in 1973, remaining with the group this
time until 1981.
In the
1990s his albums were being issued by Folk Era Records, including a 1994
effort with his daughter Holly called Family Portrait. ~ Steve Leggett, All
Music Guide
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