Parker McGee

Parker McGee
Birth name	Jerry Parker McGee
Origin	Meridian, Mississippi, United States
Genres	Country, Pop
Occupation(s)	Guitarist, singer, songwriter, pianist
Instruments	Guitar, piano
Years active	1972-present
Labels	Big Tree Records
Associated acts	England Dan and John Ford Coley, Tanya Tucker, Seals & Crofts

Jerry Parker McGee (b. April 1951) is a Nashville-based singer-songwriter, originally from Meridian, Mississippi.

Early Life

McGee was born in Meridian, Mississippi, one of three sons, to Albert R. "Pat" McGee, and Ruby McGee. He graduated from Meridian High School in 1969.

Career

McGee struggled early in his career, and at one point was living in a school bus parked behind a recording studio in Jackson, Mississippi.^[1]

It was there that he met Illinois-born producer Kyle Lehning, in 1972, which proved to be a turning point in their careers. Both men would offer one another feedback about their respective abilities, and Lehning, who had left Nashville earlier after failing to find work earlier, returned there in 1973 to take a job as a studio engineer. McGee followed him there a short time later after the studio in Jackson had gone bankrupt, and began studio session work.

Both Lehning and McGee continued their friendship, constantly exchanging ideas. In 1974, Tanya Tucker recorded McGee's "Depend on You" for her "Lovin' and Learnin'" album. Not long afterwards, McGee signed with Dawnbreaker Music, a family publishing outfit involving brothers Dan and Jim Seals, whose albums with England Dan & John Ford Coley and Seals & Crofts, respectively, would bear songs with McGee songwriting credits.^[2]

McGee's big breakthrough finally came in 1976 with "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight". The song came to the attention of England Dan and John Ford Coley, who had been dropped from their former label, A&M Records, after modest success.^[3]

The duo played the song for Big Tree Records, and landed a record deal. McGee also penned Nights Are Forever, that proved to be another chart success for England Dan & John Ford Coley, and both songs went Gold. This gave him the clout to secure a record deal of his own with Big Tree Records. His self-titled album was released in 1976, and yielded one hit single, "I Just Can't Say No To You", which reached number 7 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary charts, and number 42 on the Hot 100. While the album had a country-pop sound and feel characteristic of the era, none of the songs ever charted on Billboard's country music charts. ^[4]

That same year, Seals & Crofts covered McGee's "Goodbye Old Buddies" on their "Get Closer" album. The track also appears on McGee's album. The song, performed by Seals & Crofts, peaked at number 10 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Charts.

Personal Life

McGee resides in Arrington, a Nashville suburb, with his wife Alison.

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, May 01, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.