BIRTHPLACE: TULSA, OKLAHOMA
GRAND OLE OPRY MEMBERSHIP: 1990
HIGH
SCHOOL: YUKON HIGH. PLAYED FOUR SPORTS:FOOTBALL,
BASKETBALL, BASEBALL AND TRACK
COLLEGE:
OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY IN STILLWATER HE WAS
AN ADVERTISING MAJOR, HE ATTENDED ON A PARTIAL
ATHLETIC SCHOLARSHIP(JAVLIN). GRADUATED
DECEMBER 1984
GARTH JUMP-STARTED THE WORLD OF COUNTRY MUSIC IN THE BEGINNING
OF THE DECADE, RAISING
ITS WORLD WIDE VISIBILITY AND PRESTIGE TO AN UNPRECEDENTED LEVEL, AND GOING
ON TO BECOME THE BIGGEST SELLING
SOLO ARTIST IN UNITED
STATES HISTORY, WITH OVER 62 MILLION IN SALES.
GARTH'S ALSO THE
FASTEST SELLING ARTIST IN RIAA HISTORY AND ONE
OF THE INDUSTRY'S
MOST AWARDED.
IN 1997, HE INFUSED NEW ENERGY INTO COUNTRY MUSIC WHEN HE
PLAYED TO THE LARGEST
CROWD EVER TO ATTEND A CONCERT IN NEW
YORK'S CENTRAL PARK,
A PERFORMANCE VIEWED BY AN ADDITIONAL
14.6 MILLION TELEVISION
AUDIENCE. "AN INNUMERABLE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE
ARE TOUCHED BY GARTH'S
LOVE TO MAKE MUSIC. -GUSA"
IT'S CLEARLY AN EXAMPLE OF HOW RECORDS SHOULD BE MADE, TOO,
WHERE SONGS AND
PERFORMANCES ARE THE FIRST PRIORITY, AND TIME
FRAME IS A DISTANT
SECOND, WHERE HURRIEDLY FINDING TEN SONGS AND
BOOKING STUDIO TIME
IS NOT EVEN A CONSIDERATION. SEVENS WAS
RECORDED OVER MORE
THAN A YEAR, GIVING GARTH TIME TO TEST THE
MATERIAL, TO ADD
THE MUSICAL NUANCES THAT THESE TRACKS SO
UNIQUELY HIS, AND
FIND THE SONGS SO REPRESENTATIVE OF GARTH'S
PERSONA. "THIS IS
A VERY PERSONAL ALBUM," GARTH ADDS. "I ONLY WROTE
SIX OF THE SONGS,
BUT THERE ARE MANY THAT ARE SO 'ME' THAT PEOPLE
I WORK WITH EVERY
DAY THOUGHT I WROTE THEM," IN ADDITION TO THE PERSONAL NATURE OF THIS ALBUM,
THERE IS AN EXCITING VARIETY TO SEVENS, A DIVERSITY THAT EXPRESSES A MYRIAD
OF SOUNDS, EMOTIONS AND STORIES. THE SONGS RANGE FROM STONE COUNTRY HONKY
TONKERS TO SHIMMERING BALLADS TO DARK REFLECTIONS TO LIGHTHEARTED BEACH-FLAVORED
REVELRY. "THIS JUST GOES TO SHOW WHAT A PASSION GARTH HAS FOR HIS MUSIC
-GUSA"
HISTORY:
THE COUNTRY MUSIC
SUPERSTAR OF THE 90'S, TROYAL GARTH BROOKS, WAS BORN IN TULSA BUT WAS RAISED
IN YUKON, ABOUT A 100 MILES AWAY FROM TULSA. COUNTRY MUSIC PLAYED A ROLE
IN GARTH'S LIFE , BUT NOT A DOMINANT ONE, HIS FATHER WORKED AS A
DROUGHT MAN FOR AN OIL COMPANY. HIS MOTHER WAS A COUNTRY SINGER IN THE
50'S AND HAD REGULARLY APPEARED ON RED FOLEY'S OZARK JUBILEE RADIO AND
TV SHOWS, AS WELL AS RECORDING FOR CAPITOL RECORDS. BY THE TIME GARTH WAS
BORN, SHE HAD RETIRED FROM A PROFESSION AL CAREER
AND THE BROOKS'
HOUSE REVERBERATED WITH AS MUCH ROCK AND PO MUSIC AS COUNTRY.
A RATHER KEEN SPORTSMAN,
GARTH ENJOYED ALL FOUR SPORTS THAT HE PARTICIPATED IN, INCLUDING (AS MENTIONED
BEFORE) JAVELIN, FOR WHICH HE RECEIVED A PARTIAL ATHLETIC SCHOLARSHIP TO
"OSU" WITH NO PLANS
OF A PROFESSIONAL
MUSIC CAREER, ALTHOUGH HE HAD SUNG AT YUKON HIGH SCHOOL. IT WASN'T UNTIL
1984 WHEN HE REALIZED THAT A SPORTS CAREER WASN'T FOR HIM, SO HE MAJORED
IN ADVERTISING, TOOK SOME MARKETING CLASSES , AND STARTED TO TAKE MUSIC
SERIOUSLY. AT OSU, HE BECAME BEST FRIENDS WITH HIS ROOMMATE TY ENGLAND,
WHO LATER JOINED HIS BAND AND HAS SINCE MOVED ON TO A SOLO CAREER.
GARTH HAD BEEN PERFORMING
IN BARS AND HONKEY-TONKS AROUND STILLWATER, MOST OFTEN AT WET WILLIE'S,
FOR SEVERAL MONTHS. GARTH PLAYED SIX NIGHTS A WEEK, WITH A DIFFERENT SET
AT EACH BAR. IN SUMMER OF 1985 HE LEFT FOR NASHVILLE AND A CAREER IN COUNTRY
MUSIC AND RETURNED HOME FOUR DAYS LATER.
MUSICAL
INFLUENCES: GEORGE STRAIT, GEORGE JONES, JAMES TALOR,
KISS, DON MCLEAN,
QUEEN, DAN FOGELBERG, MERLE HAGGARD, BOSTON,
KANSAS, JOURNEY
AND BILLY JOEL.
RECORD PRODUCER: ALLEN RENOLDS
SIGNED: WITH CAPITAL RECORDS