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BILL PARSONS   

“THE ALL AMERICAN BOY “

(BILL PARSONS, Orville “Bobby Bare” Lunsford)

Fraternity 835

No. 2     February 2. 1959

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He’s been managed by rock god-maker  Bill Graham and  called  “the Springsteen of Country Music,”

been noted for the successful ’60s  merging of country and folk-rock, created the first C&W hit that

utilized a horn section, and 30+ years after his start-up fronted his own Nashville Network show;  all

while being held to a mere handful of nationwide top 40 hits and one mystery record.

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Bobby Bare was born Robert Joseph  Bare, on April  7, 1935, in Ironton, Ohio.  His family was musical,

and he grew up pickin’ and singin’.   Money was tight, however, and Bobby’s mother died when he was

five years old.   He went to work on a farm, and later in a clothing factory.  Bob joined a country band

that worked the night spots in Springfield.  When he was 18, he picked up and moved to California,

where, in 1956, he was discovered by the boys at Capitol Records.  After three singles failed to spark

much interest, the same folks turned him out.

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When Bobby got his draft notice, he had to trek back to Ohio for his induction.  There he met an old

singing buddy named Bill Parsons (b. Sept. 8, 1934, Crossville, Tenn.), who was just getting out the

service and wanted to cut a record.   Since Bare had some time to kill, he and Bill wandered over to

Cincinnati,  where they bought some studio time, some six packs and proceeded to knock out songs.

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“We spent almost all of the three hours working on [Bill’s] ‘Rubber Dolly’ thing, and we had at the

most maybe twenty or thirty minutes,” Bare told Bob Shannon and John Javna in Behind the Hits.

“So I grabbed my guitar and said, ‘Let me put this other song down before I forget it.”‘  The “other

song” was a talkin’ blues called “The  All American Boy” that Bobby (alias “Orville Lunsford”) and

Bill proceeded to write together.   The tune was a parody of Elvis’ rise to fame and subsequent military

conscription.

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The recordings were sold to Fraternity Records; at this point, the label was erroneously informed that

Bill Parsons was the singer on all the tunes.   Months later, Bobby–at Fort Knox for his basic training–­

was shocked to hear his “All American Boy” on the radio.   Even more of a jolt was the DJ’s announ-

cement that the record was by a new kid named Bill Parsons!   By the time the error had been revealed,

Bobby’s baby was high atop the charts.

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Fraternity issued one more Bare record as by “Bill Parsons,” “Educated Rock And Roll.”  When Bobby

was discharged, he returned to Fraternity, where  he had a  series of  superb singles issued under his

God-given name.   A number of his country and pop records charted in the ’60s and early ’70s, most

notable on the pop charts:  “Shame On Me” (#23, 1962), “Detroit City” (#16, 1963), “500 Miles Away

From Home” (#10, 1963), and “Miller’s Cave” (#33, 1964).   Bobby acted in the flick A Distant Trumpet

(1964); fronted his own TV series, in the mid’ 80s.

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The “REAL” Bill Parsons was given the chance by Starday Records in 1960 to show his stuff.   A couple

of  singles were issued–“Guitar Blues,” and something called “Hot Rod Volkswagen.”  Nothing sold

very well, and Bill returned to the quiet life in Wellston, Ohio.