Bob Luman

Robert Glynn Luman (April 15, 1937 – December 27, 1978) was an American country and rockabilly singer.

Luman was born in Blackjack, Texas, United States, and raised in Nacogdoches, Texas. His early interest in music was influenced by his father, an amateur fiddle, guitar, and harmonica player.

Bob Luman received his first guitar when he was 13 years of age. He attended high school in Kilgore, where the family had moved after young Bob's birth and started his first band while in high school. Luman had been a baseball star at his high school and tried out with the Major League Baseball Pittsburgh Pirates, but when he did not make it in professional baseball, he decided to concentrate on his music.

In 1956, he won a talent contest promoted by the Future Farmers of America, which earned him an appearance on the Louisiana Hayride. For the Hayride, Luman formed a backup band called the Shadows, including James Burton on guitar, James Kirkland on bass, and Butch White on drums. In 1957, the band signed with Imperial Records, where they recorded "All Night Long" (with B-side "Red Cadillac and a Black Mustache") and "Amarillo Blues". That same year, the band appeared on the Town Hall Party in Los Angeles, and in the movie Carnival Rock, where they backed up David Houston.

The following year, having been dropped by Imperial Records, Luman signed with Capitol Records, where he released "Try Me" and "I Know My Baby Cares". Capitol Records wanted Luman to change his name, which he refused to do, so he left the record label and signed with Warner Bros. Records, recording "Class of '59" and "Loretta".

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.