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MP3 Greg Connor - COUNTRY: Country Folk
12 MP3 Songs
COUNTRY: Country Folk, COUNTRY: Country Pop
Details:
Maryjean Jordan: Where were you born and raised?
Greg Connor: I was born as Robert Redstrom, in Escanaba, Michigan in 1936. However, I moved to Marinette, Wisconsin when I was 2 until the age of 15.
MJ: What was family life like in Wisconsin?
GC: I was the middle child in a family of four. My mother, Inky, which is short for Ingeborg, and my father Rick hailed from Stockholm, Sweden at the turn of the century. We relocated again to Phoenix, Arizona in 1950, where my father opened up a successful car lot.
MJ: When did you discover that you first loved music?
GC: My mother Inky was a homemaker who sparked my initial love for music with her frequent concerts on her Rinky Tink piano. Also, my sister and I while doing our daily chore of dishes, sang any and all of the pop songs at that time. I sang the melody and she sang harmony.
MJ: Where did your music career start?
GC: Well, I first went into the Army before my music career actually started. One dreary night in 1956, I, along with 30 of my high school friends decided to take a midnight swim at a local service hall. One of the boys discovered that the food cooler with 40 cases of beer inside was unlocked. Needless to say, we carried off the beer. I never got to taste one drop of that beer as I immediately enrolled in the Army to escape punishment. I was in the service for two years. I was immediately promoted to the rank of sergeant, serving in Germany for the duration of my duty.
MJ: Your real name is Robert Redstrom, why did you change your name to Greg Connor?
GC: On a train trip to a summer Army camp, a buddy of mine told me that everyone would call me "Restroom" and that I needed to change my name. I favored the first name, Greg, after the movie star Gregory Peck.
MJ: And for the last name?
GC: For the last name, my friend Jack Curtis, a writer for the Arizona Republic, thumbed through the Army telephone directory and I picked Connor, and thus Greg Connor was created. Curtis promoted a local rock and roll show at the Fox Theatre in Phoenix and he invited me to headline there as a singer. I was asked to record with the band that I performed with at the Fox and was discovered by Lee Hazelwood, who then recorded a few of my singles.
MJ: As a local celebrity you must have been pretty popular with the ladies.
GC: Actually, I met my first wife Lynda, in Phoenix in 1959 and we had a son, Rick Connor. Our marriage didn''t work however, and we got divorced in 1961.
MJ: How did you find yourself in Hollywood?
GC: I moved from the Fox Theatre to small nightclubs around town where I met Kevin Young (whose real name was Frank Laughrun), a singer who had just returned from Hollywood. Kevin urged me to accompany him to Hollywood where we hooked up with a lot of the young cowboy stars such as Robert Fuller, John Smith of Laramie fame, and Clint Eastwood. We accompanied the stars on city tours and entertained cowboy-loving crowds.
MJ: When was your first big break?
GC: Around 1964, Kevin and I recorded and released the hit song "Boy You Ought To See Her Now" that was launched after we won a radio contest As the Rainmakers, we toured Hollywood shows such as American Band Stand, Hollywood A Go Go, Shiveree, and Shindig and we were also recorded by Dorsey Burnette. I actually taught Dorsey''s son Billy how to play the guitar when he was a young boy. He grew up to be a famous guitarist, playing with Fleetwood Mac. We toured with Dorsey Burnette in Vegas and in Tahoe.
MJ: Where did you perform in California?
GC: In 1967, we were chosen to headline as "Kevin and Greg" at the Hacienda Hotel in El Segundo, California where we performed with major musical acts for three years. During that time, Kevin and I worked with Frank Thorne on recordings and wrote a song for Jerry Wallace. Just after that, Kevin got married and moved to Hawaii, a decision that pushed me to look to Hollywood once more. I went to work on a demo called "How Come Every Time I Itch, I Wind Up Scratchin'' You?" which my friend Jeremy Slate took to Glen Campbell for his next album release. Campbell''s album was released with my song but I was never given credit or compensation.
MJ: That must have certainly been a wake-up call to how scrupulous the music business can be. Did you continue to work in Hollywood after that?
GC: After that, I met up with a group of singers who I started to sing with but soon one of the female singers and I broke away from the group and began singing as the duo "Greg and Joy". We married in 1969 and moved to Hawaii with Joy''s two children Mary and Flip. While in Hawaii, we came in contact with an agent and performed at all the military clubs'' happy hour shows.
MJ: What did your performance consist of?
GC: We had no backup, just my guitar, Joy''s tambourine, and her leather miniskirt. After a year we were offered the military performing tour in Vietnam. Thinking of our family, which now included another daughter, Greta, we declined and moved to Boise, Idaho. We moved to Orange County in 1982.
MJ: How did this lifestyle affect your family?
GC: Joy and I were divorced in 1988, but to this day I am still very close with her and my children.
MJ: How did your music career evolve after that?
GC: I began to write, record, and perform my own songs at various venues in California. My interest in writing songs about famous horses such as Brocco The Race Horse and Azeri Horse of the Year, gave me local fame when my song about Brocco was played on ABC. My daughter Mary and I watched as Brocco won the Santa Anita Derby in 1992. My most recent performance was for Ross Perot''s campaign in Irvine. I am currently focusing on writing and recording albums.
MJ: Where does the inspiration for your song lyrics come from?
GC: The woman, I love, of course.
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