Bobby Austin

bobbyAustin:

Born Robert Allen Austin on May 4, 1933 in Wenatchee, Washington, Bobby Austin would become a legendary country music singer and songwriter. The Austin family moved from Wenatchee to Clark County, Washington during World War II so Bobby's father could work in the shipyards. Bobby learned to play music on an old Kay guitar. Austin got his start in Country music during the 1950s singing and playing guitar with friends at community grange halls, dance halls and barns around Washington.

Austin moved to Los Angeles, California in 1955 with his wife, Fern, and their two children to pursue a career in Country music. After arriving in the City of Angels Bobby found a job as a sheet metal worker. Later he found work with the Glendale Light and Power Company as a meter reader. Austin's first big break came when he won a talent contest on the "Town Hall Roundup" television show broadcast from Compton, California (located approximately 20 miles south of Los Angeles). A local nightclub owner heard Bobby's rendition of "Wabash Cannonball" and hired him to perform in his club. A string of singing jobs at nightclubs, television and radio stations followed.

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In 1960, Austin had his first big hit with "Polynesian Baby" on Challenge Records. The song was inspired by Hawaii's admittance as the 50th state in the union. The song was a hit across the United States staying on the charts for 20 weeks. "Polynesian Baby" was also popular in Japan.

After the release of "Polynesian Baby" Bobby Austin joined label mate Wynn Stewart's band playing bass guitar at the Nashville Nevada Club in Las Vegas. The band was comprised of Wynn Stewart, Roy Nichols, Bobby Austin, Ralph Mooney, Helen "Peaches" Price, and Jim Pierce. In 1962 Bobby Austin left the Nashville Nevada Club Band after signing a solo contract with Capitol Records. Merle Haggard replaced Austin as the bass player in Wynn Stewart's band.

In the mid 1960s Lewis Talley and Fuzzy Owen signed Austin to a recording contract on Tally Records. During this time Bobby Austin, Johnny Paycheck and Fuzzy Owen co-wrote a song titled Apartment No. 9. Bobby recorded and released an album titled Apartment No. 9 on Tally Records in 1966. The title track, Apartment No. 9, was Bobby Austin's first chart single reaching No. 21. Capitol bought the single from Tally Records that same year. At the 2nd Academy of Country Music Awards in 1966 Austin, Owen and Paycheck won Song of the Year for Apartment No. 9. Austin was also nominated that same year for Most Promising Male Vocalist, but lost to Billy Mize. Tammy Wynette's version of Apartment No. 9, released in 1967, became her first hit.

Bobby Austin and Curt Sapaugh co-wrote a song titled Try A Little Kindness in 1968. In 1970 Glen Campbell had a big hit with his version of Try A Little Kindness released on Capitol.

Bobby Austin continued to write, record and perform throughout the 1970s. In the early 1980s he retired from the music business and moved back to Washington. Austin pursued a career as an artist, becoming well known for his paintings and murals. Three of Bobby's murals hung in Tex's Barrel House (a honky-tonk in Bakersfield, California) for years. Bobby Austin died on January 6, 2002 in Camas, Washington.


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