T.G. Sheppard

T.G. Sheppard. . Athough best known for his country hits in the 1970s and '80s, T.G. Sheppard's career began in pop and rhythm and blues after some years working in record promotion. As an artist, he placed more than 40 records in the country charts. His style became identified with the "Urban Cowboy" era of country music, crossing between '70s pop and honky-tonk music. Sheppard, though, drew songs from an unusually broad range of sources., Sheppard was born William Neal "Bill" Browder in Humboldt on July 20, 1944. His mother was a piano teacher and a relation of comedian Rod Brasfield, who performed on the Grand Ole Opry in the 1940s and 50s. Browder went to Memphis in the early '60s and joined a band led by guitarist Travis Wammack. In 1965, he began recording for ARA Records in Memphis as a featured singer with The Embers. As Brian Stacy, his first solo recordings were for Memphis-based Action Records and for the Atco subsidiary of Atlantic Records., Browder became a Memphis-based promotion man for Stax and RCA Victor Records before launching his own production and promotion company, Umbrella. While at RCA, Browder promoted Elvis Presley and Waylon Jennings, becoming friends with both artists. Jennings encouraged Browder to sing country music; Presley gave Browder a tour bus., A Nashville music publisher brought the song "Devil in the Bottle" to Browder, who recorded it as an artist. Shopping it around Nashville, Browder found no takers until Motown Records' new country division, Melodyland, acquired it. Browder appeared twice in the label credits - once under his own name as co-producer and again as the artist. T.G. Sheppard. (The initials didn't stand for any first names: "Sheppard." too, was a pseudonym). The record reached No. 1 on the Billboard country chart, as did his second single for Melodyland, "Tryin' to Beat the Morning Home.", Sheppard stayed with Melodyland (subsequently Hitsville) Records until Motown folded the division in 1977. Sheppard's contract was then acquired by Warner/Curb Records. In 1979, he changed producers, working with music publisher Buddy Killen. Sheppard's second single with Killen, "Last Cheater's Waltz." was the song with which he became most closely identified. It became his third No. 1 country hit. Between 1979 and 1987, Sheppard scored 25 hits. His 19 No. 1 hits during these years included "War Is Hell (On the Homefront Too)," "Slow Burn," "Party Time" and "Do You Wanna Go to Heaven. By the time he scored his last No. 1 hit, "Strong Heart, in 1986, he had moved to Columbia Records. Seventeen of his albums, including hits collections, reached the country album chart., Drawing on his business background, Sheppard embarked on several ventures including a restaurant chain, nightclubs, and a 1500-seat state-of-the-art theater in the Smoky Mountains. He was also the spokesman for the T.G. Sheppard Folger's NASCAR team., Sheppard's records revisit songs from several eras. He continues to record and perform, and in July 2019, he joined SiriusXM's Elvis channel as a host.