Tompall Glaser obit

TOMPALL GLASER, a charter member of Nashville's Outlaw movement, died Tuesday (8/13). He was 79. Born Thomas Paul Glaser, he first rose to fame with siblings Jim and Chuck as the Glaser Brothers, a fixture on the Arthur Godfrey’s ’50s variety TV show, and after moving from their native Nebraska to Nashville, they sang background vocals on Marty Robbins' hit "El Paso." Despite having 22 charting country singles, the Glaser Brothers were viewed as outsiders by the Nashville establishment; Tompall once suggested it was because they were the only Nebraska Catholics who ever tried to break into Music Row. In the early ’70s, he started hanging out with fellow hell raiser Waylon Jennings, which led to the seminal 1976 album Wanted: The Outlaws, on which they were joined by Willie Nelson and Jessi Colter, Waylon’s wife. It was Nashville's first platinum-selling album and forever changed the landscape for country music. While the LP was a career springboard for Jennings and Nelson, Glaser had only middling success. Jennings and Glaser personally clashed—over money, some friends said. They never spoke to each other again. Jennings died in 2002. More on CMT.com. (8/16a)