Thom Bresh
{{Short description|US country music guitarist and singer (1948–2022)}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Thom Bresh
| image =
| caption =
| image_size =
| background = solo_singer
| birth_name = Thomas Charles Bresh[http://www.familytreelegends.com/records/39461?c=search&first=&last=Bresh Family Tree Legends]
| alias = Tom Bresh
| birth_date = {{birth date|1948|02|23}}
| birth_place = Hollywood, California, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2022|05|23|1948|02|23}}
| death_place = Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
| instrument = Vocals, guitar
| genre = Country
| occupation = Singer, songwriter, actor, stuntman
| years_active = 1951–2022
| website = {{Official website|http://www.bresh.com}}
}}
Thomas Charles Bresh (February 23, 1948 – May 23, 2022), sometimes spelled Tom Bresh, was an American country music guitarist and singer. Active from the 1970s, Bresh charted multiple singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts.
Biography
Bresh was born on February 23, 1948, in Hollywood, California, as the son of country singer Merle Travis. As a child, Bresh began acting in films and recording his own music.{{cite web | url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/thom-bresh-mn0000592277/biography | title=Thom Bresh biography | work=AllMusic | accessdate=November 2, 2019}} He also worked as a movie stuntman at the Corriganville Movie Ranch.
In 1963, he was a member of the rock and roll band The Crescents featuring Chiyo when they recorded an instrumental track, "Pink Dominos". Producer Kim Foley issued this as a 45RPM single with "Breakout" on the B-side. "Pink Dominos" peaked at No. 69 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1964.{{cite book|first=Joel|last=Whitburn|year=2013|title=Top Pop Singles 1955-2012|edition=14th|publisher=Record Research Inc.|location=Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin|isbn= 978-0-89820-205-2|page=201}}
He then released a solo single about D. B. Cooper which was withdrawn due to controversy over its subject matter.{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/283060592 | title=New career stuns stuntman | work=The Jackson Sun | date=June 25, 1976 | accessdate=November 2, 2019 | pages=12}}
Starting in 1972, Bresh recorded for Kapp Records. His first charted single, "Home Made Love", made number six on the Hot Country Songs charts in 1976. This was included on an album of the same name for Farr Records. Due to the song's success, Bresh was nominated by the Academy of Country Music as Top New Male Vocalist that year.
Bresh recorded two albums for ABC Records as well: Kicked Back in 1977 and Portrait a year later, both produced by Jimmy Bowen. Cash Box magazine reviewed Kicked Back favorably, saying that Bresh had "[a] perfectly mellow voice and vital tracks with excellent material and interpretation".{{cite journal | url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Cash-Box-IDX/70s/1977/CB-1977-07-02-OCR-Page-0048.pdf | title=Country Singles Reviews/Album Reviews | journal=Cash Box | pages=48 | date=July 2, 1977}} Record World magazine published a positive review of Portrait, calling the album "versatile" and noting the variety of musical influences.{{cite journal | url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Record-World/70s/78/RW-1978-04-29.pdf | title=Country album picks | journal=Record World | pages=74 | date=April 29, 1978}} Included on Portrait was a cover of "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)" which featured Bresh performing thirteen different impersonations.
Bresh hosted a weekly television variety show of his own creation, Nashville Swing, was a regular on The Merv Griffin Show and Dinah!,{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/541233076/ | title=Tom Brest [sic] visits Huntingburg | work=The Herald | date=June 19, 1978 | accessdate=November 2, 2019 | pages=22}} and made a guest appearance on the TNN special A Salute to the Country Greats. As a producer, he has been employed by country legend Jerry Reed, classical guitarist Valerie DuChateau, and Merle Travis. As a videographer, Bresh has shot, produced, and edited projects for Hank Thompson, Lyle Lovett, Brooks & Dunn, George Jones, Tanya Tucker, Merle Haggard and Jerry Reed.[http://www.bresh.com/bio.html Thom Bresh's official biography]{{Dead link|date=November 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
Bresh was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 2021. He died in Nashville on May 23, 2022, at the age of 74.{{cite web | url=https://musicrow.com/2022/05/country-guitar-great-top-showman-thom-bresh-passes/ | title=Country Guitar Great & Top Showman Thom Bresh Passes | date=25 May 2022 }}
Discography
=Albums=
| class="wikitable"
! Year ! Album ! Label ! Comment |
| 1976
| Homemade Love | Farr Records – FL-1000 | |
| 1977
| Kicked Back | ABC Dot – DO-2084 | |
| 1978
| Portrait |ABC Records – AB-1055 | |
| ?
| Bresh and Brody Live! |Double B Ent. 0051 |w/ Lane Brody |
| 1993
|Son Of A Guitar Pickin' Man |Belle Meade Records – BMCD-193 | |
| ?
| Next Generation |Belle Meade Records – BMCD-494 | |
| 1992, 1993
| Live & Pickin'! |Belle Meade Records – BMCD-195, DCM Digital Records – DCM100 | |
| ca 1995
| The World's Greatest Guitar Pickin' Entertainer In The World |Legend LR-109 |live album, enhanced reissue of BMCD-195, feat. Buster B. Jones |
| 1999
| Wires To The Wood |DCM Digital Records – DCM101 | |
| 2001
| Guts & Steel [Groovemasters vol. 5] |Solid Air Records – SACD2025 |w/ Buster B. Jones |
| 2002
| Down & Not Too Dirty |Bresh Entertainment? | |
| 2011?
| @ Home |? | |
| ca 2013?
| Guitar Boy |? | |
| 2018?
| Time |? | |
=Singles=
| class="wikitable"
! Year ! Single ! US Country{{cite book|last=Whitburn|first=Joel|title=Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2017|publisher=Record Research, Inc|year=2017|page=52|isbn=978-0-89820-229-8}} ! US AC{{cite magazine | url=https://www.billboard.com/music/tom-bresh/chart-history/ASI | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191102044755/https://www.billboard.com/music/tom-bresh/chart-history/ASI | url-status=dead | archive-date=November 2, 2019 | title=Adult Contemporary chart results | magazine=Billboard | accessdate=November 2, 2019}} ! Album |
| rowspan="3"| 1976
| "Homemade Love" | align="center"| 6 | align="center"| — | rowspan="3"| Homemade Love |
| "Sad Country Love Song"
| align="center"| 17 | align="center"| 37 |
| "Hey Daisy (Where Have All the Good Times Gone)"
| align="center"| 33 | align="center"| — |
| rowspan="2"| 1977
| "Until I Met You" | align="center"| 57 | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| Kicked Back |
| "That Old Cold Shoulder"
| align="center"| 48 | align="center"| — |
| rowspan="3"| 1978
| "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)" | align="center"| 78 | align="center"| — | rowspan="2"| Portrait |
| "Ways of a Woman in Love"
| align="center"| 74 | align="center"| — |
| "First Encounter of a Close Kind"
| align="center"| 84 | align="center"| — | rowspan="4"| singles only |
| 1982
| "When It Comes to Love" (with Lane Brody) | align="center"| 77 | align="center"| — |
| rowspan="2"| 1983
| "I'd Love You to Want Me" | align="center"| — | align="center"| — |
| "Somebody Like You"
| align="center"| — | align="center"| — |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.bresh.com Official website]
- [https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/pat-bovenizer Pat Bovenizer Interview] at NAMM Oral History Collection (2016)
- {{Discogs artist|334364-Thom-Bresh}}
- {{IMDb name|2133980}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bresh, Thom}}
Category:20th-century American guitarists
Category:20th-century American male musicians
Category:American country guitarists
Category:American country singer-songwriters
Category:American male guitarists
Category:American male singer-songwriters
Category:Country musicians from California
Category:Guitarists from California
Category:Singer-songwriters from California