David Frizzell
b. 26 September 1941, El Dorado, Texas, USA. In the mid-50s, David hitch-hiked to California to join and tour with his older brother Lefty Frizzell. He recorded some unsuccessful country/rockabilly tracks for Columbia in 1958 and served in the US Army during the early '60s. After his discharge, he made further recordings for various labels and gained a Top 40 US country chart hit in 1970, after returning to Columbia, with I Just Can't Help Believing. He worked for a time in the '70s for Buck Owens on his networked RANCH SHOW television programme, managed a nightclub and had minor hits on Cartwheel, Capitoland RSO. He first worked at the club with Shelly West (the daughter of singer Dottie West), who was at the time married to his younger brother Allen Frizzell (b.1951). Allen was for a time Dottie West's lead guitarist and front man. He had three minor country hits in the '80s, in his own right but became more involved with the business side of the industry than with performing. In 1978, the two brothers and Shelly West toured extensively. David and Shelly had a US country number 1 in 1981 with You're The Reason God Made Oklahoma, which featured in the Clint Eastwood film ANY WHICH WAY YOU CAN. They had made a demo recording of the song some considerable time before, but it had been turned down by record companies until chosen by Eastwood for the film. Further country Top 10 hits followed including A Texas State Of Mind and I Just Came Here To Dance. He also had a popular solo recording, Lefty, a tribute to his brother, that also featured Merle Haggard. 1982 proved to be a big year for him with a US country number 1 with I'm Gonna Hire A Wino To Decorate Our Home, followed by a number 5 hit with Lost My Baby Blues. Another duet recording with Shelly West called Please Surrender was used by Eastwood in his film HONKYTONK MAN. Further solo hits include Where Are You Spending Your Nights These Days, A Million Light Beers Ago and a further Top 20 duet with It's A Be Together Night. A talented and capable singer, although by no means the equal of his legendary brother, even if at times there is a slight vocal resemblance.