47.184.189.2: /* Biography */

2025-05-10T23:28:19Z

Biography

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{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{short description|American songwriter}}
{{BLP sources|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Sonny Throckmorton
| image =
| caption =
| background = solo_singer
| birth_name = James Fron Throckmorton
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1941|04|02}}
| birth_place = [[Carlsbad, New Mexico]], U.S.
| genre = [[Country music|Country]]
| occupation = Songwriter, singer
| years_active = 1965–1988
| label =
| associated_acts = [[Merle Haggard]], [[Bobby Lewis (country singer)|Bobby Lewis]]
| website =
}}

'''James Fron''' "'''Sonny'''" '''Throckmorton''' (born April 2, 1941) is an American [[country music]] songwriter. He has had more than 1,000 of his songs recorded by various country singers. He has also had minor success as a recording artist, having released two major-label albums: ''The Last Cheater's Waltz'' in 1978 on [[Mercury Records]] and ''Southern Train'' in 1986 on [[Warner Bros. Records]]. Throckmorton is a member of the [[Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame]], and has been awarded Songwriter of the Year by both [[Broadcast Music Incorporated]] and the [[Nashville Songwriters Association International]].

==Biography and career==
Throckmorton was born in [[Carlsbad, New Mexico]],<ref name="book">{{cite book |title=The Encyclopedia of Country Music |editor-last=Kingsbury |editor-first=Paul |year=2004 |publisher=Sourcebooks, Inc. |location=Nashville, Tennessee |isbn=0-19-517608-1 |pages=538 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v4GQDYx_RnkC&dq=%22sonny+throckmorton%22+1941&pg=PA538}}</ref> and his family moved to [[Wichita Falls, Texas]], shortly after his birth.<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web |url={{Allmusic|class=artist|id=p131804/biography|pure_url=yes}} |title=Sonny Throckmorton biography |accessdate=November 20, 2008 |last=Brennan |first=Sandra |work=[[Allmusic]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231113161106/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sonny-throckmorton-mn0000045756#biography |archive-date=13 November 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> After graduating from college, he moved to [[San Francisco, California]], and first played [[rock and roll]] before switching his focus to country music at record producer [[Pete Drake]]'s suggestion.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} By 1964, he played bass guitar for [[Carl Butler and Pearl]], and was signed to a publishing contract; his first hit as a songwriter was "How Long Has It Been," which was a top-10 country hit for [[Bobby Lewis (country singer)|Bobby Lewis]].<ref name="allmusic"/> Throckmorton was later signed to a contract with Sony/Tree Publishing, but was fired after none of his songs became hits.<ref name="allmusic"/>

Throckmorton returned to Texas in 1975. However, other songwriters had continued selling his songs, and he was soon rehired by Tree Publishing. Over 150 of his songs were recorded in only nine months, including [[Johnny Duncan (country music artist)|Johnny Duncan]]'s first number-one hit, "Thinking of a Rendezvous."<ref name="allmusic"/> Other artists who had hits with his songs included [[John Conlee]], [[Dave & Sugar]], [[Merle Haggard]], [[the Oak Ridge Boys]], and [[Jerry Lee Lewis]].<ref name="allmusic"/> Throckmorton was also signed to a recording contract with [[Mercury Records]] in 1976, although none of the singles from his debut album ''The Last Cheater's Waltz'' reached the top 40.<ref name="allmusic"/> He was also named Songwriter of the Year by the [[Nashville Songwriters Association International]] in 1978, 1979, and 1980,<ref name="book"/> and by [[Broadcast Music Incorporated]] in 1980. Between 1976 and 1980, at least one of his songs appeared on the country charts almost every week,<ref name="allmusic"/> and overall, more than a thousand of his songs were recorded by country artists.<ref name="allmusic"/> Throckmorton's streak of songwriting continued into the 1980s and 1990s, with [[Mel McDaniel]], [[George Strait]], and [[Doug Stone]] recording his material, as well.<ref name="allmusic"/>

Throckmorton was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985. Three years later, he signed to a second recording contract with [[Warner Bros. Records]], releasing the album ''Southern Train'', but no singles.<ref name="allmusic"/> Throckmorton retired to his ranch in Texas in 1988 to care for his dying father.<ref name="book"/>

In 2019, [[Willie Nelson]] recorded a version of "Ride Me Back Home" by Sonny Throckmorton and released an album with the same title.<ref>{{cite web |last=Doyle |first=Patrick |date=26 April 2019 |title=Willie Nelson Details His New Album 'Ride Me Back Home' |website=Rolling Stone |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/willie-nelson-new-album-ride-me-back-home-827502/ |access-date=1 January 2025 }}</ref>

==Discography==

===Albums===
*''[[Last Cheater's Waltz (album)|Last Cheater's Waltz]]'' (1978)
*''Southern Train'' (1986)

===Singles===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Single
! width="45"| <small>[[Hot Country Songs|US Country]]</small>
|-
| 1976
| "Rosie"
| align="center"|76
|-
| 1977
| "Lovin' You, Lovin' Me"
| align="center"|73
|-
| 1978
| "[[I Wish You Could Have Turned My Head (And Left My Heart Alone)]]"
| align="center"|54
|-
| rowspan="2"|1979
| "[[Smooth Sailin' (Sonny Throckmorton song)|Smooth Sailin']]"/"[[Last Cheater's Waltz]]"
| align="center"|47
|-
| "Can't You Hear That Whistle Blow"
| align="center"|66
|-
| 1980
| "[[Friday Night Blues]]"
| align="center"|89
|-
| 1981
| "A Girl Like You"
| align="center"|77
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Sonny Throckmorton}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Throckmorton, Sonny}}
[[Category:1941 births]]
[[Category:American country singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:American male singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Carlsbad, New Mexico]]
[[Category:Singers from New Mexico]]
[[Category:Songwriters from New Mexico]]

Sonny Throckmorton - Revision history

47.184.189.2: /* Biography */