Birth name Jerry Parker McGee Years active 1972-present Record label Big Tree Records | Instruments Guitar, piano Labels Big Tree Records Genres Country music, Pop music | |
Origin Meridian, Mississippi, United States Occupation(s) Guitarist, singer, songwriter, pianist Similar John Ford Coley, England Dan & John For, Jim Seals, Southwest FOB, Dan Seals | ||
Jerry Parker McGee (born April 1951) is a Nashville-based singer-songwriter, originally from Meridian, Mississippi.
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Early life
McGee was born in Meridian, Mississippi, one of three sons, to Albert R. "Pat" McGee, and Ruby McGee. He graduated from Meridian High School in 1969.
Career
McGee struggled early in his career, and at one point was living in a school bus parked behind a recording studio in Jackson, Mississippi. There he met Illinois-born producer Kyle Lehning, in 1972, which proved to be a turning point in their careers. Lehning, who had left Nashville earlier after failing to find work, returned there in 1973 to take a job as a studio engineer. McGee followed him there a short time later after the studio in Jackson had gone bankrupt, and began studio session work.
Both Lehning and McGee continued their friendship, constantly exchanging ideas. In 1974, Tanya Tucker recorded McGee's "Depend on You" for her "Lovin' and Learnin'" album. Not long afterwards, McGee signed with Dawnbreaker Music, a family publishing outfit involving brothers Dan and Jim Seals, whose albums with England Dan & John Ford Coley and Seals & Crofts, respectively, would bear songs with McGee songwriting credits.
McGee's big breakthrough came in 1976 with "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight". The song came to the attention of England Dan and John Ford Coley, who had been dropped from their former label, A&M Records, after modest success. The duo played the song for Big Tree Records, and landed a record deal. McGee also penned "Nights Are Forever", that proved to be another chart success for England Dan & John Ford Coley, and both songs went gold. This gave him the clout to secure a record deal of his own with Big Tree Records. His self-titled album was released in 1976, and yielded one hit single, "I Just Can't Say No To You", which reached number 42 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 7 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary charts. While the album had a country-pop sound and feel characteristic of the era, none of the songs ever charted on Billboard's country music charts.
That same year, Seals & Crofts covered McGee's "Goodbye Old Buddies" on their album Get Closer. The track also appears on McGee's album. The Seals & Crofts version peaked at number 10 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Charts.
Personal life
McGee resides in Arrington, a Nashville suburb, with his wife Alison.