The Gatlin Brothers

Larry, Steve and Rudy Gatlin were one of the most popular Close Harmony Brother groups of country music in the 1970s and 1980s. Unlike the Everly Brothers or the Louvin Brothers, the Gatlins had a third next of kin to fill up more sonic space. They often found themselves at a musical intersection between innovative country songwriting and dumbed-down, radio-friendly commercial Country Pop songs. Larry was the band's founder and leader who cut his teeth in Nashville with the aid of Dottie West and Kris Kristofferson. He and his brothers birthed fifteen Top 40 hits, until the band decided to retire in 1991. At this time, the New Traditional style of country music was gaining momentum in popularity, leaving little room for the expired stylings of the Gatlin Brothers' glassy and pristine recordings. In 1993, the brothers had some solo experiments behind them, and a reunion of recorded songs on a smaller label called Branson.