Max
Edward Dinning (August 17, 1933 — March 22, 1986) was an American pop music
singer. In December 1959, the song "Teen Angel", written by his
sister and brother-in-law, Jean and Red Surrey reached No. 1 on the Billboard
Charts. Jean and two of her sisters, Virginia and Lucille, comprised the
"The Dinning Sisters" , a popular singing trio in the 1940s.
Max
Edward Dinning was born in Manchester, Oklahoma, the youngest of nine children,
and was raised on a farm near Nashville, Tennessee after his family relocated
from Kansas. Dinning took up the electric guitar at the age of 17. He followed
his sisters and pursued a career in country music and, in 1957, record producer
Wesley Rose signed him a recording contract as Mark Dinning.
For
three years, he was an unsuccessful recording artist, trying to cultivate a
country career with such songs as "Ramblin' Man," "The Streets
of Laredo," and "I'm Just a Country Boy." Then his sister Jean
and her husband Red Surrey gave him a song they had written, called "Teen
Angel".
The
lyrics, which told of the death of a teenage girl, were deemed by British radio
stations to be too morbid to be aired, but it reached #37 on the UK Singles
Chart. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.
Dinning
had an addiction to alcohol that eventually ended his career. His repeated
appearance at performances too intoxicated to perform caused promoters to stop
booking him and he faded from public view. Although Dinning never duplicated
the success of "Teen Angel", he had three minor hit records in the
ensuing years.
Mark
Dinning continued performing until his unexpected death at the age of
fifty-two. After appearing in a club in Jefferson City, Missouri, on March 21,
1986, Mark had a heart attack while driving home in his car. (Info mainly
Wikipedia)
1 comment:
Go here for The Mark Dinning Collection
https://archive.org/details/MarkDinningCollection
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