Glenn Yarbrough born 12 January 1930

Glenn Yarbrough (born January 12, 1930) is an American folk singer. He was the lead singer with The Limeliters between 1959 and 1963, and had a prolific solo career, recording on various labels.

Glenn Yarbrough's high, clear tenor has served him well throughout his long career as a singer (that's him singing "Things go better with Coke" on all those commercials), and although it has been many years since he placed a song on the pop charts, he continues to have a large and loyal fan base.

He was born on January 12, 1930, in Milwaukee, WI, where he began singing at church functions as a child. His entry into the world of folk music came while he was a student at St. Johns College in Annapolis, MD, in 1951, where a late-night singing session with his roommate, Jac Holzman (who would later found Elektra Records -- Yarbrough would release a handful of records on the label) and a visiting Woody Guthrie would prove to be pivotal for Yarbrough. He bought a guitar the next day.

Following a stint in the Army as a radio operator (he served in Korea) and then a stay as a radio and television host in South Dakota, Yarbrough traveled to New York City in 1957, where he recorded an album, Come Sit by My Side, for New Traditions Records and began regularly playing the country's coffeehouse circuit. He eventually settled in Aspen, CO, where he purchased a local folk club called the Limelite.

When Yarbrough hooked up with two other folksingers, banjo player Alex Hassilev and bassist Lou Gottlieb, the trio took the club's name, becoming the Limeliters. The group was massively successful and recorded several albums (as well as the aforementioned Coke commercial) before Yarbrough left the group in late 1963.

He recorded a solo album for RCA called Time to Move On, which yielded a number 12 pop hit in 1965, "Baby, the Rain Must Fall," and solidified Yarbrough' s solo career. He went on to record several albums for RCA, including a 1966 collaboration with pop poet Rod McKuen, The Lonely Things. By the early '70s Yarbrough had started his own label, Brass Dolphin, and he reunited with the Limeliters in 1973, remaining with the group this time until 1981.

Yarbrough provided vocals for the Rankin/Bass animated versions of The Hobbit (1977) singing songs such as The Greatest Adventure, The Road Goes Ever On as well as The Return of the King (1980) singing "Frodo of the Nine Fingers"

In the 1990s his albums were being issued by Folk Era Records, including a 1994 effort with his daughter Holly called Family Portrait.

His unique style of singing is referenced in an episode of the animated series South Park titled "The Death Camp of Tolerance". 

Glenn is also an accomplished sailor who has owned and lived aboard three different sailboats: Armorel, all teak and still in operation; Jubilee, which Glenn helped build, taking three years; and the Brass Dolphin a Chinese junk design, and has, according to Yarbrough, sailed around the world except for the Indian Ocean.  (Info edited mainly from All Music and Wikipedia)

1981 New York Live recording with Alex Hasssilev, Lou Gottlieb, and Glenn Yarbrough.