Bobby Barnett born 15 February 1933

Bobby Barnett (15 February, 1933 – 24 September 2017) was a country singer, songwriter and guitar player. 

I must admit, I never heard of Bobby Barnett until I came across a couple of albums of his singles. Not well known nationally but was a very familiar name in California City. Bobby Glen Barnett was born in Cushing, Oklahoma and moved to El Paso after graduating from high school in 1953. 

He'd long been interested in country music, and his singing career took off in 1960 thanks to a cover of Eddie Miller's "This Old Heart" which went to number six on the Billboard Country chart. That was done on the Razorback label of Muskogee, which was picked up by Sparta of Canada and Republic in the States. Almost incredibly Bobby cut 10 Miller tunes on the go. 

                                   

In 1961 Barnett moved to the Boyd label and later Reprise bought all the old masters. They issued two singles, "Crazy Little Lover" and "Same Old Love." However, it wasn't until Barnett signed with Sims in 1963 that he scored his first Top Ten hit “She Looks Good To The Crowd.”

He charted several more times over the next few years then he signed to Columbia in 1968 releasing the album “Lyin’ Lovin’ and Leavin’ which gave him his biggest subsequent single, "Love Me, Love," which narrowly missed the Top Ten. He then formed his own label “Bannister,” out of Oklahoma City and had more releases. His firm had 36 independent distributors with himself being the only artist. Barnett's final hit was the minor 1981 comeback single "Born in Country Music." 

He would book himself and only worked when he wanted to go on the road, usually within a 350 mile radius of his home. He passed away peacefully at his home in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on 24 Sep 2017 (aged 84) 

(Vary scarce information edited from Billboard & Discogs)