Owens "Boomer" Castleman (July 18, 1945 – September 1, 2015) was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.

Career as musician

He was born and raised in

Farmers Branch, Texas Farmers Branch, officially the City of Farmers Branch, is a city in Dallas County, Texas, United States. It is an inner-ring suburb of Dallas and is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its population was 35,991 at the 2020 census. History ...

, United States. Castleman first started playing professionally at age 17 while a high school student in Dallas. He and a Ft. Worth teenager, John Deutschendorf, played on the folk circuit together, and Castleman was present at a club in Los Angeles when his friend agreed to change his name to

John Denver Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American Country music, country and Folk music, folk singer, songwriter, and actor. He was one of the most popular acoustic m ...

. Castleman and another musician from Dallas,

Michael Nesmith Robert Michael Nesmith (December 30, 1942 – December 10, 2021) was an American musician, songwriter, and actor. He was best known as a member of the Monkees and co-star of their The Monkees (TV series), TV series of the same name (1966–1968) ...

, then formed a band called the Survivors. When Nesmith left to help create

The Monkees The Monkees were an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles in the mid-1960s. The band consisted of Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones (musician), Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork. Spurred by the success of ''The Monkees (TV series), Th ...

, he was replaced by Dallas native

Michael Martin Murphey Michael Martin Murphey (born March 14, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter. He was one of the founding artists of progressive country. A multiple Grammy nominee, Murphey has six gold albums, including ''Cowboy Songs (Michael Martin Murphey alb ...

. Soon thereafter, Castleman, Murphey, and bassist

John London John Carl Kuehne (February 6, 1942 – February 12, 2000), better known as John London, was an American musician and songwriter, and was involved in several Hollywood television and movie productions. He was most notably associated with both the ...

formed the 1960s pop group The Lewis & Clarke Expedition, with Lewis and Clarke being pseudonyms for Murphy and Castleman. They recorded a pop album in 1967 for

Colgems Colgems Records was a record label that existed from 1966 to 1971. History Colgems was a joint venture between Screen Gems, the television division of Columbia Pictures, and RCA Victor to issue records by the Monkees and other artists affilia ...

, the label that also released

. Castleman and Murphey wrote "(What Am I Doin') Hangin' Round," (also as Lewis and Clarke), which was recorded by the Monkees and featured on three episodes of their television show. The duo's songs were also recorded by such musicians as

Lyle Lovett Lyle Pearce Lovett (born November 1, 1957) Lyle Lovett Pageat Allmusic – Lovett's Genre and Styles. Retrieved February 2, 2007 is an American country singer and actor. Active since 1980, he has recorded 14 albums and released 25 singles to dat ...

Ray Wylie Hubbard Ray Wylie Hubbard (born November 13, 1946) is an American singer and songwriter. Early life Hubbard was born on November 13, 1946, in Soper, Oklahoma. His family moved to Oak Cliff in southwest Dallas, Texas, in 1954. He attended W. ...

and

Rusty Wier Russell Allen "Rusty" Wier (May 3, 1944 – October 9, 2009) was an American singer-songwriter from Austin, Texas. Wier's career dates back to the 1960s and covers multiple music genres. Wier was the drummer in the Austin garage rock band The Wi ...

. Locally, they were probably best known for writing, "Ft. Worth, I Love You." As a solo artist, Castleman hit the US charts in 1975 with the single "Judy Mae", which peaked at No. 33. In so doing, he became a career musician sometimes considered a "one hit wonder." As a Nashville studio guitarist, Castleman backed such singers as

Tammy Wynette Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music singer and songwriter, considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Lynn, Wynette helped bring a ...

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is an American singer who has performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin music. Ronstadt has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three A ...

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (born Kenneth Donald Rogers) (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particul ...

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American Country music, country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for a long list of hit records, and is well known for his distinctive voice an ...

, and

Roy Clark Roy Linwood Clark (April 15, 1933 – November 15, 2018) was an American singer, musician, and television presenter. He is best known for having hosted '' Hee Haw'', a nationally televised country variety show, from 1969 to 1997. Clark wa ...

Career within music

Castleman invented the palm pedal, a device that allows guitar players to execute pedal steel-style string bends. He made his original prototype in 1968. It is marketed under the name Bigsby Palm Pedal. The original patent has expired, allowing other vendors to market similar devices, but the Bigsby/Castleman version is the original. Castleman founded the independent country music record label

BNA Records BNA Records, formerly known as BNA Entertainment, was a label group that shared ties with Arista Nashville and RCA Nashville from parent company Sony Music Nashville, which itself is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment. Based in Nashville, ...

which he later sold to

BMG Music Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008. Although it was established in 1987, the music co ...

Personal

He first attended St. Mark's School of Texas and

Woodberry Forest School Woodberry Forest School is a private, all-male boarding school located in Woodberry Forest, Madison County, Virginia, in the United States. Woodberry's current enrollment is 391. Students come from 34 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and 36 coun ...

before graduating from

Occidental College Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is ...

. He died in September 2015, at the age of 70, and is survived by two daughters, Anne Marie and Breck.

References

External links

Official site (archived)PlayBoomer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castleman, Boomer 1945 births 2015 deaths People from Farmers Branch, Texas American male singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from Texas American country guitarists Guitarists from Texas American country singer-songwriters Country musicians from Texas St. Mark's School (Texas) alumni Woodberry Forest School alumni Occidental College alumni