Joy To The World - Music

Larry Groce Born April 22 1948 1 Is An American Singer Songwriter Musician And Radio Host. During His Early Four-Year Recording Career As A Family-Oriented Country Music Singer-Songwriter He Became A One-Hit Wonder With The Top Ten Novelty Hit "Junk Food Junkie" In 1976. Since Then Groce's Voice Has Become Well Known By Children And Parents Alike As A Result Of His Recordings Of Classic Children’s Songs For Walt Disney Records “Children’s Favorites” 4-Volume Series Volume 1 1979 Volume 2 1979 Volume 3 1986 And Volume 4 1990 .
Since 1986 Groce Has Hosted The Public Radio Program Mountain Stage. Biography Groce Was Born In Dallas Texas On April 22 1948. He Attended W.H. Adamson High School With Future Musicians Michael Martin Murphey Ray Wylie Hubbard And B. W. Stevenson.
After School Groce Moved Around The States — St. Louis New York Los Angeles — Singing Folk Music And Rhyming Tales. Groce Recorded Four LPs On Small Labels Like Peaceable And Daybreak In The '70s With His Band—Berke McKelvey Bass And The Currence Brothers Jimmie Banjo Fiddle And Loren Guitar Fiddle Mandolin Walt Disney's Vista Label Activity Records Issued His "Winnie The Pooh For President" As A Single. He Also Recorded The "Disney Children's Favorites" Albums On Disneyland Records Featuring Many Well-Loved Children's Songs As Well As Several Other Disney Recordings During The Late 1970s And Early 1980s Including The Two "Disney Christmas Favorites" LPs.
Early In The 1970s Groce Went To Work For The National Endowment For The Arts Program Which Funded Appearances By Artists In Public Schools. Groce Was Sent To West Virginia Where Working With Kids Inspired Him To Write The Humorous "Junk Food Junkie" Which Was Recorded In 1975 In Front Of A Live Audience At McCabe's In Santa Monica California. The Song Released As A Single In Early 1976 Quickly Became A Hit In The United States Where It Spent 15 Weeks On Billboard's Hot 100 Chart Peaking At Number Nine In The Week Of March 20 1976. 2 One Line In The Song Says The Singer Is "a Friend To Old Euell Gibbons" A Naturalist Known For Appearing In TV Commercials For Grape Nuts Cereal Ironically Gibbons Died 3 Just Before "Junk Food Junkie" Was Released.
The Song Was Followed Up By An Album And Several More Novelty Numbers. None Of Them Charted And Groce Returned To His Work With Children. He Has Written Numerous Children's Songs Several Of Which Have Been Included On The Disney Children's Favorites Albums Including His Song "Just For You". He Currently Lives In Charleston West Virginia And Is The Host Of The National Public Radio Music Program Mountain Stage.
Groce Also Recorded Two Albums Of Hymns In The 1970s And Has Recently Released A Best Of Larry Groce CD Taken From Those Albums And Another CD Of New Hymns Called On Joyful Wing Mar 2009 .
He Has Also Been In The Movie Paradise Park. Edit References read less