Musician/Producer/Exec Jerry Kennedy Passes
Jerry Kennedy. Photo: Courtesy of the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum
Jerry Kennedy, one of the great Nashville record men, has died at age 85.
He was a consummate guitarist, producer, songwriter and record executive. Kennedy was a key figure in the creation and development of the Nashville Sound. He produced classic records by Country Music Hall of Fame members Roger Miller, The Statler Brothers, Reba McEntire, Jerry Lee Lewis and Tom T. Hall. He was the chief of Mercury Records on Music Row in 1969-84.
As an instrumentalist, Kennedy was heard on Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde LP (1966), as the driving guitar lick on Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Woman” (1964), on the dobro passages that answer Jeannie C. Riley’s vocal on “Harper Valley P.T.A.” (1968) and in the distinctive guitar intro of Tammy Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man” (1968), among many other immortal Nashville records.
Born Jerry Glenn Kennedy, he was a native of Shreveport, Louisiana. He was a child prodigy who was signed by RCA at age 11. By age 16, he was a staff guitarist on the city’s famed Louisiana Hayride country show. He backed Faron Young, Johnny Horton, and the show’s other stars. He also began to record, backing blues artists Jimmy McCracklin and Guitar Junior on discs.
Encouraged by promotion man Shelby Singleton, Jerry Kennedy moved to Nashville in 1961 to become a session musician. In 1963, he became Singleton’s assistant at Mercury.
But he continued to work as a picker on recording sessions by Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, Ringo Starr, Stonewall Jackson and George Jones, among others. His earliest Nashville success was backing Rex Allen on the 1962 hit “Don’t Go Near the Indians.” His work backing Elvis Presley included 1962’s “Good Luck Charm.” He was also in the band as well as the producer’s chair for “King of the Road” and the other hits that earned Roger Miller 11 Grammy Awards in 1964-65. His works with Orbison, Wynette, Riley and Dylan were also during this period of his career.
Singleton kept promoting Kennedy at Mercury. Jerry Kennedy became the head of the Nashville label in 1969. In that role, he discovered McEntire and signed her to her first major-label contract (1976). He also launched the career of Tex/Mex stylist Johnny Rodriguez (1972). He brought Tom T. Hall to fame. Kennedy’s productions guided Jerry Lee Lewis’s transition from rock to country and found him such song hits as “What’s Made Milwaukee Famous” and “Another Place, Another Time.”
His other Mercury roster artists included Patti Page, Bobby Bare, Brook Benton, Leroy Van Dyke, Ray Stevens, Roy Drusky, George Burns, Charlie Rich, Dave Dudley, Faron Young and Mickey Newbury. Jerry Kennedy also recorded seven instrumental albums, himself.
In 1984, he formed JK Productions. Under this imprimatur, he continued to produce Hall and the Statlers, as well as new clients such as The Maines Brothers and Connie Smith. In 1984-89 he produced a string of hits for Mel McDaniel on Capitol Records. Jerry Kennedy was noted for his low-key, easy-going manner as a studio professional.
“Jerry Kennedy was soft-spoken and understated, but his permanent impact on American music was anything but quiet,” eulogized CEO Kyle Young of the Country Music Hall of Fame.
In 1992, Kennedy was presented with the Nashville Entertainment Association’s Master Award. Jerry Kennedy was an inaugural inductee into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2007, and the museum’s theater is named in his honor. In 2008, he was saluted in the “Nashville Cats” series presented by the Country Music Hall of Fame. During his career, he earned four Grammy Awards as a producer.
Son Bryan Kennedy became the opening act for Garth Brooks on tour and cowrote the superstar’s hits “American Honky Tonk Bar Association,” “Beaches of Cheyenne” and “Good Ride Cowboy.” He co-wrote and starred in the popular musical Toe Roaster.
Son Shelby Kennedy became an ASCAP executive, a record producer and the writer of songs recorded by Ray Charles, Randy Howard and others. He co-wrote “I’m a Survivor,” the theme song of the long-running TV sitcom Reba. He was also an executive at Lyric Street Records. He has sung backup on records by Jamey Johnson, Mila Mason, Mel McDaniel, Ashton Shepherd, Boxcar Willie and Johnny Rodriguez. He helped to launch the careers of SheDaisy and Alan Jackson.
Son Gordon Kennedy was a member of the CCM band WhiteHeart and co-wrote Eric Clapton’s “Change the World,” which won the 1996 Song of the Year Grammy Award. Gordon Kennedy’s songs have also been recorded by Bonnie Raitt, Ricky Skaggs, Trisha Yearwood, Peter Frampton, Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw, Wynonna, Faith Hill, Carrie Underwood, George Strait, Charlie Daniels and others.
Jerry Kennedy passed away on Wednesday, Feb. 11. Funeral arrangements have not been announced.
