Veteran Music Mogul Joe Johnson Passes

Pictured (L-R): Randy Rayburn, Joe Johnson, David Bennett at Johnson 89th birthday party.

Joe Johnson, who made his mark as label executive, record producer and the publisher of dozens of hit songs, has died at age 93.

Johnson produced, published and/or promoted more than 150 hits. He was behind such successes as “Tequila” by The Champs (1958), “Wishful Thinking” by Wynn Stewart (1960), “The One You Slip Around With” by Jan Howard (1960), “Lies” by The Knickerbockers (1966) and “Signs” by The Five Man Electrical Band (1971). He built the Music Row office building that has housed GAC and RFD-TV.

His career as a music executive touched the lives of Willie Nelson, Lorrie Morgan, Jan and Dean, Marty Robbins, Gene Autry, Ricky Nelson, Chubby Checker, Harlan Howard, Glen Campbell and dozens more.

“He was one of the last survivors of those charismatic record men who shaped this business,” said his friend and admirer Rick Sanjek. “I found his energy, demeanor and vision inspirational.”

Johnson suffered a stroke in 2018 and had been in an assisted-living facility in Hendersonville since then. He died there on Tuesday (Dec. 22).

Joe Johnson was born in 1927 in Cookeville, Tennessee. He attended Vanderbilt University law school. He went to work for Columbia Records in the early 1950s.

He was initially charged with promoting the discs of the company’s pop stars, including Tony Bennett (“Rags to Riches,” 1953), Doris Day (“Secret Love,” 1954), Frankie Laine, Johnnie Ray, Roy Hamilton, The Four Lads and Guy Mitchell.

Johnson was sent to Texas to investigate the emerging rockabilly style. He saw Elvis Presley there and urged his label to sign “The Hillbilly Cat.” Instead, he was instructed to replicate the then-unknown artist’s songs. So he took “That’s All Right” to Marty Robbins, who had a big country hit with it in 1955. Johnson also produced the 1954 Jimmy Dickens favorite “Y’All Come.”

He promoted the label’s entire country roster of that era, including Carl Smith, George Morgan, Gene Autry, Lefty Frizzell and Ray Price, as well as Robbins and Dickens. He formed a particular attachment with Autry, who hired Johnson to be the “advance man” for his road show. When Autry quit touring, he chose Johnson to run his music companies in L.A.

On an Autry recording visit to Nashville, he took the superstar to The Tennessee State Prison. They heard the incarcerated group The Prisonaires singing their composition “Just Walkin’ In the Rain.” He arranged for Autry’s Golden West Melodies to buy the publishing to “Just Walkin’ in the Rain” and then pitched the song to Columbia’s Johnnie Ray. It became a massive pop hit for the singer in 1956.

In 1957, Autry, Johnson and businessman Johnny Thompson used the profits from “Just Walkin’ in the Rain” to found Challenge Records and JAT Music. In October 1958, Autry sold his share to his two partners so that he could invest in hotel properties and the California Angels baseball team. Thompson became the Challenge general manager. Johnson handled A&R musical responsibilities.

Initially, the companies prospered thanks to Johnson publishing such tunes as “I’m Available” (Margie Rayburn, 1957) and “I’ll Be There” (Ray Price, 1957). Challenge’s first recording success was “So Tough” by the r&b vocal group The Kuf-Linx in 1958.

The backup band on that record was The Champs, who had a massive hit with “Tequila” later that year. Published by JAT, “Tequila” was at No. 1 on the pop charts for five weeks, became an international smash and won a Grammy Award. Among the future stars who performed as members of The Champs were Glen Campbell and the hit pop duo Seals & Crofts.

Produced by Joe Johnson, Jerry Wallace had a string of pop hits on Challenge. These included “Primrose Lane” (1959), “Shutters and Boards” (1962) and “In the Misty Moonlight” (1964).

In 1961, Joe Johnson bought out partner Johnny Thompson. He also bought 4 Star Records and its publishing company that year. This brought him the income from such evergreen copyrights as “Release Me,” “Lonely Street,” “Stop the World and Let Me Off,” “Hot Rod Lincoln,” “Just Out of Reach” and “Am I That Easy to Forget.” 4 Star’s recording artists had included Hank Locklin, Patsy Cline, Webb Pierce, The Maddox Brothers & Rose, Stuart Hamblen, Jimmy Dean, T. Texas Tyler and Roy Clark. So Johnson instantly had many options for repackaging.

Meanwhile, on Challenge, Jan and Dean’s “Heart and Soul” charted in 1961. The Blossoms (including Darlene Love) answered the big hit “Mother in Law” with “Son in Law” on Challenge that same year. Marty Balin, later of Jefferson Airplane, was a Challenge artist in 1962. Wayne Newton, Gene Vincent and future Monkees member Mickey Dolenz were among the other pop acts who were on Challenge Records.

Johnson acquired “Limbo Rock” as an instrumental for The Champs in 1962. Chubby Checker’s people added lyrics, and the “Twist” star scored a big hit with it later that year.

Challenge singer-songwriter Jerry Fuller provided Ricky Nelson with major hits including “Travelin’ Man” (1961), “A Wonder Like You” (1961), “Young World” (1962) and “It’s Up to You” (1963). The teen superstar also recorded 21 songs written by Challenge Records artist Baker Knight.

Golden West Melodies songwriter Dave Burgess–the leader of The Champs and the author of the Price hit “I’ll Be There ”–did his part by providing Nelson with several more successes. As a result of all these connections, Joe Johnson tried to sign Ricky Nelson to Challenge, but failed.

Johnson co-published the first 15 songs written by Harlan Howard. This led to Johnson’s re-entry into country music. He produced Wynn Stewart’s breakthrough hits on Challenge, including “Wishful Thinking” (1960) and “Big Big Love” (1962). Challenge also helped launch the careers of country artists Jeannie Seely, Jan Howard, Justin Tubb, Bobby Bare and Donna Fargo, among others.

In 1964, Joe Johnson became a co-founder of the Academy of Country Music (ACM). He also helped provide the seed money to produce the pilot of its annual awards show.

The Knickerbockers brought his label into the rock era with its Beatles-styled 1966 hit “Lies.” The following year, Johnson pitched “Release Me” to Englebert Humperdinck and reaped the benefits of a worldwide pop smash by the song. He next scored by publishing “Signs” by the Canadian group Five Man Electrical Band in 1971. It earned a Gold Record.

Joe Johnson moved back to Nashville in 1972. He got Jerry Wallace signed as a country artist to Decca and produced the star’s comeback hits, including the CMA Award nominated “To Get to You” (1972), plus “If You Leave Me Tonight I’ll Cry” (1972), “Do You Know What It’s Like to Be Lonesome” (1973) and “Don’t Give Up on Me” (1973).

Johnson reactivated 4 Star Records in 1975. He built the 4 Star Building across from the United Artists Tower on Music Row with the intention of housing the label, a song publishing company, a recording studio, a video soundstage and a manufacturing plant under one roof.

He reissued Patsy Cline’s 1959 recording of “Life’s Railway to Heaven” on 4 Star, and it made the charts in 1978. Despite this and 4 Star discs by Lorrie Morgan, The LeGarde Twins, George Morgan, Bonnie Guitar and others, Johnson was forced to sell the building and his publishing catalog in 1980.

He retained the Challenge and 4 Star recordings. He recorded Willie Nelson singing “duets” with Patsy Cline on “Just a Closer Walk with Thee” and “Life’s Railway to Heaven.” Johnson had Sony-ATV administer the licenses for his master recordings, since that’s where his song-publishing copyrights also reside. There have been legal entanglements over his former holdings for decades.

The 4 Star Building at 49 Music Square West has housed the offices of the GAC cable TV channel, the Bullet TV production complex and Quad Recording Studios. More recent tenants include RFD-TV, Trey Turner artist management and Hippie Radio 94.5.

Joe Johnson’s other business interests included the management company Advance Artists and a background-music production firm in partnership with the 3M Company to compete with Muzak.

An avid golfer, he launched a Nashville pro-celebrity golf tournament. Joe Johnson continued to play until age 85.

He is survived by his children Elizabeth Jane Johnson Donoho, Margaret Lane Johnson Palubicki, Joseph “Beau” Burgess Johnson and Charles Martin Johnson, plus four grandchildren. His memory is also cherished by his ex-wife, Marianne Rippey.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Taylor Funeral Home in Dickson, Tennessee. Joe Johnson will be buried at the Burgess Family cemetery at Upper Cherry Creek Cemetery in Sparta, Tennessee.

Rockabilly Star Carl Mann Dies

Country singer Carl Mann passed away on Wednesday, Dec. 15, at age 78 in Jackson, Tennessee.

He burst on the recording scene in 1959 with his galloping rockabilly reworking of the 1950 Nat King Cole pop hit “Mona Lisa.” He followed it with similar uptempo treatments of Cole’s ballads “Pretend” and “Too Young,” as well as Gene Autry’s 1939 tune “South of the Border.”

Mann was one of the last artists that Sam Phillips introduced to the world from his Sun Records empire in Memphis. Carl Mann came along in the wake of such Sun legends as Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison and Charlie Rich as Phillips’ protégées.

Like Rich, he recorded for Philips International Records, a Sun subsidiary. Former Sun signee Conway Twitty copied Carl Mann’s version of “Mona Lisa” and also scored a 1959 hit with it (for MGM Records).

Carl Mann was a native of Huntingdon, Tennessee and was a prodigy appearing on the radio on nearby WDXI in Jackson, Tennessee at age 10. Inspired by the sounds of Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry, the singer, guitarist and pianist had his own band at age 12 and first recorded at age 14.

His 1957 single for Jaxon Records was the teen-themed “Gonna Rock and Roll Tonight.” At age 17, he wrangled an audition with Sun’s Jack Clement, which led to the recording of “Mona Lisa.” Much of his subsequent youthful output was in a similar vein. Mann rocked-up “Some Enchanted Evening,” “The Wayward Wind,” “Blueberry Hill,” “Mexicali Rose” and “Don’t Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes.”

Rockabilly fans also revere his versions of “Ubangi Stomp,” “Foolish One,” “Baby I Don’t Care,” “Kansas City,” “Rockin’ Love” and “I’m Coming Home.” He recorded his most influential tracks in both Memphis and in Sun’s Nashville studio supervised by Billy Sherrill, Scotty Moore and Kelso Herston.

He toured with Rich, Cash and Perkins, as well as with country stars George Jones and Loretta Lynn. But Mann’s career stalled when he was drafted into the Army in 1964.

Like most of the rockabilly stars, Mann returned to mainstream country music in the 1960s. He recorded for Monument Records and briefly charted in 1976 on ABC/Dot with a reworking of The Platters oldie “Twilight Time.” The following year, Sun issued an LP compiling his classics.

Mann left music to work in his father’s lumber business in Huntingdon, but was repeatedly lured back by offers to tour in Europe. He released an album in Holland in 1978 and another in Switzerland in 1985.

Germany’s Bear Family Records reissued his Sun sides in 2008 on a CD titled Carl Mann Rocks! Mann was an inductee into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. In 2011 he was the subject of the book The Last Son of Sun. He issued a self-titled CD in 2012.

Plans for a memorial service are pending, according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

BREAKING: Iconic Singer-Songwriter K.T. Oslin Passes

K.T. Oslin

Triple Grammy-winner K.T. Oslin, a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, has died at age 78.

She made music history by becoming the first middle-aged woman to rise to stardom in Nashville. Oslin was 45 years old when she scored a smash hit with the female anthem “80’s Ladies” in 1987. The song made her the first female songwriter in history to win the CMA’s Song of the Year prize. She was the CMA Female Vocalist of the Year in 1988.

During her career, she also earned four Academy of Country Music honors, as well as her three Grammys. In 2014, she was inducted into the Texas Songwriters Hall of Fame. She was voted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018.

Oslin had been suffering from Parkinson’s disease in recent years and had been living in an assisted-living facility since 2016. Last week, she was diagnosed with COVID-19, but it is unclear whether this contributed to her death on Monday morning (Dec. 21).

She was born Kay Toinette Oslin in Crossett, Arkansas on May 15, 1942. She grew up in Houston, Texas. Oslin sang folk music in a trio with Guy Clark (1941-2016) as a young adult in her hometown.

Both made their disc debuts on the local 1964 Jester Records compilation LP, Look, It’s Us! Oslin and duet partner Frank Davis subsequently recorded an unreleased album in Los Angeles.

After starring with Rudy Vallee in an equity production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, she auditioned for the road company of the musical Hello Dolly! in 1966. She toured with its star Carol Channing until the show returned to New York, and remained with the musical on Broadway when it starred Betty Grable.

Settling in Manhattan, Oslin subsequently appeared in Promises, Promises, in the Lincoln Center revival of West Side Story, and in lesser-known musicals such as the Vincent Price vehicle Darling of the Day. Oslin also performed in TV commercials for cleaning products, denture adhesives, soft drinks and other products.

K.T. Oslin

During the long stretches between theatrical auditions, Oslin began writing songs in her New York apartment. SESAC executive C. Dianne Petty (1946-2007) thought they sounded “country” and began shopping them around Nashville. Oslin began making trips to Music City, performing showcases and singing backup on old friend Guy Clark’s 1978 self-titled LP.

Oslin was signed by Elektra Records, which issued “”Clean Your Own Tables” and “Younger Men” as “Kay T. Oslin” country singles in 1981-82. Neither made any waves. She remained in New York and worked as an extra in Bruce Springsteen’s 1985 video of “Glory Days,” in addition to singing ad jingles.

Meanwhile back in Nashville, her songs began attracting attention. They were successfully recorded by Gail Davies (“Round the Clock Lovin,’” 1982), Sissy Spacek (“Lonely But Only For You,” 1983), Dottie West (“Where Is a Woman to Go,” 1984), Judy Rodman (“Come Next Monday, 1985) and The Judds (“Old Pictures,” 1987).

K.T. Oslin was signed by RCA Records, which issued “Wall of Tears” as her debut single for the label in 1987. It became her first top-40 hit. “80’s Ladies” made her a star later that year. Fans were charmed by her down-home banter, brassy sense of humor, witty personality and breezy moxie. Millions of women identified with her unlikely rise to fame.

K.T. Oslin’s first USO Tour is captured in a one-hour special on TNN: The Nashville Network called USO Celebrity Tour: K.T. Oslin.

She followed “80’s Ladies” with back-to-back No. 1 records, “Do Ya” and “I’ll Always Come Back” in 1988. Her third No. 1 hit was 1989’s “Hold Me,” which won two Grammy Awards. She also hit No. 1 as the guest vocalist on Alabama’s 1988 hit “Face to Face.”

“Hey Bobby” and “This Woman” continued her top-10 streak in 1989. In 1990, her singles “Didn’t Expect It To Go Down This Way” and “Two Hearts” were followed by her fifth chart topper, “Come Next Monday.” This was accompanied by a hilarious, “Bride-of-Frankenstein” music video. Her other six videos showcased her dramatic abilities, as well as her comedic timing.

Meanwhile, Oslin’s songs continued to be recorded by other stars. Among them were Dan Seals (“Fool Me Once,” 1988), Anne Murray (“Who But You,” 1989), Trudy Lynn (“Still On My Mind,” 1991), The Forester Sisters (“Wanda,” 1992), Dorothy Moore (“Do Ya,” 1992), Aimee Comeaux (“Moving Out,” 1994) and Dusty Springfield (“Where Is a Woman to Go,” 1995). This activity has continued into recent years with Pam Tillis and Lorrie Morgan recording a duo version of “Do Ya” in 2017.

K.T. Oslin’s own recordings became million-sellers. Her 80’s Ladies and This Woman albums earned Gold records in 1988 and became Platinum sellers the following year. In 1991, Love In a Small Town won a Gold record award, as did a compilation of her videos.

K.T. Oslin

Her stage background served her well as she easily made the transition to television acting. Oslin guest-starred on such TV series as Paradise and Evening Shade. She had a prominent role in the made-for-TV movie Poisoned by Love opposite Harry Hamlin. She portrayed a nightclub owner in the 1993 feature film The Thing Called Love, directed by Peter Bogdanovich as Sandra Bullock’s first starring vehicle.

Carol Burnette invited K.T. Oslin to co-star on her NBC variety series Carol & Company. Oslin also became a huge favorite on the talk shows of Johnny Carson, Arsenio Hall, Joan Rivers, Ralph Emery, Oprah Winfrey and more. She was in the spotlight on ABC’s 20/20 and on her own TNN special USO Celebrity Tour.

She was sidelined by quadruple coronary bypass surgery in 1995. When she returned to recording, Oslin became increasingly experimental.

In 1996, she became an early mainstream country star to embrace the emerging Americana music movement. Her CD My Roots Are Showing showcased a variety of roots-music genres and was the first of her releases that she co-produced.

K.T. Oslin signs autographs for fans in 1987. Photo: Don Putnam.

She performed a pops concert with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra in 1999. She issued a disco single with 2000’s dance-floor mix of the Rosemary Clooney oldie “Come On-a My House.” She teamed up with Raul Malo to give a Latin tinge to some of the tracks on her 2001 collection Live Close By, Visit Often. After 2005, she made only occasional public appearances. By 2008, Oslin was focused on her painting and crafts. She sold hand-painted tableware and created tableaux of miniature furniture. She wrote and tried out a one-woman monologue-with-music autobiographical theatrical piece and appeared at benefit events from time to time.

In 2013, she celebrated the 25th anniversary of 80’s Ladies with a sold-out show at the Franklin Theater. She was also a hit at a sold-out 2015 show at The City Winery to salute the release of her final CD, titled Simply.

She retired from performing and recording after that. K.T. Oslin is survived by her aunt, Reba Byrd, in Austin, Texas, and by a small group of loving Nashville friends. Funeral arrangements have not been announced.

Long-Time Business Manager Kirke Martin Passes

Kirke Martin. Photo: Courtesy Bieber Public Relations

Kirke Martin, founder of Martin, Allbee, Miller, Bryan, & Associates, passed away on Wednesday, Dec. 16 after battle with cancer. He was 70.

Martin was a business manager for 39 years working with Brad Paisley, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, T. Graham Brown, Tammy Wynette, Keith Whitley and many others, including a large roster of Christian artists.

Born Frederick Kirke Martin III on Jan. 13, 1950 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he was the only child of his parents Kirke and Jenny Martin. Martin was a graduate of North Hills High School and DePauw University. He was an accomplished football and baseball player and was nicknamed “Lurch” for his gentle demeanor and towering stature. Martin graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Finance & Business and a master’s degree in Education, and was a proud member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity.

While studying abroad in Denmark, Martin met his eventual wife Margie. The two immediately fell in love and were married June 12, 1971. The newlyweds then moved to Nashville, Tennessee.

Martin founded his own music business firm in 1981, Martin and Associates (now Martin, Albee, Miller, Bryan and Associates). Martin was revered for his honesty, loyalty, and practicality, and his advice was sought after by many up-and-coming and established artists. During his 40 years in the Nashville music industry, Martin served on the boards of Leadership Music and Nashville Entertainment Association, and was a member of CMA and GMA. Martin was proud of his business, loved by his colleagues, and counted his clients as friends and family.

Martin and his wife raised four children—Kirke, Edward, Margo and Helen—and he spent most of the ’80s and ’90s coaching and watching soccer, baseball, ballet, and ice hockey. He spent his weekends traveling for his sons’ hockey games and was an integral part of growing the Nashville Youth Hockey League, serving as Board President for multiple terms.

The days up to his death were filled with laughter and tears, music and knitting, and the love of his devoted family.

Martin was preceded in death by his parents, Frederick Kirke Martin Jr. and Jenny Helen Martin, and his parents-in-law, Edward A. and Marguerite Fish. Martin is survived by his beloved wife of 49.5 years, Margie, his children Kirke, Edward and Rachel Martin, Margo and David Cloniger, and Helen and Kris Nonn. As well as by his eleven beloved grandchildren, Samuel, Meridian, and Reuben Cloniger; Dylan, Rowan and Eamon Martin; Olive and McKay Martin; and Ryer, Marlow and Hollis Nonn. Martin is also survived by his dear chosen brother, Thom Schuyler (Sarah Tallu), his brothers-in-law Ed (Toni), John (Denice), and Walter Fish, his niece, nephews, cousins and by his friend, Henry Yarborough.

Due to the current restrictions imposed by COVID-19, there will be a small private service for the family. Martin’s family welcomes any written remembrances in celebration of his life. Please mail your remembrances to: The Martin Family care of MAMBA, P.O. Box 128287, Nashville, TN 37212, or email them to TheMartinFamily3906@gmail.com.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to organizations near to the Martin family: The Store (P.O. Box 128287, Nashville, TN, 37212), The Nashville Food Project (5904 California Ave, Nashville, TN 37209), Monteagle Sunday School Assembly (PO Box 307, Monteagle TN, 37356), or Alive Hospice (1718 Patterson St., Nashville, TN, 37203).

Charley Pride: The Loss of A Legend [Updated]

Charley Pride. Photo: Joseph Llanes

One of the greatest country stars of all time has fallen victim to the COVID 19 pandemic.

Country Music Hall of Fame member Charley Pride, 86, died in Dallas on Saturday (Dec. 12) as a result of complications from the disease. The Grand Ole Opry star was honored last month in Nashville with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the CMA.

During his six-decade career, Pride placed 67 titles on the country charts, including 52 top-10 hits and 29 No. 1 Billboard successes. His standards include “Kiss an Angel Good Morning,” “All I Have to Offer You Is Me,” “Is Anybody Goin’ to San Antone,” “Mountain of Love” and “We Could.” He holds 12 Gold Record awards.

He will forever be remembered as country’s first Black superstar, dubbed “the Jackie Robinson of country music.” As a former baseball player, himself, he was honored by the comparison with the man who broke the color barrier in major-league baseball.

Born Charley Frank Pride on March 18, 1934, he was the fourth of 11 children raised by sharecroppers near Sledge, Mississippi. Pride said that the lyrics of his 1974 hit “Mississippi Cotton Pickin’ Delta Town” closely reflected his upbringing. The song was written by Sledge native Harold Dorman, who also penned Pride’s 1982 smash “Mountain of Love.”

Charley Pride’s father was a devoted listener of the Grand Ole Opry. Inspired by the country music he heard on the broadcasts, the youngster taught himself to play guitar at age 14.

But sports were his main focus. Pride left Sledge at age 16 to pitch and play outfield in what was then called the American Negro League. One of teams he played for was the Memphis Red Sox.

While in Memphis, he met cosmetologist Rozene Cohran. They married in 1956 while he was serving in the Army. She became his business manager, as well as his wife.

In 1960, they moved to Helena, Montana, where Pride worked in a smelting plant near the iron mines. He also began singing locally. Backstage at a Red Foley concert in Helena, he played some songs for the country legend. Both Foley and his concert co-star Red Sovine urged Charley Pride to go to Nashville and audition at Cedarwood Music.

Instead, he decided to give baseball one last shot. He travelled to Clearwater, Florida in 1963 to try out at the New York Mets summer training camp. Mets manager Casey Stengel turned him away.

En route back north, Pride stopped in Nashville. Cedarwood’s owner was country star Webb Pierce. After hearing Pride sing, Pierce directed him to manager Jack Johnson.

Johnson funded a recording session that included Pride singing “Snakes Crawl at Night,” penned by Cedarwood songwriter and future singing star Mel Tillis. Johnson played the tapes for maverick producer Jack Clement, who agreed to work with the aspiring singer.

Clement recorded Pride and took the result to Chet Atkins at RCA Records in 1965. Atkins always believed he would be forever remembered as the man who signed Charley Pride to a recording contract.

Pride broke through on the country charts with the Jack Clement compositions “Just Between You and Me” (1966) and “I Know One” (1967).

Opry star Bill Anderson gave the newcomer his first television exposure by inviting Pride to be a guest on his nationally syndicated TV show. On Jan. 1, 1967, Charley Pride made his debut on the Opry, introduced by Ernest Tubb. He was invited to join the show’s cast in 1968, but had to decline because he was suddenly too busy to become a show regular.

The Hank Williams classic “Kaw-Liga” became a substantial hit in 1969 and was followed by Pride’s first No. 1 single, “All I Have to Offer You Is Me.” This was the first of six consecutive chart toppers, including 1970’s “Is Anybody Goin’ to San Antone.”

His 1971 performance of “Did You Think to Pray,” co-written with Johnson, won Pride a gospel Grammy Award. That same year’s “Kiss an Angel Good Morning” took home the Grammy for Country Song of the Year for its writer, Ben Peters.

Charley Pride was named the CMA’s Entertainer of the Year in 1971 and its Male Vocalist of the Year in both 1971 and 1972.

Presenters Minnie Pearl, center, and Kitty Wells looks on as Charley Pride draws some laughs as he accepts one of his two trophies when he won for both Entertainer and Male Vocalist of the year at “The 5th Annual CMA Awards” on Oct. 10, 1971, at the Grand Ole Opry House, live telecast on the CBS Television Network. Photo: courtesy CMA

In 1972, Pride sang “All His Children” as the theme song for the Paul Newman movie Sometimes a Great Notion. It was nominated for an Oscar, and Pride sang it on the Academy Awards international telecast. In 1973, his album Charley Pride Sings Heart Songs won a Grammy Award.

In 1975, he became the first Black artist to co-host the CMA Awards, appearing alongside Glen Campbell.

By the mid 1970s, Charley Pride was outselling the other artists on RCA, at times even outpacing Elvis Presley. His string of smash hits continued with such classics as “Amazing Love” (1973), “We Could” (1974), “Hope You’re Feelin’ Me (Like I’m Feelin’ You)” (1975), “My Eyes Can Only See as Far as You” (1976), “She’s Just an Old Love Turned Memory” (1977), “Someone Loves You Honey” (1978) and “Where Do I Put Her Memory” (1979).

As a Nashville businessman, he formed the Music Row song publishing company Pi-Gem Music with producer Tom Collins. This gave him ready access to such top-tier songwriters as John Schweers (“Don’t Fight the Feelings of Love,” etc.) and Kye Fleming & Dennis Morgan (“MIssin’ You,” etc.). The latter team’s 1981 Pride hit “Roll On, Mississippi” later became a state song.

The Prides made their home in Dallas. There, he formed the management and booking company Chardon. This firm helped launch the careers of Dave & Sugar, Janie Fricke and Neal McCoy, among others. Pride was also heavily invested in Dallas real estate and banking.

His 1978 hit “Burgers and Fries” (again penned by Ben Peters) earned Pride another Grammy nomination. In 1980, he issued There’s a Little Bit of Hank in Me, a tribute album to his idol, Hank Williams. It spawned back-to-back chart toppers with his revivals of “Honky Tonk Blues” and “You Win Again.” He also revived the Johnny Rivers hit “Mountain of Love” (1982), the George Jones classic “Why Baby Why” (1982) and the Webb Pierce standard “More and More” (1983).
Other disc successes of the 1980s included “I Don’t Think She’s in Love Anymore” (1982), “You’re So Good When You’re Bad” (1982) and “Night Games” (1983). His last top-10 hit was 1988’s “Shouldn’t It Be Easier Than This.”

But he was far from idle in the 1990s. He finally took the Opry up on its open-ended invitation to join the cast by becoming a member in 1993. The following year, he opened his 2,200-seat theater in Branson, Missouri and published his acclaimed autobiography, Pride. Admirers Travis Tritt, Joe Diffie, Hal Ketchum and Marty Stuart joined him on a 1994 CD.

In 1996, he performed for the Clintons in the White House, accepted the Trumpet Award from Turner Broadcasting in Atlanta and scored a No. 1 hit album in Australia. He holds attendance records at a number of Canadian venues and has also appeared in Japan, Guam, New Zealand, Britain, Scandinavia, Germany, Fiji and a number of other countries.

By 2000, his record sales exceeded 35 million. That was the year he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

(L-R): Bill Anderson, Charley Pride, Randy Owen and Jimmy Fortune attend the 2019 Country Music Hall of Fame Medallion Ceremony at Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on October 20, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. Photo by Terry Wyatt/Getty Images for Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Neal McCoy has always cited the superstar as a mentor. In 2013, he issued the tribute album Pride. Other stars who received career boosts from the legend include Ronnie Milsap, Trini Triggs, Exile, Janie Fricke, Brad Paisley and Steve Wariner.

Some of them have recorded with Pride, as have such country greats as The Oak Ridge Boys, Tanya Tucker, Garth Brooks and Dolly Parton.

In 2016, Pride was one of the artists featured in the No. 1 country single and video “Forever Country.” The event, which celebrated the 50th anniversary of the CMA won the Video of the Year award and became a Gold Record.

Charley Pride was given a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award by the Recording Academy in 2017. The Nashville Association of Talent Directors banquet also saluted him that year, with Bobby Bare presenting the NATD’s Career Achievement honor.

Last year, Pride was honored with the PBS American Masters bio-documentary, Charley Pride: I’m Just Me, narrated by Tanya Tucker. The CMA’s Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to him by current Black country hit maker Jimmie Allen during the 2020 CMA telecast on Nov. 11.

Jimmie Allen is part of a brigade of contemporary Black country artists who owe their careers to Pride’s breakthrough. Others who have come through the door he opened include Kane Brown, Mickey Guyton, Chapel Hart, Rissi Palmer, Darius Rucker, Reyna Roberts, Willie Jones, Shy Carter, Blanco Brown and Tony Jackson.

Charley Pride came on the country scene during the height of the Civil Rights struggle. He faced prejudice, insults, discrimination and racial barriers with grace, humor, perseverance and dignity. His character exhibited the same warmth and class as his singing voice.

He is survived by his wife Rozene and by children Kraig, Dion and Angela, as well as by siblings Harmon, Stephen, Catherine and Maxine, plus five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Funeral arrangements have not been announced.

Pride’s family and close friends will hold a private wake and memorial in Dallas this week, with future plans for a public celebration of life memorial ceremony to be announced at a later date.  In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to The Pride Scholarship at Jesuit Preparatory School, Saint Philips School & Community Center and/or The Food Bank.

Charley Pride and Brad Paisley perform “Kiss An Angel Good Morning” in the opening medley at “The 50th Annual CMA Awards,” live Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville and broadcast on the ABC Television Network. Photo: courtesy CMA

Americana Champion Lynsey McDonald Dies

 

Nashville’s Americana community has lost one of its key business figures. Lynsey McDonald, 58, died on Nov. 23 following an eight-year struggle with multiple myeloma.

For most of her career, she worked in artist management, helping to guide the careers of Jason & The Scorchers, Todd Snider, Deana Carter, The Georgia Satellites, Robbie Fulks and Jay Joyce.

She also helped to launch the Americana music radio series Music City Roots. McDonald worked at Praxis International, Vector Management, Rising Tide Records, Thirty Tigers, TomKats catering, CMT, and her own Magnolia Way Management firm.

Born Allison Lynn McDonald, she grew up in Chattanooga. She excelled at competitive fast-pitch softball, basketball and tennis as a high-school student. McDonald graduated from MTSU’s Recording Industry Management program in 1984. Although she had a fine singing voice, she concentrated on the business side of music, initially working with Nashville’s alt-rock bands.

Among her accomplishments was helping to launch the Loveless Barn music venue, which is where Music City Roots began.

McDonald is survived by her son Gates Knight and his father, her former husband Sam Knight. Her parents—Darrell and Marilyn McDonald—also survive her, along with aunts Linda Lesley and Faye McDonald, uncle Roger Coe and numerous cousins.

Donations can be made in her name at Second Harvest Food Bank, 331 Great Circle Road, Nashville 37228.

There will be a memorial service at a later date. In the meantime, friends are encouraged to post pictures, comments and reminiscences at phillipsrobinson.com.

Services To Be Held For Esteemed Publicist Susan Keel

Susan Keel.

Entertainment publicist Susan Keel died on Nov. 20 at age 58. A memorial service will be held on Sunday (Dec. 6) at 2 p.m. at Mount Olivet Funeral Home & Cemetery, following a visitation beginning at noon. The 2 p.m. service will be streamed on Facebook Live.

During her career in Music City, she was associated with Conway Twitty, Ray Stevens, Opry Mills, the Ryman Auditorium, TPAC, Kroger and the Tennessee Titans.

Keel was a Nashville native, the daughter of Pinckney Keel, a Nashville Banner newspaper editor and of Gloria Keel Coles, a marketing executive at Donelson Hospital. After graduating from the Recording Industry Management program at MTSU, she worked for Cashbox magazine, Bullet Recording studio and the Top Billing booking agency. She next worked for U.S. Sen. Jim Sasser and The Tennessean’s John Seigenthaler. She then returned to the music business.

Much of her career was subsequently spent at The Andrews Agency. She and company founder Susan Andrews were known as “The Susans” during the 1990s.

After leaving The Andrews Agency, Keel became director of public relations for Fletcher Rowley Inc. She ended her career with her own firm, Keel PR.

Susan Keel is survived by her mother, brother Dr. William Keel, stepsisters, nieces and a nephew. Also surviving is sister Beverly Keel, a dean at MTSU who has been a record label executive, a music journalist and a Music Row publicist.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to MusiCares or to the Music Health Alliance.

Country Hit Maker & Opry Star Hal Ketchum Dies

Hal Ketchum. Photo: Pete Lacker

Singer-songwriter Hal Ketchum died on Monday (Nov. 23) at age 67, following a struggle with early-onset dementia.

Known for such top country hits as “Small Town Saturday Night” and “Past the Point of Rescue,” Ketchum has been a member of the Grand Ole Opry cast since 1994.

He was born and raised in Greenwich, NY, in the Adirondack Mountains near the Vermont state line. Ketchum’s father was a country banjo player, but the boy got his start in music as a drummer for a local R&B band at age 15.

At age 17, Hal Michael Ketchum became a master carpenter, initially plying his trade in Florida, then moving to Austin, TX. A visit to the legendary showplace Gruene Hall changed his life in 1981. Ketchum became captivated by Lone Star State tunesmiths Townes Van Zandt and Lyle Lovett. Determined to follow in their footsteps, he taught himself guitar and began playing open-mic nights at the venue.

He recorded his debut LP Threadbare Alibis in 1986. It contained the first 10 songs he’d ever written. He showcased at the Kerrville Folk Festival in 1987 and was spotted by songwriter Pat Alger, who took Ketchum’s music to Nashville. Music Row’s Forerunner Music signed him as a staff songwriter in 1988. His album was released in Europe the following year, leading to career-long popularity overseas.

Ketchum moved to Music City in 1990 and was signed by Curb Records. “Small Town Saturday Night” made him a star in the summer of 1991. It was named the No. 1 country single of the year by Radio & Records magazine. Its hilarious accompanying music video won Breakthrough Video of the Year honors from MusicRow, and Ketchum was nominated for the CMA’s Horizon Award.

He followed his breakthrough smash with his self-composed “I Know Where Love Lives,” then rang up a trio of 1992 hits – “Past the Point of Rescue,” “Five O’Clock World” and “Sure Love.” His debut Curb album, Past the Point of Rescue, was certified as a Gold Record.

The string of hits continued in 1993 with “Mama Knows the Highway” and his self-written “Hearts Are Gonna Roll” and “Someplace Far Away.” Ketchum sang the songs of such top Nashville songwriters as Alger, Gary Burr, Allen Reynolds and Shawn Camp. In addition, he often co-wrote his singles, as was the case with “(Tonight We Just Might) Fall in Love Again” (with Al Anderson, 1994), “Stay Forever” (with Benmont Tench, 1995), and “Every Little Word” (with Marcus Hummon, 1995).

He fell in love with the Opry when he first guested on the show in 1991 and began dropping hints that he’d love to be invited to join the cast. Those efforts paid off in January 1994. Hal Ketchum called his induction the highlight of his life.

His album output on Curb continued with Sure Love (1992), Every Little Word (1994) and I Saw the Light (1998). But Ketchum’s career was troubled by health issues. He went to rehab for substance abuse in 1992 and 1997 before attaining sobriety in early 1998. Later that year, he was diagnosed with acute transverse myelitis, a neurologic disorder that can cause paralysis. He had to learn to sing and play guitar all over again.

He battled back with the Curb collections Awaiting Redemption (1999), Lucky Man (2001) and The King of Love (2003). Then speech impairment, balance issues and arm paralysis led to a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, the disease that had killed his mother. Months of physical therapy allowed him to reemerge on stage via a role in The Nashville Ballet’s 2006 production of The Nutcracker and on disc with the 2008 CD Father Time.

Ketchum temporarily retired from music and moved back to Texas in 2008. He took up painting, resumed woodworking and wrote poetry and short stories. His paintings were featured in one of the art galleries in Santa Fe, NM.

In 2014, he reemerged with the album I’m the Troubadour and resumed touring regionally. Ketchum appeared sporadically in Texas venues throughout the next four years.

In April 2019, he announced his retirement and his dementia diagnosis, which was accompanied by Alzheimer’s Disease. His wife Andrea stated that he died at home on Monday night.

Hal Ketchum was married four times and had five children. Funeral arrangements had not been announced at press time.

Country TV Titan Walter Miller Dies

Walter C. Miller on set during rehearsals for “The 36th Annual CMA Awards” at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry House on Nov. 3, 2002. Photo Credit: Theresa Montgomery/CMA

Producer/director Walter C. Miller has died at age 94.

As the impresario behind the CMA Awards for more than 40 years, Miller arguably put more eyes on country music than anyone in history. He created televised anniversary celebrations for the Grand Ole Opry, directed more than a half dozen Johnny Cash network specials and brought stars from Perry Como to George Burns to Music City for all-star country TV events.

He worked on the annual CMA shows from 1970 to 2004. He directed the Grammy Awards 15 times between 1984 and 2009. He had an unbroken 10-year run as the director of the Tony Awards, 1987-97. Walter Miller also orchestrated TV coverage of the Emmys, the People’s Choice Awards, Comic Relief and other extremely challenging productions involving multiple stars, sets and crews.

He was the definitive director of the award show/live event television genre. Miller wrote the book when it came to multi-camera coverage of events, a logistical nightmare for most directors. He could simultaneously watch 20 cameras “in the booth,” quickly calling which shots to air, live. As a violinist, he was sensitive to musicians’ moments, allowing millions of viewers to feel as if they were at the shows in person.

Miller was nominated for 19 Emmy Awards and won five of them. He was also a three-time Directors Guild of America award winner. He was presented with the CMA President’s Award in 2007, its Irving Waugh Award in 2009 and a Grammy Trustees Award in 2010.

Born Walter Corwin Miller in New York, he served in World War II, then began his television career in the late 1940s. He was the lighting director for NBC’s Horn & Hardart Children’s Hour. Other early television credits included The Bell Telephone Hour, Startime and Sing Along with Mitch.

By the mid 1960s, he was directing specials. One of his early big ones was with Barbra Streisand in 1967. He went on to craft specials for Frank Sinatra, John Denver, Mac Davis, Stevie Wonder, Kathie Lee Gifford, Donny & Marie Osmond, Roy Acuff, Andy Williams, Bobby Rydell, Sammy Davis Jr., Irving Berlin, Sha Na Na, Tennessee Ernie Ford and magician Doug Henning, among many others.

He was particularly noted for comedy specials. He was at the helm of shows starring Rodney Dangerfield, Steve Martin, Minnie Pearl, Sam Kinison, Bill Cosby, Rich Little, Rosie O’Donnell, Alan King and Bob Hope.

He directed the televised musicals You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Dames at Sea, The Will Rogers Follies and George M! In 1995 he created the Soul Train 25th Anniversary TV celebration. In 1989, he directed the Presidential Inaugural Gala. He appeared in the 1991 Bette Midler movie For the Boys. He worked on projects with everyone from Al Green to Justin Timberlake.

Ken Ehrlich, who worked alongside Miller on numerous Grammy telecasts, eulogized his friend in a loving tribute in Variety. He recalled Miller’s special fondness for the country music family. Miller loved working in Nashville and always praised its television production community as being the equal of any in New York or L.A.

While in production, Miller was wildly funny and often profane. As Ehrlich remembered, “We might have been doing a G-rated show, but it was an X-rated headset, as we were all to discover one year when a highly censored couple of minutes of Walter’s headset wound up on Rick Dees radio show and almost brought the Recording Academy and the network to its knees. Apologies and mea culpas followed, but Walter was back in the [director’s] chair the next year.”

He was a master at dealing with both crews and artists, able to charm even the most difficult divas. He could tug at the heartstrings by presenting Alan Jackson’s first public performance of “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning).” Or he could howl with laughter backstage with K.T. Oslin. He could throw his spotlight on a favored up-and-comer like Mary Chapin Carpenter as effortlessly as on a superstar like Garth Brooks.

A master of the one-liner, an encyclopedia of jokes and a fabulous raconteur, Miller loved to regale listeners with his TV tales. He was particularly entertaining talking about the early days of live television dramas and variety shows.

He tickled the ribs of everyone from Dolly Parton to Jack Lemmon. An avid golfer, Walter Miller was particularly fond of Vince Gill, with whom he worked many times.

“Walter Miller was unique,” wrote Ehrlich. “Loved by almost everyone he worked with….the picture of a person not often found anymore in this or any other business. I often said—to his face—that beneath that gruff exterior was an even rougher interior. But that’s the kind of joke Wally loved.

“I loved him and miss him very much. We won’t see another one like him. Ever.”

Walter Miller died on Friday evening (Nov. 13) surrounded by family and friends. His son is television director Paul Miller, who is also a veteran of CMA telecasts, as well as Saturday Night Live, In Living Color, A Capitol Fourth, two Super Bowl halftime shows and more.

1990s Country Hitmaker Doug Supernaw Dies

Doug Supernaw. Photo: Courtesy Robert K. Oermann

Texas singer-songwriter Doug Supernaw, who topped the country charts in 1993-96, died Nov. 13, following a battle with cancer.

He is best known for “Reno” (1993), “I Don’t Call Him Daddy” (1993) and “Not Enough Hours in the Night” (1996). Supernaw, who was 60 when he passed, was nominated as the ACM’s New Male Artist of the Year and earned a Gold record for his Red and Rio Grande album in 1994.

Noted as a top songwriter as well as a good-time showman, Supernaw’s career was derailed by mental illness and substance abuse. But during the last few years of his life he fought to reclaim it.

He was born in 1960 and raised in middle-class circumstances in suburban Houston. He excelled as an athlete, particularly in baseball and golf. Supernaw earned a golf scholarship to the University of St. Thomas in 1978. He began writing songs and dropped out of school in 1979 to become the lead singer for the Carolina beach-party band The Occasions. Two years later, he returned to school, but flunked out of Texas Tech.

He went to work in the oil fields and continued to write songs. In 1986, he became the promoter and booker for the Arena Theater, a major venue in suburban Houston.

He took his songs to Nashville in 1987 and became a staff writer for a publisher on Music Row. But Supernaw yearned to record and to entertain. Four years later, he returned to the Lone Star State and formed his band Texas Steel. The honky-tonk group soon rose high on the lucrative East Texas music circuit.

At the urging of talent scout R.C. Bannon, RCA Records signed him and placed him on its BNA imprint. Supernaw debuted on the country charts with “Honky Tonkin’ Fool” in early 1993, but the single failed to crack the top-40. He co-wrote its follow-up, “Reno,” which hit No. 4. His third single was the divorced-fathers anthem “I Don’t Call Him Daddy,” which soared to No. 1 as 1993 drew to a close.

Doug Supernaw. Photo: Courtesy Robert K. Oermann

All three tunes appeared on Red and Rio Grande, which was certified as a Gold record in the summer of 1994. The Academy of Country Music nominated “I Don’t Call Him Daddy” as 1994’s Video of the Year and Song of the Year during the same year that Supernaw competed as the organization’s Best New Male Artist. He was also nominated for awards by TNN/Music City News, MusicRow and Billboard.

He appeared on the soundtrack of the movie comedy The Beverly Hillbillies singing the Buck Owens classic “Together Again.” During this period, he also became noted for his charity work on behalf of sick children, the handicapped, scholarship students and abused women.

His reputation as an entertainer was polished by such stunts as flying to the stage from the top of the Houston Astrodome on a guy wire and diving face-first into a mud pit at a Canadian festival without missing a note. Affectionately known as “Supe,” his witty antics at rollicking nightclub appearances drew enthusiastic crowds. His unpredictable candor made him a media favorite, as well.

In the mid-1990s, Supernaw temporarily faltered on the charts. He co-wrote 1994’s “Red and Rio Grande,” which hit No. 23. But his versions of Mickey Cates’ “State Fair” and Steve Goodman’s “You Never Even Called Me By My Name” (co-written by an uncredited John Prine) were less successful. Supernaw rebounded with Dennis Linde’s “What’ll You Do About Me” in 1995 when that single rose to No. 16.

Those last three singles appeared on his second album, Deep Thoughts From a Shallow Mind, as did six Supernaw originals and his version of Jimmy Buffett’s “He Went to Paris.” When that album failed to sell, BNA dropped him from its roster.

Supernaw broke his neck while surfing. He survived a head-on car accident and a case of food poisoning. He and his band—renamed The Possum Eatin’ Cowboys—had all of their equipment stolen, twice. He went through a divorce from his first wife, Trudy.

Supernaw’s BNA producer Richard Landis stayed with him. The team resurfaced on the Warner Bros. label Giant Records with You Still Got Me in late 1995. That collection’s “Not Enough Hours in the Night” became a smash hit when it went to No. 3.

In 1996, “She Never Looks Back” and Supernaw’s self-penned “You Still Got Me” stalled outside the top-40. His label began to decline in influence and eventually closed.

Supernaw’s last appearance on the country hit parade was a 1996 collaboration with The Beach Boys on the humorous novelty “Long Tall Texan.” His final big-label Nashville CD was the BNA compilation Encore Collection in 1997.

Throughout his hit-making years, he had remained a steadfast Texas artist. He co-wrote songs with his band and prided himself on being a country traditionalist. By resisting the temptations of Nashville, Supernaw saw himself as a country-music rebel.

The independent label Tack Records issued a Doug Supernaw album sadly but aptly titled Fadin’ Renegade in 1999. The comeback attempt failed.

His career and life began to unravel. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Doug Supernaw was charged with drunk driving, assaulting a police officer, failure to make child-support payments, marijuana possession, jumping bail, public intoxication, contempt of court and disorderly conduct. The band quit in 1998. In 2004, second wife Debbie filed for divorce.

As recounted by journalist John Nova Lomax in The Houston Press, Supernaw’s pronouncements became increasingly erratic. He claimed he was a Native American, was implanted with a chip in his head, was swindled out of racehorses and that there was an international conspiracy to silence him because he was the illegitimate son of Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy. On one occasion he was found naked, rambling that his wife had been decapitated and unable to recall his own name.

He told Lomax that he had been held hostage in a “mentally retarded home for terrorists” in Paris, France. He said he had been labeled “an alchaholik” and had a “bi-polar bear” as well as “sickle cell amnesia.” A judge stated that he was mentally incompetent to stand trial and ordered a psychiatric evaluation.

By 2007, Supernaw was cleared of most of the charges against him. During the next decade, his behavior stabilized, and he resumed touring. He acquired a new management team. He also returned to recording in Nashville.

In 2016, Doug Supernaw was inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame. In April, 2017, he released an album containing new recordings of his hits, plus two new songs, including his single “The Company I Keep.” That June, he returned to the CMA Music Festival stage in Nashville. In the fall, Dierks Bentley invited him to be part of an all-star Ralph Stanley Tribute Concert at the Opry House. In November 2018, Doug Supernaw married Cissy Allen live on Facebook from Las Vegas.

In January 2019, he sought treatment for a persistent cough. His initial diagnosis was pneumonia, but subsequent tests revealed Stage IV cancer in his lungs and bladder. A bladder tumor was removed in March 2019

On Sunday, Oct. 18, Cissy Supernaw posted on Facebook that her husband had been placed in home hospice care and that the cancer had spread to his brain and spine.

He is survived by his third wife, children, and grandchildren. Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced.