Rockabilly Pioneer Jack Scott Passes

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By Robert K. Oermann

Country, pop and rockabilly singer-songwriter Jack Scott has died at age 83.

Long a cult favorite among record collectors, Scott originated such country classics as “Burning Bridges” and “What In the World’s Come Over You.” He was among the first to record a tribute album of Hank Williams songs.

Born Giovanni Scafone Jr. in Windsor, Ontario, he moved to the Detroit area with his family when he was 10. As a teenager, he formed a country band called The Southern Drifters and began singing the hits of Webb Pierce, Carl Smith, Lefty Frizzell and Hank Williams in the honky-tonks of Michigan and Ontario.

When Elvis Presley exploded in popularity in 1956, Jack Scott became a rockabilly convert. In 1957, he recorded the bopping “Baby She’s Gone,” and it became a hit in the Detroit area. The song remains a favorite with rockabilly aficionados, and Scott opened his shows with it throughout his life.

Scott retitled his rockabilly scorcher “Greaseball” to become “Leroy.” That song, paired with the teen ballad “My True Love,” became his first national hit in 1958. During the next five years, Jack Scott would hit the pop charts with 20 titles, almost all of which he solo wrote.

Scott’s singles usually had a hit ballad on one side and a rockabilly tune on the flip. His rockabilly “B-sides” of 1958 also included “Geraldine” and “Save My Soul.” In early 1959, he scored a second big hit with the doo-wop tune “Goodbye Baby (Bye Bye).”

The backup vocals on this and all of his early hits were sung by The Chantones. They toured with Scott as his version of Presley’s backup singers The Jordanaires. Scott was unusual for the time in that he recorded his own material with his own band.

His next success was 1959’s tough, bluesy “The Way I Walk.” It was later recorded by The Cramps, Robert Gordon, Link Wray, Guitar Wolf, The Swamp Zombies and country’s The Starlight Drifters.

Jack Scott scored a major, top-10 smash with 1960’s “What In the World’s Come Over You.” Sonny James made this song a top-10 country hit in 1975. It has also been revived by Eddy Arnold, Jim Reeves, Wanda Jackson and Tom Jones, among others.

In March 1960, Jack Scott issued his LP I Remember Hank Williams. Widow Audrey Williams hosted the youngster in Nashville.

Scott became one of the first pop stars to sign with SESAC. He utilized much of that organization’s gospel catalog on his 1960 religious album The Spirit Moves Me.

Scott’s second smash of 1960 was “Burning Bridges.” This became a country chestnut, thanks to Glen Campbell’s 1967 revival. “Burning Bridges” has also been recorded by The Mike Curb Congregation, George Jones, Bill Nash and several other country acts.

Also in 1960, Jack Scott issued his version of The Sons of the Pioneers standard “Cool Water.” Other country tunes in his repertoire at the time included “No One Will Ever Know,” “Blues Stay Away From Me” and “Good Deal Lucille.”

He had only moderate successes with “Is There Something on Your Mind” and “What Am I Living For” in 1961. But Scott’s rockabilly tunes were still eagerly sought after by fans.

By the early 1960s, the rockabilly style was fading away. Jack Scott remained with the style much longer than most of his peers, issuing such definitive performances as “Midgie,” “Strange Desire,” “One of These Days,” “Grizzly Bear,” “Baby Baby,” “Go Wild Little Sadie,” and “Cruel World.”

In 1963, Jack Scott was recruited by Berry Gordy to sign with Detroit’s Motown Records. Instead, he signed with Chet Atkins at RCA in Nashville. A string of country singles ensued in 1963-66.

Never enamored with the life of a touring musician, Scott preferred to stay home with his family. He retreated to playing country bars in Detroit.

Meanwhile back in Nashville, Jim Foglesong signed him to Dot Records. In 1974, Scott made the country charts with “You’re Just Gettin’ Better” on Dot.

In 1977, he headlined a rockabilly revival tour of England. He recorded a live rockabilly LP there in 1978, and he maintained his overseas popularity throughout the rest of his career.

He was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in 2004. Scott joined the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2011 and issued a comeback CD titled Way to Survive in 2015. He continued to star in rockabilly-revival shows in recent years.

Jack Scott passed away due to congestive heart failure on Dec. 12 in Warren, Michigan.

Noted Songwriter/Guitarist Billy Ray Reynolds Passes

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Hit songwriter Billy Ray Reynolds, 79, died Friday (Nov. 29) at his home in Olive, Mississippi.

His biggest hits were “Working Man,” a 1985 hit for Opry star John Conlee and “Don’t Believe My Heart Can Stand Another You,” which was a big success for Tanya Tucker in 1975.

Reynolds’ most recorded song was “It’ll Be Her,” which has appeared on albums by Johnny Cash, Jack Clement, Waylon Jennings, Eddy Arnold, David Rogers, Debbie Boone and The Gibson Brothers, among others. Its biggest rendition was by Tompall Glaser, who made it a top-20 hit in 1982.

Southern rocker Dickey Betts popularized the songwriter’s “Atlanta’s Burning Down” and “Dealin’ With the Devil.” West Coast country star David Frizzell charted with Reynolds’ “Country Music Love Affair” in 1985.

Other stars who recorded Reynolds’ songs include Bobby Bare (“Cold Day in Hell”), Conway Twitty (“For All the Right Reasons”), Alison Krauss (“Cloudy Days”), Tom Jones (“Love Sweet Love”), Rodney Lay (“I Wish I Had a Job to Shove”), Gary Stewart (“How Could We Come to This”) and Barbara Fairchild (“Devil on the Run”).

Born in 1940, the Mississippi native was initially inspired to take up music after seeing a Grand Ole Opry show starring Hank Williams in 1949. He formed a band called Yankee Dollar, which recorded an LP for Dot Records in 1968.

He began his Nashville career in the 1970s as the guitarist in Waylon Jennings’ band The Waylors. The star recorded his “High Time (You Quit Your Lowdown Ways)” (1975) and “Sandy Sends Her Best” (1973), as well as introducing “It’ll Be Her” (1974).

Beginning with his collaborations with Jennings, Reynolds was closely associated with country’s “outlaw” movement. He played guitar on such key Jennings LPs as Ladies Love Outlaws, Honky Tonk Heroes, Dreaming My Dreams and The Ramblin’ Man.

He later signed on as a guitarist for Jennings’ supergroup The Highwaymen with Cash, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson. Reyolds also worked with John Hartford, Johnny Rodriguez, Jessi Colter, Billy Joe Shaver and Ian Tyson.

Following songwriting success in the 1970s and 1980s, Reynolds found work as an actor. Usually portraying villains, he appeared in small roles in such films as Rainmaker, Roots and The Journey of August King. His TV-series credits include In the Heat of the Night and I’ll Fly Away.

After years behind the scenes, Reynolds issued his debut solo CD in 2002. Titled Whole Lot of Memories, the album was produced by Dan Tyler and Lou Bradley, and included duets with Merle Haggard and Bonnie Bramlett.

He returned to his native Mississippi in 2006. Reynolds issued a second CD in 2018, Country Music Love Affair. In November, he appeared at the Frank Brown International Songwriters Festival at the Flora-Bama Lounge in Gulf Shores.

Visitation will be held at 5 p.m. Friday (Dec. 6) at the Colonial Chapel Funeral Home in Mt. Olive, MS. Services will be held at 1 p.m. on Sunday (Dec. 8) at the Calvary Baptist Church in Mt. Olive. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the National Kidney Foundation or to the church or charity of your choice.

Acclaimed Nashville Photographer Raeanne Rubenstein Passes

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Famed celebrity photographer Raeanne Rubenstein died in Nashville on Saturday (Nov. 30) at age 74.

During her colorful, six-decade career, Rubenstein photographed everyone from Mick Jagger to Johnny Cash, from Bob Dylan to Dolly Parton. She published more than 10 books, was exhibited internationally, created album jackets and posters, founded magazines, made films and was published in dozens of periodicals.

Her photo books include essays on the world of pro-wrestling and surveys of the New York rock world, as well as Honky Tonk Heroes (1975) and Gone Country (1997).

Rubenstein’s work has been exhibited in Dublin, London, Los Angeles, New York and Nashville. She has been published in Life, People, Rolling Stone, Time and The Village Voice, among many other publications.

Born in Staten Island, NY, Rubenstein graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. She studied photography at the Annenberg School and began her professional career as a fashion photographer in London.

In the 1960s, she settled on the Lower East Side in Manhattan. Andy Warhol took her under his wing, and she photographed the “superstars” at his Factory venue. She haunted rock clubs, poetry readings, theatrical performances and other events. During this era, she also co-founded Warhol’s magazine Interview.

Nashville’s Bonnie Garner, then also a New Yorker, arranged for Rubenstein to have permanent access to The Fillmore East concert venue. The photographer thus documented Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Lou Reed, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Leon Russell, Joe Cocker, Cameo, The MC5 and other major rock acts of the day.

Her star rose rapidly in the 1970s and 1980s. Diminutive, yet plucky, feisty and determined, she made her way through the competitive Manhattan media world. Magazine work trained her camera on the likes of Muhammed Ali, Abbie Hoffman, Rodney Dangerfield, The Beatles and Dustin Hoffman, among others.

Rubenstein first visited Nashville in 1975 and fell in love with the personalities in country music.

She subsequently photographed a who’s-who of the genre, including such Country Music Hall of Fame members as Loretta Lynn, Roy Acuff, Garth Brooks, Porter Wagoner, Alan Jackson, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Buck Owens, Kris Kristofferson, Charley Pride, Kitty Wells, Merle Haggard, Brenda Lee, Vince Gill, George Jones, Conway Twitty, The Oak Ridge Boys, Emmylou Harris, Roger Miller, Glen Campbell, Brooks & Dunn, Reba McEntire, Alabama, Eddy Arnold, Chet Atkins, Mel Tillis, Tammy Wynette, George Strait and Randy Travis.

Rubenstein’s photographs usually pictured these iconic figures in unexpected, informal and extemporaneous situations, rather than in formal portraits. Her innovative, eye-catching work led to her renown.

She moved to Nashville in 1998. She founded the online, woman-oriented magazine Dish the following year.

Her 1999 book Gone Country: Portraits of Country Music’s New Stars featured 150 artists, including Wynonna, Steve Earle, Martina McBride, Shania Twain, Dwight Yoakam, Tim McGraw, Toby Keith, Faith Hill, K.T. Oslin, LeAnn Rimes, Billy Ray Cyrus, Steve Wariner, Pam Tillis, Travis Tritt, Rodney Crowell and John Anderson.

In 2009, Rubenstein enrolled in Watkins Film School. During the next few years, she produced, directed and photographed 10 short movies, several of which won awards at film festivals.

The Frist Art Museum featured the photographer in a discussion and photo showing in 2011 that focused on her early work. It was titled “Andy, the Factory and Me.” In 2013, she mounted her “Jewish Comedians” exhibit at the Gordon Jewish Community Center. She was a celebrity speaker at other venues.

A national tour of her Nashville photographs was launched following an exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame. After “Country: Portraits of an American Sound” was installed at the Annenberg Space for Photography in L.A. in 2014, Rubenstein was profiled on NPR’s “All Things Considered” and in the pages of Sports & Entertainment Nashville, among other outlets.

Her photo archive has since been acquired by the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum. A number of her images were used in the Ken Burns Country Music documentary miniseries on PBS in 2019.

Raeanne Rubenstein suffered from Alzheimer’s in recent years. A respiratory infection reportedly led to her death on Nov. 30. Funeral arrangements have not been announced.

Industry Executive Joe Mansfield Passes

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Music industry veteran Joe Mansfield died on Thursday morning (Oct. 31) at the age of 77. Mansfield’s music industry career started with the San Antonio radio station KMAC/KISS in 1962.

He worked as VP, Merchandising for CBS Records in New York, managing seven creative departments, after working his way up through CBS branch manager positions in Atlanta and Dallas. From 1978-1981, he served as VP, Marketing at Columbia Records in New York, working with artists including Journey, Chicago, Bruce Springsteen, Aerosmith and more. He then served as Division VP, Contemporary Music for RCA Records in New York, and VP, Marketing at Capitol Records in New York.

From 1990-1992, he worked as VP, Marketing and Sales for Capitol Nashville/Liberty Nashville, as part of the team behind the launch of Garth Brooks’ meteoric career, while also overseeing a roster that included Tanya Tucker, Billy Dean, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and more. He became a partner in Mansfield-Martinovich Associates, which provided consulting services for artists including Brooks, Wynonna, Willie Nelson and others. He then served as President/CEO of Asylum Records in Nashville.

“Old Flames” Singer Joe Sun Passes

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Joe Sun. Photo: joesunmusic.com

Joe Sun, the baritone honky-tonk singer best known for originating the country classic “Old Flames Can’t Hold a Candle to You,” has died at age 76.

Sun also introduced “What I Had With You,” which later became a big hit for John Conlee. He cowrote “I Came on Business for the King,” a signature song for gospel music’s The Hemphills.

Between 1978 and 1985, Joe Sun placed 15 titles on the country charts. He enjoyed particular popularity with European audiences.

The singer-songwriter was born James Joseph Paulson in 1943 in Rochester, Minnesota. He began dabbling in music while in high school, and this is when he first encountered fellow Minnesotan Robert Zimmerman, later to gain fame as Bob Dylan.

Sun served in the U.S. Air Force in Vietnam, then tried his luck in Los Angeles. He had his first public performance and recording session there in 1966.

He returned to Minnesota to study radio broadcasting in Minneapolis. His first on-air job was in 1967 at a rock station in Key West, Florida, followed by a stint as a country DJ in Madison, Wisconsin.

While working in radio, he also began performing in nightclubs. During a stint singing in Chicago as “Jack Daniels,” he met a recording-studio manager named Brien Fisher.

Joe Sun had his first Nashville recording session in 1972. It led nowhere. Still determined to break into country music, he moved to Nashville in the fall of 1975. He initially worked as a cartoonist, and some of his drawings were published in The Tennessean. He then took a job as a record-promotion man for Hi Records.

Meanwhile, Brien Fisher had hooked up with the Chicago-based label Ovation Records. He had also moved to Music City and had signed The Kendalls to the company. The father-daughter duo (Royce and Jeannie Kendall) became Fisher’s production clients.

Brien Fisher offered Joe Sun a job in record promotion at Ovation. He knew that Sun’s ultimate ambition was to make records, himself. To compensate for the drop in salary in moving from Hi to Ovation, Fisher promised Sun that if he promoted The Kendalls onto the charts, Fisher would give him a shot as an artist.

In 1977, Sun turned The Kendalls’ “Heaven’s Just a Sin Away” into a multi-awarded, smash hit. True to his word, Fisher placed Sun on Ovation Records.

The singer’s first single was 1978’s “Old Flames Can’t Hold a Candle to You.” It became his biggest hit and was soon recorded by others. Dolly Parton turned it into a No. 1 country smash in 1980.

“Old Flames” has also been recorded by Merle Haggard, Mark Birchfield, Norma Jean, Jim Paul Blair, The Osborne Brothers and Katy Moffatt, the sister of the tune’s co-writer, Hugh Moffatt. In addition, it has been recorded by pop star Kesha, who is the daughter of Hugh’s co-writer Pebe Siebert.

Joe Sun followed that hit with another top-20 country success, “High and Dry.” Billboard named him its Best New Male Country Vocalist of 1978.

In 1979, Sun charted with “On Business for the King,” “Blue Ribbon Blues” and “I’d Rather Go on Hurtin.’” Fisher produced all of them, as well as Sun’s debut albums Old Flames and Out of Your Mind. The latter featured liner notes by Johnny Cash, who proclaimed Joe Sun, “the greatest new talent I’ve heard in 20 years.”

For 1980’s Livin’ on Honky Tonk Time,” Sun was given the unusual latitude of recording with his band, Shotgun. This move associated him with country’s “outlaw” artists. Shotgun included such future notables as Ray Flacke and Neil Flanz.

This album showcased Sun’s flowering as a songwriter with “Bottom Line,” “We’re All a Bunch of Outlaws in Our Mind” and its biggest hit, “Bombed, Boozed and Busted.” It also included covers of tunes by Dylan (“Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”), Hank Williams (“My Sweet Love Ain’t Around”), Delbert McClinton (“Hobo On a Freight Train to Heaven”) and Allen Reynolds (“Ready for the Times to Get Better”).

Sun toured with a wide variety of country and rock notables during this period, including Leon Russell, J.J. Cale, Jerry Lee Lewis, George Jones and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. He also recorded national radio ad spots for Budweiser beer and Timberline boots.

After charting with the 1980-81 singles “Out of Your Mind,” “What I Had with You” (a duet with Sheila Andrews) and “Shotgun Rider,” Sun departed Ovation for the larger Elektra Records.

Retaining Fisher as his producer, Joe Sun debuted on his new label with 1982’s I Ain’t Honky Tonkin’ No More. His charting Elektra singles were “Holed Up in Some Honky Tonk,” “You Make Me Want to Sing” and a remake of the classic “Fraulein.” Elektra also issued The Best of Joe Sun.

He next moved to AMI Records and charted with his co-written “Bad for Me” in 1984 and with Pebe Siebert’s “Why Would I Want to Forget” in 1985.

Joe Sun next landed an acting role in the acclaimed 1985 film Marie, starring Sissy Spacek, Jeff Daniels and Fred Thompson in a true story of Tennessee political corruption.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Sun toured extensively overseas, becoming particularly popular in Sweden, France and Austria. He starred in his own special on German television in 1989. He also recorded for several European labels.

He re-surfaced on disc with the 1986 CD The Sun Never Sets.

Other CDs ensued, including Twilight Zone (1988), Hank and Bogart Still Live (1989), Out on the Road (1991), Dixie and Me (1992), Some Old Memories (1993) and Diamonds in the Dust (2017).

His self-produced 1998 U.S. release Heartbreak Saloon drew particular notice. It featured 11 of his original compositions alongside the standards “Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down,” “The House of the Rising Sun,” “Johnny B. Goode” and Dylan’s “Forever Young.”

Joe Sun had been living in recent years in Merritt Island, Florida. He died of natural causes on Friday, Oct. 25, in nearby Palm Bay, Florida.
 

BREAKING: Radio Legend Bob Kingsley Dies

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Bob Kingsley. Photo: Provided by Westwood One

Bob Kingsley, a radio legend whose voice was synonymous with country music, died on Thursday, October 17, 2019, at his home in Weatherford, Texas while receiving treatment for cancer. He was 80.

One of broadcasting’s most beloved and iconic figures, Kingsley was a mainstay on radio for 60 years. His dominance in the country format began in 1978 when he took over as host of American Country Countdown after four years as the show’s producer for one of radio’s founding syndication companies, Watermark, founded by Tom Rounds. In 2006, he and his wife and business partner Nan Kingsley established Bob Kingsley’s Country Top 40, produced by their own KCCS Productions, still running on more than 320 stations.

Kingsley received many of broadcasting’s top honors and was named to the Country Radio Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1998 and the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2016. He is the namesake and was the first recipient of the Bob Kingsley Living Legend Award, presented each year since 2014 at the Grand Ole Opry House and benefitting the Opry Trust Fund.

They were among the many fruits of a career built on a simple premise. “I love the music and the people who make it, and I want our listeners to have as much insight into both as I can give them, and to make the experience as enjoyable as possible,” he once said.

Bob’s love for radio and music dated to his childhood, when polio kept him in bed and in near isolation for a year. “I would listen to the radio and certain shows became really important to me. It was complete escapism and entertainment. I didn’t realize the imprint it was making, but it obviously stayed with me,” he said.

At 18, Kingsley joined the Air Force and served in Keflavik, Iceland, where he jumped at a chance to become an announcer on Armed Forces Radio. That experience and his love of country music would carry him to legendary stations like KFOX, KGBS, KFI, and KLAC in Los Angeles, and to his role as the voice of Drake-Chenault’s Great American Country format, used by hundreds of country radio stations.

His role as host of American Country Countdown with Bob Kingsley made him a household name. He supplemented the weekly countdown with Christmas specials, album release specials for artists including Alabama, George Strait, Kenny Chesney, Blake Shelton, Taylor Swift, and Carrie Underwood, and for many years a daily artist spotlight called America’s Music Makers. With Kingsley at the helm, the show was named Billboard’s Network/Syndicated Country Program of the Year for 16 years in a row.

Kingsley received the Academy of Country Music’s Major Market On-Air Personality of the Year Award in 1966 and 1967 and was named the Country Music Association’s National Broadcast Personality of the Year in 2001 and 2003. He was voted National Air Personality of the Year five times by Country Radio Broadcasters and Country Aircheck and won the ACM’s 2007 National Broadcast Personality of the Year Award. He was chosen as the recipient of the 2012 President’s Award by the CRB. In 2017, Bob received the Mae Boren Axton Service Award in recognition of his dedication and service to the ACM, on whose board he served for decades. He was twice the host and emcee of Alabama’s legendary June Jam.

Kingsley served in 2004 and 2005 as Master of Ceremonies at the National Veterans Day Ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery, one of many national and regional events to which he has volunteered time and energy, and he helped get information on benefits to countless veterans through vehicles like his Veterans Day 2005 radio special, “Bob Kingsley Salutes America’s Veterans.” He was the recipient of the Wounded Warrior Project’s Tony Snow Award for the significant difference he has made in the lives of injured servicemen and women.

His many charitable endeavors included work for Disabled American Veterans, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Wounded Warrior Project, Careity Foundation, and the Palliative Unit of Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth, among others.

An avid cutting horse enthusiast, he lived and worked with his wife of 30 years, Nan, on their Bluestem Ranch in Weatherford, Texas.

A celebration of life will be held in Nashville, Tennessee, on Thursday, November 14, 2019, at 1:00 p.m. at The CMA Theater at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Kingsley’s name to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum or the Grand Ole Opry Trust Fund.

Canadian Country Great Dallas Harms Passes

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Dallas Harms. Photo: CMA Ontario

Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame member Dallas Harms died last weekend at age 84.

He was a singer, songwriter, producer and TV star in his home country, but is best known in the U.S. as the songwriter of the Gene Watson hits “Paper Rosie” (1977), “The Old Man and His Horn” (1977) and “Cowboys Don’t Get Lucky All the Time” (1978). Harms also wrote Billy Walker’s “A Violin That Has Never Been Played” (1978) and dozens of songs for Canadian country artists.

He began his career in the 1950s in the clubs of Hamilton, Ontario and on country TV shows. He launched his recording career in the 1960s and landed his first chart record in 1972, “In the Loving Arms of My Marie.” Harms placed 20 singles on Canada’s RPM charts, including the No. 1 hit “Honky Tonkin’ (All Night Learn)” (1982).

He appeared on all of the major Canadian country TV shows throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Harms produced Canadian country acts Artie MacLaren, Cathy Chambers, Larry Mattson, Glen Logan, Wayne Rostad, Neville Wells, Brent Williams, Lynn Dee and more. He was also a photographer and a graphics artist who designed his own album jackets.

Dallas Harms was inducted into the CCM Hall of Fame in 1989.

His death occurred on Oct. 12.

Universal Music Group Executive, Digital Music Visionary Jay Frank Passes

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Jay Frank

Universal Music Group executive Jay Frank died Sunday (Oct. 13) following a long battle with cancer. He was 47.

In 2015, he joined Universal Music Group as Sr. VP, Global Streaming Marketing, where he and his team were responsible for utilizing data and analytics to maximize the performance of UMG artists across all streaming platforms and identifying new opportunities for UMG artists on those platforms. He also oversaw the curation and management of UMG’s global playlists, coordinating a worldwide playlist strategy across the company’s labels.

Frank authored two music books, including 2011’s Futurehit.DNA, which analyzed the hit-making elements of music in the digital age, as well 2012’s Hack Your Hit, which offered strategies for artists aiming to better utilize various social media and marketing platforms to expand the reach and impact of their music.

Frank also founded the singles-focused music subscription label DigSin, which signs new artists to deals that aim to leverage new platforms, social networks and analytics to expose their music to wider audiences. He also launched the music marketing company DigMark.

Prior to launching the two companies, Frank served as Sr. VP, Music Strategy at CMT from 2007-2011. Frank also previously served as VP, Music Programming and Label Relations for Yahoo! Music, and was responsible for all of the company’s music programming.

Early in his career, he served as Sr. Music Director at The Box Music Network, and worked in marketing/A&R for Ignition Records. His career also included time managing a live music venue, programming radio stations and creating two local music video shows.

A member of the 2007 class of Leadership Music, Frank also served on Leadership Music’s board, as well as on the boards of the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, and the Academy of Country Music. He was part of the Tennessee Film, Entertainment and Music Commission, and a consultant at FLO (Thinkery).

As a leader and visionary in the music and digital spaces, he spoke at conferences including MIDEM, SXSW, ASCAP Expo, Digital Music Forum, CMJ, and SF Music Tech Summit, among others.

Frank is survived by wife Linda and daughter Alex.

UMG leader Sir Lucian Grainge released the following memo:

Dear Colleagues,
I’m deeply saddened to tell you that our colleague and friend Jay Frank has passed after a recurrence of cancer. Professionally, Jay leaves an immense legacy. He was a creative and tireless leader who made significant contributions to the evolution of our global marketing efforts. Many of the ways we market our artists and their music in the streaming era stems from Jay’s innovative work. But more than anything else, Jay was a loving father and husband. We send our deepest condolences to all his family. Truly, there are no words sufficient to fully express our feelings. He is gone far too soon and we will miss him dearly.

The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee has created the Jay Frank Memorial Musical Scholarship Fund in honor of his immense musical legacy. If you’d like to donate, click here.

Kenny Dixon, Drummer For Kane Brown, Passes

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Kenny Dixon. Photo: Alex Alvga

Kenny Dixon, drummer for Kane Brown, died Saturday (Oct. 12) in a car accident. The Dalton, Georgia native was 27, and was a longtime member of Brown’s band. Dixon is survived by his fiancé Sarah and son Levi James, 3. Kenny and Sarah were set to be married on Nov. 30.

Brown’s team shared the following statement:

“It is with profound sadness and disbelief that we confirm we lost our drummer Kenny this weekend in a tragic car accident. Kenny was a member of our family from the very beginning and our hearts are with his fiancé Sarah, his son, and everyone who knew and loved him. He was truly one of the greatest and kindest people on and off stage we’ve ever known.”

Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced.

Dennis J. Johnson, Beloved Spouse Of Artist Manager Fletcher Foster, Passes

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Dennis J Johnson

Dennis J. Johnson, beloved spouse of artist manager Fletcher Foster, passed away peacefully on Monday, October 7, 2019 after complications from a brave four-year battle with multiple myeloma. Through it all, he never lost his kind spirit, sweet smile and attention to detail. He was 62.

Dennis was born on November 24, 1956, to Garnes and Phyllis Johnson from Arcadia, California. He attended Arcadia High School, where he played the clarinet as a member of the Arcadia Apache Marching Band. This is where his love for marching band competitions began and as a teenager he marched in the Pasadena Rose Parade.

Dennis attended Pasadena City College, receiving an Associates of Arts degree in Design. He also attended Cal Poly in Pomona, California receiving a Bachelor of Science in Marketing with an emphasis in Advertising.

Dennis began his career in brand design only to move on to his dream job with the Walt Disney Company, working at Disneyland with many Fortune 500 companies. During that time, he met his life partner and future husband Fletcher Foster. He later worked at Miss Universe Pageant and in 1995 he moved to Nashville. His love of theme parks led him to work at Universal Studios Entertainment complex in Orlando, Florida as Vice President of Brand Development.

Dennis left the entertainment world to pursue his own home décor, design, manufacturing and distribution company. He created products found at Target, Belk, Coldwater Creek and boutique shops.

He also paralleled his love of homes by pursuing a career in residential real estate. Dennis was the recipient of the Silver Award of Excellence from the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors honoring significant achievement in real estate sales and salesmanship.

Dennis enjoyed music, art, film, skiing, tennis and football. His love of travel took him throughout the world to places such as Jerusalem, Palestine, China, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Canada, Europe and Africa.

Being influenced by his travel with Fletcher, it inspired his creativity for home design—building two homes with Fletcher. He wanted their home to be as comfortable for guests as it was for them. He would focus on every detail. Entertaining and sharing their home with others for charitable events was also important. He loved to give back and share with others.

On August 1st, 2019 Dennis fulfilled his dream of marrying his best friend and love of thirty years, Fletcher.

Dennis is preceded in death by his parents, Garnes and Phyllis Johnson. He is survived by his husband Fletcher, his siblings Jerry Johnson (Linda) and Judy Hopkins (Dale), nieces Deanna, Kimi, Britney, Ashley, and Nicole…and his two furry companions Mason and Zach.

A celebration of his life is being planned in Nashville and California for friends and family.