Ron Cornelius, a Music Row session musician, publisher, and producer, passed away on Aug. 18 following complications from a stroke. He was 76.

Cornelius got his start in music as a teen guitarist in California, cutting his musical teeth while backing a list of artists including Chubby Checker, Martha and the Vandellas, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Jan & Dean, Bobby Rydell, Glen Campbell, Sonny & Cher, Jackie Wilson, Mary Wells, and more. At age 16, he landed a label deal with his own group The Untouchables on Dot Records.

After years as a backing guitarist, Cornelius formed the group West. In 1967, they signed with Epic Records and cut two albums in Nashville. A single, “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues” (a Bob Dylan composition), climbed to No. 17 on the national charts. The group went on to record a final LP for Paramount Records before dissolving. Altogether, Cornelius had five major label deals as an artist including one with A&M Records and his release of “Tin Luck” for Polydor Records.

In 1969, Cornelius was part of the production team for Johnny Cash’s album Live at San Quentin. He also served as lead guitarist on albums by Cash, Marty Robbins, Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs, Hoyt Axton, Loudon Wainwright III, and many others. Cornelius also played lead on seven multi-Platinum albums for the legendary Bob Dylan. During this time, Cornelius also helped assemble a band for singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, serving as band leader for six major world tours, four albums, and a movie. He also provided guitar on several film soundtracks including I Walk the Line starring Gregory Peck, Concrete Cowboy, Little Fauss and Big Halsy, and The Big Lebowski.

He moved to Nashville in 1980 and pursued a career as a producer, songwriter, and publisher in addition to his work as a guitarist. Joining forces with Pete Drake, he served as professional manager and producer of Drake Music Group’s Nashville publishing administration service, and later headed and produced for The A.T.V. Music Corporation’s Nashville office. At that time, A.T.V. was the fourth largest publisher in the world, administering the works of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, as well as a 6,000-song catalog of country greats.

In 1986, Cornelius founded The Cornelius Companies, an independent Nashville-based production and publishing company. Cornelius represented and administered catalogs for Cabin Fever Entertainment, Inc., Charlie Daniels/Miss Hazel Music, and The Lowery Music Group out of Atlanta. In 1995 Gateway Entertainment, Inc., a division of The Cornelius Companies, was created, and Cornelius racked up 11 Top 10s, eight Top 5’s, and two No. 1 singles, all produced by him.

In recent years Cornelius worked on projects for Colt Prather for Epic Records, the band Cooper Berry for Warner Brothers Records, California country singer Summer Schappell, and Miko Marks. Cornelius was featured in the Country Music Hall of Fame museum’s 2015-2018 Exhibition of Dylan, Cash, and the Nashville Cats: A New Music City. He loaned the museum his custom made 1959 Gretsch Country Gentleman guitar and other artifacts for the exhibit, and participated in a 2015 panel discussion about his work with Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. He is also the author of the book, The Guitar Behind Dylan and Cohen.

Joyce Reeves Milsap, wife of Country Music Hall of Fame member Ronnie Milsap, died on Sept. 6. She was 81.

Reeves was born on July 25, 1941 in Gainesville, Georgia. At a dinner hosted by her cousin, she met a young Ronnie Milsap. Together, they started chasing Milsap’s dream of becoming a singer and married in 1965.

Always a fierce believer in her husband and the way he heard music, Reeves supported Milsap as the couple moved to Memphis and then eventually to Nashville as the singer made his transition into country music. The pair created a home in Music City, where they decided to settle at the end of 1972.

Her support carried him through three songs produced by Cowboy Jack Clement, which became his first country hits, and led Jerry Bradley to sign him to RCA Records in 1973. That faith sustained until Milsap scored his first two No. 1 songs in 1974–“Pure Love” and Kris Kristofferson’s “Please Don’t Tell Me How The Story Ends,” the latter earning Milsap the first of his six Grammy awards and the 1974 CMA Male Vocalist of the Year.

Reeves was the muse and inspiration for many of Milsap’s biggest hits, including “Daydreams About Night Things,” “Smokey Mountain Rain,” “Show Her,” “Don’t You Know How Much I Love You,” “A Woman In Love” and “What A Difference You’ve Made in My Life,” as well as what the loss of that love might be informing “Almost Like A Song,” “Still Losing You,” “I Wouldn’t Have Missed It For The World” and the 1985 and 1986 Grammy-winning “Lost in the ‘50s Tonight.” To date, their love created 40 No. 1 hits.

Reeves and Milsap shared that love with their only son, Ronald Todd. Todd, who precedes his mother in death, died at the age of 49. She was also a grandmother to Kye, Asher, Mya and Wyler.

“There are no words, and not enough songs in the world to explain how much I love my Sapphire,” says the country icon. “She was the music and the feeling inside all of those songs, so if you loved my music, you understand some of how much I loved my beautiful, beautiful wife. It’s all in the songs, but she was even more. She was the love of my life, the mother of my son, the world’s happiest grandmother—and someone who woke up every day curious and ready for whatever adventure she could get into.

“When people tell me they love my music, I always smile, because that music is pure Joyce. We went through lean times laughing, good times beyond our imagination, tough times where we held on to each other for dear life,” he continues. “Blessedly/Thankfully, she’s in heaven with our Todd—and I know somehow from heaven, she’s still here with me every day, because that’s just how she was.”

Due to COVID concerns, Joyce will have a private family service.

Longtime Paradise Artists agent Charlie Davis passed away unexpectedly on Wednesday (Aug. 25). He was 68.

Davis’ career in the music industry began in his early twenties as the road manager for Peter Frampton on the “Frampton Comes Alive! Tour.” He later worked as Chubby Checker’s manager for over thirty years before he joined Paradise Artists in 1996. He remained working there until his death. Davis served on the IEBA Board of Directors for over a decade.

Over his career, he has worked with a variety of artists including REO Speedwagon; Bad Company; Blood, Sweat & Tears; Steppenwolf; Joan Jett and the Blackhearts; Weird Al Yankovic Foreigner’s Lou Gramm, Tommy James & The Shondells, Gary Puckett & The Union Gap; and many more.

“Charlie Davis was one-of-a-kind. He was universally loved and was a dear, dear friend. It is an understatement to say that he will be dearly missed,” says Howie Silverman, owner of Paradise Artists.

Charlie is survived by his wife Cheryl Mahoney-Davis, stepdaughter Heather Philips, and granddaughters Shannon and Sonia Philips.

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that donations be made in Charlie’s memory to the Schuylkill Haven School District Music Department located at 501 East Main Street, Schuylkill Haven, PA, 17972.

Lauded drummer and studio musician Kenny Malone died today (Aug. 26) after being hospitalized earlier this week due to COVID-19. He was 83.

Born Aug. 4, 1938 and raised in Denver, Colorado, Malone served in the Navy band in Washington, D.C., eventually becoming head of the percussion department at the Armed Forces School of Music. He made the move to Tennessee in 1970 and quickly found success as a session musician.

Malone was known for his unique hand drumming technique that allowed for a special combination of sounds for his recordings. Spanning folk, country, and other genres with early sessions for John Prine (Sweet Revenge), Dolly Parton (Jolene), Waylon Jennings (Dreaming My Dreams), Ronnie Milsap (Night Things), Wanda Jackson (I’ll Still Love You), and Amy Grant (Amy Grant), among others.

Throughout his nearly 40 year career, Malone has been asked to record for an array of artists, including Carl Perkins, Ray Charles, George Jones, Janie Fricke, Johnny Cash, Don Williams, Dobie Gray, Donna Fargo, David Allen Coe, Merle Haggard, The Whites, Crystal Gayle, Charlie Pride, Moe Bandy, Floyd Cramer, Dr. Hook, Barbara Mandrell, Johnny Paycheck, Kenny Rogers, Michael Johnson, Dottie West, Lynn Anderson, John Hartford, New Grass Revival, Béla Fleck, Barefoot Jerry, B.J. Thomas, Bobby Bare, Emmylou Harris, Ricky Skaggs, John Anderson, and Lacy J. Dalton.

Malone is thought to be one of most recorded drummers in Nashville history, although the complete list of his credits is unknown.

“He expanded the vocabulary of Nashville drumming, and was always an innovator who invented his own unique style of hand drumming, often combining sticks and brushes with hand percussion to create a unique sound and feel that left lots of space for other instruments and the vocals. He was well known for asking for a lyric sheet instead of a chord chart, and always put the song first in a way that was very special,” Dave Pomeroy, president of the AFM Local 257, says of the 51-year AFM 257 member.

Malone will be remembered by the Nashville music community for his influence on music and his joke-telling.

Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced.

Chart-topping country songwriter Craig Karp died on Aug. 15 in Nashville at age 76.

He was the co-writer of “If It Don’t Come Easy,” which hit No. 1 for Tanya Tucker in 1988. Karp also hit the top of the country hit parade with “There’s No Stopping Your Heart,” recorded by Marie Osmond in 1985.

Born Ronald Craig Karp, he came of age in California before embarking on his Nashville songwriting career. His earliest big success was “Second Hand Heart,” a No. 7 country hit of 1984 sung by Gary Morris. He co-wrote two big hits for Southern Pacific. “Honey I Dare You” was a 1988 single by the group that reached No. 5 on the country charts. “All Is Lost” made it to No. 19 on the A/C chart for Southern Pacific in 1989.

Craig Karp also co-wrote songs recorded by T.G. Sheppard, Lynn Anderson, Dave Gibson, Burrito Deluxe, Eddy Raven, Jimmy Fortune, Matt King, Rob Crosby, James House and Wayland Patton.

Carla Monday and Rustie Blue are among the independent-label acts who charted with Karp’s songs. More than two dozen such singers recorded his songs in 1980-2010. Several of them were European recording artists.

Craig Karp is survived by his wife Helen, daughter Casey, son Cody Blue and granddaughter LaDonna Eby. Arrangements are being handled by Woodbine Funeral Home. A celebration of his life will be held at a later date.