Tompall & The Glaser Brothers Member Jim Glaser Dies

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Jim Glaser

Jim Glaser, who began his career as a member of the award-winning trio Tompall & the Glaser Brothers, died at his home on Saturday (April 6). He was 81.

Born James William Glaser in Spalding, Nebraska, in 1937, Jim began playing guitar at age four and began performing at local shows with his brother Tompall as The Glaser Brothers.

In 1959, Marty Robbins signed The Glaser Brothers, which by then included their brother Chuck, to his Robbins Records label, which released their first single “Five Penny Nickel.” Decca Records later purchased their contract from Robbins and Owen Bradley produced their records. During those early years, they toured with Robbins, Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline, among others, before going on their own in the early 1960s. In 1966, signing with MGM brought chart success on songs such as “Gone, On the Other Hand,” “California Girl (and the Tennessee Square),” and “The Moods of Mary.” The Glaser Brothers’ cover of the Cymarron pop hit “Rings” reached No. 7 on the Billboard charts (No. 1 on Cashbox and Record World) in 1971. In 1981, their Elektra Records release of the Kris Kristofferson song “Loving Her was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again)” reached No. 2 on the Billboard charts, staying there for two weeks.

The group ceased performing together in 1973, and reunited in 1979.

Jim earned a No. 1 hit as a solo artist with “You’re Gettin’ to Me Again” from his Man In The Mirror album (released on the Noble Vision record label). The album also notched the Top 20 song “When You’re Not a Lady” and the Top 10 hit “If I Could Only Dance With You.” Glaser earned the Academy of Country Music’s New Male Artist Award in 1983.

Jim was also a successful songwriter, including “Running Gun,” a hit for Marty Robbins, Skeeter Davis’ “What Does it Take,” Warner Mack’s “Sittin’ in an All Night Cafe,” Liz Anderson’s “Thanks A Lot For Tryin’ Anyway,” Bill Anderson’s “And I’m Still Missing You,” the Texas Tornados’ “Who Were You Thinking Of,” and “Woman, Woman” for Gary Puckett and the Union Gap.

Jim’s tenor voice can be heard on such hits as Marty Robbins “El Paso,” and, along with his brothers, on Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire,” as well as many others hit songs, including tunes by Hank Snow and John Anderson.

Along with brothers Chuck and Tompall, Glaser owned and operated Glaser Sound Studios, located at 916 19th Ave. S. in Nashville, where Kinky Friedman, John Hartford, Jimmy Payne and others recorded. Friedman recorded his Sold American album at the studio—known during the Outlaw days as “Hillbilly Central”—and Waylon Jennings recorded his classic Dreaming My Dreams there with producer Cowboy Jack Clement. Another album recorded at the studio was Hartford’s bluegrass album Aereo-Plane.

The brothers also ran Glaser Publications, which published such popular hits as “Gentle On My Mind,” “Woman, Woman,” “Sitting in an All Night Cafe,” “Streets of Baltimore” and “Where Has All the Love Gone,” helping many of their songwriters maintain control of their own creative works.

Jim’s brother Tompall Glaser died in 2013.

A private family memorial is being planned, according to a family spokesperson.

Nashville R&B Singer Jackie Shane Dead At 78

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Jackie Shane

By Robert K. Oermann

Jackie Shane, whose reissued soul sounds of the 1960s were nominated for a 2018 Grammy Award, passed away last week on Feb. 22 at age 78.

She was a pioneering transgender performer in the music scene of the 1950s and 1960s. She was born male, but identified as female throughout her life.

Shane began her career in Nashville nightspots and was a session drummer for Lillian Offitt on Excello Records. She also drummed with a trio on WVOL. At the New Era club, she backed Ted Jarrett, Big Maybelle, Little Willie John, Gatemouth Brown, Lattimore, Arthur Gunter, Eugene Church and other 1950s R&B stars booked into that Music City venue.

As a vocalist, she became a star in the clubs of Boston, Montreal, Los Angeles and, especially Toronto, her adopted hometown.

Jackie Shane recorded for Sue, Modern, Caravan, Stop, Paragon and other labels in 1960-69. Her singles included “Any Other Way,” “In My Tenement,” “Money,” “I’ve Really Got the Blues,” “You Are My Sunshine,” “Stand Up Straight and Tall,” “New Way of Lovin’” and “Cruel, Cruel World.” She also issued a 1967 live LP, recorded in Toronto. She returned to Music City to perform “Walking the Dog” on the Night Train TV series in 1965.

During her career, she shared shows with Etta James, The Impressions, Jackie Wison, Joe Tex, Bobby Hebb, Jimi Hendrix, T-Bone Walker, The Temptations, the O’Jays, and other soul headliners of the era. As studio percussionist in L.A., Shane backed Lowell Fulson and Joe Cocker.

On stage, Jackie Shane wore glamorous makeup and usually dressed in slack suits with frilly formal shirts. Her androgyny prefigured David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Prince and the like.

She vanished from show business in 1971, retiring to Nashville to care for her mother. After living in obscurity for decades, she was rediscovered, and her music was reissued as the two-CD boxed set Any Other Way. The 2017 compilation was nominated for a Best Historical Album Grammy Award.

She was also subject of CBC-TV documentary in Canada and is depicted on a 12-story high mural in Toronto.

Hall Of Fame Great Mac Wiseman Passes

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Mac Wiseman. Photo: Stacie Hukeba

HALL OF FAME GREAT MAC WISEMAN PASSES

By Robert K. Oermann

Mac Wiseman, a member of both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Bluegrass Hall of Fame, has passed away at age 93. He died Sunday, Feb. 24.

Known as “The Voice With a Heart,” Wiseman was a hit recording artist, a record-label executive, a radio host and a music-festival  impresario. He was one of the founders of the Country Music Association.

His hits included “The Ballad of Davy Crockett,” “Jimmy Brown the Newsboy” and “Your Best Friend and Me.” He is also associated with such enduring favorites as “Tis Sweet to Be Remembered,” “Love Letters in the Sand,” “I Wonder How the Old Folks Are at Home,” “I’ll Still Write Your Name in the Sand” and “Shackles and Chains.”

During his long career he recorded with such diverse talents as Flatt & Scruggs, John Hartford, Merle Haggard, Bill Monroe, Woody Herman, Charlie Daniels, The Osborne Brothers, Johnny Cash and John Prine. He recorded for Dot, Capitol, MGM, RCA, CMH, Music Mill, Hilltop, Churchill, Starday and many other labels.

Born Malcolm B. Wiseman in 1925, he was raised in rural Virginia. He survived polio as an infant, and this affected his mobility later in life. Wiseman began playing guitar at age 12. His fluid work on the instrument and his clear, expressive tenor singing were the hallmarks of his performing style.

He started his career as a Virginia radio disc jockey in 1944. He joined Molly O’Day’s band two years later and played bass on her big hit “Tramp on the Street.”

In 1947, he was the host of WCYB radio’s Farm and Fun Time in Bristol, Virginia. He shared airtime there with country-music patriarch A.P. Carter of The Carter Family.

Wiseman then became a member of Flatt & Scruggs’ Foggy Mountain Boys. Bill Monroe hired him in 1949, and Wiseman sang lead on the star’s bluegrass standards “Travelin’ Down This Lonesome Road” and “Can’t You Hear Me Calling.”

Mac Wiseman next joined the Louisiana Hayride on KWKH in Shreveport. While there, he toured with the legendary Hank Williams. He then moved on to the Old Dominion Barn Dance in Richmond, Virginia in 1953.

Jo Walker-Meador inducts Mac Wiseman into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2014. Photo: Donn Jones

By this time, he was leading his own band. He had signed with Dot Records in 1951 and had a top-10 hit in 1955 with “The Ballad of Davy Crockett,” the theme song of a Disney TV show. He served as Dot’s A&R executive in 1956-63, moving to Los Angeles and overseeing a roster that included such stars as Jimmy C. Newman, Reno & Smiley, Bonnie Guitar, Pat Boone and Leroy Van Dyke. While on the West Coast, Wiseman became a regular on TV’s Town Hall Party  and starred at The Mint in Las Vegas with The Stonemans as his backing band.

In 1958, Wiseman became one of the creators of the Country Music Association and was elected as the CMA’s first secretary. He was the youngest of the association’s organizers, and at the time of his death was the last living CMA founder.

Mac Wiseman’s Dot Records success as an artist continued with 1959’s “Jimmy Brown the Newsboy.” His next country hit came on Capitol Records in 1963. This was with the Hank Cochran song “Your Best Friend and Me.”

During the 1960s, Wiseman became popular on the collegiate folk-music circuit. He performed at The Newport Folk Festival, Carnegie Hall, The Hollywood Bowl and other prestigious venues.

In 1965, Mac Wiseman was hired as the manager of the WWVA Jamboree in Wheeling, West Virginia. He moved to Nashville in 1968 and signed with RCA Records. The following year, he tasted chart success with the novelty tune “Johnny’s Cash and Charley’s Pride,” produced by Jack Clement. This became Wiseman’s last top-40 country hit.

He subsequently re-emphasized his bluegrass roots. Mac Wiseman ran his own bluegrass festival at Renfro Valley, Kentucky in 1970-83 and recorded most of his 50+ albums with bluegrass instrumentation.

Ronnie Milsap and Mac Wiseman celebrate their induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Photo: Alan Poizner / CMA

But in 1979, he returned to the country charts with a version of the pop oldie “My Blue Heaven,” recorded with jazz great Woody Herman. During the 1980s, Wiseman made albums with collaborators including Merle Travis, Doc Watson, Del McCoury and Brother Oswald.

In 1986, Wiseman was one of the founding members of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA). He was the narrator of the 1992 film documentary High Lonesome: The Story of Bluegrass Music. He was inducted into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame the following year.

He was elected the president of R.O.P.E. (the Reunion of Professional Entertainers) in 1990 and remained so for the next four years. This organization’s goal is to build a retirement home for country entertainers in Music City. Beginning in 1997, Wiseman was also a four-term secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Musicians Local 257 on Music Row.

He was saluted with a career-overview, six-CD, boxed set in 2003. A second, four-CD set appeared in 2006. Both were issued by Germany’s Bear Family label.

Mac Wiseman and folk star John Prine joined forces for the acclaimed 2007 album Standard Songs for Average People. In 2008, Wiseman was given a National Heritage Fellowship award from the National Endowment for the Arts. His election to the Country Music Hall of Fame came in 2014.

This was the same year that he re-ignited his solo recording career with the homespun CD Songs From My Mother’s Hand. At age 90, he collaborated with writer Walt Trott on his 2015 autobiography All My Memories Fit to Print. His collaborations with Americana artists Peter Cooper and Thomm Jutz resulted in the 2017 album of newly composed material, I Sang the Songs. 

Wiseman has five children, including Randy, Sheila, Christine, Maxine, and Scott.

The public memorial service was held Wednesday (Feb. 27) at the Spring Hill Funeral Home in Madison, Tennessee.

Todd Milsap, Son Of Ronnie Milsap, Dies

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Joyce Milsap, Ronnie Milsap, and Todd Milsap. Photo: Ronnie Milsap

Todd Milsap, son of country entertainer Ronnie Milsap, has died. He passed Saturday (Feb. 23) on his houseboat at Four Corners Marina in Antioch, Tennessee. Todd Milsap was 49. According to Metro Nashville PD, the death appears to be medically related.

No funeral arrangements have been released at this time. Todd Milsap is the son of Ronnie and Joyce Milsap.

“Our son Todd was a force of joy, life, creativity and giving from the moment he was born,” says the six-time Grammy winner Ronnie Milsap. “He made such a mark on our world in his years on this planet, everyone who met him was richer for it. It is too soon to even understand this loss, and I hope it’s something no one else has to bare. Please keep his three children, their mothers and Joyce and I in your prayers at such a fragile time.”

A gathering of friends and family was held on Tuesday (Feb. 26) at Woodlawn-Roesch-Patton Funeral Home. A celebration of life was held at Woodlawn’s Dignity Hall on Wednesday (Feb. 27).

[Updated]: Visitation, Celebration Of Life Services Set For Fred Foster

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[Updated, March 14, 10:28 a.m. CT] 

Visitation and celebration of life services have been set for the late Fred Foster. A visitation will be held on Friday, March 22, 2019 from 4 – 8 p.m. at Phillips Robinson Funeral Home (2707 Gallatin Road, Nashville, TN). A celebration of life service is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 23, 2019 at First Presbyterian Church of Nashville (4815 Franklin Pike, Nashville). In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to St. Jude’s Hospital for Children or Alive Hospice of Nashville.

[Previous story, Feb. 21, 2019]

By Robert K. Oermann

Record producer, label owner and Nashville pop-music pioneer Fred Foster has passed away at age 87.

A member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, Foster was involved in the careers of such greats as Kris Kristofferson, Dolly Parton, Tony Joe White, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, Jeannie Seely, Ray Stevens, Connie Smith, Larry Gatlin, Boots Randolph, Grandpa Jones and Charlie McCoy.

He was a North Carolina native born in 1931 who began his career as a songwriter in Washington, D.C. During his early years in the music business, he went to work for Mercury Records and ABC-Paramount Records, as well as for a record-distribution firm in Baltimore.

In 1958, he founded Monument Records. The company had its first hit with the Nashville-recorded “Gotta Travel On” by Billy Grammer the following year. The single was a smash on both the country and pop charts, foretelling the label’s future fortunes.

With the help of songwriter Boudleaux Bryant, Foster moved to Music City in 1960. Bryant recorded for Monument, but Foster’s more lucrative signing was Roy Orbison.
Orbison wrote and recorded his first Monument hit in 1960, “Only the Lonely.” He subsequently became a huge international pop star with “Running Scared” (1961), “Crying” (1961), “Dream Baby” (1962), “In Dreams” (1963), “Blue Bayou” (1963), “Pretty Paper” (1963), “It’s Over” (1964), “Oh Pretty Woman” (1964) and other hits with Foster in the producer’s chair.

 

Fred Foster’s 50th Birthday Roast. Fred Foster and Dolly Parton, 1981.

Bob Moore and His Orchestra had a pop instrumental hit on Monument with “Mexico” in 1961, and Boots Randolph scored with the 1963 pop instrumental “Yakety Sax.”
In 1962, Monument made minor music history by releasing “Jealous Heart” by Leona Douglas, believed to be the first country recording by an African-American female.
In 1963, Foster founded Sound Stage 7 Records, one of Nashville’s most important r&b labels. It was home to Joe Simon, Arthur Alexander, The Dixie Belles and Ivory Joe Hunter. Foster also released records by Lloyd Price, Gene Allison, Percy Sledge and Robert Knight (“Everlasting Love”).

On the country charts, Jeannie Seely hit paydirt on Monument with the Grammy-winning “Don’t Touch Me” in 1966. She followed it with “It’s Only Love,” “A Wanderin’ Man,” “I’ll Love You More” and other country successes.

Her fellow Opry star Billy Walker also had a string of country hits on Monument in 1966-68. Movie star Robert Mitchum had a Monument country hit with “Little Ole Wine Drinker Me” in 1967. Grandpa Jones had the biggest chart hit of his career with 1963’s “T for Texas” on the label.

Henson Cargill had a No. 1 country smash with the socially conscious “Skip a Rope” in 1968. Charlie McCoy spent more than a decade on the label charting such instrumental hits as “I Started Loving You Again” ‘Orange Blossom Special” and “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” in 1972-83..

Dolly Parton began her hit-making career with the Foster-produced “Dumb Blonde” and “Something Fishy” on Monument in 1967. Foster also recorded her singing pop tunes.
In addition to Boudeaux Bryant, Foster also recorded such top country tunesmiths as Harlan Howard, Cindy Walker, Willie Nelson, Norro Wilson, Bobby Russell, Don Robertson, Wayne Carson, Billy Joe Shaver, Bob Morrison and Hank Cochran.

Back on the pop hit parade, Ray Stevens had hits with such Monument singles as “Mr. Businessman” (1968) and “Gitarzan” (1969). Tony Joe White was introduced with the 1969 international smash “Polk Salad Annie” in 1969.

Fred Foster also founded the song-publishing firm Combine Music, which was run by the late Bob Beckham. It was through this connection that he began to produce White, as well as Kris Kristofferson.

2016 Country Music Hall of Fame inductees Fred Foster, Charlie Daniels and Randy Travis.

The latter’s big country hit was 1973’s “Why Me.” Foster also suggested the title for Kristofferson’s “Me and Bobby McGee.”

Larry Gatlin was signed to Monument in 1973. Between 1976 and 1978, he had seven top-10 hits on the label, including the No. 1 hit “I Just Wish You Were Someone I Loved” (1977) and the Grammy winning “Broken Lady” (1976).

One of the label’s last pop successes was Billy Swan’s “I Can Help” in 1974. It also tried with the Southern-rock band Barefoot Jerry. Connie Smith’s string of Monument singles in 1977-78 were among the company’s last on the country charts.

Due to poor investments, Fred Foster filed for bankruptcy in 1983. He attempted to save his company with an album titled The Winning Hand, starring Nelson, Parton, Kristofferson and Brenda Lee.

Foster sold Combine in 1986 and Monument the following year. In succeeding years, he worked as an independent record producer.

He produced the Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, and Ray Price album Last of the Breed (2007). This featured Price and Nelson’s Grammy-winning duet “Lost Highway.” Foster was behind the board for Nelson’s You Don’t Know Me: The Songs of Cindy Walker album of 2006, and he produced Price’s final recordings to create the 2014 collection Beauty Is.

He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2016. His Monument imprint has been revived twice more, but without his involvement.

Fred Foster had been in ill health for a number of months. He passed away on Wednesday, Feb. 20.

He is survived by his son Vance Foster, and daughters Micki Foster (Greg) Koenig, Leah Foster (Dillon) Alderman, Brit Foster (Judd) Rothstein, and Kristen Foster and grandchildren Rachel DiGregorio, Rhys and Tess Rothstein, and Penelope Kirschner. He is also survived by many beloved nieces and nephews.

Music Engineer Charlie Brocco Dies

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Music engineer Charlie John Brocco died Feb. 4 in Hendersonville, Tennessee. He was 64.

Brocco was born in Kingston, New York on March 1, 1954 to Charles and Angela (Perry) Brocco. He graduated from Siena College in 1976 with a Bachelor in Finance.

On Sept. 5, 1982 he married Lisa Fischer and together they have two sons. Charlie and Lisa moved to Los Angeles where he worked as a recording engineer at Village Recorder studio.

In 1998, the Brocco’s with their two young sons relocated to Hendersonville, Tennessee, and Charlie began engineering at East Iris Recording Studio. Charlie lent his talents to many studios and artists throughout his career including Barenaked Ladies, Patty Griffin, Randy Houser, Will Hoge and many more. In 2014 he won a Grammy for his work on Kacey Musgraves’ Same Trailer Different Park.

Brocco was preceded in death by his parents. Survivors include his wife Lisa Brocco, their children Jonathan and Cameron Brocco, and his sister Mary Ann Hoskins.

A celebration of life will be held at the Winery at Fontanel at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 2.

MusicRowLife: WTHO Georgia Radio Personality Steve Ferguson Passes

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Pictured (L-R): Steve Ferguson and Garth Brooks

Steve Ferguson lost his battle with cancer last night (Feb. 18); he was diagnosed with terminal bile cancer earlier this year. He served on the MusicRow reporting panel for 12 years with WTHO.

Ferguson began his radio career in 1985 with WMTZ in Martinez, Georgia, as a part-time Sunday afternoon host. In five years, he had been promoted to program director and morning drive host. In 1990 when WMTZ’s format changed to oldies, Ferguson left the station to work for WTHO in Thompson, Georgia. He served as the program director for 29 years as well as morning drive host for 18 years.

In 2010, Ferguson was awarded MusicRow‘s CountryBreakout Reporter of the Year for his love and dedication to his profession. Last week (Feb. 13), he was awarded the Randy Jones Award for the same devotion to his community and career. Ferguson was also an avid musician having played bass guitar, drums and vocals.

Visitation was held Thursday (Feb. 21) at Beggs Funeral Home in Thomson, Georgia. Funeral Services were held Friday (Feb. 22).

Nashville Band Carverton’s Lead Singer Dead At Age 24

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Kyle Yorlets was shot and killed outside his North Nashville residence on Thursday afternoon, Feb. 7.

Yorlets, 24, was a guitarist and the lead singer of the up-and-coming Nashville pop/rock band Carverton. His murder made national headlines because of the youth of the alleged perpetrators. His assailants were five juveniles – three girls, ages 12, 14 and 15, and two boys, ages 13 and 16.

The musician grew up on a dairy farm near Carlisle, PA. He graduated from Belmont University in May 2017. Yorlets formed Carverton with bass player Michael Wiebell, drummer Christian Ferguson and guitarist Michael Curry in 2014.

The group issued its debut EP in the summer of 2017. It posted its upbeat debut single, “Callin’ It Quits,” at the same time. The rocking, humorous “Hollywood” became its first music video the following month.

Carverton promoted its music throughout 2018 with club and festival bookings, an appearance on WMTS radio at MTSU and an aggressive social media presence.

The group’s current YouTube video for “Wildside” features the lead singer and his band mates performing atop the downtown hotel Cambria. It was released last month.

Other Carverton tunes include “By Myself,” “Misery,” “Pretty Little Monster” and “Veins.” The band had planned an album release show for its new Chasing Sounds collection on March 30.

In addition to performing in Carverton, Kyle Yorlets worked in the Nashville restaurant Pastaria and was a bartender at Milk & Honey.

The accused killers of Yorlets were driving a stolen Chevrolet truck. According to police, they accosted him in the alley behind his house on Torbett Street. After taking his wallet, they demanded his car keys and killed him when he refused to turn them over.

After ditching the truck, the minors drove a stolen Hyundai to the Walmart on Charlotte Pike, where they were apprehended.

The surviving members of Carverton established a GoFundMe account to aid the family of Kyle Yorlets. A memorial service was Monday, Feb. 11 at 3:30 p.m.in the Chapel at Belmont University.

Hall Of Fame Guitarist Harold Bradley Passes

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By Robert K. Oermann

Country Music Hall of Fame member Harold Bradley has passed away at age 93.

A veteran session guitarist in Nashville’s renowned “A Team,” Bradley is believed to be the most recorded instrumentalist in history. He was Music Row’s unofficial historian and was the long-tenured president of Nashville’s Local 257 of the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) union in 1991-2008.

He and his older brother Owen Bradley (1915-1998) built The Bradley Film & Recording Studios in 1954. Popularly known as The Quonset Hut, this was the first entertainment business on what later became known as Music Row.

In addition to his 2006 induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame, Harold Bradley and other members of the “A Team” were made members of the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2007. He was honored with a Trustee Award at the Grammy Awards of 2010.

Born in Nashville in 1926, Harold Bradley was urged by keyboardist Owen to switch from playing banjo to the guitar. Owen also got his younger brother a job playing in Ernest Tubb’s band in 1943, when Harold was still a teenager. After serving in the Navy during World War II, Harold returned to his hometown.

While majoring in music at Peabody College, Harold Bradley played guitar backing such stars as Eddy Arnold and Bradley Kincaid at the Grand Ole Opry. His first recording session was in Chicago with Pee Wee King & The Golden West Cowboys in 1946.

Harold Bradley was one of the people who established Nashville as a music center. He and Owen both played the first recording session held in The Castle, Nashville’s first recording studio. It was a 1947 ad jingle for Shyer’s Jewelers. In 1949, Harold played on Nashville’s first country million-seller, Red Foley’s “Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy.” In 1950, both brothers performed on Nashville’s first television broadcast.

During the next 60+ years, Harold Bradley’s recording-session work included backing Elvis Presley, Brenda Lee, Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Clyde McPhatter, Ruth Brown, Carl Perkins, The Everly Brothers and several other members of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame.

It would be easier to list the country stars he hasn’t backed than those he has. Among the Country Music Hall of Famers he’s on records with are Arnold, King, Tubb, Foley, Hank Williams, Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn, Ray Price, Patsy Cline, Jimmie Davis, Webb Pierce, Jim Ed Brown, Don Gibson, Jim Reeves, Chet Atkins, The Statler Brothers, Bill Anderson, Kitty Wells, Charley Pride, Tom T. Hall, Conway Twitty, Roger Miller, Willie Nelson, George Morgan, Marty Robbins, Lefty Frizzell, Faron Young, Hank Snow, Floyd Cramer, Bob Wills, Dolly Parton, Carl Smith, Johnny Cash, Hank Thompson and Sonny James.

Among the timeless tunes embellished by Harold Bradley’s instrumental work are “The Battle of New Orleans,” “Swingin,’” “Here in the Real World,” “Crazy,” “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” “Stand By Your Man,” “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” “The Bunny Hop,” “Make the World Go Away,” “Big Bad John,” “Jingle Bell Rock,” “King of the Road,” “Harper Valley P.T.A.,” “It’s Only Make Believe,” “Long Black Veil,” “For the Good Times” and “Farewell Party.”

He was also a record maker, himself. Signed by Columbia Records as its answer to RCA’s Chet Atkins, Harold Bradley recorded Bossa Nova Goes to Nashville (1963), Misty Guitar (1964) Guitar for Lovers Only (1966) and the compilation Guitar for Sentimental Lovers (1972) for the company. His recorded work led to a ciitation form Billboard as one of 1964’s most promising artists. Harold Bradley was also a member of the recording group The Nashville Guitars.

As a record producer, he worked with Mandy Barnett, Sandy Kelly, Eddy Arnold, Slim Whitman and Billy Chinnock, among others.

Although closely associated with country music, Harold Bradley’s recording resume is impressively diverse. He has backed Ivory Joe Hunter, Patti Page, Brook Benton, Connie Francis, Ann-Margret, Burl Ives, Leon Russell, Bobby Vinton, Al Hirt, The Four Aces, Paul Anka, The Newbeats, Robert Mitchum, Michael Nesmith, Tom Jones, Pete Fountain, Henry Mancini, Joan Baez, George Beverly Shea, Damita Jo, Boots Randolph, Perry Como and more.

In addition to guitar, he played “tic-tac” bass, banjo, vibraphone and percussion on various sessions. The Music Row founding figure was also TV musical director and in 1965-66 was the first president of the Nashville chapter of NARAS.

He won the Recording Academy’s Superpicker Award every year between 1974 and 1979. The AFM gave him its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. On January 25, Belmont University announced a guitar scholarship had been established to honor Bradley.

Harold Bradley died peacefully in his sleep during the early morning hours of Jan. 31.

Memorial Set For Shotgun Red Creator Steve Hall

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By Robert K. Oermann

A celebration of the life of country musician and puppeteer Steve Hall is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 2, at the Nashville Nightlife Dinner Theater.

Best known as the creator of the popular TNN-TV cowboy puppet Shotgun Red, Hall died at age 64 on Dec. 29, 2018. He and his puppet were regulars on TNN’s flagship series Nashville Now in 1983-1993.

Adept on guitar, saxophone and piano, Hall began playing country music five nights a week as soon as he graduated from high school in Minnesota. He was the leader of the country band Southbound ‘76 when he discovered his puppet in a Brainerd, MN hobby shop in 1980.

After traveling to Nashville to compete in a Seagram’s “Battle of the Bands” contest, Hall and his endearing dummy decided to “crash” Ralph Emery’s early-morning TV show in Music City.

The ploy worked. Emery took a shine to the scruffy, mustached, cowboy-hatted and gravelly voiced Shotgun Red. When Emery graduated to hosting TNN’s Nashville Now, he brought Shotgun Red to national stardom on the program.

The puppet became so popular that Hall/Red and Emery recorded two LPs for RCA Records on Music Row. Ralph & Red: Songs for Children and Christmas With Ralph & Red were issued in 1989.

Steve Hall and Shotgun Red were tapped to host the puppet’s own show, TNN’s Country Clips for six years. In addition, Red was a regular on TV’s Hee Haw for a decade. He also hosted The Shotgun Red Variety Show on RFDTV and appeared on Buckmasters on The Outdoor Channel.

Red/Hall debuted on the Grand Ole Opry in 1993. The act later made several more Opry guest appearances.

Steve Hall & Shotgun Red were nominated as Comedian of the Year at the TNN Music City News Awards in 1995 and 1996.

Shotgun Red reportedly had one of country music’s largest fan clubs, with more than 100,000 members. In the wake of the puppet’s popularity, Steve Hall renamed his group The Shotgun Red Band.

The group became the “house act” at The Nashville Nightlife Dinner Theater. It also headlined regularly on the General Jackson showboat.

As a solo pianist, Hall issued the CD Country Crossroads in 2007.

Steve Hall died in his hometown Brainerd, MN while visiting there to go ice fishing.

He is survived by his sons Steve Hall Jr. and Jimmy Gunter, daughter Angela Bavetta, nine grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, two brothers, a sister and his fiancée Sheila Keeton.

Saturday’s memorial event is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. The Nashville Nightlife Dinner Theater is located at 2416 Music Valley Drive.