Industry Executive Jeff Walker Passes

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Jeff Walker

Jeff Walker, CEO/President of The AristoMedia Group/Marco Music Group, has passed away. He died suddenly Monday night, Aug. 24, 2015. He was 65.

Walker was a talented entrepreneur who was at the forefront of advancements in marketing within the country music industry. During 35 years of leading his own company, he made significant contributions to the growth and development of Music Row.

An Australia native, Walker is the son of Bill Walker, a noted musical director and arranger who worked on the Johnny Cash Show, and with countless country stars from the 1960s through 1980s.

Jeff Walker graduated from Australia’s Sydney University, where he earned a degree in Economics with a major in Accounting & Law. He moved to Nashville in 1974 and took a job working for Price Waterhouse accounting firm and then later transitioned to Con Brio Records.

In April 1980 he formed the marketing and promotions firm Aristo Music Associates, Inc. Over the next three-and-a-half decades the business grew to encompass divisions offering publicity, web development, radio promotion, video promotion, and label/distribution services.

Walker served on the Country Radio Broadcasters Board for 35 consecutive years and was currently the Treasurer of the organization. He was also a longtime member of the Country Music Association Board of Directors.

Throughout his career, he was an advocate of expanding country music’s international reach. His work was celebrated with honors including the CMA President’s Award, CMA Jo Walker Meador International Award, CMAA (Australia) Lifetime Achievement Award, BCMA (UK) International Services Award, CCMA (Canada) Leonard T. Rambeau International Support Award, Operation Troop Aid Certification of Appointment and others.

Rick Kelly, VP Radio Marketing for Marco Music Group, says, “Jeff was well known and beloved in the Nashville music industry for his humor, his boundless energy, and his tireless devotion to expanding the reach of country music.”

“Jeff Walker was one of my very best friends for over 30 years,” says MusicRow magazine founder David M. Ross. “We had a special bond which I will always treasure. He loved to make jokes and flash a warm smile, but he was also so serious in how he loved and supported his family, friends, the Music Row industry and country’s international community. He’s left us way too soon, way too soon.”

Mayor Karl Dean said, “Jeff Walker played an important role in spreading country music overseas and bringing country music talent from other countries to perform in Nashville. His zeal for growing country music’s appeal around the globe made him an integral part of our Sister Cities program. In particular, Jeff helped develop our partnership with Tamworth, the Country Music Capital of Australia, and nurture our relationship with Edmonton, which also has strong music ties to Nashville. I know our friends from Edmonton were looking forward to seeing Jeff this weekend during their visit and his absence will be deeply felt. With Anne, I extend our deepest condolences. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.”

Walker is survived by father Bill and stepmother Jeanine, wife Terri, daughter Christy Walker Watkins and her husband Matt Watkins, son Jon Walker and his wife Tessa, and granddaughters Lucy and Elle.

The visitation and funeral took place Friday, Aug. 28, 2015, at First Baptist Church Nashville (108 7th Ave. S., Nashville, TN 37203).

Jeff Walker and family on May 30, 2015, celebrating at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's Nashville Cats: A Salute to Bill Walker. — with Terri Walker, Tessa Walker, Jeanine Walker, Jon Walker, Matt Watkins and Christy Walker-Watkins.

Jeff Walker and family on May 30, 2015, celebrating the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum program Nashville Cats: A Salute to Bill Walker. (L-R): back row: Jeff Walker, Terri Walker, Christy Walker Watkins, Matt Watkins, Tessa Walker, Jon Walker. Seated: Jeanine Walker and Bill Walker.

Pictured (L to R): Jeff Walker was presented with the 2015 President’s Award by CRS Board President, Charlie Morgan during the Country Radio Hall of Fame awards, held at the Omni Hotel in Nashville, Tenn on June 24, 2015. Photo Credit: Kristen England

Jeff Walker (L) was presented with the 2015 President’s Award by CRS Board President Charlie Morgan (R) during the Country Radio Hall of Fame awards, held at the Omni Hotel in Nashville on June 24, 2015. Photo: Kristen England

LifeNotes: Influential Producer Bob Johnston Dies

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Bob Johnston (L) in 2006 when BMI signed singer/songwriter Harper Simon (son of BMI Icon Paul Simon) and Bijou Phillips (daughter of the Mamas & the Papas’ John Phillips) laid tracks for a country music collaboration produced by Johnston. Pictured (L-R): Bob Johnston, Harper Simon, Bijou Philips and BMI’s Shelby Kennedy. Photo: BMI.

Bob Johnston, the producer who made Nashville a destination for recording by visiting pop stars, passed away on Friday, Aug. 14 at age 83.

He is celebrated in the current Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum exhibit “Dylan, Cash and the Nashville Cats.” Johnston famously brought Bob Dylan to Music City to record such cornerstone albums as Blonde on Blonde (1966), John Wesley Harding (1967), Nashville Skyline (1969) and Self Portrait (1970).

These records are widely viewed as opening the way for many other non-country artists to come to Nashville. Johnston also brought in Simon & Garfunkel, Leonard Cohen, Moby Grape and others who are celebrated in the exhibit.

He was born Donald William Johnston in Hillsboro, Texas, into a musical family. His mother, Diane, was a songwriter best known for “Miles and Miles of Texas.” Bob Johnston broke into the music business as a songwriter for Elvis Presley movies in the 1960s. He married Joy Byers, who is also a successful songwriter.

He moved into record production at Columbia in New York. Johnston worked on some of Aretha Franklin’s early records for the label and scored his first hit by producing Patti Page’s 1965 comeback single “Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte.”

Johnston began producing Dylan with 1965’s landmark Highway 61 Revisited. He also produced the hit Simon & Garfunkel LPs Sounds of Silence (1966), Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme (1966) and Bookends (1968).

He was also successful with country artists. When others at the company resisted the idea, he embraced Johnny Cash’s notion of recording a live album at Folsom Prison, which became a blockbuster hit. Cash and Johnston also worked together on At San Quentin and on such hits as “A Boy Named Sue,” “Folsom Prison Blues” and “Sunday Morning Coming Down” in 1968-72.

Columbia’s Marty Robbins was another successful client. Johnston produced the superstar’s “Tonight Carmen” (1967), “Ribbon of Darkness” (1965), “I Walk Alone” (1968), “My Woman, My Woman, My Wife” (1970) and more.

Johnston also produced such Columbia country acts as Earl Scruggs, Claude King, Doug Kershaw and The Statler Brothers. He eventually became an executive in the label’s Nashville office.

He guided the records of the trio The Pozo Seco Singers, from which graduated country star Don Williams. He produced the 1970s pop hits of future country star Michael Martin Murphey – “Wildfire,” “Geronimo’s Cadillac” and “Carolina in the Pines.”

Johnston’s producing career continued into the 1980s and 1990s. The Byrds, Loudon Wainwright III, Pete Seeger, Tracy Nelson, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Carl Perkins, Shel Silverstein, Dan Hicks, Mike Bloomfield, Joe Ely, Hoyt Axton, Wayne Toups, Jimmy Cliff, Billy Joe Shaver, Lindesfarne, John Mayall and The Waterboys were among the highly diverse artists he worked with over the years.

In 1992, he produced Willie Nelson’s notable The I.R.S. Tapes. In recent years, he has worked with a number of independent, alternative rock and folk artists.

Johnston had been in a Nashville hospice in recent weeks. He is survived by his wife Joy Byers and his son Kevin. Funeral arrangements have not been announced.

Lifenotes: Singer Audrey Auld

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Photo from Audrey Auld’s official Facebook page.

Singer-songwriter Audrey Auld-Mezera, a one time Nashvillian, died on Sunday, Aug. 9 following a battle with cancer. She was 51 and had been living in California.

The Australia native’s full-length solo debut The Fallen was nominated for Best Country Album by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). During her career she also received a second ARIA nomination.

Auld worked with musicians including Bill Chambers, Kieran Kane, Fred Eaglesmith, Mary Gauthier, Dale Watson, Kasey Chambers, and Carrie Rodriguez. Auld’s music was used on television shows Justified, Longmire, NCIS: New Orleans and The Good Guys.

In recent years she hosted songwriting workshops for inmates in San Quentin Prison. Her final album, Hey Warden, was inspired by those experiences and released earlier this year.

She is survived by husband, Mez Mezera. Funeral arrangements have not been announced.

Producing And Songwriting Titan Billy Sherrill Dies

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Billy Sherrill

 

Country Music Hall of Fame member Billy Sherrill passed away today (Aug. 4) at age 78.

As a record producer, his name is on some of the most iconic singles ever created on Music Row — Tammy Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man,” George Jones’s “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” Charlie Rich’s “Behind Closed Doors,” Johnny Paycheck’s “Take This Job and Shove It” and Tanya Tucker’s “Delta Dawn” among them. As a songwriter, Sherrill earned BMI Awards for 52 of his compositions. His contributions to the country repertoire include “Too Far Gone,” “My Elusive Dreams,” “Til I Can Make It On My Own,” “The Most Beautiful Girl,” “Soul Song” and “Your Good Girl’s Gonna Go Bad,” as well as “Stand By Your Man.”

His co-written “Almost Persuaded” and “A Very Special Love Song” both won Best Country Song Grammy Awards. “Til I Can Make It On My Own” and “The Most Beautiful Girl” were both CMA Song of the Year winners. He cowrote 18 songs that became No. 1 country hits and was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984. As a record executive, he headed the Nashville office of CBS (Columbia and Epic Records) and discovered Wynette, Tucker, Barbara Mandrell, Lacy J. Dalton and Shelby Lynne.

Billy Sherrill was born and raised in north Alabama as the son of an evangelical preacher. He played saxophone and piano in area rock ’n’ roll and R&B bands, such as The Fairlanes (with future producer/publisher Rick Hall). After trying his hand as a pop recording artist, he moved to Nashville in 1962. Sam Phillips hired him to run the Sun Records office in Music City. The following year, Billy Sherrill joined the artists-and-repertoire department of Epic Records.

He produced early breakthrough gospel albums for The Staple Singers on Epic in 1965-67. He produced “Lullabye of Love” as a 1966 pop and soul hit for The Poppies, which included future solo star Dorothy Moore (“Misty Blue”). He also produced the rock group Barry & The Remains. Elvis Presley guitarist Scotty Moore’s renowned LP The Guitar That Changed the World (1964) was also a Billy Sherrill production.

BMI President & CEO Del Bryant; 2010 BMI Icon Billy Sherrill; Charlene Sherrill; and BMI Vice President, Writer/Publisher Relations, Jody Williams pause for a photo at the 2010 BMI Country Awards, staged November 9 at the organization’s Music Row offices. Photo: BMI

BMI’s then President & CEO Del Bryant; 2010 BMI Icon Billy Sherrill; Charlene Sherrill; and BMI Vice President, Writer/Publisher Relations, Jody Williams pause for a photo at the 2010 BMI Country Awards, staged November 9 at the organization’s Music Row offices. Photo: BMI

Sherrill said that he disliked country music, but he became wildly successful in the format. He initially struck pay dirt by producing David Houston’s version of the Sherrill co-penned “Almost Persuaded” in 1966. He also produced and cowrote 22 of the singer’s other hits, including “Livin’ in a House Full of Love” (1965), “A Loser’s Cathedral” (1966), “With One Exception” (1967), “My Elusive Dreams” (a duet with Wynette, 1967), “Already It’s Heaven” (1968), “My Woman’s Good to Me” (1969) and “I Do My Swinging at Home” (1970). He had even bigger success with Wynette. In addition to “Stand By Your Man” (1968), “Your Good Girl’s Gonna Go Bad” (1967) and “Til I Can Make It On My Own” (1976), Sherrill produced and cowrote more than 20 other Wynette hits, including “I Don’t Wanna Play House” (1967), “Take Me to Your World” (1968), “Singing My Song” (1969), “He Loves Me All the Way” (1970), “My Man” (1972), “Another Lonely Song” (1973), “Woman to Woman” (1974) and “You and Me” (1976).

He took over record production for established star George Jones in the early 1970s. Sherrill produced the landmark Jones/Wynette duet records as well as a long string of Jones solo classics for the next 15 years, including “A Picture of Me (Without You)” (1972), “The Grand Tour” (1974) and “Bartender’s Blues” (with James Taylor, 1978). The Sherrill-produced 1980 Jones mega hit “He Stopped Loving Her Today” is frequently cited as the greatest country record of all time.

As he had done with Jones, the producer took Charlie Rich to new heights by producing and/or cowriting a string of classics for the artist in 1968-78. He also produced successful records for Joe Stampley, David Allan Coe, Jody Miller, Marty Robbins, Johnny Duncan, Johnny Rodriguez, Johnny Cash, Janie Fricke, Barbara Fairchild, Bobby Vinton, Jim & Jesse, Elvis Costello, Ray Charles, Mickey Gilley, Freddy Weller and Moe Bandy, among others. His production style was dubbed “countrypolitan,” which was somewhat controversial at the time. Purists felt that it took the country sound too far “uptown” and made the genre too slick. Sherrill countered that millions of people loved it and bought the records.

By the time he retired from the record business around 1990, Billy Sherrill was unquestionably country music’s major sonic architect of his era. His influence remains a part of the genre to this day. He was publicity shy and did not care for awards or accolades. Nevertheless, Billy Norris Sherrill was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2008, and two years later, he entered the Country Music Hall of Fame.

“Billy  Sherrill was the 1st producer to give me a push to start my own records, as he and CBS President Bruce Lundvall talked me into signing that 1st contract.  I was a busy backup singer and was not sure about going solo. I will hold dear those precious memories of magical studio productions with Billy, and will miss him greatly,” says Janie Fricke.

He is survived by his wife Charlene, daughter Catherine Lale, son-in-law George Lale and grandchildren Samantha and Matthew.

Funeral services for Billy Sherrill were held at Woodlawn-Roesch-Patton Funeral Home. Visitation was scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 6, 2015, 4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. and Friday, Aug. 7, 2015, 2:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. A Graveside Service followed Friday’s visitation at 5:00 p.m. at Woodlawn Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Nashville Humane Association, nashvillehumane.org or Nashville Alive Hospice, alivehospice.org.

 

Colorful Talent Manager Tandy Rice Passes

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Tandy Rice

Tandy Rice

Music Row magnate Tandy Rice died at Centennial Hospital on Monday (Aug. 3) afternoon. He was 76 years old.

The statesman-like Music City personality managed and/or booked such country-music greats as Porter Wagoner, Dolly Parton, Jim Ed Brown, The Kendalls, Tom T. Hall, Helen Cornelius, Jeannie C. Riley, and more.

Born Tandy Clinton Rice Jr. in 1938, he was a native of Franklin, TN. Unlike most of his peers, he was a patrician. His father was a prominent physician, and the future entrepreneur grew up privileged and indulged. He attended The Citadel and Vanderbilt.

Minnie Pearl (Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon) was a distant cousin. She encouraged him to enter the music business. Tandy Rice began his career as a publicist, representing Waylon Jennings, Chet Atkins, Kitty Wells and Hank Williams Jr., among others. He hit his stride as a salesman for Show Biz, Inc., which distributed syndicated country television shows to stations throughout the nation. After three years there, he bought the company’s booking agency, Top Billing, Inc. He developed Top Billing into a Nashville powerhouse. At its peak, the firm booked and/or managed 18 major artists. There, Tandy Rice famously managed Mississippi fertilizer salesman Jerry Clower, who became a recording artist, a Grand Ole Opry member, a top convention speaker, a commercial pitchman, an author, a radio host and a TV star. Similarly, he transformed Billy Carter into a national media celebrity who out-earned his brother, President Jimmy Carter.

Always impeccably groomed and socially polished, Tandy Rice was a master salesman, using his folksy humor, honeyed Southern drawl, evangelistic enthusiasm and skill as a raconteur to charm everyone who met him. He became nearly as well known as the artists he represented. Rice was profiled in Newsweek, The Washington Post, People, Playboy, The New York Times and other national publications. Rice was a judge for the 1983 Miss America Pageant, which crowned Vanessa Williams. He also judged it in 1996, as well as several lesser such competitions.

“Tandy was not only one of the greatest agents in the business, but he was also one of the greatest people I’ve ever known.  I loved him dearly as a friend.  He will live in the heart of this town forever; and forever he will certainly live in mine,” says Dolly Parton.

At home in Music City, he became the host of the top-rated WLAC radio talk show Good Morning Nashville, as well as NewsChannel 5’s Morningline TV program. For 15 years, he hosted the United Cerebral Palsy Telethon on WKRN-TV. He served on the board of the CMA for more than a decade and was its president in 1981. He became an adjunct professor at Belmont University’s Mike Curb School of Music Business. In 2007, he was announced as the Dean of George Jones University.

In 2010, he survived prostate cancer. The following year, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the International Entertainment Buyers Association (IEBA). In 2014, Tandy Rice became the inaugural inductee into the National Association of Talent Directors (NATD) Hall of Fame.

In addition to his Music Row activities, Rice was prominent in several Nashville civic organizations and charities. His organizations included the Boy Scouts, The Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, The Nashville Rotary Club and Battle Ground Academy.

He is survived by daughters Cynthia Rice Simonet and Marjorie Rice Mason, six grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Visitation was held Friday, Aug. 7, 5:30 p.m – 8:30 p.m. at Fourth Avenue Church of Christ located at 117 4th Avenue North in Franklin, TN. The memorial service was scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 8 at 11:00 a.m. at Fourth Avenue Church of Christ. Memorial Donations may be made to: The Rice Family Middle-Tennessee Scholarship Fund at The Citadel, 171 Moultrie Street, Charleston, SC 29409, or GraceWorks Ministries, 104 Southeast Pkwy, Franklin, TN 37064. Condolences may be offered online at www.tennesseanfuneralhome.com.

Country Great Lynn Anderson Dies At 67

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Lynn Anderson

Country singer Lynn Anderson passed away at age 67.

The multi-award-winning American country music singer is known for a string of hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s, most notably her country-pop hit “(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden.” Anderson became one of the most successful country singers of the ’70s.

NSAI Executive Director Bart Herbison shares, “Losing Lynn Anderson is a personal loss to the Nashville Songwriters Association (NSAI). Lynn was family. Her parents, Casey Anderson and the late Liz Anderson, were two of NSAI’s founding members. Her parents were given the Stephen Foster Award by NSAI in February this year, where Lynn performed. We will truly miss her.”

“I am a huge fan of Lynn’s. She was always so nice to me. She did so much for the females in country music.  Always continuing to pave the road for those to follow. I loved her music and her love for horses. Rose Garden was a song I sang in high school in our Kiowa Cowboys High School band. She will be missed,” shared Reba McEntire.

Anderson was also named Top Female Vocalist by the Academy of Country Music (ACM) twice, and Female Vocalist of the Year by the Country Music Association (CMA).

Ms. Anderson most recently released a gospel album Bridges on Center Sound Records. Liz Anderson’s song “My Guardian Angel,” published by her father Casey, is featured on the album.

One of the keys to Lynn’s success was that she always made her fans a priority. Since the inaugural year of Fan Fair (now CMA Music Festival) in 1972, Lynn has only missed one year due to illness as she greatly valued the direct connection to her devoted and loving fans at that event.

Her success in the equestrian community was equally as monumental as her music career winning 16 National Championships and four world championships across the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) and National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA).

For twenty years, she has worked with both the Roundup for Autism and the Cariety Foundation, an organization supporting families of cancer patients. Other notable contributions were made to the Mary Kay Ash Foundation, The North American Riders for the Handicapped Association and military support organizations.

Lynn is survived by her father, C.S. “Casey” Anderson, partner, Mentor Williams; children, Lisa Sutton, Melissa Hempel, Gray Stream and four grandchildren.

Funeral services for Lynn Anderson were held at 11:00 a.m. on Wed., Aug. 5th at Woodlawn-Roesch-Patton Funeral Home & Memorial Park. Visitation was set for Tuesday, Aug. 4th from 5:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. Both were open to the public. Her family has asked that donations be directed to any of the following; Proverbs 12:10 Animal Rescue in Dickson, TN, Stray Hearts Animal Shelter in Taos, NM, The Careity Foundation in Fort Worth, TX, or Semper Fi Fund in Oceanside, CA

Lynn Anderson sings “(From Now On) All My Friends Are Gonna Be Strangers,” written by her mother, Liz Anderson, in honor of Liz & Casey Anderson being presented NSAI’s Stephen Foster Award:

Youtube video

 

 

Steel Guitar Pioneer Buddy Emmons Dies At 78

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Buddy Emmons.

Buddy Emmons.

Steel guitar pioneer Buddy Emmons died Wednesday, July 29 at the age of 78.

Emmons played with such musical legends as Ray Price, Ernest Tubb, Linda Ronstadt, Willie Nelson, Gram Parsons, Ray Charles, Roger Miller, George Strait, Faron Young, Judy Collins, The Carpenters, The Everly Brothers, Nancy Sinatra and Emmylou Harris. His songwriting can be heard on Kacey Musgraves‘ latest album on the bonus track “Are You Sure.”

Born in Mishawaka, Ind., Buddie Gene Emmons (nicknamed The Big E) began playing a lap steel at the age of 11. He was professional by the age of 16. His move to Nashville in 1955 led to his joining Little Jimmy Dickens‘ band at the age of 18. He also lived in California.

He led a new style in playing, credited with the “split pedal” sound, which divided one of the instrument’s pedals in two and added strings for modified tuning.

He recorded a 1963 album with that trademark instrument titled, Steel Guitar Jazz in addition to releasing DVDs and seasonal albums. A tribute album was organized in 2013 by steel guitarist Steve Fishell featuring Vince Gill, Willie Nelson, Chris Stapleton, Dan Dugmore, Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell.

Emmons has appeared on A Prairie Home Companion and events at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

He is preceded in death by his wife Peggy. Arrangements were not immediately available.

Johnny Slate Dies at Age 77

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Johnny Slate.

Johnny Slate.

John Thomas Slate had a multifaceted music career in Nashville, making his mark as a songwriter, publisher, producer and manager for more than 40 years.

He passed away on Friday, July 24 at age 77, following a battle with cancer.

As a songwriter, Johnny Slate was known for such BMI award-winning songs as “Better Love Next Time” (Dr. Hook, 1979) and “Blaze of Glory” (Kenny Rogers, 1982), plus the Razzy Bailey hits “Friends” (1981), “I Keep Coming Back” (1981), “Loving Up a Storm” (1980) and “Tonight She’s Gonna Love Me (Like There Was No Tomorrow)” (1979).

He also cowrote the Joe Diffie hit “Next Thing Smokin’” (1992), The Younger Brothers’ “Nothing But the Radio On” (1982), Joe Sun’s “Shotgun Rider” (1980) and Eddy Arnold’s “Don’t Look Now (But We Just Fell in Love)” (1981).

The Razzy Bailey singles “What Time Do You Have to Be Back to Heaven” (1978), “I Ain’t Got No Business Doing Business Today” (1979) and “Everytime You Cross My Mind (You Break My Heart)” (1982) were also cowritten by Johnny Slate.

His songs were recorded by Johnny Cash, Ringo Starr, George Jones, Delbert McClinton, Tammy Wynette, Tom Jones, John Denver, Sammy Davis Jr., Exile, Loretta Lynn, Millie Jackson, Roger Miller and Charlie Rich, among others.

Slate was born in Clarksville, Tenn. After coming to Nashville, he wrote for Pamper, Green Grass, House of Gold and several other publishers before forming his own Out of Slate Music.

He was the professional manager at Tree International. He opened the Warner Bros. publishing office and served as its director. He and songwriter Larry Henley formed the Windchime and Sandstorm publishing companies, responsible for the 1978 Player pop hit “This Time I’m in it for Love.”

He created and became president of Affiliated Publishers Inc. (API) with Danny Morrison and Tony Harley. The company’s writers included Drew Womack, Joe Diffie, Kerry Kurt Phillips, Steve Pippin, Sonny LeMaire, Ken Spooner, Jerry Laseter and Wyatt Easterling. The company’s copyrights included Tim McGraw’s “I Like It, I Love It” (1995) and Diffie’s “Pickup Man” (1994).

As a producer, he created albums for Henley, Diffie, Sons of the Desert, Ron Williams and Fallenrock, among others.

As a manager, he opened a company called IMAGE Mgmt. He and his partners there managed Diffie, Tim McGraw, Ty Herndon, Sons of the Desert and several independent-label artists.

Johnny Slate was also an author. With his cowriter and cousin Danny Morrison, he published Song Writing From the Inside Out with Applewood Books.

He is survived by children Stacey, Stephen, Stephanie, Jenny and David, by 11 grandchildren, one great-grandchild and by sister Dorothy Holeman.

A memorial service for Johnny Slate will be held at 4:00 p.m. on Monday, August 3 at Hendersonville First United Methodist Church. The family will receive friends from 2:00 p.m. until the time of the service and immediately following the service. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to MusiCares.

Lifenotes: Joanna Montgomery, Wife of Mark Montgomery

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joanna montgomery

Joanna Stanfield Montgomery

Joanna Montgomery, wife of tech entrepreneur Mark Montgomery, passed away on Tuesday, July 28 following a long battle with cancer. She was 47.

She bravely documented her journey on her blog, sharing her story of balancing motherhood and cancer. She was the focus of a documentary series, appeared on Katie Couric’s talk show, and in two front-page stories in The Tennessean.

Joanna was born Aug. 23, 1967 in St. Joe, Missouri and her family moved to the Nashville area when she was in fifth grade. As an adult, she worked as a paralegal, and was passionate about family law.

She and Mark married in 2011 and their daughter, Magnolia Grace, was born the same year. The doctors discovered Joanna’s cancer during her c-section.

The family requests charitable donations in lieu of flowers. Donations can also be made to the Magnolia Foundation, a nonprofit organization for research about gynecologic cancers. Magnolia Foundation C/O Rashford Kruse P.O. Box 121228 Nashville, TN 37212.

The Tennessean has a beautifully written tribute to Joanna here.

Songwriting Great Wayne Carson Passes

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Wayne Carson.

Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Wayne Carson passed away on the morning of July 20, following a long illness.

Noted for such compositions as “The Letter,” “Always on My Mind” and “No Love at All,” Carson was also a recording artist and a song publisher. He died in hospice care at age 73.

Born Wayne Carson Thompson in Denver, CO, he was the son of country performers Odie and Olivia Thompson. Their stage names were Shorty and Sue. After stints on the radio in Nebraska and Colorado, they moved to Springfield, Mo. to join the staff at KWTO.

Shorty became a member of The Tall Timber Boys on The Ozark Jubilee radio and TV program in Springfield. Inspired by Merle Travis, Wayne began playing guitar at age 14. As a youngster, he performed on the offshoot show Junior Jubilee alongside Brenda Lee.

He initially moved to Nashville in 1962, but returned to Springfield to write songs for Jubilee producer Si Siman’s publishing company. Wayne Carson’s first success as a songwriter was with the No. 1 Eddy Arnold hit of 1966, “Somebody Like Me.”

He became an even bigger success with 1967’s “The Letter,” an international No. 1 hit for The Box Tops. The song was revived in 1970 by Joe Cocker, has been recorded by more than 20 others and can currently be heard on the soundtrack of the Minions movie.

Carson also wrote The Box Tops hits “Neon Rainbow” (1968) and “Soul Deep” (1969). Other early successes in the pop field were “Do It Again, a Little Bit Slower” by Jon & Robin and The In Crowd (1967), “Nine Pound Steel” by Joe Simon (1967), “Cussin’ Cryin’ and Carryin’ On” by Ike & Tina Turner (1967) and “Keep On” by Bruce Channel (1968).

In Nashville, Waylon Jennings had hits with Carson’s “Something’s Wrong in California” (1969) and “(Don’t Let the Sun Set on You in) Tulsa” (1971). Mel Tillis took the songwriter’s “Who’s Julie” into the country top-10 in 1969.

“No Love at All” became another often-recorded Wayne Carson song. Lynn Anderson took it up the country charts in 1970, then B.J. Thomas made it an even bigger pop hit the following year. It has also been recorded by Glen Campbell, Willie Nelson, Dottie West and others.

His co-written “Always on My Mind” began its journey to becoming a standard when Brenda Lee introduced it in 1972. Elvis Presley recorded it the following year. Then Willie Nelson’s version of the song became a smash hit in 1982, when it won Song of the Year honors from the Grammy Awards, the CMA, the NSAI and other organizations. It has since been recorded by dozens of others, including Johnny Cash, B.B. King, Anne Murray and Scotty McCreery. The Pet Shop Boys had a No. 1 hit in the U.K. with it in 1988.

Wayne Carson co-wrote a string of honky-tonk country classics in the 1970s. They include Conway Twitty’s “I See the Want-To in Your Eyes” (1974), Johnny Paycheck’s “Slide Off Your Satin Sheets” (1977) and Moe Bandy’s “Barstool Mountain” (1979). Gary Stewart’s “Drinkin’ Thing’ (1974), “She’s Actin’ Single (I’m Drinkin’ Doubles)” (1975) and “Whiskey Trip” (1978) were all Carson songs.

By this time, Wayne Carson was an established recording artist, himself. He made the country charts three times during the 1970s. During his career, he released records on the Decca, Monument, Elektra, Private Stock, EMH and MGM labels. He has also recorded for his own record company. His Life Lines LP was issued by Monument in 1972.

In 1979, Ray Price introduced the songwriter’s ballad “That’s the Only Way to Say Good Morning.” In 1982, Conway Twitty scored a No. 1 hit with Carson’s “The Clown.” Others who recorded his songs in Nashville include Gene Watson, T.G. Sheppard, Randy Travis, Shelby Lynne, Michael Johnson, Sammi Smith, Alabama, Billie Jo Spears, Tony Joe White, Vern Gosdin and Wade Hayes.

Wayne Carson was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1997. He went into semi-retirement, but occasionally continued to write songs. Dan Auerbach of the rock group The Black Keys recorded his “I Want Some More” on his 2009 solo album.

The Country Music Hall of Fame saluted Wayne Carson by featuring him in its Poets and Prophets songwriter series in 2011.

More than 75 million records have been sold by artists singing his songs.

Wayne Carson is survived by his wife Wyndi Harp and son Christian Head.

A celebration of life service was held at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, July 28, 2015 at The Pavilion at Harpeth Hills Funeral Home, 9090 Hwy 100, Nashville, (615) 646-9292. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Southern Cross Boston Terrier Rescue at www.southerncrossbtr.com.