He is a pianist and producer who was born in
Greensboro, North Carolina, as the son of an evangelist and sang and toured
with the family group, The Browns. He started to play the piano when he was 13 years old,
learning to play by ear and after seeing several gospel ensembles decided
he wanted to belong to one. Although only having been exposed to religious music he
was determined to pursue a musical career and when he was fifteen he moved
to Louisiana and played in the family group of Linda Robinson, who was his
new piano teacher.Moving back
to his home in Durham, North Carolina, where he attended high school and performed
as a member of the Dixie Melody Boys.Once he had graduated he launched into his professional career in
music and joined the Traveler's Quartet in Florida before moving onto the
Klaudt Indian Family for a very brief time.1965 saw him successfully auditioning for J.D. Sumner's
group, The Stamps, and in 1967 he went to live in Nashville.He met
Elvis
Presley in 1969 in Las
Vegas and played piano for him for his last two years of touring and
recording from 1975.Prior
to this initial meeting he was with the Stamps Quartet with JD
Sumner, appeared with the Blackwood Brothers and The Oak Ridge Boys
and later was a member of the gospel band Voice that had been
created by Elvis
Presley
.Eventually becoming part of Elvis's
band, Sweet Inspirations, with co-musicians such as David
Briggs, James Burton, Jerry
Scheff and Ronnie
Tutt, he played on "Bringing It Back" for Elvis'Today album and went on to perform on his Moody Blue
as well at many of his concerts.After Elvis' death he was a member of Emmylou Harris's Hot Band from
1977 to 1978 and performed in her Quarter Moon in Ten Cent Town tour,
followed by him working as a Nashville session musician.After managing Free Flight
Records for a year or so from 1978 to 1979 he returned to working
for RCA and then became a member of the Cherry Bombs who were the
band of Rodney Crowell and Roseanne Cash. Wanting to move on, he
ventured into the production side of things, eventually becoming the
President of MCA Records in Nashville, and he has produced, worked
with and/or performed on albums for artists such as The Bellamy
Brothers, Larry Carlton, Roseanne Cash, Hank
DeVito
, Vince Gill, Emory Gordy Jr., Nanci
Griffith, Glen Hardin, George Jones, Tim
Krekel, Wynonna Judd, Nicolette
Larson , Lyle Lovett, The
Mavericks, Mac
McAnally, Edgar Meyer, Reba McEntire, Willie Nelson, Buck Owens,
George
Strait
, Tammy
Wynette and Trisha Yearwood as just a small selection of many.The albums he has worked on in one
capacity or another are countless, but a few of them include License to
Chill by Jimmy
Buffett , Better Days by Guy Clark, Evangeline
by Emmylou Harris, Greatest Hits Vol. 3 by Billy Joel, 20th
Century Masters: The Christmas Collection by Michael McDonald, Back
With a Heart by Olivia Newton John and the soundtracks of Always, Black
Dog, Cry-Baby, 8 Seconds, The Firm, Honeymoon in Vegas, The Horse
Whisperer, Indecent Proposal and Leap of Faith.The winner of many awards, he has
been named "Country Producer of the Year" six times by Billboard, twice by Music
Row magazine, and been in receipt of the Pioneer Award for "distinguished
achievement in the recording industry", 5 Grammy Awards, 2 ACM Awards and
an American Music Award.
