He is a multi-instrumentalist born in Atlanta, Georgia
who was playing the piano by the time he was four years old and the
ukulele, guitar and banjo by the time he was six.While he was still at school he would manage his
time off by playing in various types of bands and when attending Georgia
State University he played the French horn in their band.Although loving all the
instruments that he played, the bass guitar was the one he wanted to
play the most and this came to fruition after he had become a
session musician based in Los Angeles in 1964 and was requested to
play it by Tommy
Roe
.Within a week he went to work in a studio and ended up
working Tommy
Roe
again and Mac David amongst
others.This led him to going on tour with acts such as Lou Christie
and The Impressions and also co-writing songs such as "Traces" where
he collaborated with Buddy
Buie and J.R.
Cobb
.Moving into the 1970s he joined forces with Neil
Diamond in 1971 and became his bassist in the studio and on tour
and by March of the next year he was taken on to do some recording
for Elvis
in the absence of his normal bass player, Jerry
Scheff
.This would result in him
appearing on the hits "Burning Love", "Separate Ways", "For the Good
Times" and "Always
On My Mind
".Still performing with Neil
Diamond's band he appeared with him in
concert and on his Hot August Night Live in 1972 and also that same
year would record with Gram Parsons and become one of the first members of
Emmylou Harris' Hot Band, who he would stay with until 1977.In 1973 he was back with Elvis's
TCB Band after being recommended by him personally and he remained
with them for the rest of the year until he decided to spend more time in
the recording studio.1977 saw
him working with Roseanne Cash in the band The Cherry Bombs and after being
with them for around 2 years he left for a while so he could tour the world
with John Denver and work on two of his albums where he wrote the bass
tracks.With the 1980s came
another string to his bow in the line of production work in Nashville and
working often in collaboration he produced for artists such as Steve Earle,
Patty Loveless, who he married in 1989, and Chris Hillman.At the same time he also ventured
into the world of movie music and produced the soundtracks for King of
New York, Black Dog, Apostle, Switchback, Broken Bridges and Tin Cup.Over the years the amount of
other artists he has worked with are countless but include Alabama,
Hoyt
Axton , Bellamy Brothers, Jimmy
Buffett, David Cassidy, Dan Fogelberg, Vince Gill, Billy Joel,
George Jones, Bill Monroe, Tom Petty, Linda
Ronstadt, Carol
Bayer Sager, Ricky
Skaggs
and Conway Twitty.The literally hundreds of albums he has featured on as a
musician include In Pictures by Alabama , Pure Country by George
Strait
, Heart Like a Wheel by Linda
Ronstadt , Seven Year
Ache by Roseanne Cash, Evangeline and Songbird: Rare Tracks
& Forgotten Gems by Emmylou Harris, My Lives, Piano Man,
Streetlife Serenade and Greatest Hits Vol. 1 & 2 by Billy
Joel, In My Lifetime by Neil
Diamond , Better Days by Guy
Clark
, Dancer With Bruised Knees by Kate & Anna McGarrigle, 50
Years of Hits by George Jones, Shades by J.J. Cale, Elvis
and Platinum: A Life in Music by Elvis
Presley , Let Your Love
Flow by The Bellamy Brothers, The Higher They Climb the Harder They
Fall by David Cassidy, Weve Got Tonight by Kenny
Rogers , Road
Songs by Hoyt
Axton , Last Mango in Paris and Riddles in the
Sand by Jimmy
Buffett , Five-O-Five by Hank Williams Jr. and Christmas
Together by John Denver & The Muppets.Recognised for his contributions to music he has won
many awards including a Grammy for "Best Bluegrass Album" with Southern
Flavor by Bill Monroe & His Bluegrass Boys and was inducted into
the Georgia Hall of Fame in 1997.
