Allen Reynolds | |
---|---|
Born | North Little Rock, Arkansas | August 18, 1938
Origin | United States |
Genres | Country music |
Occupation(s) | Record producer and songwriter |
Years active | 1962–present |
Labels | JMI Records, UA Records |
Allen Reynolds (born August 18, 1938) is an American record producer and songwriter who specializes in country music. [1] He has been inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame [2] [3] and the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum.
Reynolds was born in North Little Rock, Arkansas, and grew up in Memphis, Tennessee. [2] He started writing songs during his college years and eventually teamed up with Dickey Lee to form their own publishing and production company. They had a minor regional hit with the song "Dream Boy." [1]
In the early 1960s, Reynolds most notably wrote the 1965 pop hit "Five O'Clock World" for the Vogues. Reynolds worked at Sun Records in Memphis, and he became good friends with Jack Clement, a leading producer and songwriter at the label. [1]
In the early 1970s, Reynolds' friend, producer and writer Jack Clement, left Memphis to start his own publishing company and record label in Nashville, JMI Records. Clement convinced Reynolds to sign on as vice-president. Reynolds built a roster of talented writers at the label, including Bob McDill (writer of the country standard "Amanda") and Don Williams. [4] Reynolds went on to write and produce on Williams' first two albums, and was instrumental in helping Williams to launch his career. [5]
When JMI Records closed in 1975, Reynolds continued to actively write and produce around Nashville, including Waylon Jennings' "Dreaming My Dreams with You." However, he achieved his greatest commercial success during this time working as writer and producer for Crystal Gayle. [2] Some of their notable collaborations included "Wrong Road Again," "Somebody Loves You" and "Ready For the Times to Get Better." [6] When Gayle left Decca Records in 1975, she signed with UA Records where she was teamed up with Reynolds, and he is credited with developing her signature soft rock sound. [7] [8]
Allen Reynolds' songs have left a lasting legacy on the country music scene. Hal Ketchum covered the 1960s hit "Five O'Clock World" on his 1991 debut album Past the Point of Rescue , with Reynolds as co-producer alongside Jim Rooney, which became a Top 20 country single for Ketchum. [9]
Reynolds has kept busy in the music industry working as a noted record producer. Reynolds produced many of Garth Brooks's hit albums. He has also produced albums for Kathy Mattea, Hal Ketchum, Emmylou Harris, George Hamilton IV and the O'Kanes. [2]
In 1975, Reynolds purchased Jack's Tracks recording studio from Jack Clement for $65,000, and produced many albums there, including many of Garth Brooks' albums. In 2010, Reynolds sold the studio to Brooks. In 2012, in honor of his 50th birthday, Brooks renamed the studio Allentown. [10] [11]
Title | Co-writer(s) | Year | Artist | Album | Chart | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
"I Saw Linda Yesterday" | Dickey Lee | 1962 | Dickey Lee | |||
"Five O'Clock World" | 1965 | The Vogues | ||||
"Her and Him" | Dickey Lee | 1965 | Bruce and Carroll | |||
"Medicine Man" | Mitt Addington | 1965 | Sam The Sham and the Pharaohs | |||
"He's Not Your Friend" | Dickey Lee | 1966 | Dee Jay and the Runnaways | |||
"I Sowed Love and Reaped Heartache" | Dickey Lee | 1968 | James Carr | |||
"Everybody's Reaching Out For Someone" | Dickey Lee | 1971 | Dickey Lee | |||
"Catfish John" | Bob McDill | 1972 | Bob McDill | Short Stories | ||
"Stainless Steel" | Bob McDill | 1972 | Bob McDill | Short Stories | ||
"Too Late To Turn Back Now" | Don Williams | 1973 | Don Williams | Don Williams Volume One | ||
"I Recall a Gypsy Woman" | Don Williams, Bob McDill | 1973 | Don Williams | Don Williams Volume One | ||
"Loving You So Long" | 1974 | Don Williams | Don Williams Volume Two | |||
"It Amazes Me" | Wayland Holyfield | 1974 | Charley Pride | |||
"Before I'm Fool Enough" | 1974 | Mary Kay James | ||||
"We Should Be Together" | 1974 | Don Williams | Don Wliliams Volume Two | |||
"Dreaming My Dreams of You" | 1975 | Waylon Jennings | Dreaming My Dreams | |||
"My Ship Will Sail" | 1975 | Mary Kay James | ||||
"Loving You So Long Now" | 1975 | Crystal Gayle | Crystal Gayle | |||
"Wrong Road Again" | 1975 | Crystal Gayle | Crystal Gayle | |||
"Somebody Loves You" | 1975 | Crystal Gayle | Somebody Loves You | |||
"All I Wanna Do in Life" | Sandy Mason | 1976 | Chip Hawkes | |||
"Ready for the Times to Get Better" | 1976 | Crystal Gayle | Crystal | |||
"We Must Believe In Magic" | Bob McDill | 1977 | Crystal Gayle | We Must Believe In Magic | ||
"Trail of Tears" | Roger Cook | 1982 | ||||
"Coming to the Dance" | Charles Cochran | 1985 | Crystal Gayle | Nobody Wants to Be Alone |
Brenda Gail Webb, known professionally as Crystal Gayle is an American country music singer widely known for her 1977 hit "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue". Initially, Gayle's management and record label were the same as that of her oldest sister, Loretta Lynn. Not finding success with the arrangement after several years, and with Lynn's encouragement, Gayle decided to try a different approach. She signed a new record contract and began recording with Nashville producer Allen Reynolds. Gayle's new sound was sometimes referred to as middle-of-the-road (MOR) or country pop, and was part of a bigger musical trend by many country artists of the 1970s to appeal to a wider audience. Subsequently, Gayle became one of the most successful crossover artists of the 1970s and 80s. She is known for her floor-length hair.
Patricia Lynn Yearwood is an American country singer. She rose to fame with her 1991 debut single "She's in Love with the Boy", which became a number one hit on the Billboard country singles chart. Its corresponding self-titled debut album would sell over two million copies. Yearwood continued with a series of major country hits during the early to mid-1990s, including "Walkaway Joe" (1992), "The Song Remembers When" (1993), "XXX's and OOO's " (1994), and "Believe Me Baby " (1996).
Jack Henderson Clement was an American singer-songwriter and record and film producer. He was producer and engineer for Sam Phillips at Sun Records in its early days, and worked with Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash.
Patrick J. Alger is an American country music songwriter, singer and guitarist and a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (2010) and the Georgia Music Hall of Fame (2013).
Hal Michael Ketchum was an American country music singer and songwriter. He released eleven studio albums from 1986 to 2014, including nine for divisions of Curb Records. Ketchum's 1991 album Past the Point of Rescue was his most commercially successful, having been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. Between 1991 and 2006, Ketchum had 17 entries on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including three that reached No. 2, "Small Town Saturday Night", "Past the Point of Rescue", and "Hearts Are Gonna Roll". Ketchum's music is defined by his songwriting and folk music influences. Ketchum retired from the music business in 2019 following a diagnosis of dementia.
Ain't Gonna Worry is an album by the American country music singer Crystal Gayle. Released on July 2, 1990, it marked the end of her run of Billboard album chart appearances. The album was Gayle's first and only album for the Capitol Records label.
Rockabilly Blues is an album by American country singer Johnny Cash, released on Columbia Records in 1980. Highlights include "Cold Lonesome Morning," which had some minor chart success, "Without Love," by his son-in-law, Nick Lowe, and a cover of the witty "The Twentieth Century Is Almost Over." The first two of the aforementioned songs were the only singles from the album, though "Without Love" hardly enjoyed any chart success, peaking at No. 78. "The Twentieth Century is Almost Over" was re-recorded five years later by Cash and Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson, collectively known as The Highwaymen, on their first album entitled Highwayman, though it was, in essence, a duet with Nelson.
"The Thunder Rolls" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Garth Brooks. It was released in April 1991 as the fourth and final single from his album No Fences. The song became his sixth number one on the country chart. Co-writer Pat Alger plays acoustic guitar on the track.
"Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" is a song written by Richard Leigh, and recorded by American country music singer Crystal Gayle. It was released in June 1977 as the first single from Gayle's album We Must Believe in Magic.
Gary Burr is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, primarily in the country music genre. Many of the songs he has written have become Top-10 hits, the first of which was "Love's Been A Little Bit Hard On Me" released by Juice Newton in 1982. He became a member of the group Pure Prairie League, taking over after Vince Gill departed the group. Burr later moved to Nashville to focus on his songwriting career, though he has continued performing and is currently a member of the Blue Sky Riders. He has written and co-written songs for many country artists, and a few songs for Pop and Rock artists.
"Five O'Clock World" is a song written by Allen Reynolds and recorded by American vocal group The Vogues. It reached number 1 on WLS on 17 December 1965 and 7 January 1966, number 1 in Canada on the RPM singles chart on 10 January 1966, and number 4 in the U.S. on the Hot 100 on 15–22 January 1966 and is one of the Vogues' best-known hits, along with "You're the One".
Pat McLaughlin is an American singer-songwriter based in Nashville, Tennessee.
Robert Lee McDill is a retired American songwriter, active from the 1960s until 2000. During his career he wrote or co-wrote 31 number one country hits. His songs were also recorded by popular artists of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, including The Grateful Dead, Ray Charles, Joe Cocker, Anne Murray, and B. J. Thomas. His music credits in film include Primary Colors, The Thing Called Love, Texasville, and the documentary Grizzly Man. In addition to four Grammy nominations McDill received Songwriter of the Year awards from Broadcast Music Incorporated, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, and the Nashville Songwriters Association International. In October 2012, McDill was awarded ASCAP's Golden Note Award in recognition of his "extraordinary place in American popular music." In September 2015 he received the Academy of Country Music's Poet's Award for lifetime achievement. In April 2023 he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He is the author of two books: Tales of the Old River Rod and Gun, Bloody Mary Society andGentleman's Club and The Ancestors and Descendants of Robert Nathanial McDill.
Ralph Murphy was a British-born Canadian musician, record producer, and songwriter. Murphy was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 2012.
"Callin' Baton Rouge" is a country music song written by Dennis Linde. The song has been recorded by multiple artists since its composition. It was notably recorded by American country singer and songwriter Garth Brooks whose version was a chart-topping single in the 1990s.
"I Wouldn't Want to Live If You Didn't Love Me" is a song written by Al Turney, and recorded by American country music artist Don Williams. It was released in June 1974 as the first single from the album Don Williams Vol. III. The song was Williams' sixth release as a solo artist and his first of twenty-one number ones on the country singles chart in Billboard Magazine. The single spent one week at the top and total of twelve weeks on the chart.
Don Williams Volume One is the debut studio album by American country music singer Don Williams. Released in 1973 on the JMI Records label, the album reached number five on the US Country Albums Chart. It was re-issued in 1974 on the ABC DOT label and subsequently in 1980 on the MCA label. "The Shelter of Your Eyes" and "Come Early Morning" were released as singles in 1973.
Don Williams Volume Two is the second studio album by American country music singer and songwriter Don Williams. Released in January of 1974 on the JMI Records label, the album reached number thirteen on the US Country Albums Chart. "Atta Way to Go" was released in 1973 as a single preceding the album, and "We Should Be Together" and "Down the Road I Go" were released as singles in 1974.
JMI Records (Jack Music International) was an American record label founded in 1971 by Jack Clement, and was primarily active until 1974, when the catalog was sold to ABC-Dot Records. It was notable for having been the record label that first signed several country music singers and songwriters that would come to dominate the American country music charts of the 1970s, including singer Don Williams, and songwriters Bob McDill and Allen Reynolds.
Short Stories is the first LP album by the award-winning American songwriter Bob McDill, released in 1972 by J-M-I Records. It is notable for being the only known album recorded by the successful country music writer. It is also notable as being the first full-length album released on the short lived J-M-I Records label. Several of the songs from the album, including "Catfish John" and "Come Early Morning" would go on to have chart success covered by other artists, including Don Williams and Johnny Russell.
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