CONGRATULATIONS to Legendary Producer Tony Brown on his induction into the Country Music Hall Of Fame
THE PRODUCER’S CHAIR: TONY BROWN
By James Rea
If ‘Nashville Cats’ is a song about musicians, Tony Brown is the ultimate ‘Nashville Cat’, who not only went from side-man, to running record labels, but also became one of the most legendary producers ‘in music history’ thanks to Jimmy Bowen and one of the most astute businessmen on The Row.
The cool part is… Tony remembers, cherishes and will share with you, every detail of every moment of his career, right back to his humble beginnings playing piano with JD Sumner & The Stamps, The Oak Ridge Boys, Emmylou Harris, The Cherry Bombs and Elvis Presley. And he does it with ‘hunk of burnin’ love’ and a huge sense of humor.
While serving as president of MCA Nashville, for nearly two decades, before departing to co-found Universal South Records, with Tim DuBois, Tony signed a plethora of newcomers to label deals including Alabama, Rodney Crowell, Steve Earle, Joe Ely, Lyle Lovett, Kelly Willis, Todd Snider, Allison Moorer, The Mavericks, Shooter Jennings and more, while his iconic production discography came to include the likes of REBA, George Strait, Wynonna, Vince Gill, Sara Evans, Brooks & Dunn, Lionel Richie, Jimmy Buffett, Kenny Rogers, Barbara Streisand, Billy Joe, and Cyndi Lauper.
Tony’s historic achievements and contributions have been honored with 4 CMA Awards for ‘Single of The Year’ and 6 for ‘Album of The Year, 2 ACM ‘Producer of The Year’ Awards, an ACM ‘Vocal Event of The Year, 2 ACM ‘Single of The Year’, 2 ACM ‘Album of The Year’ Awards, 2 TNN Awards for ‘Single of The Year’ and 1for ‘Album of The Year’.
He’s been called the founding father of the Americana Country Movement, he received a Producer/Engineer Lifetime Achievement Award from the Americana Music Assoc., a Grammy nomination for ‘Producer of The Year, a Grammy for ‘Album of the Year’ for George Strait’s Troubadour and is accredited with producing 9 Grammy Winning Songs.
Over the course of his career, Tony has produced over 100 #1 singles with record level sales, exceeding the $100 million mark…
And here are a few more accolades…
- 1972 – Best Gospel Instrumentalist – Gospel Music Association
- 1995 – Outstanding Creative Achievement – Record Producer – TEC Awards (Technical Excellence & Creativity)
- 1995 & 1997 – Outstanding Producer – Nashville Music Awards
- 1997 – “Pioneer Award” for “Distinguished Achievement in the Recording Industry: Country Crossover Music” – International Achievement in Arts Awards
- 2004 – “Dale Franklin Leadership Award” – Leadership Music
- 2009 – The Cecil Scaife Visionary Award
- 2013 – Inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame
But the truth is… He’d much rather tell stories than talk trophies.
There is a list of the 100 most important people in ‘the music industry’…
Tony Brown is on that list.
