THE MUSIC GANGSTER WHO CHANGED MY LIFE FOREVER FROM FRANK SINATRA TO THE NASHVILLE TAKEOVER, JIMMY BOWEN SHOWED ME HOW TO DO IT HIS WAY!
Jimmy came to Nashville in the late 1970s. He ran Elektra Nashville and eventually would run Warner Brothers Nashville. In March 1984, Irving Azoff tapped him to take the reigns at MCA Nashville with a whole new executive staff, including Bruce Hinton and myself. My life would forever change when I went to work for Jimmy Bowen on March 12, 1984.
Jimmy hired me with the promise of grooming me to be a good record producer. I already knew his history from his days in Los Angeles producing Sinatra, Dean Martin, and other big stars.
In Nashville, he produced the records that would turn Hank Williams Jr. into the biggest act in country music.
He then began the process of making George Strait and Reba McEntire into the icons they are today. He encouraged me to find my own style and artists. From the beginning, he let me co-produce both Jimmy Buffett and Steve Wariner (along with Norro Wilson’s blessing). He let me sign Steve Earle, Lyle Lovett, and Nanci Griffith, and also let me start a small jazz label called the Master Series.
Jimmy Bowen made a major impact on Nashville by bringing digital recording to the recording process, putting us ahead of the East and the West Coasts. Bowen is also the reason recording studios would put in Solid State Logic (SSL) mixing boards. He changed the way records were recorded and the way artists were treated in the studio.
Jimmy hands down changed my life and gave me the career that I never would have dreamt of. He is my mentor and my hero, which is why he is the only person photographed in his own chair—maybe we can call it his throne. If the Godfather of Nashville asks you to photograph him sitting in his own chair, you don’t say no!
“You take care of the music, and the music will take care of you.”
Jimmy Bowen