Billy Norris Sherrill (November 5, 1936 – August 4, 2015) was an American record producer, songwriter, and arranger associated with
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...
artists, notably
Tammy Wynette
Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music singer and songwriter, considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Lynn, Wynette helped bring a ...
and
George Jones
George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American Country music, country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for a long list of hit records, and is well known for his distinctive voice an ...
. Sherrill and business partner
Glenn Sutton are regarded as the defining influences of the
countrypolitan sound, a smooth amalgamation of pop and country music that was popular during the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Sherrill also co-wrote many hit songs, including "
Stand by Your Man" (written with Tammy Wynette) and "
The Most Beautiful Girl
"The Most Beautiful Girl" is a song recorded by Charlie Rich and written by Billy Sherrill, Norro Wilson, and Rory Bourke. The countrypolitan ballad reached No. 1 in the United States in 1973 on three '' Billboard'' music charts: the pop cha ...
" (written with
Rory Bourke and
Norro Wilson).
Early years
Born in the town of
Phil Campbell, Alabama, in 1936, the son of an evangelical preacher, Sherrill was attracted to
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
and
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
music, learning to play the piano and, in his teens, the saxophone.
During his teenage years, he led a
jump blues
Jump blues is an uptempo style of blues, jazz, and boogie woogie usually played by small groups and featuring horn instruments. It was popular in the 1940s and was a precursor of rhythm and blues and rock and roll. Appreciation of jump blues wa ...
band, and toured the
southern states playing in
R&B and
rock 'n' roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...
bands. He signed a solo record deal with a small independent label, which had little success.
[Biography by Stephen Thomas Erlewine]
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
. Retrieved 6 August 2015
Early career
In 1962, Sherrill moved to
Nashville
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
, where he was hired by
Sam Phillips to manage
Phillips Recording's Nashville recording studio.
When Phillips sold its Nashville studio the following year, Sherrill was hired by
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...
to handle
A&R and in-house
production in Nashville.
Given his limited exposure to country music, his production incorporated many elements of pop music production, creating his own style of sweeping productions, influenced by
Phil Spector
Harvey Phillip Spector (December 26, 1939 – January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter who is best known for pioneering recording practices in the 1960s, followed by his trials and conviction for murder in the 2000s. S ...
,
Don Law, and
Chet Atkins
Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), also known as "Mister Guitar" and "the Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson (musician), Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nash ...
. His sound has often been described as a country equivalent to Spector's ''
Wall of Sound''. He chose many of his artists' songs, rewriting them in some cases to suit the singer's style.
[
His first success was with David Houston. Houston's recording of Sherrill's and Glenn Sutton's composition "Livin' in a House Full of Love" reached #3 on the country chart in late 1965, and followed it up with " Almost Persuaded", also written by Sherrill and Sutton,] which spent nine weeks at the top of the U.S. country charts in mid 1966. The song won a Grammy
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...
for Best Country & Western Song, and was later recorded by Louis Armstrong
Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...
, Louis Prima
Louis Leo Prima (; December 7, 1910 – August 24, 1978) was an American trumpeter, singer, entertainer, and bandleader. While rooted in New Orleans jazz, swing music, and jump blues, Prima touched on various genres throughout his career: he ...
, and Etta James
Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer and songwriter. Starting her career in 1954, James frequently performed in Nashville's R&B clubs, collectively known as the Ch ...
among others. Sherrill continued to write and produce for Houston until the 1970s.[
]
Work with Tammy Wynette and George Jones
Sherrill's association with Wynette began in 1966, when the then-unknown performer auditioned for him. He signed Wynette to Epic, and involved himself in nearly every aspect of the aspiring singer's career, helping her choose her stage name (she was born Virginia Wynette Pugh). He suggested she adopt the name "Tammy". He helped her to develop her stage persona, and co-wrote many of her early country hits, including " Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad", " My Elusive Dreams", and " I Don't Wanna Play House". In 1968, Sherrill co-wrote with Wynette her biggest hit, " Stand By Your Man".[
By 1971, George Jones had arrived at Epic Records. Jones' recording contract with ]Musicor Records
Musicor Records was a New York City-based record label, active during the 1960s and 1970s. The label was founded by songwriter Aaron Schroeder and distributed by United Artists Records. In 1965, UA employee and A&R man Arthur Talmadge (a co-fo ...
was still in force in 1971 but a desire between both Jones and his then-wife, Tammy Wynette, to record together led to a buy-out of Jones' contract with Musicor. Soon after, Jones and Wynette began recording together with Sherrill as their producer. Sherrill often played double duty as a songwriter, usually in tandem with Norro Wilson and George Richey. Richey became the future husband of Wynette. Although ''Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' chart statistics show that Sherrill had his biggest commercial successes with artists Wynette and Charlie Rich
Charles Allan Rich (December 14, 1932July 25, 1995) was an American country singer. His eclectic style of music also blended influences from rockabilly, jazz, blues, soul, and gospel.
In the later part of his life, Rich acquired the nickname t ...
, with Jones Sherrill had his longest association. Sherrill's biggest hit with Jones was "He Stopped Loving Her Today
"He Stopped Loving Her Today" is a song recorded by American country music artist George Jones. It has been named in several surveys as the greatest country song of all time. It was released in April 1980 as the lead single from the album '' I Am ...
".
In the 1989 video documentary, ''Same Ole Me'', Sherrill recalled a heated exchange during one recording session when Jones insisted on adapting the melody from "Help Me Make It Through the Night
"Help Me Make It Through the Night" is a country ballad written and composed by Kris Kristofferson and released on his 1970 album '' Kristofferson''. It was covered later in 1970 by Sammi Smith, on the album '' Help Me Make It Through the Nig ...
": "I said 'That's not the melody!' and he said "Yeah, but it's a better melody.' I said 'It might be — Kristofferson would think so too, it's his melody!'" In the same documentary, Sherrill claimed that Jones was in such bad physical shape during this period that "the recitation was recorded 18 months after the first verse was" and added that the last words Jones said about "He Stopped Loving Her Today" was "Nobody'll buy that morbid son of a bitch" (These comments were repeated during the Ken Burns
Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle American history and culture. His work is often produced in association with WETA-TV or the Nati ...
''Country Music
Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
'' series in 2019 though Sherrill had died four years earlier.). Sherrill, once he vacated as the head of CBS/Epic, continued to produce the recordings of Jones throughout the 1980s. Sherrill appeared in the video
Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...
of Jones' "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes
''Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes'' is the 45th studio album by United States of America, American country music artist George Jones, released in 1985 on the Epic Records label.
The album is best known for the title track and its classic video, whi ...
" (1985), acting as the bus-driver. Sherrill is credited as Jones record producer for 19 years, 1971–1990.
When news surfaced that the couple were in divorce proceedings, which would eventually last quite a few months, the song that capitalized on this the most was "The Grand Tour
''The Grand Tour'' is a British motoring television series, created by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May, and Andy Wilman, for Amazon Prime Video, and premiered on 18 November 2016. The programme was devised in the wake of the depar ...
" which hit #1 for Jones in 1974. The song is about a man inviting the listeners to walk through a house with him as he tells about a divorce that took place. The woman left just about everything in the house except a couple of critical items we are told at song's end. When their divorce became final in early 1975, the appropriate songs by Jones released at the time were " Memories of Us" and " I Just Don't Give a Damn". Wynette had a hit during that time period with " 'Til I Can Make It On My Own". The duo continued to record through 1976, enjoying several more Top-10 and #1 hits together such as " Golden Ring", "Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...
", and " Near You", but the duo stopped recording together after the 1976 sessions. They did not team up in the studio again until 1979/1980 with their final hit song being 1980's " Two Story House". Afterwards they didn't record, and rarely appeared, together for 14 years. They embarked on a reunion tour in 1995 in support of their first duet album together in 15 years, ''One
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...
''.
In 1991, when Jones left for MCA Records
MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...
and recorded under Kyle Lehning it was the first time in 20 years that someone other than Sherrill was in the control booth. Lehning became Jones' third record producer. Pappy Daily had produced all of Jones recordings during 1954–1971, and then Sherrill took over the role for the next 19 years. During Jones' stay at MCA almost every album would feature a different producer. Norro Wilson and Buddy Cannon show up more often during the MCA years as Jones' record producers.
Work with Charlie Rich
Another artist who benefited greatly from his association with Sherrill was Charlie Rich
Charles Allan Rich (December 14, 1932July 25, 1995) was an American country singer. His eclectic style of music also blended influences from rockabilly, jazz, blues, soul, and gospel.
In the later part of his life, Rich acquired the nickname t ...
. Rich had been a marginally successful performer of blues and early rock and roll, scoring a minor hit with the tune "Lonely Weekends", but it was his early 1970s work with Sherrill, particularly the countrypolitan hits " Behind Closed Doors" and "The Most Beautiful Girl
"The Most Beautiful Girl" is a song recorded by Charlie Rich and written by Billy Sherrill, Norro Wilson, and Rory Bourke. The countrypolitan ballad reached No. 1 in the United States in 1973 on three '' Billboard'' music charts: the pop cha ...
", that brought Rich to national and international prominence. Along with songwriter Norro Wilson, Sherrill won a Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
in 1975 for Best Country Song for Rich's version of the song " A Very Special Love Song".
Later career
By 1975, Sherrill was regarded as "the most reliable hitmaker in Nashville".[ Other artists with whom Sherrill worked included Barbara Mandrell -- whom he signed to in 1969 -- Sandy Posey, Shelby Lynne, Marty Robbins, ]Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...
, Johnny Paycheck, Tanya Tucker, Johnny Cash
John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...
, Janie Fricke, Lacy J. Dalton, Ray Conniff
Joseph Raymond Conniff (November 6, 1916 – October 12, 2002) was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s.
Biography
Conniff was born November 6, 1916, in Attleboro, Massachusetts, United S ...
, Bobby Vinton, Bob Luman, Johnny Duncan, Jim and Jesse, Jody Miller, Moe Bandy
Marion Franklin "Moe" Bandy Jr. (born February 12, 1944) is an American country music singer. He was most popular during the 1970s, when he had several hit songs, both alone and as part of a duo with Joe Stampley.
Early life and recordings
Ma ...
, Joe Stampley, Charlie Walker, Barbara Fairchild, Andy Williams
Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...
, Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...
("The Minute You're Gone
"The Minute You're Gone" is a song written by Jimmy Gateley (often miscredited as "Gately" or "Gatelie"), a Nashville, Tennessee based fiddle player and singer, for Sonny James in 1963. This song originally made No. 95 in the US charts and No. 9 ...
"), Mickey Gilley, and David Allan Coe
David Allan Coe (born September 6, 1939) is an American singer and songwriter. Coe took up music after spending much of his early life in reform schools and prisons, and first became notable for busking in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville. He ini ...
. In 1981, he produced Elvis Costello
Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...
's album '' Almost Blue''.[ The friction between Costello and Sherrill was aired in a British television documentary.]
In 1980, he was appointed Vice President of CBS in Nashville. After leaving to become an independent producer, he returned in 1986 before retiring a few years later.[
]
Influence and awards
In the 1981 made-for-television movie based on Tammy Wynette's book ''Stand By Your Man'', Sherrill was portrayed by James Hampton.
In 2008, Billy Sherrill was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum
Mission Statement
The Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum is a 501(c)(3) charity organization. The mission of the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum is to honor all great musicians regardless of genre or instruments. This is done by exhibiting t ...
in Nashville, TN
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
. On February 23, 2010, Sherrill was selected for induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the world's largest museums and research centers dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of American vernacular music. Chartered in 1964, the museum has amass ...
along with Don Williams
Donald Ray Williams (May 27, 1939 – September 8, 2017) was an American country music singer, songwriter, and 2010 inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame. He began his solo career in 1971, singing p ...
, Ferlin Husky, and Jimmy Dean
Jimmy Ray Dean (August 10, 1928 – June 13, 2010) was an American country music singer, television host, actor and businessman. He was the creator of the Jimmy Dean (brand), Jimmy Dean sausage brand as well as the spokesman for its TV comm ...
.
Death
Sherrill died after a short illness on August 4, 2015, at the age of 78. He was survived by Charlene, his wife of 54 years, and their daughter.
References
External links
Alamhof.org
*
Mmguide.musicmatch.com
*
Billy Sherrill
at Find a Grave
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherrill, Billy
1936 births
American country singer-songwriters
American country record producers
2015 deaths
Grammy Award winners
Country Music Hall of Fame inductees
People from Franklin County, Alabama
Members of the Country Music Association
Country musicians from Alabama
American male singer-songwriters
Singer-songwriters from Alabama