Jimmy Bowen
Jimmy Bowen (born November 30, 1937) is an American record producer and former pop music performer.
Bowen was born in Santa Rita, New Mexico. He began as a teenage recording star in 1957 with "I'm Stickin' With You," originally the flip side of the hit record "Party Doll" by Buddy Knox, but ultimately a Top 20 recording on its own, peaking at #14 on Billboard's pop chart. Bowen's version sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.[1] Bowen was a less successful singer than Knox, his partner in the Rhythm Orchids, and ultimately he abandoned a singing career, but stayed in the music industry.
In the early 1960s, in Los Angeles, California, he bucked the 1960s rock phenomenon when Frank Sinatra hired him as a record producer for Reprise Records, and Bowen showed a strong knack for production, getting chart hits for Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr., all regarded as too old-fashioned for the sixties market.[2] He also produced Dino, Desi & Billy.
Bowen is responsible for bringing Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood together. He is also responsible for teaming Nancy up with Mel Tillis for their album, Mel & Nancy.
In 1969 Bowen launched an independent record label, Amos Records, which lasted until 1971. Leaving Los Angeles for Nashville, Tennessee, Bowen became president of a series of record labels, and took each one to country music preeminence. His success stories included Hank Williams, Jr., The Oak Ridge Boys, Reba McEntire, George Strait, Suzy Bogguss and, finally, Garth Brooks. Bowen also revolutionized the way music was recorded in Nashville, introducing digital technology and modernizing the way instruments such as drums, for example, were recorded and mixed.[3] In 1988, Bowen founded a label called Universal Records (not to be confused with the current Universal Records), which he sold to Capitol Records a year later.[4]
Bowen lives with his spouse "Ginger Bowen" in Phoenix, AZ.
Bowen is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business and holds an MBA with honors from Belmont University.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 89. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
- ^ Unterberger, Richie. "Jimmy Bowen Biography". cmt.com. http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/bowen_jimmy/bio.jhtml. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
- ^ Clark, Rick. "Nashville Skyline". mixonline.com. http://mixonline.com/studios/business/audio_nashville_skyline_56/. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
- ^ Kingsbury, Paul. The encyclopedia of country music. p. 46. http://books.google.com/books?id=untabCgOVkgC&pg=PA46&dq=%22universal+records%22+%22MCA%22&hl=en&ei=vTlQTrLmDcHYgAf4kqGEBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CE0Q6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=%22universal%20records%22%20%22MCA%22&f=false.
- ^ Bowen, Jimmy. Rough Mix: An unapologetic look at the music business and how it got that way, as told by one of the industry's most powerful players. Simon & Schuster, New York 1997. ISBN 0-684-80764-5
[edit] Further reading
Jimmy Bowen: Nashville Powerhouse at mixonline.com
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