WEBVTT - Tony Brown 0:00:09.320 --> 0:00:14.880 Carola. She's the Queen of talking. He was your man. 0:00:16.000 --> 0:00:19.360 She's only is actually got the snoop on on the 0:00:19.440 --> 0:00:28.360 on side. No one can do with Clide Carola Carola. 0:00:29.640 --> 0:00:36.320 No one can do with Clid Carol Carola. Hey, y'all, 0:00:36.320 --> 0:00:39.959 welcome to Hyper Caroline Hobby. I am your host, Caroline Hobby. 0:00:40.240 --> 0:00:42.519 I know music, I know people, and I know the 0:00:42.640 --> 0:00:45.440 questions do you want to ask? So let's get Hyper 0:00:46.560 --> 0:00:49.479 heads up. These are adults having adult conversations, so there 0:00:49.479 --> 0:00:54.280 could be adult content. This episode is with Tony Brown, 0:00:54.480 --> 0:00:56.560 one of the biggest producers in Nashville, one of the 0:00:56.600 --> 0:00:59.720 biggest producers in the world. He's had so many number 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:01.560 ones song is that he's been a part of producing 0:01:01.560 --> 0:01:03.960 over a hundred and he said, over a hundred million 0:01:04.000 --> 0:01:07.440 album sales. He's also just the sweetest person ever. He 0:01:07.480 --> 0:01:11.000 played piano with Elvis, he played piano with Emmy Lou Harris, 0:01:11.400 --> 0:01:14.240 he ran m c A Records. He's just incredible. He's 0:01:14.240 --> 0:01:16.400 one of Grammy. So y'all get excited. Here's Tony Brown. 0:01:18.200 --> 0:01:22.160 Tony Brown, Caroline, I am here with the man, the myth, 0:01:22.160 --> 0:01:25.000 the legend, Tony Brown. Oh you're so sweet and we'll 0:01:25.040 --> 0:01:28.000 make you my manager. I don't know if I'm gonna 0:01:28.040 --> 0:01:31.280 manage anything, but I am good at recognizing talent, which 0:01:31.360 --> 0:01:34.200 is you. You screamed talent. Well, thank you so much. 0:01:34.240 --> 0:01:38.160 You know, my life has been so much, so blessed, 0:01:38.319 --> 0:01:40.800 more than I would have ever dreamed. And I thought 0:01:40.800 --> 0:01:43.480 I was going to be a musician and it turned 0:01:43.480 --> 0:01:46.319 out otherwise. I ended up being a record executive and producer. 0:01:47.720 --> 0:01:49.600 What's sort of like what you're going through right now? 0:01:49.640 --> 0:01:54.000 You know, you're like kind of a singer personality, all 0:01:54.040 --> 0:02:02.280 this songwriter. So I'm really um, you're very You're very 0:02:02.280 --> 0:02:04.200 I'm really excited about what you're doing right now. This 0:02:04.240 --> 0:02:06.520 is so good, thanks to Okay, So I want to 0:02:06.560 --> 0:02:09.600 start with that. Because you grew up like you have 0:02:09.600 --> 0:02:11.320 a favorite picture of mine of you and your brothers, 0:02:11.360 --> 0:02:14.920 like you are always running around barefoot, I mean in 0:02:14.960 --> 0:02:16.800 front of that old car and kind of an old car, 0:02:16.840 --> 0:02:20.359 because you grew up from humble beginnings, poverty below poverty. 0:02:20.440 --> 0:02:24.639 You know, we didn't even have in inside restrooms or 0:02:24.680 --> 0:02:28.520 anything really poor. But the thing about it is I 0:02:28.560 --> 0:02:31.600 didn't know that we were so poor, and I had 0:02:31.680 --> 0:02:35.359 aunts and uncles who I thought were rich and now 0:02:35.400 --> 0:02:40.000 as I've gotten older and became rich myself. Which is that, 0:02:40.080 --> 0:02:43.880 do you prefer poor rich? I prefer rich. I'm not rich. 0:02:43.919 --> 0:02:46.440 I have money, I don't I'm not rich. Bill Gates 0:02:46.520 --> 0:02:49.920 is rich. But anyway, the perspective, you know, I realized 0:02:49.919 --> 0:02:52.600 that all my aunts and uncles were just middle class 0:02:52.639 --> 0:02:56.760 because they had like new cars like Chevrolets and osmobiles, 0:02:58.560 --> 0:03:02.440 and I we had like old, old cars like that 0:03:02.520 --> 0:03:05.600 barely ran and when one stopped, put it in the 0:03:05.639 --> 0:03:10.240 backyard on blocks and use it for parts. Yes, I 0:03:10.240 --> 0:03:12.639 mean I was raised in a really poor environment, but 0:03:13.320 --> 0:03:16.760 I kind of I'm glad I was because it makes 0:03:16.800 --> 0:03:22.080 me appreciate other things I've been given. Uh, and made 0:03:22.080 --> 0:03:24.200 me work really hard. Did you grow up in a 0:03:24.280 --> 0:03:27.040 musical family or are you the only music No, I'm 0:03:27.040 --> 0:03:30.200 the only one that really got into the business. My 0:03:30.240 --> 0:03:34.160 brothers are ministers. Oh so you were really religious? Oh? 0:03:34.280 --> 0:03:36.800 My dad was an evangelist, I mean a religious right 0:03:36.840 --> 0:03:39.600 wing fanatic, and I was only allowed to listen to 0:03:39.880 --> 0:03:42.640 gospel music for years. So they did they think you 0:03:42.640 --> 0:03:45.200 were sitting when you chose this path of music. Well, 0:03:45.480 --> 0:03:47.520 my father passed away before I got the job with 0:03:47.600 --> 0:03:50.200 Elvis or he would have been really upset with me. 0:03:51.640 --> 0:03:55.480 My mom actually loved it. She came, she came to 0:03:55.480 --> 0:03:57.920 see the show in Greensboro. And I have actually a 0:03:57.960 --> 0:04:01.160 c D someone sent me. I went to an Elvis 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:04.000 fan club thing and they said, you want to c 0:04:04.200 --> 0:04:06.440 D of when Elvis mentioned your mom was in the 0:04:06.440 --> 0:04:11.160 audience in Greensboro, North Carolina. I said, sure, So did 0:04:11.160 --> 0:04:13.160 that make her life? Oh? Yeah, I made her life. 0:04:13.160 --> 0:04:15.600 She loved So your dad was an evangelist. What is 0:04:15.680 --> 0:04:18.440 that like growing up with that kind of man of 0:04:18.480 --> 0:04:22.520 the house. Well, you know, when I was raised in 0:04:22.560 --> 0:04:27.200 the church. You know, most people now only think about Evangelicals, Catholics, 0:04:28.480 --> 0:04:32.839 Jewish faith and the Muslim faith and Buddhist. I was 0:04:32.920 --> 0:04:36.080 raised in the Baptist Church, but we were very hard 0:04:36.120 --> 0:04:40.279 shell Baptist, so I could only go through religious functions 0:04:40.279 --> 0:04:43.640 and stuff like that, and it affected the way that 0:04:44.440 --> 0:04:47.359 I never I never grew up knowing who Elvis was 0:04:47.480 --> 0:04:50.160 or the Beatles. And so when I finally got the 0:04:50.240 --> 0:04:53.039 job with Elvis, believe it or not, it was because 0:04:53.120 --> 0:04:55.680 I came from gospel music, because that's what he loved. 0:04:57.320 --> 0:05:01.000 And I have a book coming out in August. Elvis 0:05:01.040 --> 0:05:04.080 Straight to Jesus and basically people wonder how I got 0:05:04.080 --> 0:05:06.599 my job with Elvis, and they I think they think 0:05:06.640 --> 0:05:09.320 I was a great session player or something, But that's 0:05:09.360 --> 0:05:12.080 not the reason. It's because I came from Southern gospel 0:05:12.120 --> 0:05:16.120 of music and I got the job through that. So okay, 0:05:16.160 --> 0:05:18.680 So how did you get into music? Where did you 0:05:18.760 --> 0:05:20.680 learn how to play piano? And then how did you 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:23.240 become a big wig in the gospel community so much 0:05:23.279 --> 0:05:26.920 that Elvis snatched you up? Well, you know, as I 0:05:27.240 --> 0:05:30.479 played by ear, my brothers took music and I was 0:05:30.839 --> 0:05:33.200 taking music as well, but I was always third in 0:05:33.279 --> 0:05:38.800 line at the lessons. I was the youngest, yes, and uh, 0:05:39.200 --> 0:05:42.000 I was playing by ear and not reading the music. 0:05:42.279 --> 0:05:44.080 I didn't know that till later on when they put 0:05:44.120 --> 0:05:46.960 me first for the next lesson, and I couldn't read anything. 0:05:47.720 --> 0:05:52.600 So anyway, you know, eventually I got noticed by a 0:05:52.640 --> 0:05:55.479 guy named J. D. Sumner, who was the Elvis's hero. 0:05:55.640 --> 0:05:57.640 He was the lowest space singer in the world, are 0:05:57.720 --> 0:06:00.560 you yes? And he and the up touring with the 0:06:00.560 --> 0:06:03.520 eldest till the end. But he hired me to come 0:06:03.880 --> 0:06:08.880 with the Stamps Quartet, and then I left the Stamps Quarre. Well, 0:06:08.920 --> 0:06:11.960 I was playing it, you know, we would play shows 0:06:12.360 --> 0:06:16.080 like country artists have opening acts. Our families sometimes would 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:19.720 be playing at a gospel singing where he was at 0:06:19.800 --> 0:06:25.520 and the Brown family singers and my brothers and sister 0:06:25.640 --> 0:06:30.240 and my dad family. Yeah kind of. And you know, 0:06:30.320 --> 0:06:34.080 I didn't really play. I didn't really play um in 0:06:34.160 --> 0:06:37.680 public till I was thirteen, and I learned to play 0:06:37.720 --> 0:06:40.960 a song in the key of F. And when I finished, 0:06:40.960 --> 0:06:43.760 I was thirteen that I looked about six. I was 0:06:43.800 --> 0:06:49.719 always really short for my age, and the crowd was crazy. 0:06:49.839 --> 0:06:55.480 So my first thought was, I need to learn two songs, right. 0:06:55.520 --> 0:06:58.080 So so eventually I just started playing and playing, and 0:06:58.360 --> 0:07:02.279 I got pretty good. Not grey, but I got pretty good, uh, 0:07:02.320 --> 0:07:04.320 and got the job with J. D. Sumner, And then 0:07:04.760 --> 0:07:10.040 the oak Ridge Boys and seventy two stole me away 0:07:10.080 --> 0:07:12.240 to play with them because they were like the hip 0:07:12.440 --> 0:07:15.520 new gospel group. You know, they were cool suits and 0:07:15.960 --> 0:07:18.320 had long hair, and so I joined them because they 0:07:18.320 --> 0:07:23.120 were cooler than the Stamps Quartet. And then I left 0:07:23.160 --> 0:07:28.360 that group when a friend of mine that Elvis was 0:07:28.440 --> 0:07:33.400 hiring three guys to sing gospel songs at his house 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:35.800 because he loved to do that. And what I want 0:07:35.800 --> 0:07:37.760 to be what I care to be. The piano players, 0:07:37.920 --> 0:07:41.320 that's sure. So it was kind of like putting your lap. Yeah. 0:07:41.400 --> 0:07:43.720 So I I become the piano player for this group 0:07:43.760 --> 0:07:47.640 called Voice, and our job is to go to Beverly Hills, 0:07:47.640 --> 0:07:51.880 Palm Springs are Graceland whenever Elvis is bored and wants 0:07:51.880 --> 0:07:54.920 to sing gospel music just for fun. Yeah, he flast there, 0:07:54.960 --> 0:07:57.120 and so you got pain to just sing for fun 0:07:57.160 --> 0:08:01.600 with Elvis. It was not for like shows. And eventually 0:08:01.640 --> 0:08:06.600 eventually Elvis put this group Voice on tour with him, 0:08:06.760 --> 0:08:09.840 so we opened the shows. It was a Voice, then 0:08:09.880 --> 0:08:13.520 a comedian, and then the Sweet Inspirations and then Elvis. 0:08:13.560 --> 0:08:15.720 So eventually I was on tour with Elvis. And so 0:08:15.840 --> 0:08:19.240 after we would finish opening the show, I would sit 0:08:19.360 --> 0:08:23.120 behind Elvis's piano player, Glynda Harden during Elvis's show and 0:08:23.120 --> 0:08:26.040 watch him play, thinking, man, I could do this show. 0:08:26.960 --> 0:08:28.720 You felt like you were ready for us. Yeah. So 0:08:28.760 --> 0:08:32.040 eventually Glinda Harden told me he was leaving Elvis to 0:08:32.040 --> 0:08:34.240 go play with Emmy Lou Harris and it would interfere 0:08:34.280 --> 0:08:37.000 with the touring schedule. So I said, we'll put my 0:08:37.080 --> 0:08:38.880 name in the hand. I can do this show. And 0:08:38.920 --> 0:08:42.600 I got the I got the gig with Elvis. I 0:08:42.640 --> 0:08:45.360 played with Elvis until he pay three years. So I 0:08:45.400 --> 0:08:47.560 played with Elvis in the TCB band for a year 0:08:47.600 --> 0:08:50.920 and a half. I've been with Elvis with voice for 0:08:50.920 --> 0:08:53.720 a year and a half or three years total. So 0:08:54.160 --> 0:08:56.920 Elvis passes away. So you were there in the middle. 0:08:57.080 --> 0:08:59.120 You were in his band when he passed away. Yes, 0:08:59.200 --> 0:09:01.440 I was at the airport waiting to go to the 0:09:01.520 --> 0:09:04.040 first show of the next tour when they told us 0:09:04.080 --> 0:09:06.000 to go home. The tour had been called off, and 0:09:06.040 --> 0:09:09.680 they didn't even tell us why. What was that? Like? 0:09:09.880 --> 0:09:12.000 I was driving back to my house and on the 0:09:12.120 --> 0:09:20.040 radio I hear that Elvis was found dead in his bathroom, 0:09:20.080 --> 0:09:23.200 and so that kind of blew my mind. Why did 0:09:23.280 --> 0:09:25.960 you feel? Because it was like, well, you know, it's 0:09:26.000 --> 0:09:29.280 like we weren't. I didn't say that I knew Elvis 0:09:29.400 --> 0:09:33.040 so good that we were buds, but I knew him 0:09:33.040 --> 0:09:36.360 and uh, And I'd already spent the money I was 0:09:36.360 --> 0:09:38.640 going to make. I was living way beyond my means 0:09:38.679 --> 0:09:42.920 back in those days. And so I went home and 0:09:42.960 --> 0:09:49.600 then I get a call from Emmy Lou Harris's manager 0:09:49.679 --> 0:09:52.600 that Glenda Harden, so Glenn was the one that played 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:55.800 for Elvis and went to Right. So Ed Tickner called 0:09:55.800 --> 0:09:58.599 and said that Glenn d was leaving Emmy Lou to 0:09:58.640 --> 0:10:02.760 go play with John Denver, and so I went out 0:10:02.800 --> 0:10:05.280 and tried out for this for her and got the gig. 0:10:05.559 --> 0:10:07.640 And that's where I met Vince Skill and Rodney kraw 0:10:08.200 --> 0:10:12.240 Rose in Cash the Hot Band, which became the Cherry 0:10:12.280 --> 0:10:15.199 Bombs eventually. So it's like sliding doors. You know, you're 0:10:15.200 --> 0:10:18.920 just your life. I like you just taking advantage of 0:10:19.160 --> 0:10:23.160 opportunities in a serious kind of way, you know, not 0:10:23.200 --> 0:10:27.760 being a social climber, just being a person who wants 0:10:28.679 --> 0:10:31.160 to do better and get a bigger job and a 0:10:31.200 --> 0:10:36.760 better job and do a good job. But yeah, but 0:10:36.880 --> 0:10:40.960 you know, I wasn't. I wasn't like a fantastic piano player, 0:10:41.040 --> 0:10:43.880 but I was. I never played in gigs that I 0:10:43.920 --> 0:10:46.240 couldn't do. I mean, I didn't play in a jazz 0:10:46.280 --> 0:10:49.840 band or anything like that. I actually played with artists 0:10:50.640 --> 0:10:53.320 that I could actually play their music well, you know. 0:10:53.960 --> 0:10:57.319 And then eventually Emmy Lou got pregnant, got off the 0:10:57.400 --> 0:10:59.560 road and which turned into the Hot Band became the 0:10:59.600 --> 0:11:02.640 Cherry Arms, and we played for Roseanne cash. We played 0:11:02.679 --> 0:11:07.280 for Rodney Crowe, you were right, which was the old 0:11:07.320 --> 0:11:11.640 hot band. And and then Rodney never could have a hit. 0:11:11.760 --> 0:11:15.520 Roseanne got pregnant, so that job ended. Isn't that crazy? 0:11:15.600 --> 0:11:17.200 Rodney Crow I couldn't have a hit with a voice 0:11:17.200 --> 0:11:19.960 like that. I know he had hits, he wrote, yeah, 0:11:20.000 --> 0:11:24.400 but only one, only one hit, kind of a small hit. 0:11:25.240 --> 0:11:30.480 Um Carl asked you about now. It's like, yeah, and 0:11:31.120 --> 0:11:32.679 I have so much, so many questions I want to 0:11:32.720 --> 0:11:35.079 ask you, but I want to make sure I don't 0:11:35.160 --> 0:11:38.120 forget one part before me to the next. Tell me 0:11:38.280 --> 0:11:41.040 what Elvis was like knowing him on a personal level, 0:11:41.280 --> 0:11:45.440 he was, you know, he was like a simple person. 0:11:46.040 --> 0:11:49.080 Someone said, you know, he was really just a kind 0:11:49.080 --> 0:11:55.000 of a middle class came from poverty as I did, 0:11:55.480 --> 0:11:58.640 similar similar upbringing. It would be both love gospel music, 0:11:58.679 --> 0:12:00.679 you know, so you are very similar, right, and so 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:05.240 he was just basically a simple person who was Elvis Presley, 0:12:05.400 --> 0:12:09.120 and believe it or not, just like Michael Jackson and Prince, 0:12:10.240 --> 0:12:11.960 that comes with a lot of baggage. You know, you 0:12:12.000 --> 0:12:15.000 can't go out and do anything. Uh So I think 0:12:15.040 --> 0:12:19.000 it was a burden for him, just like all big 0:12:19.040 --> 0:12:21.880 stars like that they can't be normal people and believe 0:12:21.920 --> 0:12:26.480 it or not. Being that famous. It's kind of cool 0:12:27.320 --> 0:12:30.160 and kind of hard at the same time. I mean 0:12:30.240 --> 0:12:33.240 that big. I mean, if you think about five people 0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:36.679 that in any country in the world that you would know, 0:12:38.240 --> 0:12:47.040 probably Elvis, Michael Jackson, Muhammad Ali, the Beatles, and John Wayne, 0:12:47.520 --> 0:12:49.200 you know. I mean, but there aren't many people that 0:12:49.240 --> 0:12:52.440 were that big, you know. But anyway, he was just 0:12:52.520 --> 0:12:55.120 a really paying for the biggest, one of the biggest 0:12:55.120 --> 0:12:57.160 stars on the planet. Yeah. But you know when I 0:12:57.200 --> 0:13:00.160 was playing with him, I wasn't into music. I just 0:13:00.240 --> 0:13:03.160 into celebrity. So I was playing for a celebrity. Only 0:13:03.200 --> 0:13:06.320 after he passed away and I got with Emmy Lou Harris. 0:13:08.280 --> 0:13:11.880 She was all about music and the history of music, 0:13:12.360 --> 0:13:15.240 and so you know, she was part of that California 0:13:15.920 --> 0:13:19.079 West Coast country thing with Ryan Stad and the Eagles 0:13:19.120 --> 0:13:22.600 and the Burrito Brothers, Graham Parsons, and so I learned 0:13:22.600 --> 0:13:24.360 a lot about music with Emmy Lou. Then I got 0:13:24.400 --> 0:13:28.440 turned onto what I really liked. But that's you because 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:32.400 you've been dubbed, what is it, the forefather of Americana. Yeah, 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:35.160 but you know it wasn't called that back then, and 0:13:35.480 --> 0:13:39.200 you were an advocate for American music because I was 0:13:39.240 --> 0:13:43.120 on the board, was the president, and you signed a 0:13:43.120 --> 0:13:46.079 ton of Americana acts when that wasn't like the norm. 0:13:46.120 --> 0:13:48.400 But I thought they were mainstream. I didn't know. I 0:13:48.400 --> 0:13:51.760 thought Steve Earle was the next Whalon. I thought Lyle 0:13:51.800 --> 0:13:55.320 Love it was just cooler than you know what. And 0:13:55.360 --> 0:13:59.560 the Mavericks were just cool, cooler than Alabama. And and 0:13:59.600 --> 0:14:02.600 so I got sort of dubbed as on the cutting edge, 0:14:03.240 --> 0:14:07.240 which in the beginning I never thought about that, being 0:14:07.280 --> 0:14:09.440 like I wasn't trying to be cutting edge. I just 0:14:09.480 --> 0:14:12.800 like stuff. You know. If I like something, someone said, 0:14:12.840 --> 0:14:14.600 how can you be a good a in our person? 0:14:14.640 --> 0:14:19.280 I said, you just got to believe that your taste 0:14:20.160 --> 0:14:22.800 is right. If they don't like it, they're just stupid, 0:14:23.760 --> 0:14:26.280 you know. I mean not literally, but you gotta sort 0:14:26.280 --> 0:14:28.760 of think that you gotta taste, you kind of have. 0:14:28.640 --> 0:14:34.080 You gotta have like complete a belief that your taste 0:14:34.120 --> 0:14:38.680 is really good. You know. So another thing I think 0:14:38.800 --> 0:14:41.520 is so interesting to me about you because I'm one 0:14:41.520 --> 0:14:43.800 of the very fortunate people who has gotten to develop 0:14:43.920 --> 0:14:46.040 a friendship with you over the years, and you're just 0:14:46.240 --> 0:14:49.840 the sweetest heart ever and so amazing, like you're just 0:14:49.880 --> 0:14:53.560 your talents amazing. The way you think is amazing, and 0:14:54.120 --> 0:14:56.960 the way you follow the open doors is amazing. Because 0:14:57.040 --> 0:15:00.120 you told me that you've got the town of a 0:15:00.160 --> 0:15:02.720 session player. So like I guess after Elvis and Emmy 0:15:02.800 --> 0:15:04.800 Lou is that when you officially moved to Nashville and 0:15:04.800 --> 0:15:08.080 you had no I moved to Nashville in six when 0:15:08.080 --> 0:15:10.480 I played with the Stamps quartet. Okay, so that started, 0:15:10.520 --> 0:15:12.200 and you moved here to be a session player. Now, 0:15:12.240 --> 0:15:15.880 I moved here to play with the Stamps quartet. But 0:15:15.920 --> 0:15:17.920 then I thought I might trying to get on sessions. 0:15:18.200 --> 0:15:20.360 But that was your goal, Yes, but I wasn't really 0:15:20.400 --> 0:15:22.120 good enough. I played on records. I played on a 0:15:22.120 --> 0:15:24.280 lot of records. So you must have you must have 0:15:24.400 --> 0:15:26.840 like a vibe like that people can hear. Well, yeah, 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:31.440 you know. I used to tell um m Rey Gordy, 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:34.200 who played bass with Emmy Lou, I said, man, I 0:15:34.280 --> 0:15:38.000 just don't feel like I'm worthy of this job. And 0:15:38.040 --> 0:15:41.640 he said, hey, man, Emmy Lou hired you because she 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:44.400 likes the way you play. Just get over it and 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:47.040 be who you are that she likes because you came 0:15:47.080 --> 0:15:49.160 from where you came from and the way you play. 0:15:49.600 --> 0:15:53.080 Just don't analyze it too much. And so and I 0:15:53.120 --> 0:15:57.120 played on records, but I couldn't play on sessions. Like 0:15:57.280 --> 0:15:59.960 when I hired players to play on records, if they 0:16:00.160 --> 0:16:02.960 choke on me, I probably won't hire them again for 0:16:02.960 --> 0:16:05.280 a long time. They got to be able to turn 0:16:05.280 --> 0:16:08.080 on the dime. And you know the players, the players 0:16:08.120 --> 0:16:11.080 I use are usually they're called double scale players. They 0:16:11.080 --> 0:16:14.160 get double what a normal player would get because they 0:16:14.160 --> 0:16:18.000 are that good. You know, you can just say, do 0:16:18.040 --> 0:16:19.920 a Bunny Rate thing. They can do that, do a 0:16:19.920 --> 0:16:24.120 Fleetwood Mac thing, do a Hanks Senior du Whalen, and 0:16:24.160 --> 0:16:26.880 they can go anywhere you want to go on a 0:16:26.960 --> 0:16:30.840 dime quickly. Yes, I think it's so interesting though, because 0:16:30.840 --> 0:16:34.640 like you were almost disappointed that you weren't, as you said, 0:16:34.680 --> 0:16:36.320 good enough to be a session player, but then you 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:39.520 go on to become one of the most successful producers 0:16:39.560 --> 0:16:42.520 of all time. You've sold over a hundred million albums, 0:16:42.600 --> 0:16:44.920 You've been on been a part of a hundred million albums. 0:16:45.320 --> 0:16:48.000 How many songs do that have this right now? Hundred 0:16:48.040 --> 0:16:50.760 number one number one songs, over a hundred million albums, 0:16:50.760 --> 0:16:52.480 and you've been in this business, not for forty years. 0:16:52.480 --> 0:16:55.920 You've run m c A Labels. You've produced everyone from Okay, 0:16:55.920 --> 0:16:58.560 I'm gonna read this list, Reba, Vincecale, George Straight Berks 0:16:58.600 --> 0:17:03.480 and Done, Tricia Year, Would, Rodney Crow, Lionel Richie, now 0:17:03.520 --> 0:17:07.119 Cyndy Lauper. And also you did the test how do 0:17:07.160 --> 0:17:12.159 you say that test Tuskegee with the album with Lionel 0:17:12.240 --> 0:17:15.359 Richie that had duets with Blake Shelton Jason adding Darius 0:17:15.359 --> 0:17:17.200 record to McGraw, and it was like one of the 0:17:17.280 --> 0:17:21.080 highest grossing albums of two thousand twelve. So you wanted 0:17:21.119 --> 0:17:23.000 to be a session player, but then you just blew 0:17:23.040 --> 0:17:25.960 the top off of it and became like his mogul. Well, 0:17:26.000 --> 0:17:28.200 you know, it's sort of like what you're doing right now. 0:17:28.240 --> 0:17:30.320 You know. When I first met you, you were a singer, 0:17:31.880 --> 0:17:34.560 and then then you and Jennifer came over and we 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:37.879 cut those demos, and jen and I were an abandoned 0:17:37.880 --> 0:17:41.040 writers and in stealing angels an amazing race together, right, 0:17:41.160 --> 0:17:43.639 and then we tried to do the thing that that 0:17:43.760 --> 0:17:46.480 is a side note, Tony produced two songs. I mean, 0:17:46.800 --> 0:17:50.480 Jennifer Wayne, It was an amazing experience and I invested 0:17:50.680 --> 0:17:52.879 my own money in it because it was it was no, 0:17:52.960 --> 0:17:55.280 it was a challenge, and I was going, I got 0:17:55.280 --> 0:17:57.720 a found a way to make these girls have a 0:17:57.800 --> 0:18:03.160 hit record. As it earned out that led to record 0:18:03.160 --> 0:18:05.640 that's right, you know. But you know the bottom line 0:18:05.680 --> 0:18:08.920 is it got me knowing you on a different level 0:18:08.960 --> 0:18:11.800 than I did before. I was only like superficially kind 0:18:11.800 --> 0:18:16.280 of you know, business associates kind of thing. And I 0:18:16.400 --> 0:18:19.440 found out that your heart was really there and your 0:18:19.760 --> 0:18:22.400 gen what's too and I wanted to be a part 0:18:22.440 --> 0:18:25.159 of that. So I wasn't that busy, so I just 0:18:25.240 --> 0:18:28.080 investged my time in doing that. And I love what 0:18:28.160 --> 0:18:33.119 we did, you know. And I was thinking, uh, that 0:18:33.119 --> 0:18:35.440 that was at that point in my life was really 0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:41.240 good for my um, for my inspiring me to to say, 0:18:41.280 --> 0:18:43.400 I still have more to say, you know, because it's 0:18:43.400 --> 0:18:46.840 such a such a young man's world right now. And 0:18:46.080 --> 0:18:49.920 uh and I know most of my career was from seven, 0:18:50.760 --> 0:18:53.040 but still I have have I still have things I 0:18:53.119 --> 0:18:55.600 want to say, And you guys were part of me 0:18:56.680 --> 0:19:01.119 doing that, like going out on blind faith and cutting 0:19:01.119 --> 0:19:04.199 this stuff and shopping it around when I was not 0:19:04.280 --> 0:19:08.120 working for a record label. And then yeah, sure, did, 0:19:08.200 --> 0:19:10.040 and you know, and it's good for me. Look at you, 0:19:10.119 --> 0:19:12.800 I mean, and then you decided that you want to 0:19:12.800 --> 0:19:15.080 do this. Now you're like me. I started out to 0:19:15.080 --> 0:19:18.520 be a piano player and ended up being a record 0:19:18.560 --> 0:19:22.680 executive and eventually a producer. And you started out being 0:19:22.680 --> 0:19:27.719 a singer and then you became a singer songwriter, and 0:19:27.760 --> 0:19:31.800 now you're a personality doing a podcast, and we're we 0:19:31.880 --> 0:19:35.480 have a parallel kind of I've always really related to 0:19:35.520 --> 0:19:39.800 you because you're very open to just letting things happen, 0:19:39.880 --> 0:19:43.040 and you're very open to, I think, just trusting your talent. 0:19:43.320 --> 0:19:46.520 Like you, you've let your talent lead the way. Yes, well, 0:19:46.560 --> 0:19:50.400 you know, have you seen the Dave Girl the Foo 0:19:50.440 --> 0:19:54.040 Fighters talking about that? I saw you. It's Sonic Highways. Yes, 0:19:54.160 --> 0:19:55.879 So Sonic Highway came out, and that's one of the 0:19:56.040 --> 0:19:58.520 coolest series that's come out. Dave Girl. Did it? Was 0:19:58.520 --> 0:20:02.560 it on HBO HBO HBO series of Ten Cities? You 0:20:02.720 --> 0:20:05.879 were the prime person they talked to an interviewed on 0:20:06.000 --> 0:20:09.439 Dave Special in Nashville, Right. You know, I was wondering 0:20:09.440 --> 0:20:11.840 how I got on that show, and I thought he 0:20:11.880 --> 0:20:15.240 would ask me like two questions. We were talked a lot. 0:20:15.280 --> 0:20:17.679 And then at the end he said, I hear you 0:20:17.760 --> 0:20:20.560 hate this, but I'm going to ask you this anyway. 0:20:20.760 --> 0:20:23.280 And I said, you're going to ask me to elvis story. 0:20:23.320 --> 0:20:26.080 He said, I sure, Am. I said go ahead, because 0:20:26.119 --> 0:20:29.639 that seems to define my career anyway. Well, you have 0:20:29.720 --> 0:20:32.920 to understand, to be an Elvis's band is crazy that 0:20:32.960 --> 0:20:35.000 you did that. Well, you know the thing about that. 0:20:35.119 --> 0:20:37.960 When I took that job, I was more excited about 0:20:38.000 --> 0:20:41.560 playing with Ronnie Tutt and James Burton and Jerry Chef 0:20:42.040 --> 0:20:45.240 and those musicians. To be able to play at that caliber, 0:20:45.800 --> 0:20:48.040 even though Elvis was a celebrity. I knew that was 0:20:48.080 --> 0:20:50.320 a good gig, but to be able to play in 0:20:50.359 --> 0:20:53.639 that band, it was like a big deal for me, 0:20:53.760 --> 0:20:58.200 like I'm good enough, Like you had this validation league, Yeah, 0:20:59.119 --> 0:21:02.600 validated that I I could actually, if I applied myself, 0:21:02.600 --> 0:21:05.639 there was nothing I couldn't do. You know I relate 0:21:05.680 --> 0:21:07.880 to in that way. I think getting a record deal 0:21:07.880 --> 0:21:10.399 for me with my first man stealing angels validated that. 0:21:10.440 --> 0:21:13.439 Like we didn't never have success really, but yeah, but 0:21:13.480 --> 0:21:15.439 you know, but you made you know, you made an impact, 0:21:15.560 --> 0:21:17.480 and that's the bottom line. You always want to make 0:21:17.880 --> 0:21:20.480 whatever you do make some sort of impact. You know, 0:21:20.480 --> 0:21:22.919 you can make a big impact or you can make 0:21:22.920 --> 0:21:24.840 a small impact. Of bottom line is if you make 0:21:25.600 --> 0:21:30.480 if you get uh something happening, you're making an impact. 0:21:30.560 --> 0:21:34.240 You've done something, you know. I've always heard the saying 0:21:34.280 --> 0:21:36.439 that if you have a number one record, you have 0:21:36.480 --> 0:21:39.480 an experience. If you have an audience, you have a career. 0:21:40.040 --> 0:21:47.080 And that's like the Stones and Ah Bonnie Rate, the 0:21:47.119 --> 0:21:49.720 Beatles or Pomen Carton. You don't have hits anymore, but 0:21:49.760 --> 0:21:52.800 they have an audience. But they had so many hits 0:21:52.800 --> 0:21:56.199 in the beginning they made an impact. Now they're so 0:21:56.280 --> 0:21:58.760 famous they don't need hits anymore. You just want to 0:21:58.760 --> 0:22:00.480 be a part of the experience that yeah, they just 0:22:00.520 --> 0:22:02.639 have an experience of people go out and see them play, 0:22:02.640 --> 0:22:04.800 and they play all the hits, of course they have to. 0:22:05.920 --> 0:22:09.000 But then they play new music which people don't quite 0:22:09.400 --> 0:22:12.800 ever except you know, I've just started. That's right. I'm 0:22:12.840 --> 0:22:15.320 the same way if I go see uh Bonnie Rate, 0:22:15.359 --> 0:22:16.880 I want her to do. I can't make you love 0:22:16.920 --> 0:22:22.320 me absolutely now, piss me off, not crush, piss me off. 0:22:23.119 --> 0:22:25.160 I went saw Van Morrison one time at the Rayman 0:22:25.200 --> 0:22:30.439 auditorium tickets were two fifty bucks apiece, about four a 0:22:30.520 --> 0:22:33.680 thousand dollars. He didn't do one song I've ever heard, 0:22:35.000 --> 0:22:39.800 and you know what, I wasn't so bummed out because 0:22:39.880 --> 0:22:43.480 I just really wanted to see Van Morrison before he 0:22:43.680 --> 0:22:47.440