Tony Brown

could be adult content. This episode is with Tony Brown, one of the biggest producers in Nashville, one of the biggest producers in the world. He's had so many number ones song is that he's been a part of producing over a hundred and he said, over a hundred million album sales. He's also just the sweetest person ever. He played piano with Elvis, he played piano with Emmy Lou Harris, he ran m c A Records. He's just incredible. He's one of Grammy. So y'all get excited. Here's Tony Brown.

Tony Brown, Caroline, I am here with the man, the myth, the legend, Tony Brown. Oh you're so sweet and we'll make you my manager. I don't know if I'm gonna manage anything, but I am good at recognizing talent, which is you. You screamed talent. Well, thank you so much. You know, my life has been so much, so blessed, more than I would have ever dreamed. And I thought I was going to be a musician and it turned out otherwise. I ended up being a record executive and producer.

What's sort of like what you're going through right now? You know, you're like kind of a singer personality, all this songwriter. So I'm really um, you're very You're very I'm really excited about what you're doing right now. This is so good, thanks to Okay, So I want to

start with that. Because you grew up like you have a favorite picture of mine of you and your brothers, like you are always running around barefoot, I mean in front of that old car and kind of an old car, because you grew up from humble beginnings, poverty below poverty. You know, we didn't even have in inside restrooms or anything really poor. But the thing about it is I didn't know that we were so poor, and I had aunts and uncles who I thought were rich and now

as I've gotten older and became rich myself. Which is that, do you prefer poor rich? I prefer rich. I'm not rich. I have money, I don't I'm not rich. Bill Gates is rich. But anyway, the perspective, you know, I realized that all my aunts and uncles were just middle class because they had like new cars like Chevrolets and osmobiles, and I we had like old, old cars like that barely ran and when one stopped, put it in the

backyard on blocks and use it for parts. Yes, I mean I was raised in a really poor environment, but I kind of I'm glad I was because it makes me appreciate other things I've been given. Uh, and made me work really hard. Did you grow up in a musical family or are you the only music No, I'm the only one that really got into the business. My brothers are ministers. Oh so you were really religious? Oh?

My dad was an evangelist, I mean a religious right wing fanatic, and I was only allowed to listen to gospel music for years. So they did they think you were sitting when you chose this path of music. Well, my father passed away before I got the job with Elvis or he would have been really upset with me. My mom actually loved it. She came, she came to see the show in Greensboro. And I have actually a

c D someone sent me. I went to an Elvis fan club thing and they said, you want to c D of when Elvis mentioned your mom was in the audience in Greensboro, North Carolina. I said, sure, So did that make her life? Oh? Yeah, I made her life. She loved So your dad was an evangelist. What is that like growing up with that kind of man of the house. Well, you know, when I was raised in the church. You know, most people now only think about Evangelicals, Catholics,

Jewish faith and the Muslim faith and Buddhist. I was raised in the Baptist Church, but we were very hard shell Baptist, so I could only go through religious functions and stuff like that, and it affected the way that I never I never grew up knowing who Elvis was or the Beatles. And so when I finally got the job with Elvis, believe it or not, it was because I came from gospel music, because that's what he loved.

And I have a book coming out in August. Elvis Straight to Jesus and basically people wonder how I got my job with Elvis, and they I think they think I was a great session player or something, But that's not the reason. It's because I came from Southern gospel of music and I got the job through that. So okay, So how did you get into music? Where did you learn how to play piano? And then how did you become a big wig in the gospel community so much

that Elvis snatched you up? Well, you know, as I played by ear, my brothers took music and I was taking music as well, but I was always third in line at the lessons. I was the youngest, yes, and uh, I was playing by ear and not reading the music. I didn't know that till later on when they put me first for the next lesson, and I couldn't read anything. So anyway, you know, eventually I got noticed by a guy named J. D. Sumner, who was the Elvis's hero.

He was the lowest space singer in the world, are you yes? And he and the up touring with the eldest till the end. But he hired me to come with the Stamps Quartet, and then I left the Stamps Quarre. Well, I was playing it, you know, we would play shows like country artists have opening acts. Our families sometimes would be playing at a gospel singing where he was at and the Brown family singers and my brothers and sister and my dad family. Yeah kind of. And you know,

I didn't really play. I didn't really play um in public till I was thirteen, and I learned to play a song in the key of F. And when I finished, I was thirteen that I looked about six. I was always really short for my age, and the crowd was crazy. So my first thought was, I need to learn two songs, right. So so eventually I just started playing and playing, and

I got pretty good. Not grey, but I got pretty good, uh, and got the job with J. D. Sumner, And then the oak Ridge Boys and seventy two stole me away to play with them because they were like the hip new gospel group. You know, they were cool suits and had long hair, and so I joined them because they were cooler than the Stamps Quartet. And then I left that group when a friend of mine that Elvis was hiring three guys to sing gospel songs at his house because he loved to do that. And what I want

to be what I care to be. The piano players, that's sure. So it was kind of like putting your lap. Yeah. So I I become the piano player for this group called Voice, and our job is to go to Beverly Hills, Palm Springs are Graceland whenever Elvis is bored and wants to sing gospel music just for fun. Yeah, he flast there, and so you got pain to just sing for fun with Elvis. It was not for like shows. And eventually eventually Elvis put this group Voice on tour with him,

so we opened the shows. It was a Voice, then a comedian, and then the Sweet Inspirations and then Elvis. So eventually I was on tour with Elvis. And so after we would finish opening the show, I would sit behind Elvis's piano player, Glynda Harden during Elvis's show and watch him play, thinking, man, I could do this show. You felt like you were ready for us. Yeah. So eventually Glinda Harden told me he was leaving Elvis to go play with Emmy Lou Harris and it would interfere

with the touring schedule. So I said, we'll put my name in the hand. I can do this show. And I got the I got the gig with Elvis. I played with Elvis until he pay three years. So I played with Elvis in the TCB band for a year and a half. I've been with Elvis with voice for a year and a half or three years total. So Elvis passes away. So you were there in the middle.

You were in his band when he passed away. Yes, I was at the airport waiting to go to the first show of the next tour when they told us to go home. The tour had been called off, and they didn't even tell us why. What was that? Like? I was driving back to my house and on the radio I hear that Elvis was found dead in his bathroom, and so that kind of blew my mind. Why did you feel? Because it was like, well, you know, it's

like we weren't. I didn't say that I knew Elvis so good that we were buds, but I knew him and uh, And I'd already spent the money I was going to make. I was living way beyond my means back in those days. And so I went home and then I get a call from Emmy Lou Harris's manager that Glenda Harden, so Glenn was the one that played

for Elvis and went to Right. So Ed Tickner called and said that Glenn d was leaving Emmy Lou to go play with John Denver, and so I went out and tried out for this for her and got the gig. And that's where I met Vince Skill and Rodney kraw Rose in Cash the Hot Band, which became the Cherry Bombs eventually. So it's like sliding doors. You know, you're

just your life. I like you just taking advantage of opportunities in a serious kind of way, you know, not being a social climber, just being a person who wants to do better and get a bigger job and a better job and do a good job. But yeah, but you know, I wasn't. I wasn't like a fantastic piano player, but I was. I never played in gigs that I couldn't do. I mean, I didn't play in a jazz

band or anything like that. I actually played with artists that I could actually play their music well, you know. And then eventually Emmy Lou got pregnant, got off the road and which turned into the Hot Band became the Cherry Arms, and we played for Roseanne cash. We played for Rodney Crowe, you were right, which was the old hot band. And and then Rodney never could have a hit. Roseanne got pregnant, so that job ended. Isn't that crazy? Rodney Crow I couldn't have a hit with a voice

like that. I know he had hits, he wrote, yeah, but only one, only one hit, kind of a small hit. Um Carl asked you about now. It's like, yeah, and I have so much, so many questions I want to ask you, but I want to make sure I don't forget one part before me to the next. Tell me what Elvis was like knowing him on a personal level, he was, you know, he was like a simple person. Someone said, you know, he was really just a kind of a middle class came from poverty as I did,

similar similar upbringing. It would be both love gospel music, you know, so you are very similar, right, and so he was just basically a simple person who was Elvis Presley, and believe it or not, just like Michael Jackson and Prince, that comes with a lot of baggage. You know, you can't go out and do anything. Uh So I think it was a burden for him, just like all big stars like that they can't be normal people and believe it or not. Being that famous. It's kind of cool

and kind of hard at the same time. I mean that big. I mean, if you think about five people that in any country in the world that you would know, probably Elvis, Michael Jackson, Muhammad Ali, the Beatles, and John Wayne, you know. I mean, but there aren't many people that were that big, you know. But anyway, he was just a really paying for the biggest, one of the biggest stars on the planet. Yeah. But you know when I was playing with him, I wasn't into music. I just

into celebrity. So I was playing for a celebrity. Only after he passed away and I got with Emmy Lou Harris. She was all about music and the history of music, and so you know, she was part of that California West Coast country thing with Ryan Stad and the Eagles and the Burrito Brothers, Graham Parsons, and so I learned a lot about music with Emmy Lou. Then I got turned onto what I really liked. But that's you because

you've been dubbed, what is it, the forefather of Americana. Yeah, but you know it wasn't called that back then, and you were an advocate for American music because I was on the board, was the president, and you signed a ton of Americana acts when that wasn't like the norm. But I thought they were mainstream. I didn't know. I thought Steve Earle was the next Whalon. I thought Lyle Love it was just cooler than you know what. And

the Mavericks were just cool, cooler than Alabama. And and so I got sort of dubbed as on the cutting edge, which in the beginning I never thought about that, being like I wasn't trying to be cutting edge. I just like stuff. You know. If I like something, someone said, how can you be a good a in our person? I said, you just got to believe that your taste is right. If they don't like it, they're just stupid,

you know. I mean not literally, but you gotta sort of think that you gotta taste, you kind of have. You gotta have like complete a belief that your taste is really good. You know. So another thing I think is so interesting to me about you because I'm one of the very fortunate people who has gotten to develop a friendship with you over the years, and you're just the sweetest heart ever and so amazing, like you're just your talents amazing. The way you think is amazing, and

the way you follow the open doors is amazing. Because you told me that you've got the town of a session player. So like I guess after Elvis and Emmy Lou is that when you officially moved to Nashville and you had no I moved to Nashville in six when I played with the Stamps quartet. Okay, so that started, and you moved here to be a session player. Now, I moved here to play with the Stamps quartet. But then I thought I might trying to get on sessions.

But that was your goal, Yes, but I wasn't really good enough. I played on records. I played on a lot of records. So you must have you must have like a vibe like that people can hear. Well, yeah, you know. I used to tell um m Rey Gordy, who played bass with Emmy Lou, I said, man, I just don't feel like I'm worthy of this job. And he said, hey, man, Emmy Lou hired you because she

likes the way you play. Just get over it and be who you are that she likes because you came from where you came from and the way you play. Just don't analyze it too much. And so and I played on records, but I couldn't play on sessions. Like when I hired players to play on records, if they choke on me, I probably won't hire them again for a long time. They got to be able to turn on the dime. And you know the players, the players

I use are usually they're called double scale players. They get double what a normal player would get because they are that good. You know, you can just say, do a Bunny Rate thing. They can do that, do a Fleetwood Mac thing, do a Hanks Senior du Whalen, and they can go anywhere you want to go on a

dime quickly. Yes, I think it's so interesting though, because like you were almost disappointed that you weren't, as you said, good enough to be a session player, but then you go on to become one of the most successful producers of all time. You've sold over a hundred million albums, You've been on been a part of a hundred million albums.

How many songs do that have this right now? Hundred number one number one songs, over a hundred million albums, and you've been in this business, not for forty years. You've run m c A Labels. You've produced everyone from Okay, I'm gonna read this list, Reba, Vincecale, George Straight Berks and Done, Tricia Year, Would, Rodney Crow, Lionel Richie, now

Cyndy Lauper. And also you did the test how do you say that test Tuskegee with the album with Lionel Richie that had duets with Blake Shelton Jason adding Darius record to McGraw, and it was like one of the highest grossing albums of two thousand twelve. So you wanted to be a session player, but then you just blew the top off of it and became like his mogul. Well, you know, it's sort of like what you're doing right now.

You know. When I first met you, you were a singer, and then then you and Jennifer came over and we cut those demos, and jen and I were an abandoned writers and in stealing angels an amazing race together, right, and then we tried to do the thing that that is a side note, Tony produced two songs. I mean, Jennifer Wayne, It was an amazing experience and I invested my own money in it because it was it was no, it was a challenge, and I was going, I got a found a way to make these girls have a

hit record. As it earned out that led to record that's right, you know. But you know the bottom line is it got me knowing you on a different level than I did before. I was only like superficially kind of you know, business associates kind of thing. And I found out that your heart was really there and your gen what's too and I wanted to be a part of that. So I wasn't that busy, so I just investged my time in doing that. And I love what

we did, you know. And I was thinking, uh, that that was at that point in my life was really good for my um, for my inspiring me to to say, I still have more to say, you know, because it's such a such a young man's world right now. And uh and I know most of my career was from seven, but still I have have I still have things I want to say, And you guys were part of me doing that, like going out on blind faith and cutting this stuff and shopping it around when I was not

working for a record label. And then yeah, sure, did, and you know, and it's good for me. Look at you, I mean, and then you decided that you want to do this. Now you're like me. I started out to be a piano player and ended up being a record

executive and eventually a producer. And you started out being a singer and then you became a singer songwriter, and now you're a personality doing a podcast, and we're we have a parallel kind of I've always really related to you because you're very open to just letting things happen, and you're very open to, I think, just trusting your talent. Like you, you've let your talent lead the way. Yes, well, you know, have you seen the Dave Girl the Foo

Fighters talking about that? I saw you. It's Sonic Highways. Yes, So Sonic Highway came out, and that's one of the coolest series that's come out. Dave Girl. Did it? Was it on HBO HBO HBO series of Ten Cities? You were the prime person they talked to an interviewed on Dave Special in Nashville, Right. You know, I was wondering how I got on that show, and I thought he would ask me like two questions. We were talked a lot.

And then at the end he said, I hear you hate this, but I'm going to ask you this anyway. And I said, you're going to ask me to elvis story. He said, I sure, Am. I said go ahead, because that seems to define my career anyway. Well, you have to understand, to be an Elvis's band is crazy that you did that. Well, you know the thing about that. When I took that job, I was more excited about playing with Ronnie Tutt and James Burton and Jerry Chef

and those musicians. To be able to play at that caliber, even though Elvis was a celebrity. I knew that was a good gig, but to be able to play in that band, it was like a big deal for me, like I'm good enough, Like you had this validation league, Yeah, validated that I I could actually, if I applied myself, there was nothing I couldn't do. You know I relate to in that way. I think getting a record deal for me with my first man stealing angels validated that.

Like we didn't never have success really, but yeah, but you know, but you made you know, you made an impact, and that's the bottom line. You always want to make whatever you do make some sort of impact. You know, you can make a big impact or you can make a small impact. Of bottom line is if you make if you get uh something happening, you're making an impact. You've done something, you know. I've always heard the saying that if you have a number one record, you have

an experience. If you have an audience, you have a career. And that's like the Stones and Ah Bonnie Rate, the Beatles or Pomen Carton. You don't have hits anymore, but they have an audience. But they had so many hits in the beginning they made an impact. Now they're so famous they don't need hits anymore. You just want to be a part of the experience that yeah, they just have an experience of people go out and see them play, and they play all the hits, of course they have to.

But then they play new music which people don't quite ever except you know, I've just started. That's right. I'm the same way if I go see uh Bonnie Rate, I want her to do. I can't make you love me absolutely now, piss me off, not crush, piss me off. I went saw Van Morrison one time at the Rayman auditorium tickets were two fifty bucks apiece, about four a

thousand dollars. He didn't do one song I've ever heard, and you know what, I wasn't so bummed out because I just really wanted to see Van Morrison before he stopped playing, and I was kind of upset he didn't play Brown Eyed Girl or anything the big hits, but just to see him on stage and see what an arrogant bastard he was. Yes, well kind of, you know, he's like, you know the thing about arrogance. Prince and all big stars have it. They have a touch of arrogance,

but they use it. They can use it in a bad way or they can use it in a good way. Well, you know, like a Prince was kind of untouchable, unreachable, No one never really quite knew him. That's kind of cool. Michael the same with Michael Jackson. But Michael had more friends, you know, he had Oprah and he had Una. Richie was a good friend of his, he said, and Quincy Jones.

Elvis didn't really have any friends outside of his inner circle, not really, sort of the inner circle kept him isolatedly intentionally, and I think that's what really because they were jealous of anybody getting close to him. Yes, and that's the problem with most big stars. The inner circle can isolate them.

That's what happened to Michael Jackson too. I think, you know, Michael and Elvis maybe could still be here and Whitney had their circle had not been so tight, and people could have got to them and maybe saved their lives. You know, that's interesting. I've never thought about it like that. Yeah,

you're right. So the inner circle can really, like well they can they isolate the person to the point where if if the inner circle doesn't have the help that person needs, in the case of Michael and Elvis, they keep that one individual that could have helped that person. I like with Elvis, you know, he was really he didn't drink, he didn't all you think of drugs. He just did prescription drugs, not illegal drugs, you know, and pain medicine, um, you know, things that would calm him down,

make them go to sleep. Same with Michael Jackson, just because you probably so much stress and anxiety. Yeah, but you know it's like if Elvis had gotten healthy, he was really heavy at the end, you know, he could still be around. Maybe maybe you know, but you know, everything fate is what it is. You know, maybe it was meant for Elvis to go away when he did,

for Miller Monroe to go away when she did. Uh. And you know, the impact that people like Michael and Prince and Elvis made on the world, it's all anybody ever wanted to do, you know what I mean, Elvis ther right, and you know, and Elvis probably wanted to do what he ended up doing, but maybe he didn't even realize he did it, you know, because he's just in the middle of doing and right and he never really got a chance to have conversations with people like

yourself and and doing an interview like this, you know. I mean interviews you see of Elvis were always like press conferences. They were kind of staged. You I kind of feel sorry for people like that. That's kind of weird to say, because everybody wants to be Elvis or Michael Jackson. But the bottom line is it really comes

with a lot of hya. The greatness of it is a great but then there's also that other side, you know, And I think that's what's cool about what you're doing, because you I think, like myself intended to do one thing, and now you're going to another part of your life, but it's still in the creative sense, So you're really doing what you it's set out to do, just in a different part of it. You know, well, I think too. That's interesting because sometimes when you get started, you don't

even know what options are out there or what. I

didn't even know about hosting. You probably don't even think of being a producer or running when you were growing up in your never never in a million years what I would dreamed I would run a label or produced records like I did um, But you know, I kind of live creatively through producing, you know, like I hired a musician because I know how he plays, what kind of style he has, So actually I'm not playing, but I'm kind of like living through them, you know when

I hire them. So was it? This is gonna be like a weird question, as you said, like everyone wants to be Elvis, but yet he had his own setup problems. A lot of people would want to be you. But like, are you sitting there thinking like, well, this isn't what I wanted to do. I want to be playing. No, you know, I never really people ask me that all the time. Do you miss playing. I said no, because in a sense, I feel like I'm playing when I

hired people to play for me on record. And I can also like, because I'm a musician, I can guide a player, whether it be a guitar player or a keyboard player or a drummer, I can guide them through what I want them to play. Because I'm a musician, I can describe or you even play it for him if right. You know. In fact, on Cindy Lauper's record, uh,

I don't play anymore. But on the Willie Nelson cut Nightlife, I was showing Steve Nathan, the keyboard player, what I wanted him to play, and Cindy said, well, you just play that, and I said, I don't play anymore. She said you are now. So I ended up playing on that cut and it was a thrill. It's scary. It was scary, but still a thrill because it was a simple part and I could do it, and I did it, and I kind of thought, if I can get my piano jones out three minutes at a time, that's so cool.

You Yeah, did you always know you were destined for greatness? Oh? No, no, no, no, But I don't think I don't think about that. I'm not great. I'm just lucky. Okay what Okay, maybe you didn't realize it was greatness you were seeking, But what was that thing inside of you that made you keep walking forward and climbing and like, what were you looking for? I was just looking forward to make to make a statement.

You know, there's nothing I mean having hit records that sells six million, Like why not his first record or George Strait's first record? I did how many get twenty years with him? Yes, thirty he had sixty number ones. I did thirty seven of them. But you know it's like, um, you know what the definition of lucky is when preparation

meets opportunity. You prepare yourself for that opportunity and then it presents itself and you can you can do it because you're ready, you're ready, and you step into it and you actually pull it off. That's what happened to me, and uh, I just wanted to be you know, people tell me they love a record that never made it of the charts. They said, that's my favorite record. That makes me feel really good, because that's what you want is validation that that you did something that is appreciated.

That's really what it is. Of course, being appreciated with big hit records is also another level of appreciation. Where do you think that drive came from being so poor? You know, I remember going to school. Uh, I could never get a girl to look at me because I was dressed so bad and so poor. And I was always loved the cheerleaders, but they would never look at me twice. And so I always wanted to be admired by people that were better off than me, better looking

than me. You know, I just wanted to be accepted with people that I admired, you whether they be good looking, wealthy, um, talented, whatever. And that's that's a drive, you know, you just want to be that person. And if you look at a lot of people, from Ray Charles to Whitney, Elvis, they all start that way. You know, it's like they just sort of like have a dream and you achieve your dream, you know, you never quit dreaming. What does it feel

like when you achieve a dream? Like? What does it feel like when your album that you produce sells a million? Over a million album produces number one hits? Like? What what does it feel like when you're running a label that's hugely successful. Like, how does that feel when you're hard work really pays off? Well, let me tell you.

I've told somebody this so many times. It's more fun trying to make it than trying to sustain it once you've made it, because you know, when you're trying to make it and you finally have that first goal album or that first number one record, the feeling is like, as MasterCard would say, priceless. It's exhilarating. You know, it's just like, oh my god, this is really happening, and it's not about money. In the beginning, it was never about money. It was just about validation. And then once

you start making money, this is nice. Yeah, you go, this is kind of cool. You know you can, uh, your your lifestyle gets up, goes up, a better house, better car, better clothes, which, by the way, you have fabulous style. Thank you. So what you do too fashionable. That's why we're such friends. We both are so cool. But you know, it's like, it's just so fun to have success. I remember the first record I did on

George Strait. It was pure country. Oh my god, that movie and up to that point you know that, yeah, but it was it wasn't it. It wasn't a successful movie at the theaters, but in cable it was really big. But you know, up to that point he had sold a million records. When the first record I get to do is that one and it sold six million records, It changed his life and changed my life. It was

really huge, yes, and it was. It was such a I mean to be able to work with a superstar like that and that happen and you go, oh my god, maybe I'm better than I think I am. The first taste of really big success. Yes, yes, George, was that his real first taste of big success. No, he had had platinum records before then, but this was the first six million selling album. That's a big record for him, and it was bigger, bigger than the movie. But the

movie was part of the success it made. It made George go from being a star to be in a superstar. It made him bigger than life because he's kind of like you in the Elvis category, like Elvis made movies. He wasn't a great movie star, but it made him bigger as an artist. He just became a bigger celebrity and that movie was perfect for him. Yeah, you know, you never kissed the girl. Do you notice that I never did because he had the one I think maybe

on the maybe on the cheek, but never in the mouth. No, you know, maybe Norma his wife. Yeah, they've been married a long time, right, they sure have. They were child they were a high school sweethearts. She's always there whenever I've made a record. She was always there for every record. She's always there in concerts. At concerts. Since they're just like inseparable, they're just yeah, and they're so cute together.

She's pretty and he's handsome. So what is George like as a person, Because I'm in Texas, he isn't like he's the most normal star there is, you know. He he doesn't have that ego like a lot of stars have. He's got confidence, but no ego. He's a real cowboy. He's not a no I'll had no cattle. He's um. He's a real He's a real guy. And I really have loved being able to work with him for so long and then I'm no longer working with him, but I got to do the big records with him, So

that's good. The hey day. So then you went on to work with Reba. You produced her My first record, you know, my first album with Reba had the song Fancy on it. I did Fancy and yes and you know, and it's the first album rumor has it, you know. We cut that song and Reba said, I'm want to cut this song Fancy, and I said, I love that song, and so I know, and so we cut that song and I told yes, because I didn't know the song was about a prostitute. I just thought it was about

a girl moving up town, you know. And so we cut the song and I told Bruce Hinton, I said, we cut Fancy last night. Bruce was the president of SO he was her record level president. I was, I was just VP of A and R at that time, and I said, we cut Fancy and it's really great. He says, I hope it's not gonna be a single. I said, I think it's a smash. He said, do you know what that song is about? I said, yes, about a girl moving up town. He said that's about

a prostitute. And I said I never even knew that. I just loved the song. And I thought that her version was even better than Bobby's Gentry's version. She had the song oh do Billy Joe and she had fancy and I just thought, you know, we copied the record for the most part, and the original record, but I think it's better. And it's been to this day. How many songs even though even though it's not a number one record for her, it's her biggest hit I think ever number one? No, it was like top ten. How

many records did that? So? How many maybe two million? Three million? Did? Um? Uh? The greatest man? I never knew. She just told stories. She sure did, yeah, and real stories that her dad. I don't know. I don't think so, I don't know. Maybe it was she never said, you know at that point, I did for my broken Heart because that record right after the plane crash, and that was pretty hard for her to do that record or her band they were playing at a private party and

she didn't fly back on that plane. The band took the private plane and flew home and hit a mountain killed all her band members. Okay, yeah, that is like that's traumatic. Yeah, that's really traumatic. And you know that song, Uh, there's a song on that album. It's called If I Had Only Known, and it's the last song on the album, and it was like one take because if you listen to the song really close. She is sobbing at the

end of it. It's a song about if I'd only known this would been the last time I would sing you, I would have said this or said that. And but that was a great album too. It for My Broken Heart was a great song. What was work from Vince going that was awesome. You know, he was in the Cherry Bombs, and so when I when the Cherry Bombs finished touring, and then he was with Pure Praier League most of the time, but when he wasn't touring with them, he played with the Cherry Bombs. I got to know

him really well. And so when I started working for our CIA, I told him, I said, you should move to nationally become a country artist. So you're the reason. Yeah, he so he moved here and I signed him to our CIA. But I didn't produce him. You signed him. Now, I gave him a start as a country or no. No, I just worked at our CIA. But our CIA gave me my claim to fame as a A and R guy because I signed Alabama. You signed Okay, tell me who you signed. You signed Alabama And that's really all

I did it. Our C a. MCS signed Loud Love It, Steve Earle the Mavericks issue, or would Patty Loveless, Shelley Right, Tracy bird Mark Chestnut Uh produced Wine on his first record for m c A after the judge broke up, Tony, you're responsible for the start of all of those people's career. I know you're not gonna take credit for right now, because you're gonna say it was a team and it was all the stuff. But like you gave those people their first break, well they gave me, you know. Signing

Trisia Yearwood, I went to see her. I want to see her at Douglas, Douglas Corner, handle, I want to see her at Douglas Corner. And every demo that I would get that a girl saying it was Tricia. She was a singer. Yes, she was a demo singer, and so and so. I was there with the r C A A and our person and Warner Brothers A and our person. And so she's saying she's in love with the boy. And I said, I'll give you a record deal if you can have that song. She said, I've

got that song. So I signed her. That was her first single and she opened up for Garth Brooks, and so that was I didn't produce her, Garth Funds produced her. But let's go back to Vince Skill real quick. So after Vince was that m c A. He was produced by Richard Landis and by Emy Gordy Jr. And then I moved two after our c A, I moved to m c A and then yeah, but it took me

twenty years before I did. But I found out that Vince wanted to leave our ci A. And so because we had a relationship with a cheery bomb that said, won't you come to m c A and I'll produce you. But because by then I had produced a few things and I was becoming a producer, so he let me

do that. And the first thing we cut was when I Call your Name, Yes, so and so that the first song we cut was when I Call your Name, and you know, and then we had like I mean, I cut still I still believe in you and go rest high those big songs, and so you know, our career is kind of like I can't believe all the stuff you've done, clossing together, like I'm worthy to sit next year. Oh you're so silly, You're so silly. Can

you believe all the stuff? You know? Like two years from now, you'll be on entertainment tonight or E news and I'll be going. I knew her when she was just a songwriter, Tony, Can you believe the legacy? You were a living legend? Like, can you believe what you have created? I can't believe. I can't believe how blessed I have been. And I think it's because I was always sincere about I never take it for granted, ever, never, because I just know how hard it is to achieve

things in this town. You know. I remember when I wanted to produce at our c A. I couldn't produce because they said, you've never had a you don't have a track record. And I said, how do you get a track record if you don't get an opportunity? And so Nora will them let me co produce my first number one song with Steve Warner at our c A.

And that was my first opportunity. I think it was called, um, it's not what I did, but what I didn't do, and some fools and some fools never learned, oh yeah, remember that's a good but you know that's so I got the opportunity and then I just kept you have delivering and co producing was the thing I had to co produce before I could produce by myself. And I knew that, you know, Jimmy Bowen when he hired me to m c A, he let me co produce Jimmy Buffett.

That was awesome. I did two albums with Jimmy. I did a Riddles in the Sand and last Mango in Paris. No did not, but they both. You know, He's always sales a million records and then we had a box set that we did with Buffett that's sold like four or five million. Uh, but that became a great a relationship as well. Jimmy Buffett do like he's the coolest. Yes, he's like he's just like his he's like his image. He lives up his brand, he lives up to it,

and he's like the coolest. He's never ever he's always your friend, you know, once you get to know him, he's always there. Well, not humble, he's he's cool. Arrogant, he's an arrogant, but you know, but once he appreciates you, he always appreciates. Oh yeah, he's not like he doesn't like he's not a fair weather friend that blows you off. I'm doing a book right now, and so he's part of my He's part of my book. I want to talk about your book. Okay, tell me about your book,

because it's right here. Let's just do a little of this straight to Jesus. Yes, I was. I wanted to do at a picture on the front too. By the way of you, what that picture is awesome of you, horrible, incredible, So in a way that the thing. I was going to do a coffee table book of my life, and HarperCollins picked up the idea, and they thought a good title would be Nashville through Tony's Eyes. I said, no,

that's silly. It needs to be a title that would make people pick up the book and say, what in the hell is this? And so I thought, you know, my life started in the church, ended up going through Elvis, and then through country music with Emmy lou and Rose Inn Cash and Rodney Kroll, and then eventually through the record business. So I started taking people uh from each part of my my life, like j D Sumner and the oak Ridge Boys and Jerry Bradley and Jimmy Bowen

and so forth. Jogolani. So I had to give it a title, and I thought Elvis Straight to Jesus would be a great title. If it had been chronological, it had been Jesus Elvis Straight, because straight that came later on. But I thought Elvis Straight to Jesus has a nice has a nice ring to it. And then you know everybody that I've produced every record, person I worked with, executive Jerry Bradley, Joe Goolani, Tim Dubois, Jimmy Bowen, Bruce Hinton,

Scott Bruschetta. They're all in the book too because they've played important roles. People like Don Was, who let me be his h mentor on I mean protege on the rhythm, country and blues. He's in the book because we've remained friends to this day and he's cool. He produced Bonnie Rates two big albums. He does the Rolling Stones right now, he's producing the Rolling st he has for the last three records. And then Bernie Taupin, who Elton John was the person who I wanted to be most of all

if I was a piano player. Yes, So Bernie Taupin and I became friends because Bernie came to town writing some country songs, which Lee and Wilmack ended up cutting one with Willie I think. But we became friends. He's in the book because he introduced me to Elton. Now I just met him with Bernie. How was that? It was? I was like peeing down my pants, you know the one the celebrity that really because honestly, yes, well you know I've I've I never met Prince, I never met

Michael Jackson. I would have loved to have met those people. I've never met Celine Dion. I love to meet her too. So I met Elton and he only saw two people when he was in Nancell about three years ago, backstage, Brenda Lee and me. But I was only me because I was with Bernie Topping at the concert and Bernie took me back to meet him, and I just blabbard. You know, this was like stuttered and made a fool of myself. Oh yeah, real sweet oh man a queen.

Well he's so fantastic. Did he have did all these pictures in this book? Did you have? Are they professional pictures? Actually? Do these pictures? Have you seen my website? People that did my website are doing the book, so they're taking the pictures but were you collecting these pictures as you went No, you know, through the years, I've got pictures of them tour, I've got pictures through the years of number one parties, gold album parties, CMA parties, you know,

different things with different celebrities. So these pictures are all going to be in there, like chronological as I went through my life. And then I've got individual people who were important, like j D Sumner's nephew because j D passed away, Donnie Sumner represents the j D part of my life. We only Golden represents the oak Ridge part part of my life. Then I'm gonna have a Lisa Marie Pressley being there for the Elvist part of my life. Yeah,

we're good friends. She lives here in Nanceville by the way. And uh, and then I got you know, Emmy Lou Rodney Crowe, Roseen Cash, the people I played with, and then every record executive, Jerry Bradley, Joe Glani, Bruce Hinton, Tim du Bois, Jimmy Bowen, Scott Broschetta, They're all in there too, representing different facets in my life. Because I fired Scott Broschetto and then Hey Helpen, Big Machine and

stuck it up in my ass. That's right. I told him, I said, man, that you should thank me for firing you because you stuck it up in my butt. You know. He just sort of nodded his head, like, oh, well, yeah, he's like worth about fifty million dollars now, you know. But anyway, you know those stories are hilarious. Well, you know, I fired, yeah, and I'm by each person. They're all sitting in this same chair that I'm in on the cover, and I'll show you some of the pictures before we

leave today. But they're all sitting in the chair, and I'm already a little paragraph about each person what they contributed, Like Donnie Sumner is the one that hired me to play in voice, which got me the job with Elvis, and uh, and then I'm gonna have a story about Scott Bruchette about what happened there, and and Jimmy Bowen and Joggolani and and each each person will have a story.

Emmy Lou Harris when I went audition for her. You know, from their perspective, it'll be for me telling why they're in this book. And like Bernie Tauping, it to be why he's in the book because Elton was my hero, and we became friends and remain friends. And then when Elton came to town, I said, you got to introduce me to Elton John. He said, I will do that if you will take me and my wife to see Fans Skill and the time Jumpers at Third and Lensley.

I said, you got a deal. So he took me backstage and met Elton and then we went to the time Jumpers the next night at Third Lensley. So, you know, you find out that every about it is. Everybody's sort of the same, you know, no matter. Some people are so successful that they become arrogant and unattainable, unaccessible. But the people that I love are the ones that are so successful that are still accessible and our normal people. And I love that. Like reads that way, Vince's that way,

George is that way. I'm not as great as they are, and Lina Richie is that way. You know, he's such a cool guy. He is just cool. I felt like we were brothers, you know. Oh, it's awesome. It was just it was like living a dream, you know. I mean, you start, we're doing duets of all the hits with country artists, right, you know, and I was thinking, what, how good can this be? But it ended up being the thing that kind of like propelled his career back

into gear again. You know, that record was so successful, and I started noticing how great those songs were. It's started studying all night long, how it's structured in the layout of the song and stuck on You and sail on Man. It was just awesome. I just I loved

being around such great talent like that. You know, if you can hang out with those kind of people, then you're doing okay those kind of no you know, you're just the fact that you can do that and feel comfortable makes you realize, hey, you know I'm doing something right. So I totally agree with you on that. Um, okay, So I want to talk about Yes, I'm holding a Grammy.

I'm holding Tony Brown's Best Country Album for Troubadore two thoight. Yes, you know, everybody thought that George had one had one lots of Grammys, but he had been nominated but never want ago and two thousand and eight we cut an album called Troubadour, which is one of my favorite records I ever did with George, we won the Grammy we won the CMA Album of the Year, See Him a Single of the Year at Troubadour, And it was a big, big album for George. How did that feel? That felt

so oh, it felt so cool. You know, best Producer for the Best Country Album, Tony. That's the top of the top. Well, you know, I had produced like twenty things like you know, you only get a Grammy for your producer of a genre like Best Album for R and B or Best Country Album, Best Jazz Album, Best Americana Record if you produce an album that wins a Grammy,

and then the producer gets a Grammy. I produced lots of things like Vince Skill for Best Male Performance of a Country Single like the Rest High and I Still Believe In You, and then over the years Shirley Caesar for Gospel Performance. So I got lots of little plaques that say for your participation in Grammy Award winning single performance. Right, So you only get a Grammy as a producer if you if the album category you're in, like country album

a may counta album. And so that year George was up for Album of the Year, the Country Album of the Year, and the Grammys, and he won, and everybody thought he had won lots of Grammars, but he hadn't. Elvis only won one Grammy for his gospel album The Beatles never won a Grammy. No, so uh, this was a big deal for George and for myself, you know. I just it was so cool, and the fact that

it was that album, because Troubadour is about uh. I was a young troubadour when I came into that, when I rode into this town, I'll be an old Troubadour when I'm gone. And so I got Vince Skill to saying harmony on that without telling George, because they had both just been inducted into the Hall of Fame, and so George always only uses his background singers on the road on his records. So I put Vince on there not telling George, which is not a good thing to

do normally. But George Columny said, man, I love the way the backgrounds turned out on Troubadoor? Is that Vince Gill I said, yes, it is. I said, because you know, you're both troubadors, you both have just been put in the Hall of Fame, and I just thought he's a great singer and it just made sense to put him on there and and George loved it. But so that

was a special as a special album hit. I only got one, but you know one, but I'd rather have won it for something like George, you know who I put twenty years of my life into and that album kind of like with a with a pinnacle, like summed up the career of he and I were working together.

How cool? Is that? So cool? And then you've won like a c M Producer of your many times twice I think, But yeah, but you know that's like, you know, you have the Golden Globes and the Oscars and the SAG Awards, and then country music you have the c m as, the A c MS and then they have the now the eight and c mts, but you know the c m as or the Grammys of the Country

Music awards. And so to win the c M A album with this record and the Grammy with this record and the single with this record that the c m AS was cool. The A c M S is the whole different kind of more fan voted awards than industry. The industry only votes for the Grammys, and the c M A a c MS industry plus fans. So I've won a couple of Producers of the Year, but you know I was at one time I was producing so

many records that was hard not to get nominated. And then all your friends in the business feel sorry for you. Can vote for you one feel sorry for you, Tony Brown. I just like hearing your story laid out like this. It's kind of unbelievable to me, all that you've accomplished. Do you sit around and think about that? I sit around and think about it, And like I said before, I don't take it for granted, and I really appreciate it. And every day when I get up, you know, thank

God for how He's blessed me. And I never ever um forget how I got here. You know a lot of my friends helped me. A lot of my friends like the job with our c A that got me into their business. After I quit playing as a musician, I told a friend of mine, David Briggs, who's in my book. He and I played with the Elvis together. I said, David, I want to get him the record business.

I want to be an A and R guy. And he said, I'll talk to Jared Bradley, he really values my opinion and see if he'll hire you and he did. So you know, your friends help your friends help you. I helped friends out myself. And guess what you do? You know you you give, and you know people give to you and you give back. It's give him back as the whole deal. And when a songwriter thanks me for cutting a number one song, I say, thank you forgive me that song. You know it goes both ways.

Thank you for the song, and he said thank you for cutting it. And I said, well, you know, yeah, I'm very grateful and lucky, lucky man. So right now, you just produced. We're about to have to wrap up. I could literally talk to you for like fourteen hours, so much to talking about you just produced. Annylopper's new

album was that it was awesome. You know. She came to town and interviewed all the producers in town that were like Dan huff Byron Gallimore, Nathan Chapman, Garth Thundas, Paul Worley, anybody that was producing right now, because she wanted to cut kind of a coverage record forties, fifties and sixties country songs. The last records she had done five years before was in Memphis with all the people at Stacks and all those kind of people have blues album.

So she interviewed me and and everybody else and I got the job. And I asked her why she picked me. She said, well, I said, don't tell me because I played with Elvis. She said, well, that's one of the reasons. But anyway, I'm so glad I got to do this record because, you know, when she grew up in Queens, those songs like Patsy Klein and Wanda Jackson were played on pop radio. Back in those days, there was not pop charts and country charts and jazz charts and a

C charts. It was just pop charts. So in pop music you'd have Johnny Mathis, Johnny Cash, you'd have Elvis, you'd have Patsy Klein. Everybody was on the same chart, you know, And those are the songs she remembered hearing when she was growing up, and they were pop songs. And so she said, I want I want to cut these from a the perspective of how I heard them in the beginning, not as country songs, but as songs

that influenced me as a singer. In fact, you know that one of my favorite songs she picked was Skeeter Davis the End of the World, which is one of my favorite old country songs and so, but she said, I didn't hear Skeeter Davis's version. I heard Herman's Hermit's version, and I remembered, oh my god, they didn't cut that. So this was just her favorite song that she grew

up listening to that she covered right. And so she covered Into the World because she heard Hermann's Hermit singing and I said, that's one of my favorite songs by Skeeter Davis, and so we sort of listened to both versions and made her own version of it, and then one to Jackson. She did a song called Funnel of Love I never really knew much about one to Jackson's music.

Then we had Jule come sing on Cowboys Sweetheart. She yodeled on Cowboys Sweetheart, and then she called the album dtour because it's a detour from her normal music and any loose sing on that. She cut Nightlife with Willie Nelson, and then she uh cut You're the Reason Our Kids Are Ugly with Finn Skill, which was a Conway tweet, a little Red Lean song. I've never heard the song that I've heard the title all my life, and what

happened on the record, actually happened on the fly. She doesn't do any vocal but the track vocal that's it. What do you what do you mean? She doesn't re sing anything one take, several takes on. No, one do several takes and then wants to take is the take. So she won't do any edit on any of the take. No, she won't go back and resing a line or every single verse, or until she finds one take that she likes, and then that's it. When the band's playing everything right now,

we do it live, you know. She recorded this album. Yes, the first song we did was into the World, and when she finished singing it, I said, I'm so used to like singers. You do a track and then the band leaves the room, and then the artist sings four or five more vocals, and then I copped together the best a final of all the vocals. And definitely today's age artists don't do a one take with the band playing our instruments. They just play and they know they

can fix it later. So when she finished the first end of the World, it was like, I said, so do you want to sing your vocals now or wait till next week when your voice is fresh. She said, I just sang it. I said, I know, you just sang it. Uh she said, was it bad? I said that was awesome. She said it's done. And when I when I finished the album, I was going, I love this because I didn't have to do vocal comps, which take like forever, yeah, a day of song to put

vocals together. So she was so cool, and she was like, uh, so on top of everything, you know, the band had to be on top of everything. She didn't want any slackers anywhere. And she brought Bill Whitman, her engineer from the beginning. He did everything from Girls Just Want to Have Fun through now and he's British, and uh, it was great working with experience. Oh yeah, it was like a whole different experience from me outside of my comfort zone.

But I had to really step up and work. I couldn't like phone it in, you know, Yeah I don't, but you know, I mean, sometimes it's straight. You just are Reba. You have a formula, you do you just you know, you can do it again and you can redo the vocals and this and that. But with her, it had to be like on the in the moment, on the spot and it was great. Okay, so I'm

gonna wrap up with leave your Light. I like to ask everyone that I interviewed to leave inspiration, something that has inspired you, inspiration you live by, and how you want to inspire the world with your life. I just want to be the kind of person my dog thinks I am. I'm kidding. I just want to be you know, I'm not a religious person, but I'm a spiritual person. I was raising a religious family, but I'm a spiritual person and I want to be thought of as a

person with compassion. Uh it's funny, that's thoughtful and um maybe a little talented, but you know, but I really I really want to be uh inspirational with people and to be cad you know, I really believe and do unto others. The golden rule really, to me, is that a thing to live by doing to others as you would have them do under you. And if you'll do that, I try that. But it doesn't always go that way

with everyone. O. Hey, there's always a bad apple. But look at how your life has been blessed from from that rule. So great and you know, it's so great to know that six years ago when you were working with Anastasia and stealing angels. I only knew you as a cute girls singer in a band, and then you were an intern at Universal South for you so intimidated.

This story is hilarious cause I would walk by your office stone like shake because I'm like, you're silly, scared, But it's it's just so it's so fun to get to see your friends kind of have success, you know, I mean through the years. Chuck Amley, who is now one of the greatest engineers in the world, we both talked about how I was playing on demos and he was a second engineer at the Sound Lab and now he's like one of the five greatest engineers in the world.

In a producer reproducers Miran Lambert, Mark Knopfler, David Now and our career is kind of paralleled. We grew together and so so fun to see your friends have success, and I kind of feel that I'm witnessing that with you right now. Yeah, I mean that, I mean that ever coming from you, that means a lot. Well, then continue what you're doing. You're doing it right well, and look look what you've done. You've left a huge mark on this world. Well, Thank you, Mark, You're so kind.

You're so kind, and I'm just a lucky man. Thank you is not pleasure. Thank you Carol. She's the queen of talking. He was sown. She's on the inside. She got the scoop on the laws to on the ones to side. No one can do with quiet, Carol, Carol, how that you guys loved hearing from Tony. He's such an inspiration and he's so amazing. I love that man and the things he has accomplished in his life is quite phenomenal. So and you'll be looking for his book

coming out soon next week is really exciting. I have my personal mentor, Victoria Shaw joining me on the show. She is the reason that I got into songwriting. She was my first publishing deal. I interned for her for years. She wrote so many songs for Garth Brooks, the River. She's every woman. She even opened up for Garth Brooks when he played that huge Central Park concert that was legendary.

She wrote, um, I Love the Way you Love Me for John Michael Montgomery, Ricky Martin and Christina Aguilera's song Nobody Wants to Be Lonely and her artist who she's been working with Lacey Cavalier is also joining and Lacey just got off to our Chase Rice. She's incredible. She also was on Barney as a kid, Are you kidding Me? And she's probably the most gorgeous person I've ever laid my eyes on in my life. Beautiful inside and outside.

So y'all get excited for Victoria Shaw and Lacey Kevin air next week, and don't forget to subscribe on iTunes. Thanks by y'all. H m hm