One of the most sought-after producers in country music died Tuesday. Billy Sherrill was 78 years old. He discovered Tammy Wynette, turned George Jones into a superstar and became a Nashville taste-maker for decades.
Sherrill shunned the spotlight. He didn’t spend much time on the awards circuit, unless he was being given one. He was
inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2010.
“His expression was his music,” says longtime collaborator Norro Wilson. “The way he looked at it, it had to be dead on the money. His ears were that sensitive.”
Sherrill would sometimes play every instrument on a song, as in 1963’s ”
Tipsy.” He didn’t consider himself a master songwriter, preferring to finish songs others had started.
When he was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame 2008,
Sherrill shared his thoughts about what makes a good producer — being a “jack of all trades,” knowing “a little about everything.”
“The main thing is to have the ear that the public has — have an ear like the public,” he said.
Sherrill proved he was in touch with the masses through his record sales. He heard something no other producer did when a single mother showed up on his doorstep in 1966. Tammy Wynette went on to have 20 number-ones working with Sherrill, who also co-wrote many of her best-known songs, like “Stand By Your Man.”
When Sherrill started working with Wynette’s then-husband George Jones in the 1970s, the artist famously said “He Stopped Loving Her Today” would be a total flop. “Too morbid,” Jones said. But it became a chart topper and 40 years later was named to the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Today, Sherrill’s music sounds classic. But at the time, it was far more emotional than most of what was selling. Country Music Hall of Fame historian Michael McCall says Sherrill may not have been braggadocios, but he was confident.
“He was a groundbreaker,” McCall says. “To be that kind of person, you have to have the innate confidence that what you are doing is going to work and take those chances.”
Sherrill took a chance on singer and songwriter Shelby Lynne when she was just 18. She calls him one of the greats.
“He changed the way music sounds in Nashville,” she says. “He made it sound sophisticated. He added a pop sensibility to it.”
He also brought pop artists into country music, like Charlie Rich, who had several hits including “Behind Closed Doors.” Sherrill veered outside the genre himself at times, working with Ray Charles and Elvis Costello.
He went for anything he thought would sell, saying never “let your personal feelings get in the way of what makes a hit record.”
Jewly Hight contributed to this report.
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