PASSINGS
Barry Beckett, 66, a keyboard player and record producer who had important roles in recordings by Bob Dylan, Percy Sledge, Hank Williams Jr. and Kenny Chesney, died June 10 at his home in Henderson, Tenn.
He had been in failing health for several years after a stroke and being diagnosed with cancer.
“There’s no way I would be where I am today in my life if it wasn’t for Barry Beckett,” country music star Chesney told the Tennessean newspaper.
Beckett produced the first two albums recorded by Chesney.
Beckett was born in Birmingham, Ala., and came to prominence in the 1960s as part of a group of session musicians working at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Ala.
As a keyboardist, Beckett played on Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman,” Paul Simon’s “Kodachrome,” Bob Seger’s “Mainstreet,” and the Staple Singers’ “Respect Yourself.”
In the 1970s, he produced Dylan’s “Slow Train Running,” Dire Straits’ “Communique” and “Honest Lullaby” by Joan Baez.
In 1984, he moved to Nashville and went to work for Warner Bros., where he co-produced three of Williams’ most successful recordings: “Montana Cafe,” “Hank Live” and “Born to Boogie.”
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