When Eddie and I initially discussed my doing a short paragraph on the making of this record, I thought, “No problem, I’ll take a few minutes and knock something out.” But as I began writing, I thought back to the guys and gals Eddie and I worked with through the years, and our experiences in the Memphis music scene. Read on to learn of the trials Eddie endured during the making of this record, and the triumph of it’s completion. It involves the lives and stories of some of Memphis’ greatest musicians. From the very beginning, here is the story…

JACK

In the summer of ’73 I went to a Saturday afternoon concert at the Overton Park Shell in Midtown Memphis. On the bill were legendary Memphis bands, Big Star, D Beaver and Combinations, Leviathan, Mud Boy and the Neutrons, and others. It was there I caught my first glimpse of Jack Holder with his band Hot Dogs which included Greg Reding. I was astounded by the complete musicianship of Jack. His fluid and melodic guitar playing and transcendent tone were inspiring. I would be forever influenced. That event left such an impression, in particular Jack’s playing and personal presence that by 1975, in the middle of a career as a pro motocrosser I bought my first bass from local bass legend Leo Goff, which I still have. Shortly thereafter, I formed my first garage band with RT Scott.

In the years that followed, as I elbowed my way into the Memphis music scene, I was privileged to play in such Memphis bands as Asia (with George Bradfute, Gary Hagar, and the late Tim Acred), Target (with Jimi Jamison, Buddy Davis, Evan Leake, and Joel Williams), Keith Sykes and The Revolving Band, DeGarmo & Key (with Greg Morrow), and Drama (with Pat and Susanne Jerome Taylor, and John Hampton). In early 1983 as Target was taking a break, I received a call from Jack (who I had yet to meet personally) asking if I would be interested in forming a new band with him. WELL, YEAH!!! Together we formed the band Justice with Jimi Jamison, Greg Reding, and Steve Fly. We gigged around town doing mostly rock-n-roll covers and a few originals. Great band and big fun!

By now Jack had become one of Memphis’ leading producer/engineer/studio musicians, as well as fronting his own band and sitting in with others. Then one afternoon in 1985, he asked me to come to Sounds Unreel Studio on the corner of Nelson and Barksdale, to do some bass tracks on a Ruthie Walden project. As I walked into the studio that evening, I thought to myself, “Now this is where I belong!” Imagine your first serious studio experience, sitting right next to Jack Holder behind a big recording console with the speakers seriously cranked up, while he produces your bass tracks! The next morning I walked into my day job at the local Kawasaki shop and gave my two week notice without having so much as a clue or a plan.

In the following months, Jack took me under his wing where I learned the various ins and outs of the studio world, including engineering and some technical stuff. Shortly thereafter, I started branching out and doing some free-lance producing and engineering at other Memphis studios such as Cotton Row and Ardent, both on Madison in mid-town. While working on a couple of projects at Ardent, I was re-acquainted with John Hampton, the drummer from my days in Pat and Susanne Taylor’s band, who was also a highly regarded producer/engineer. So there I was, an ex-motorcycle racer and fledgling studio cat, having been embraced and mentored by two of the best in the business! Life can be full of surprises.

CROSSTOWN

Fast-forward to 1994. Greg Morrow and I were producing a record on acclaimed Memphis artist Rob Jungklas at our studio, Crosstown Recorders on N. Cleveland in the shadow of the old Sears building. It was an old school, retro-vibey, 24 track analog studio featuring Memphis’ first Neve console. It had formerly been the home of Howard Craft’s studio, MasterCraft Recording before Greg took it over when Howard retired in 1988. He remodeled the place and Crosstown was born. (Greg recently told me he learned more about recording from Howard back then, than anyone since). I came on board in ‘92 as his unofficial partner and the house producer/engineer. Greg, already one of the nation’s finest drummers (and a bit of a closet guitarist) and myself, a jack of all trades producer/engineer, and bassist, guitarist, and quasi-keyboardist, recorded many bands and solo artists, plus all kinds of other projects during our time in that old building.

EDDIE

While working on Rob’s record at Crosstown, a tall, thin guy with long dark hair and a mouth full of teeth, wearing black cowboy boots, a black western shirt, and black jeans cinched up with a wide concho-studded belt came strolling through the front door. “Hey Rusty! How in the world have you been?!” “Well, I’ve been just dandy, thanks!” wondering to whom I was speaking. He said “Hey man, don’t you know who I am? It’s Eddie!!” I’m thinking, “Which one?” He must have known I was searching as he exclaimed “Eddie Smith!” Then the lights came on... “EDDIE SMITH?!!! Man, how have YOU been!!??” It had been some years since I had heard his band Touché, a local big-hair-spandex rock band at some club in town. I forget where. Well times and Eddie had changed since those days and he was now intent on cutting an honest-to-goodness country record and had dropped in to discuss doing it at our place with me handling production, engineering, etc.

Taking a quick break from Rob’s record, I sat down with Eddie as he whipped out a brand new Taylor acoustic (which he’s still playing) and proceeded to play some songs he had written, all the while staring me square in the eye and smiling that big ol’ smile of his. I was an instant fan. I loved his songs, voice, personality, and the sincerity and honesty that flowed forth... the whole Eddie vibe. Greg was out on the studio floor dinking around with his drums as I hollered at him to come into the control room and check this out. After half a song, he was on board. Rob just stood there, smiling. Between other projects and overdubs on Rob’s record, we managed to cut twelve songs on Eddie, mostly his own compositions. He played his new Taylor and sang, Greg played drums while I played bass, acoustic and electric guitars and did some backing vocals. Rick Steff was on keys and Robby Turner played steel guitar. I brought Tommy Burroughs and Jack in for a couple guitar overdubs. It was a fine effort that to this day has never been released.

During that project, Rob who was regularly in and out of the studio back then, became a big Eddie fan. One late night while he and I were in the control room at Crosstown doing vocal overdubs for his record, he said “Man, that Eddie is absolutely in the country ditch!” “It just doesn’t get any more real than that.” I naturally agreed. To this day, being in the Country Ditch is quite the compliment.

NEIL’S

About the time we were finishing his record, Eddie wandered into Neil’s Music Room on Madison, one of the main clubs in town which featured mostly rock-n-roll bands. Eddie was buddies with Rick Camp and Rick Nethery of the Beat Generation, a local band that was playing there that Friday night, and he decided to go check it out. (Greg and I had produced their record “Million Dollar Movie” the year before). The two Ricks introduced Eddie to Neil, and he took the opportunity to approach Neil about putting him in there on Fridays as a solo act and doing some songwriter nights. Neil told him, “Eddie boy, I’m just not sure if a country artist will work in here. This is Neil’s rock-n-roll club, you know!” Neil eventually agreed to give it a try, probably after Eddie whipped out his guitar and threw down some tunes, while staring at him and grinning that grin. In no time, Eddie was packing the place to the rafters with mostly college kids, including the University of Memphis football team.

During that time, he had been driving back and forth to Nashville a few times a week playing gigs and chasing a record deal, eventually moving there in ’95. Then Greg relocated there in ’96 and moved Crosstown in ’97, renaming it the Hum Depot. I followed in late ’98. Over the next five years, Eddie became intimately familiar with every inch of I-40 between Memphis and Nashville. There’s a reason it’s called the Music Highway.

CHANGES

As it turned out, the music scene in Nashville was going through a major shift. The labels had realized that thirteen year old girls were buying more records than any other demographic, and not just country records. The pop end of the spectrum had discovered that years earlier, hence the emergence of boy bands and similar pablum. Established country artists were being dropped right and left, and because Eddie doesn’t make music for post-pubescent girls, his pursuit of a record deal got derailed. After a few more years of burning up the highway working both towns, he moved back home to Memphis in 2000. Over the next ten years, he continued to gig and do sessions and in 2010, he made another record, this time with Jack at Young Avenue Studio titled I’m Stayin’ Long, featuring Jack, Greg, and Robby Turner. By the way, over twenty years after Eddie first walked into Neil’s, you can still catch him there most Friday nights.

Eddie and I stayed in touch through the years and I would also occasionally catch up with Jack and John, the bonds of friendship forged during my early years under their influence having never been broken. To this day, Greg and I still work together on many projects ranging from country to pop to rock. And lately, there’s a rumor that the record Greg and I cut on Eddie back in ‘94 may finally be released!

THE BOYS IN THE BAND

Which brings us to this record… In early 2014, Eddie called to say he was working on a new project which was being recorded at Ardent with Jack producing and playing bass, Greg on drums, Tommy Burroughs on acoustic guitar, mandolin, and fiddle, and Buddy Church on electric guitar. I said “Now there’s an all-star line up!” I was totally familiar with those guys except Buddy, who I had met a couple decades before at Crosstown. I had heard of his lofty playing chops but had never actually heard him first hand. I had also worked with Tommy on some projects when I was still in Memphis. He was the go-to guy if you needed guitar, fiddle, and mandolin on your record (still is) and was a founding member of THE RIVER BLUFF CLAN, a bluegrass band that still plays in town. He has also played with the likes of Rodney Crowell, Mark Collie, Bernie Leadon and others when he worked in Nashville. Additionally, he co-wrote songs for Restless Heart and Martina McBride. He and Eddie first met when they were still kids and Tommy was playing at Shakey’s Pizza Parlor in Raleigh, a Memphis suburb. Eddie couldn’t help but notice this kid who played well beyond his years. They became fast friends.

Buddy Church’s resume includes guitar duties with Jerry Lee Lewis, Tammy Wynette, Freddie Hart, Ace Cannon, and many more. Jack has played guitar on records by Tracy Chapman, Travis Tritt, Johnny Lang, Dobie Gray, John Prine, Buddy Guy, and hundreds of others, and was also a member of Black Oak Arkansas. And Greg is pretty much the top drummer in Nashville these days. He has played with Vince Gill, Amy Grant, Reba, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Dixie Chicks, Blake Shelton, and Luke Bryan, plus hundreds of others, and has been nominated Drummer Of The Year by the ACM since 2001, winning in 2008 and 2015. His credits and other awards would fill a book. All-stars, indeed!

JOHN

I asked Eddie who was engineering and he said John Hampton had come on board after a couple false starts. John has produced and recorded hundreds of artists through the years including Jimmy Vaughn, the Gin Blossoms, Robert Cray, and Little Texas to name a few. As work started on this record in February ’14, John was walking down the hall at Ardent when he heard a noise blaring through the door to Studio B. Being John Hampton, he barged into the control room, asking “Who is that?” “Eddie Smith” came the answer, at which point John politely (or maybe not) told the engineer that he could be excused now, as he (John) “…will take it from here.” Jack and Eddie were fine with that, so the vanquished engineer gladly became the assistant and John moved the project to Studio A right down the hall. He and Jack started from scratch and decided to cut everything live including Eddie’s vocal (with minimal overdubs for mandolin, fiddle, and backing vocals), just three or four mics on the drums, and no fancy studio shenanigans. Everyone would be in the same room, with Eddie playing his now seriously beat up old Taylor and singing live. Just straight up and honest like you would hear at Neil’s on most Fridays.

Eddie wanted to record what was essentially one of his live sets featuring some of his favorite cover tunes with a couple originals thrown in, so that’s what they did. With John now at the console, they tracked these thirteen songs in a couple days, and because it was recorded live in the studio, there was no need to schedule a few extra days for repairs and additional overdubs. Jack and John would mix it a few weeks later and it would be ready to go. Or so they thought...

A VERY COLD WINTER

Late 2014 through early ’15 was a tragic time for Memphis Music. First, Jimi Jamison suddenly passed away from a heart attack in September, 2014 after flying home from a Survivor gig in California. In December, John Hampton who had been ill while working on this record passed away from a protracted battle with cancer. Then we suddenly lost John Fry, the legendary engineer, founder, and president of Ardent Studios to a heart attack. He died within a week of Hampton’s passing that same cold December. Less than a month later in January of 2015, Jack passed away from the battle with cancer he had been waging. One of the greatest all-round musicians in the history of Memphis music, and a massive talent was gone. Eddie was devastated.

Before his passing, Jack had been working on this record literally from his death bed. He had become too weak to sing his parts and was desperately trying to lift some of his backing vocal tracks from a live Eddie gig that had been recorded before this project started. With his Pro-Tools rig on the dresser and his notebook and monitor on the bed beside him, he toiled away at getting this record the way he had envisioned it. Ever the dedicated professional and Eddie’s devoted friend, Jack worked on this, his final project until the very end.

Then in February 2015, Pat Taylor succumbed to the cancer he had been battling for years. Back in October at Jimi’s memorial, my wife, Carol and I sat next to Pat and Susanne, with Leo Goff on my other side. I told Leo as we watched Pat and Suzy walk away that evening, that it would be the last time we would ever see him. And just a few months later, I was at Pat’s memorial where for the first time I heard Buddy Church play his guitar. John Kilzer officiated the huge gathering of family, friends, and fans, as well as a Who’s Who of Memphis musicians, many of whom had been crucial in creating and sustaining Memphis music from as far back as the late ‘60s. On stage were some of Memphis’ most renowned players. Suddenly, I heard this angelic electric guitar cutting through. I was sitting next to my old friend, accomplished bassist, composer, and arranger Sam Shoup and asked him “Who’s that on the guitar?” “Buddy Church” he replied. I thought to myself, what an incredible player, and regretted having never worked with him. As I would later tell others of my initial surprise at hearing Buddy for the first time, the reply was universal... “Oh yeah, Buddy! Fantastic player and an even better person”.

Naturally, the Memphis music community and fans were gutted at the sudden loss of all these iconic Memphis musicians. And Eddie was still numb from the profound losses he had endured. Some of his closest friends including his band mate and dear friend Jack, and John (who recorded this record) were gone in the space of a few months. Eddie’s record was adrift and for now, he could only shelve the project.

When Eddie started this record in early 2014, Buddy had been battling cancer for over five years, and that was Eddie’s prime motivation for doing this project in the first place. This record was for Buddy, so it was of paramount importance before we lost Jack and John. Now with their passing, it’s significance could not be overstated. Eddie would have to somehow find the strength and resolve to finish this record, the last one that Jack and John would ever make.

In the following year and a half during my phone conversations with Eddie just to see how my old friend was doing, their names would come up. It was during one of those calls that Eddie first told me of Buddy’s long illness. I had no idea. Buddy was still doing pretty well and Eddie was dealing with the events of the recent past. We never discussed the record.

ONE MORE TIME…

Finally in July, 2016 Eddie called to say he had resurrected the project and was wondering if I could help him see it through. He had been getting encouragement from friends to finish the record, and deep down he knew that’s what Jack and John would expect. He said his heart had finally healed to the point where he was now ready to bring it home. He sent me the rough mixes and asked that I give it a listen and get back to him. After hearing it for the first time, I told him I thought it was great and that it needed nothing but mixing. I had heard from Greg that a couple close friends of Jack and John’s, who were accomplished studio engineers were lobbying to mix this record, so as Eddie and I discussed some possibilities, I mentioned that I would be interested in doing the mixes. He agreed and suggested we finish the record in Memphis at Ward Archer’s place, Music+Arts Studios, which coincidentally was formerly Sounds Unreel where I had started my recording career all those years before with Jack as my mentor. I was thrilled and honored! Within a few days, we had the studio booked, the plan being for me to come to Memphis in early October, spend a couple days with Eddie at Music+Arts and mix the record, assisted by in-house engineer Kevin Houston. Ward had revamped the place with new equipment, aesthetics, and acoustics with a new API console as the centerpiece.

Then on August 23, 2016 Buddy lost his long battle with cancer. In spite of Eddie’s utter devastation, this time there would be no stopping him. Buddy had been the inspiration for this record and Eddie was on a mission. A couple months later, Eddie and I convened at Ward’s studio.

Man, it felt great walking back into the famous building on that corner in Midtown where I got my start! It was just like coming home. And even though I had considered and anticipated the significance of this record, it hit me like a ton of bricks as I pulled the faders up for the first time and heard my old friend Jack, discussing a song they had just recorded. Listening to Jack, Eddie, and the boys make a few changes to a song, or celebrate a rousing version of a just completed take from that day back in February, 2014 was magical. And haunting. I felt like I was right there with them. But three were gone.

Before we started, I sat down with Eddie and Jimmy Lackie, executive producer for this project, to discuss how this record should sound… how it should feel. I suggested to Eddie that it should basically sound like one of his live gigs. No studio tricks, just good and honest like Hampton had recorded it. I figured Jack, John, and Buddy would approve so we all agreed and got down to it.

The emotions and feelings in the control room during our couple days at Ward’s place were mostly jubilant, and sometimes solemn as we listened back to our friends. I was also struck by how sincere Eddie’s vocals were and how he had seasoned as a singer in the years since I had last heard him.

As work progressed, some of my old Memphis buddies would drop in and hang out a while. Rob Jungklas, Rick Steff, Tommy Burroughs, Charlie Lawing, Debbie Jamison, and others came in to visit and listen, and they were more than welcome as it was as much a celebration of the guys who were no longer with us, as it was a fun record to be working on. Ward would occasionally pop in with a big smile and a thumbs up as we would listen back. In a serendipitous turn of events, Eddie had arranged for the tracking of this record to be video taped during their two days at Ardent back in early ’14. It is a properly done multi-camera shoot, and there is a plan, hopefully soon, to finish editing it together and get it out there. Sounds like a candidate for broadcast on the local PBS station to me!

So I finished this record with Kevin’s able assistance at Ward’s place, then mastered it a few weeks later at my house just outside of Clarksville. In a fitting tribute to the friends he lost during the making of this record, Eddie christened it LEGACY. So here it is… Jack, John, and Buddy’s swan song. Thank you Eddie for letting me be a part of it. Here’s to you and your boys, Tommy, Greg, Jack, John, and Buddy for a job well done.

- Rusty McFarland

Henrietta, TN • March 2017