1940 – 2026
Jerry Kennedy
“Before an artist ever sang the first line of “Stand By Your Man,” “Harper Valley P.T.A.,” or “Oh, Pretty Woman,” Jerry Kennedy’s masterful guitar playing had already marked the song as a hit.
As a first-call session musician, he created signature licks that were as recognizable as song titles, and as a producer and a record label executive, he built a sonic platform for giants to stand on.
He carried a spiritual understanding of music’s power to reach beyond social and stylistic boundaries, and he spent his career making it better and bigger.
Jerry Kennedy was soft-spoken and understated, but his permanent impact on American music was anything but quiet.”
—Kyle Young, CEO
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
About Jerry Kennedy
Before he was a celebrated producer, an executive, and a guitar player on numerous hits, Jerry Kennedy was a kid curled up by the radio, listening to the Louisiana Hayride. Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1940, Kennedy had the good fortune to have Hayride guitarist Tillman Franks as his first music teacher. By the time he was sixteen, Kennedy himself had become a guitarist on the popular radio program.
Kennedy died on Wednesday (February 11). He was eighty-five.
Shelby Singleton, an executive with a keen eye for talent, brought Kennedy to Nashville in 1960 to play on Mercury sessions. In little time he became a first-call session guitarist who can be heard on Roy Orbison’s “Oh, Pretty Woman,” Tammy Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man,” Jeannie C. Riley’s “Harper Valley P.T.A.,” and Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde album.
As a producer at Mercury, Kennedy launched the career of a young songwriter named Roger Miller in 1964. Two years later he produced Bobby Bare’s breakthrough recordings. He brokered rock & roller Jerry Lee Lewis’s introduction to country music audiences with hits including “What’s Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made a Loser Out of Me)” and “Another Place, Another Time” in the late 1960s, and in 1972 he produced Mexican American star Johnny Rodriguez’s chart-topping debut. Kennedy also produced albums for Patti Page, Brook Benton, Ray Stevens, Mickey Newbury, Leroy Van Dyke, Charlie Rich, and more artists.
In 1984 Kennedy left Mercury and formed JK Productions, recording important albums by Reba McEntire, the Statler Brothers, and others. During his long career on both sides of the glass, Kennedy also played on numerous R&B sessions for artists including Ruth Brown, Clyde McPhatter, Johnny Adams, and Jimmy McCracklin.
In 2008 the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum spotlighted him in its Nashville Cats series.