Barry Edward Beckett (February 4, 1943 – June 10, 2009) was an American keyboardist, session musician, record producer, and studio founder. He is best known for his work with David Hood, Jimmy Johnson, and Roger Hawkins, his bandmates in the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, which performed with numerous notable artists on their studio albums and helped define the "Muscle Shoals sound". Among the artists Beckett recorded with were Bob Dylan, Boz Scaggs, Paul Simon, Rod Stewart, Duane Allman, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, Dire Straits, The Proclaimers and Phish. He was also briefly a member of the band Traffic.

Biography

Beckett was born in Birmingham, Alabama. He rose to prominence as a member of the rhythm section at the Sheffield, Alabama-based Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, of which he was one of the founders in 1969. As a founding member of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, he helped define what became known as the Muscle Shoals sound. In addition, the studio produced such chart-making hits as "Torn Between Two Lovers" by Mary MacGregor and the Sanford-Townsend Band's "Smoke from a Distant Fire". In 1973, Beckett took to the road in the expanded lineup of Traffic; recordings from this tour were released on the band's live album On the Road. Beckett was co-producing with Jerry Wexler when, in 1979, Bob Dylan called on Wexler to produce the sessions for the album Slow Train Coming. Beckett not only co-produced the album but played piano and organ throughout. (He did not go on the road as a gospel tours musician behind Dylan, but he was back in the studio with him in February 1980 to co-produce, again with Wexler, the album Saved, on which he was replaced on keyboards by Spooner Oldham and Terry Young after the session of February 12, 1980, and so plays only on the album's title track, "Solid Rock", "What Can I Do for You?" and "Satisfied Mind".) On the album liner notes Beckett is billed as co-producer and as "special guest artist". Beckett moved to Nashville in 1982 to become A & R country music director for Warner Bros. Records and co-produced Williams, Jr.'s records with Jim Ed Norman. Beckett produced records independently after leaving Warner Bros. Records. He also played on Paul Simon's albums There Goes Rhymin' Simon and Still Crazy After All These Years, which reached number 1 on the Billboard 200 pop chart.'' Beckett died from complications of a stroke at his home in Hendersonville, Tennessee, aged 66.

Awards and honors

Collaborations

With Solomon Burke With Etta James With Bob Seger With Joan Baez With Willie Nelson With Feargal Sharkey With William Bell With Julian Lennon With Cher With Vince Gill With Kim Carnes With Boz Scaggs With Mary MacGregor With Mark Knopfler With John P. Hammond With Mavis Staples With Wilson Pickett With Paul Anka With John Michael Montgomery With Steve Cropper With Eddie Rabbitt With Dee Dee Bridgewater With Albert King With Paul Simon With Wendy Waldman With Wynonna Judd With Levon Helm With Trace Adkins With Aretha Franklin With Candi Staton With Donovan With Dolly Parton With John Prine With Aaron Neville With Kenny Chesney With Joe Cocker With Ronnie Hawkins With Lulu With Beth Nielsen Chapman With Dion DiMucci With Ilse DeLange With Dion DiMucci With Chely Wright With Odetta With Laura Nyro With Johnny Rivers With Bob Dylan With Peabo Bryson With Ricky Van Shelton With J. J. Cale With Art Garfunkel With Rosanne Cash With Michael Martin Murphey With José Feliciano With Cat Stevens With Leon Russell With Rod Stewart With Glenn Frey With Linda Ronstadt With Rodney Crowell With John P. Hammond