Allen Reynolds (born August 18, 1938) is an American

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

who specializes in

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

. He has been inducted into the

Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame was established in 1970 by the Nashville Songwriters Foundation, Inc. in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. A non-profit organization, its objective is to honor and preserve the songwriting legacy that is u ...

and the

Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum The Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum (MHOF) in Nashville honors all musicians regardless of genre or instrument. The MHOF timeline starts with the beginning of recorded music and inductees are nominated by current members of the American Feder ...

Biography

Early life and career

Reynolds was born in

North Little Rock, Arkansas North Little Rock is a city in Pulaski County, Arkansas, across the Arkansas River, Arkansas from Little Rock, Arkansas, Little Rock in the central part of the state. The population was 64,591 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. In 2 ...

, and grew up in Memphis, Tennessee. He started writing songs during his college years and eventually teamed up with

Dickey Lee Royden Dickey Lipscomb (born September 21, 1936), known professionally as Dickey Lee (sometimes misspelled Dickie or Dicky), is an American pop/country singer and songwriter, best known for the 1960s teenage tragedy songs " Patches" and "Laurie ( ...

to form their own publishing and production company. They had a minor regional hit with the song "Dream Boy." In the early 1960s, Reynolds most notably wrote the 1965 pop hit "

Five O'Clock World "Five O'Clock World" (also known as "5 O'Clock World") is a song written by Allen Reynolds and recorded by American vocal group The Vogues. It reached number 1 on WLS (AM), WLS on 17 December 1965 and 7 January 1966, number 1 in Canada on the ' ...

" for

the Vogues The Vogues are an American vocal rock and roll group from Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. The original lineup consisted of Bill Burkette (lead baritone), Don Miller (baritone), Hugh Geyer (first tenor), and Chuck Blasko (s ...

. Reynolds worked at

Sun Records Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee in February 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny C ...

in Memphis, and he became good friends with

Jack Clement Jack Henderson Clement (April 5, 1931 – August 8, 2013) was an American singer, songwriter, and record and film producer. Biography Early life Raised and educated in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, Clement was performing at an early age, ...

, a leading producer and writer at the label.

Commercial success

In the early 1970s, Reynolds' friend, producer and writer Jack Clement, left Memphis to start his own publishing company and record label in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

JMI Records JMI Records (Jack Music International) was an American record label founded in 1971 by Jack Clement, and was primarily active until 1974, when the catalog was sold to ABC-Dot Records. It was notable for having been the record label that first sign ...

. Clement convinced Reynolds to sign on as vice-president. Reynolds built a roster of talented writers at the label, including

Bob McDill Robert Lee McDill (born April 4, 1944) is a retired American songwriter, active from the 1960s until 2000. During his career he wrote or co-wrote 31 number one country hits. His songs were also recorded by popular artists of the 1970s, 1980s an ...

(writer of the country standard " Amanda") and

Don Williams Donald Ray Williams (May 27, 1939 – September 8, 2017) was an American country singer, songwriter, and 2010 inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He began his solo career in 1971, singing popular ballads and amassing seventeen number ...

. Reynolds went on to write and produce on Wiliams' first two albums, and was instrumental in helping Williams to launch his career. When JMI Records closed in 1975, Reynolds continued to actively write and produce around Nashville, including

Waylon Jennings Waylon Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He pioneered the Outlaw Movement in country music. Jennings started playing guitar at the age of eight and performed at age f ...

' "

Dreaming My Dreams with You "Dreaming My Dreams with You" is a song written by Allen Reynolds, and recorded by Waylon Jennings' for his 1975 album, '' Dreaming My Dreams''. Jennings' version was also released as a single that year. In 1979, Australian recording artist Colle ...

." However, he achieved his greatest commercial success during this time working as writer and producer for

Crystal Gayle Crystal Gayle (born Brenda Gail Webb; January 9, 1951) is an American country music singer widely known for her 1977 hit "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue". Initially, Gayle's management and record label were the same as that of her oldest sist ...

. Some of their notable collaborations included "

Wrong Road Again "Wrong Road Again" is a song written by Allen Reynolds, and recorded by American country music artist Crystal Gayle. It was released in September 1974 as the first single from the album '' Crystal Gayle''. In the mid-1970s, country music was mak ...

," " Somebody Loves You" and "Ready For the Times to Get Better." When Gayle left

Decca records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

1975, she signed with

UA Records United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B. History Genres In 1959, ...

where she was teamed up with Reynolds, and he is credited with developing her signature

soft rock Soft rock is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in Southern California and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, melodic songs with big, lush productions. S ...

sound.

Later career

Allen Reynolds' songs have left a lasting legacy on the country music scene.

Hal Ketchum Hal Michael Ketchum (April 9, 1953November 23, 2020) was an American country music singer and songwriter. He released eleven studio albums from 1986 to 2014, including nine for divisions of Curb Records. Ketchum's 1991 album ''Past the Point of ...

covered the 1960s hit "Five O'Clock World" on his 1991 debut album ''

Past the Point of Rescue ''Past the Point of Rescue'' is the second studio album by American country music artist Hal Ketchum. His first major-label album, it was released in 1991 on Curb Records and has been certified gold by the RIAA. The album produced four singles f ...

'', with Reynolds as co-producer alongside Jim Rooney, which became a Top 20 country single for Ketchum.

Hal Ketchum Hot Country Songs Chart History HAL may refer to: Aviation * Halali Airport (IATA airport code: HAL) Halali, Oshikoto, Namibia * Hawaiian Airlines (ICAO airline code: HAL) * HAL Airport, Bangalore, India * Hindustan Aeronautics Limited an Indian aerospace manufacturer of fight ...

/ref> Reynolds has kept busy in the music industry working as a noted record producer. Reynolds produced many of

Garth Brooks Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American country music singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him popularity, particularly in the United States with success on the co ...

's hit albums. He has also produced albums for

Kathy Mattea Kathleen Alice Mattea (born June 21, 1959) is an American country music and bluegrass singer. Active since 1984 as a recording artist, she has charted more than 30 singles on the '' Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts, including four that re ...

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, including ...

George Hamilton IV George Hege Hamilton IV (July 19, 1937 – September 17, 2014) was an American country musician. He began performing in the late 1950s as a teen idol, switching to country music in the early 1960s. Biography Hamilton was born in Winston-Salem, ...

and

the O'Kanes The O'Kanes were an American country music duo composed of Jamie O'Hara (singer), Jamie O'Hara and Kieran Kane, both vocalists and guitarists. Active between 1986 and 1990, the duo recorded three albums for Columbia Records and charted seven singl ...

Compositions

References

Record producers from Arkansas 1938 births Living people People from North Little Rock, Arkansas {{music-producer-stub