James Harold Shedd (born November 8, 1931) is a

music industry executive A music executive or record executive is a person within a record label who works in senior management and makes executive decisions over the label's artists. Their role varies greatly but in essence, they can oversee one, or many, aspects of a re ...

and producer, best known for his role as producer of the country group

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

as well as

Reba McEntire Reba Nell McEntire (born March 28, 1955), or simply Reba, is an American country music singer and actress. Dubbed " the Queen of Country", she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Since the 1970s, McEntire has placed over 100 single ...

Shania Twain Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain ( , ; née Edwards; born August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 100 million records, making her the best-selling female artist in country music history and one of the best-s ...

and

Toby Keith Toby Keith Covel (born July 8, 1961), known professionally as Toby Keith, is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer. He released his first four studio albums—1993's ''Toby Keith'', 1994's ''Boomtown'', 1996' ...

. During his career he has headed

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

and Mercury's sister label,

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

Honors

In the city limits of

Bremen, Georgia Bremen ( ) is a city in Haralson and Carroll counties, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 6,227, up from 4,579 at the 2000 census. Most of the city is in Haralson County, with a small portion in Carroll ...

U.S. Route 27 U.S. Route 27 (US 27) is a north–south United States Highway in the southern and midwestern United States. The southern terminus is at US 1 in Miami, Florida. The northern terminus is at Interstate 69 (I-69) in Fort Wayne, Indiana. F ...

is formally known as “Harold Shedd Highway”

Life and work

Born November 8, 1931, Shedd began work in his hometown of

, where he was a member of a local band and worked in radio for fourteen years as DJ, engineer, sales manager and finally station owner.Miller, Zell; ''They Heard Georgia Singing''
pub. Mercer University Press, 1996 p. 266-7 In 1972, he sold up and moved to

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 ...

, where by 1979 he was co-owner of the Music Mill recording studio. Harold and business partner Donnie Canada built a new building in 1982. Shedd was instrumental in Alabama, one of the first acts he worked with, being signed by

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

. The band’s debut single 'Tennessee River' was the first of Alabama's 21 consecutive number one hits that he produced. Shedd also produced albums for

Amie Comeaux Amie Noelle Comeaux (; December 4, 1976 – December 21, 1997) was an American country music singer who gained fame in her teens. Her debut album, ''Moving Out'', was released on Polydor Records in 1994, and it produced the single "Who's She to Y ...

Roger Miller Roger Dean Miller Sr. (January 2, 1936 – October 25, 1992) was an American singer-songwriter, widely known for his honky-tonk-influenced novelty songs and his chart-topping Country music, country and pop hits "King of the Road (song), Ki ...

Mel Tillis Lonnie Melvin Tillis (August 8, 1932 – November 19, 2017) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Although he recorded songs since the late 1950s, his biggest success occurred in the 1970s as part of the outlaw country movement, ...

Louise Mandrell Thelma Louise Mandrell (born July 13, 1954) is an American country music singer. She is the younger sister of fellow country singer Barbara Mandrell, and older sister of actress Irlene Mandrell. Louise had a successful singing career in country ...

Dobie Gray Dobie Gray (born Lawrence Darrow Brown; July 26, 1940 – December 6, 2011) was an American singer and songwriter whose musical career spanned soul, country, pop, and musical theater. His hit songs included " The 'In' Crowd" in 1965 and "Dr ...

K. T. Oslin Kay Toinette Oslin (May 15, 1942 – December 21, 2020) was an American country music singer-songwriter. She had several years of major commercial success in the late 1980s after signing a record deal at age 45. Oslin had four number one hits and ...

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, actor and television host. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodt ...

and

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

. While

had had top 10 singles, it was only with her collaboration with Shedd that she saw her first gold record, 1984’s '' My Kind of Country'' album, although the pair came into conflict over his suggestions for songs and "the sweetened arrangements he imposed on them". In 1988, Shedd joined Mercury Polygram Records Nashville, where over the next six years, he oversaw the signing of

Kentucky Headhunters The Kentucky Headhunters are an American country rock and Southern rock band originating in the state of Kentucky. The band's members are Doug Phelps (vocals, bass guitar), Greg Martin (vocals, lead guitar), and brothers Richard Young (vocals, rh ...

Billy Ray Cyrus Billy Ray Cyrus (born August 25, 1961) is an American country singer and actor. He has released 16 studio albums and 53 singles since 1992, and is known for his hit single "Achy Breaky Heart", which topped the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart and ...

, and

. In 1989, Shedd was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. After a period as President of Polydor Nashville, The Music Mill recording studio became the headquarters of VFR Records, owned by Shedd with partners Paul Lucks and Ed Arnold, for a time one of Nashville's more successful independent country labels, whose artists included

Mark McGuinn Mark McGuinn (born August 19, 1968) is an American country music artist. He made his debut in 2001 with the single " Mrs. Steven Rudy", a Top 10 hit on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts. It was the first of three single ...

and Trent Summar & The New Row Mob. VFR folded in 2002 due to a lack of funding.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shedd, Harold 1931 births Living people American country singer-songwriters Record producers from Georgia (U.S. state) People from Bremen, Georgia Country musicians from Georgia (U.S. state) Singer-songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)