Billy Joe Walker,Jr.: Versatility in Action
By j. poet
Billy Joe Walker, Jr. is one of the most prolific talents in Nashville. His musicianship keeps him in demand as a session player, even as he approaches superstar status as a producer.
It would be easier to list the people Walker hasn't played with than to present a complete resume. He's done sessions with The Beach Boys, Ray Charles, Dixie Chicks, Randy Travis and hundreds of others. He's got "Takin' Up Space," written with Bobby Pinson, on the new Van Zant album, Get Right With The Man. He wrote Eddie Rabbit's No. 1 song "I Wanna Dance With You" and has more than 100 cuts to his name. His production credits include No. 1 songs for Tracy Byrd, Pam Tillis, Travis Tritt; hit albums for Billy Ray Cyrus, Collin Raye and Bryan White, and seven albums of guitar jazz under his own name.
date at Capitol Records which led to sessions with Merle Haggard, Glen Campbell and The Beach Boys, who hated each other by then. I was never in the studio with the whole group."
Later on, Jimmy Bowen (producer and former head of Capitol Records Nashville) called Walker to Nashville for session work. "For awhile I commuted, but the traffic in L.A. was getting to me. It took three hours to drive to a session. In Nashville, all the music was happening on one small street, so I moved and experienced some culture shock. I was only playing Country in Nashville; in L.A. I played everything. So I started writing instrumental pieces and when Bowen heard them, he offered me a deal with a label he was starting."
Walker cut seven albums of guitar jazz for three labels including Painting Music, which contained two No. 1 NAC singles. "After producing seven albums of my own, I was tired of hearing me. I thought I'd try producing other people.
"I found a guy named Bryan White and did a few albums with him. My wife, Ginny Johnson, who was an independent production assistant at the time, introduced me to Pam Tillis. Pam got me inspired about producing, and I'm still doing it and loving it."
Walker produced White's first three albums and Tillis' Greatest Hits which included the single "All the Good Ones are Gone" which went No. 1. He also produced Tillis' Every Time CD and in 2001, he co-produced Tritt's Platinum Down the Road I Go featuring a No. 1 and three Top 5 singles. Walker also produced Tritt's follow-up project Strong Enough. In 2002, Walker produced albums for Tracy Byrd, Mark Chesnutt, Tammy Cochran and Brad Martin. Larry Willoughby, Vice President A&R of Capitol Records Nashville, said "it's always great working with Billy Joe."
"He's a wonderful musician which translates well into the production process, but more important, Billy is a great guy to be around."
Walker said he's happy that tracks are still cut together by live bands in Nashville.
"That's a major plus," he said. "I love recording with faces in a room, instead of stacking tracks, one guy at a time. I want to know what the music's going to sound like before I leave the studio. I know guys who have great success building tracks, but I like being face to face with musicians and working with a live band."
Although Walker enjoys production, he isn't keen on explaining the details of his approach. "I like talking songwriting and composing and how tunes came about, but now I'm in the cubical, trying to create the best for the artist. The production side isn't something that everybody wants to know about. There are technical details that aren't that interesting.
"I just try to receive the best from the artist I can, with minimal overdubs. I've been lucky enough to work with great singers, knock on wood. I'm not opposed to effects, if you need a processed sound, use it, but I like the live sound and that's what I want to hear coming out of my studio."
Walker runs a small publishing house and owns his studio, Our Place, but has no desire to become a business powerhouse. "We've signed a few writers I believe in, but we're not in business to start a publishing house. And we never rent the studio to anyone. It gives me the advantage of being able to spend all the hours I need to get something the way I want it to sound and keep the budget in line. After a certain point in the budget, we can eat everything, which we can do, 'cause it's for us and no one else."
Walker's currently working on Amber Dotson's Capitol Records Nashville debut, due later this year. "My goal is to make the best record I can make and hope it's successful. I don't worry about hits. If I fell into that trap, I wouldn't have the passion I have for the music."
® 2005 CMA Close Up News Service/Country Music Association, Inc.
July 19, 2005
© Amanda Eckard / CMA
IN THE STUDIO
Photographer: Alan Mayor
"There's no music I don't like," Walker said, calling from his farm outside Nashville. "I love great music: jazz, pop, classical, Country, anything that comes my way. Lately, I've been remembering when I was 6-years-old and heard music I liked. My heart would start pounding and I'd get all excited. I'm back to that stage, and at my age [53] it surprises me. I'm loving music today more than I ever did."
Walker was born in Midland, Texas and raised in West Texas. "We had a family radio. Late at night you could pick up the Opry, Wolfman Jack, [jazz guitarist] Howard Roberts, jazz, classical. I started guitar when I was 4, a cheap model that I could hardly mush the strings on. My mom got me a 3/4 size electric guitar and some lessons, and I took it from there."
At 6, Walker was playing guitar and singing folk and Country Music on his own "Little Billy Walker Show." Walker taught himself to read music and left home at 14, landing in Oklahoma City where he played in the lounge band at the Copacabana Club and various Country joints.
"I was too young to be in the clubs but the owners and cops treated me like a son and watched out for me." Walker started playing Country sessions and met Conway Twitty, who cut some of his material in Oklahoma City. "[Twitty] told me to move to Nashville," Walker recalled. "I went to L.A."
Two weeks after hitting L.A., Walker was in the house band at The Palomino Club, where he met Country Music Hall of Fame member Cliffie Stone. "Cliffie got me a
