MickeyMac
06-13-2009, 12:42 PM
Barry Beckett, keyboard player and founding member of the famed Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, died during the night at his home in Hendersonville, Tenn.
Known affectionately as “The Swampers,” Beckett, along with guitarist Jimmy Johnson, bassist David Hood and drummer Roger Hawkins, performed with a variety of artists including Bob Seger, The Staple Singers and Paul Simon.
He was 66-years-old, said his close friend and former assistant, Dick Cooper. He had suffered from several ailments.
Beckett co-produced Bob Dylan’s first platinum album, “Slow Train Coming,” along with the late Jerry Wexler at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios at 1000 Alabama Ave. in Sheffield. He and Wexler also produced “Communique,” the second album by Dire Straits.
Cooper, who worked as Beckett’s assistant for 5 1/2 years, said he will remember Beckett as a compassionate individual who taught him everything he knows about the music business.
Known affectionately as “The Swampers,” Beckett, along with guitarist Jimmy Johnson, bassist David Hood and drummer Roger Hawkins, performed with a variety of artists including Bob Seger, The Staple Singers and Paul Simon.
He was 66-years-old, said his close friend and former assistant, Dick Cooper. He had suffered from several ailments.
Beckett co-produced Bob Dylan’s first platinum album, “Slow Train Coming,” along with the late Jerry Wexler at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios at 1000 Alabama Ave. in Sheffield. He and Wexler also produced “Communique,” the second album by Dire Straits.
Cooper, who worked as Beckett’s assistant for 5 1/2 years, said he will remember Beckett as a compassionate individual who taught him everything he knows about the music business.