Hey, it's Bob Pickett. We are on our way to the legendary Broken
Spoke. Come on, let's get out the truck and head inside. Proud
of it. Come on, it's going side. Getting ready for another tale
from the Broken Spoke. We had so much fun talking with Terry McBride at
the Broken Spoker. You're ready for part tuber conversation Terry McBride on tails the
Broken Spoke. So Tony signs you and Tony, by the way, let's
say why Tony was the piano player for Elvis. Yeah, right, I
think Elvis is last piano He was at the He was at the airport the
day that Elvis passed. They were getting ready to go on tour, and
they came in and he overheard someone on a radio saying mister Presley has died.
They thought it was the day he's dead, and then they realized that's
it, you know. But yeah, he has great stories. I mean
he he was a piano player, so Elvis took him everywhere. If he
wanted to sing gospel at two am, he needed his piano player there and
Palm Springs or wherever. He has some great stories of And Tony was a
teenager then too, he was the youngest cat in the band by a lot.
He was in the He was in the band called the Voice Right and
they were hand picked as Elvis's opening act on all the shows. Our old
tour manager Tom Hinsley was the bass player in that band, and they they'd
play the opening slot. Then they would take the programs and whatever and work
the crowd. That was part of their deal. They had to go sell
merge and before Elvis came on, double duty old school. Yeah, Colonel
Parker, how bad do you want to be in show? How bad you
want to get paid? Here's what you're gonna do. You're gonna play,
You're gonna sell, and this is what you're gonna do. But yeah.
Then Tony went on from there and of course became he's responsible for signing Alabama
and produced all those fantastic records with Patty Love, Steve Warner early on that
I Love Guitar Town with Steve Earl. Then he went into George and Reeb
and Vince and he he was the hottest producer, like over one hundred number
ones as a producer and George's exclusive producer since the Pure Country Soundtrack. That's
right. He was his first album, So for thirty plus years, he's
you know all those George Strait, you know, quintessential, you know country
music history types. We've all been singing along time over the years. Phenomenal
record and he's a wonderful guy, you know, a label. When I
my deal was over, the band broke up, and he didn't he didn't
let me go. He'd let me go from the deal, but he wouldn't
let me go personally. He continued to be in my life and even to
this day. I mean we talk, he calls he's going to be part
of this induction for me to the Songwriter Hall of Fame. Fantastic coming up.
He'll be part of that. He's been interviewed for it. But he's
Yeah, he's more than just my producer. He's become one of my dear
friends over the years, you know which I love that about it. Let's
talk about the Songwriters Hall of Fame. You kind of glossed over it right
there. No, come on, give us a scoop. When's it happening.
I didn't know anything about it. You know, people have been telling
me leading up to this, like you need to be in that. I
said well, I don't know how you know. I've done all I can.
I do what I do. And then Ronnie Done reached out and he
called me one day. He says, hey, maam, what are you
doing February twenty fourth, in twenty twenty four. I said, man,
I don't know, I don't think anything, and he goes, well,
You're going to be inducted into the Texas Song Right Hall of Fame that night,
so mark it on your calendar, you know, and Ronnie's going to
be the host, and I'll get to perform some of our songs that I've
written with Brooks and Dune that night, and so we don't gloss over that
your writing relationship with Ronnie. Ronnie Done is one of the great success stories,
not just commercial success but artistic success in country music. That's some of
the best country songs and by god country songs in the past fifteen years.
Oh thanks, Monie, No, that's true. Those guys. I tell
you. We had a song with mcbriden and The Right Sacred Ground and Kicks
co wrote it back in ninety two. So that's how I met Kicks,
you know, through that song. And then I didn't know Ronnie as well.
Then the band broke up, and you know, this is this is
basic for anybody out there. You know, you've got to be tough to
be in this business only because of the rejection side of it is you got
to wear a cup, you got to wear curly do. Even if you've
had success and you've you've experienced that or you've made it to that level,
it can bring you down quickly. You know, not everything might not line
up from there on out. For those who do, like George and people
like that, it's unbelievable. It's not the norm, you know, for
a songwriter if you've had success and you've had a whole lot of you know,
moments that aren't as successful, a lot of rejections. So the band
broke up. I cut this song called I Am That Man, and I
went, I thought this might and Tony Brown said, this might be a
single for you. Is a solo project, and you need to consider that.
I played it for one of my promo guys, and I remember one
of the promo guys it labels like I don't know, man, I don't
know, I don't hear it. Oh No. About two weeks later,
Ronnie cut it and then I told the promo guy, you're gonna hear it
now, right because they're gonna it's gonna be a single. And it was.
And through that Ronnie said, mem I love you songwriting, and I'm
a fan. Janine and I were fighting in the kitchen one night. We
were having an argument and all of a sudden we heard this country voice over
the television and it was you guys on Nashville now Ralph Emery back in the
day. You know. They went and bought the cassette the next day.
I didn't know any of this. He just telling me this, you know,
as I'm meeting him. He said, come over the house. Let's
hang out, you know, and let's get to know each other a little
bit better. Because I love this song we just cut of yours. I
am that man, it's gonna be a single. It's gonna be a big
Ol'd hit. You know that all sounds great, you know. So I
went over there. We hit it off. We had so much in common,
you know, musically, our family, uh, growing up, and
just so many things in common. He said, Man, I'm just getting
off the band bus. I got my own bus. Why don't you come
go with me. I'm going to California for fifteen days. You know,
I said, man, I'll do it, and then he told me later
he goes, man. You know, I almost called and canceled that trip
because I never had anybody out with me. I didn't know, you will.
He's an introvert, and he didn't know being on a bus fifteen days
is somebody if that was even going to work, but something that he told
him to do it, and so we did. We wrote about ten songs
on that fifteen day, and that not only sort of solidified my relationship,
but it also saved me in a way where I didn't know what I was
going to do other than pull myself back up and write songs because that's how
I got to Nashville in the first place. But having a hit with those
guys at the time, they were on top of the world. Then that
one bus trip led to thirteen years of me going down the road and bringing
ideas to Ronnie. If I had a good idea, I had a place
to go with them. You know. I mean, you've had a lot
of good ideas where you didn't even song didn't even live up to the idea,
you know, or you pitched it, it didn't get cut. But
I had a built in if I had a good song and we a good
idea, we wrote a good song, I had a home for it well.
And I just think, as a like me and a hundred million of
my closest friends, always being such a big Brooks and dun fans included,
I think this stuff that that you and Ronnie wrote. And you know,
and I've told you this before and I'm not blowing smoke up your ass to
me just as a fan because because you were probably writing it as a fan,
I think the songs y'all wrote were the best suited for his voice,
right, you know what the voice and what a great country voice. But
but you just but for the thing is and I'm talking about like the like
the little shit you learned as a songwriter, which just like where you cut
off the consonant, how long you go with about and key selection given be
the greatest singer in the world, because seeing about Ronnie done, he's such
a great singer. All the keys sound good, but then there's that one
sweet spot key yeah man, And in y'all's relationship, it just seemed to
me as like, Okay, this is the Ronnie dunnanist sound and stuff I've
heard and I know that's not on accident. Well, you're right, because
I didn't have an outlet for it anymore. As a singer. I'm a
tenor, you know, like Tony said, tenors, they live and die
by your voice. You know, either can hit those notes at night or
you can't. And Ronnie's a strong singer, one of my favorite vocalists in
country. No. I just happened to hook up creatively with him and have
an outlet for these ideas and Melodi's. I wrote this song called He's Got
You and it was the last night of that fifteen day run in California.
They were at the Puolip Fair up in Washington. We'd already written some cool
stuff and I thought just one more idea, maybe just one more cool idea.
And I was watching from the bus and them do their show, and
I just had this little melody and I had a little bit of the chorus,
what see God that I don't you know? And of course Ronnie we
later went in and cut it, made it even bigger and very dramatic.
But we wrote that on the way back to the hotel on about forty five
minutes. Then Ronnie decided, Terry, you need a deal man. You're
you're good. You're just too good of a singer not to have a deal.
I went, oh gosh, you know, so he went in and
cut that on me. He's got you and I think you know our uh
sony Joe Gilani ree Bell. They really ruminated, Bell really wanted to sign
me. Joe Gilani did not, and so I didn't get the deal.
So Ronnie, fortunately RONI cut that song. But when it hits the big
note, it's very dramatic in that song, it's it's something I would have
loved to have done, but thank god I had a guy like Ronnie Done
who could do it, you know, and pull it off in such a
fashion that you know, went on to be a hit, and that and
several other things was for me just just as a fan just listening to radio.
I don't know what y'all wrote it, you know where, but it
just seemed like that was like his and y'all's musical tribute to Orbison. Oh
most definitely, of course you nailed it. But okay, now go sing
like that every night. And he was able to do it, and he
could well, said I mean, we had the even and I am that
even, and I am that man. I had a little parties. It's
like a you need someone who's true and strong, you know. I knew
Ronnie could milk that, you know, And that happened to me on the
album with my Maria, which she really nailed that sort of false set of
thing that became kind of part of what he does and we went on to
write more of those. But you're right, the Orbison thing is just mysterious.
I wrote for Barbara for eight years over to Orbison, and I lived
to tell the tale. But I came out the other side a good point.
Good point. They the ransom. They got you, You got you
out. They found me. I tapped on the wall long enough and they
finally tracked me down and got me. But yeah, it was a crazy
I will say this. She was so eccentric. It was just crazy.
And she was always so good to me. And when Brandy, my wife,
started her publishing company, you know, she get Brandy gets called this,
this is Barbara Orbison calling from Nashville. We women publishers got to stick
together. Had her company too weeks. You still don't know how' she heard
so I've heard a lot of stories about Barbara Orbison. Always a princess to
me, always a deer to Brady. But a nut job, Yeah,
she really was, but in a good one. She loved Ronnie so much
that she wanted to have me over there no matter what. And it allowed
me to create a publishing agreement that was unlike any traditional deal I could get
in Nashville, right, because everybody wants at least half of what you got.
She was willing to take a lesser piece just to have me an a
type deal. Yeah, and wh I cut out a little section of any
future Brooks and Dunn performances, which made me feel better about it. And
she's still you know, the first time I signed that deal the next album,
I had five songs on that next album, including play Something Country,
which was the first thing on number one song. Right. So she was
happy about the deal too. She came out of it all right. But
she was so crazy. Like you said, she goes she love Ronnie.
But she's telling me one time, Terry, I love that Ronnie Brooks.
She's telling me she couldn't keep anything straight at all. She was you know,
she was very you know, she was a hard business woman, but
she allowed me to also do business with her in a way that other people
wouldn't. Then I did a more traditional deal. Also had this young kid,
Jed Hughes. I just gat I just produced a record on Jed.
He was nineteen. I brought him to Nashville and you know, signed into
my publishing company, and you know, we just knew he was one of
the most talented young guys I'd ever seen. And went out to South Plains
College to speak out there. And my dad's old guitar player, Steve Williams,
was teaching out there, and he said, once you come talk to
these kids, you know. And Jed happened to be one of them,
all the way from Australia, you know, and he was amazing. He
played a cool Buddy Miller's song that night, he did all this chicken picking.
I said, I don't know what you're gonna do. First thing I
asked him was do you write songs? He went no. I said,
well, start your talented kid, start jotting down ideas and start sending them
to me. I said, what are you gonna do when you graduate?
I don't know. I said, well, ma'am, come live on my
couch if you want, and let's introduce you to some songwriters. Let's take
you around town and see we can stir up. And that's what happened,
and it didn't end up being I proceed the whole record on Transcontinental, which
would cut some cool stuff and just featured his playing ability and cut luxury liner
and we had Alison Krauss on the record, Patty Loveless, and you know,
he was almost just too hip for the room. And then Keith Urban
comes along with the same stuff that he has. Yeah, and then he
took Jed in his band. And now for people who don't know, and
he's gone to be an eight team session guy. He's played on tons of
hit records and still release his music as well. He's he lived in Austin
for a while, he moved back here for a whiles, moved back to
Nashville now. But he's a phenomenally talented, gifted guitar player and it's a
great cat and he's just the can the sweetest guy ever. Man. He
really love helping people like that. Not a negotistical, bone, humble,
humble individual even with all that talent, which is kind of rare these days.
But he's uh. Now he's almost forty year old, kid, you
know, it's nineteen when I met. He was shocking that all these people
have grown up around and said, we're not getting any older. I don't
know, you don't look like you at all. But what was so wild?
It's like, you know, Brandon and now were having U lunch with
supper with rock Morton just a little while ago. Oh and uh, and
I was talking about how they so we were, you know, we're just
because he was so good to me when I first started coming up to Nashville
and introduced me to everybody and all these people and da da dad. And
I was telling him about these other younger guys coming up there in their twenties
and he goes say, they're pumping, that's your turn. Is how many
people helped you? Man? You know? All without that, I mean
trying to think about this, you know, Texas Songwriter Hall of Fame.
I'm trying to think about that. I'm trying to look at the people who
are in there, and I'm trying to think about and all I can think
about is just everyone who's helped me. Right, It's not about me at
all. It's really about all these opportunities from recent whinings to my dad to
you know, Tony Brown, to people that gave you an opportunity, and
then what are you gonna do with it? You know, Tony just opened
the door. I mean I left Austin. I wasn't even I was still
living in Austin. And Renee Bell said she was at the label. She
was Tony's assistant. She said, I'm gonna help you through this deal.
I'm gonna be your person. I'm gonna be your point person, and I'm
gonna help you and I'm gonna start booking your calendar to write. You need
to get up here and start writing with a bunch of people. I said,
that's cool. So in her mind, here's a guy from Texas.
So my first co write after Bill and Ruth, was a guy Clark.
That's my first co ride. I'm going, oh no. I mean,
I wanted to do it so bad and I did. But when I was
in high school, I'd get those Jerry Jeff records, those albums, and
I start looking on there and I was like, who is this guy Clark
when he's writing these songs that I love, my favorite songs? Who is
this guy you know, and I was just oh. And then all these
years later, I go to E M I. He's on the third floor.
He's got this little office with this little oval window. He pop out
so we could smoke out this window. And he's a big hulk of a
guy. He's not all warm fuzzy either. He's having to write with some
guy doesn't know, you know, because I've got a deal and I'm having
to write with some guy that doesn't need a guy to write a great song.
And it's all in my head. But I've got about five six titles
that I've been working on for Guy Clark, you know, because I do
not want to disappoint God Clark. And so I get in there. I
start girming. He's like, oh the hell with that shit. That's the
last thing. He doesn't want to hear that shit. I went, okay,
all right. I quickly went off to something else. I was trying
to tell him how great he was. He's like, I don't want to
hear that shit. I was like, okay. Then I pitched these ideas.
He goes, man, that first idea. I like that idea.
He's let's work on that. So we did work on it, and then
we're getting he's opening up a little bit, he's becoming a little more comfortable,
you know, I can tell. And then he goes, hey,
man, you want to get high? And I went, yes, sir,
Now I'm high with guy. And then he said he did. He
did a beautiful thing. He's like, hey man, let me take this
home and just work on Oh, thank God, please do. And then
after that he no longer had me come to Iami. He said, meet
me at my house. Come over the house, let's go get some Mexican
food, and let's let's hang out. Uh. And I loved it.
I mean I was always I was still so intimidated, even though he was
being so kind. I just it's like a hero like that. It was
hard for me to just get comfortable with even though I wanted to so bad.
You know, we wrote several things. I took Jed over there.
He fell in love with Jed and he has a little wood working room.
You know, he's building these fantastic handmade guitar down there, a little fan
in the window to suck the sawdust out the window. And it was just
it was in heaven, really just hanging out. I just enjoyed every moment
every conversation he had, more so than even some of the songs. Just
being with him and learning from him and just being around a guy like that.
Wow, it's a dying breed people like that. He remember. I
was about twenty or twenty one when I first started to hang with him a
little bit. And then he and I were just talking one day and and
he said the main thing, he said, you know, just all I
do said, I just you know, I'm just always trying to get better.
And I remember thinking to myself, oh, fuck, guy Clark's trying
to get better. What does that mean for me? Waiting over a train?
And he was so if he dug you, oh he dug you.
Really, all the stories about him being a contrarian and stuff is just he
just he just did not suffer fools. But no, he did. He
didn't have time for that. But if he dug you, you were in.
And I could tell when I first walked in, because here he is.
He's trying to make a living. He's up in Nashville. Part of
his job is bringing in these people. The guy these deals. You know,
I've done the same thing. I can't tell you how many young people
have come through my door that I don't know him from Adam. You know,
you got to sit down and figure out do I have anything in common
with this person? And can we write a song? Is the next question
now? Or even or is this person even a writer? Yeah? Really,
Unfortunately, once Nashville became the model for every artist is now a songwriter,
it really changed everything. It really did it. It's wild because it
is Elvis didn't right, Jim Reeves didn't write, Patsy didn't right straight,
didn't write for the first forty years of his career and made pretty good right
now. And most of those songs were either written by a person or two
people. I mean, all of a sudden, it's three, four or
five people. You know, it's just it is what it is. It's
generational type of stuff that's happening. I get it. The industry is moving
forward and all that's gonna happen. But you still can't replace an incredible song
that was you know, from the heart and all that stuff we grew up
on loving and longing and wanting. But you know, I just think if
you're a writer, then you're a writer, and if you're a great singer,
that you're a great singer. That doesn't mean you're you know, it's
like it's no, it's like trying to make every great football player a quarterback.
Yep. Well some of them are offensive linemen, some of them are
right tackle, some of them is a kicker. Well, it became it
became about money at the point. You know, here's an opportunity to get
a third of something otherwise we wouldn't even have. But it doesn't make a
better record, and we don't have and I know for a fact, we
do not have a higher percentage of great songs. It's the same amount of
great song of standard classic songs that we're going to hear for thirty years.
I mean, it's more of a disposable music scene at the moment. And
you said for the moment this two shell pass. Yeah, yeah, And
it is in a way you can see already with these the alternative acts,
whether it's Tyler Childers or Zach Bryant, these guys that are singing something different
and they're finding this big audience that's wanting it, you know. And you
know, and I think I also think that the cut of the Tracy Chapman
song Fasketball, you just go, there's just there's just an old cover.
Yeah, I did it great, sounds great, yeah, and it's a
great song. Yeah. And cool of him to want to have the vision
act somebody who influenced him. And you know, and it's just like these
little things like like Stapleton has Patty dough do You'll never leave Harlan a lot.
Yeah, And within six months he's on the Rolling Stone list of the
Greatest Singers of all Time. Now she's in the Hall of Fame, all
these things she should have been. Yeah, you're right, that duet of
that cover put it on that path because why because you'll never leave herd on
life. It's one of the best songs I've ever heard. You know.
When I saw that video for the first time, I had to send her
a little message. But I did the same thing next morning. I stayed
in touch with her. You know, she's singing on my last album,
a little duet Rebels and Angels that I wrote with Chris, and she killed
that. I sent it to Chris. He couldn't believe that. You know,
he just thrilled. We all are because we all love Patty. But
of course she hit me right back. She's just a sweet person like that.
I saw it at the Hall of Fame induction. You know, she
looked great, but there's nobody quiet like it. But you're right there.
She is a proven, legitimate Hall of Famer. But it took maybe that
moment little and just really did take off after the Year's a cover. Here's
a cover song, and Chris Stableson's pretty great writer all on his own,
but it was the best song. And I for the moment as well,
what they were doing and trying to raise money. And when Patty did that
was on the Rolling Stone list of one hundred Greatest Vocalists of All Time.
And I emailed her and Emory, her husband. Em Yeah, I said,
congratulations on. Emory got right back and I had to take a picture
on my phone and text it to him and he goes, oh my gosh.
And there's another Elvis connection with Emory. Absolutely, he's He's amazing.
I got to know him only through emails because when I asked Patty to sing
on this album with me, she said, you know, Terry, I
sing with Bob Seger last year, and now this year I'm going to sing
with you. I went to Thanks Bad, she was going and don Helly
SIMI song. I just didn't like it. I didn't do it. I
was like, oh my god, turned down Don Henley, Yes she really
did, and and then the but but they wanted to record her part there
because Emory wants to be involved. I thought, that's a beautiful thing.
Let it would be whatever he wants to do. So I started corresponding with
Emery like daily. He sent the coolest emails. But I had never met
him personally until the other night. There he was sitting there, he It
was just so nice to see him. What a cool person and what a
history as far as a bass player idol, because that guy has done it
all. He's played it, he's produced it, he's it's amazing what his
career is. And people who don't know him look him up. You will
be able to go listen to Burning Love. That's his baseline. That's baseline.
Oh and it doesn't stop there, it just goes night for NEI,
that whole era of stuff, it's just it's unbelievable. But yeah, there
he is. He's an older guy now, but sitting there looking at him,
going wow, that is stuff that gets me still excited to this.
Meeting somebody like that was a thrill and He's the only guy that ever quit
Elvis's band that he wasn't fired. He yeah, well he was. He
wanted to go pick full time with Emmy. Oh yeah, yeah, no,
I've been right, yeah, which Tony Brown did too, right,
And and Elvis just said, you know, whatever you want, because Glenn,
well, I want to sing. I want to pick with Amy new
Harris, But how much money do you want to go? I want to
pick with Emmy. I'm tired of all these brawls getting thrown at me,
right, you know wow, because Emory gave me They were given Elvis on
tour patches, and and Emory gave me his patch because he never put it
on his jacket. He said. The happily married guys never put the patch
on. And the guys that would chase women, they chase the chicks always,
always, he said. He said, I never put it on my
jacket, and I could walk through the hotel lobby said. Tales from The
Broken Spoke is recorded live but The Broken Spoke in Austin, Texas, hosted
by Street Radio Hall of Fame broadcaster Bob Pickett and Monty Warden, recorded mixed
down and produced by Mike Rivera