Donnie Fritts
Encyclopedia
Donnie Fritts is an American
session musician
and songwriter
. A recording artist in his own right, he has been Kris Kristofferson
's keyboard player for over twenty years. In 2008 he was inducted into the Alabama
Music Hall of Fame.
He began playing drums in local bands such as the Satellites and Hollis Dixon at age 15, and later developed into a session keyboard player.
Working closely with Rick Hall
, Billy Sherrill
, Dan Penn
, Arthur Alexander
, David Briggs
, Jerry Carrigan
and Norbert Putnam
, Fritts was involved in many of the early songs and recordings created in the Muscle Shoals
music industry.
and Jerry Lee Lewis
. He later met Kris Kristofferson
who was just beginning a career in songwriting. When forming his band, Kristofferson called on Fritts, who continued as his keyboard player for over two decades, performing live, on recordings and in numerous movies.
's movies: "Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid", "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
", and "Convoy
" as well as other movies including "A Star Is Born
" and "Songwriter".
co-produced Prone To Lean at Muscle Shoals Sound. Everybody's Got A Song was released in 1998. The album included guest appearances by Willie Nelson
, Kris Kristofferson
, Dan Penn
, Spooner Oldham
, Waylon Jennings
, Delbert McClinton
, Tony Joe White
, Leroy Parnell & John Prine
. It would be another ten years before Fritts released his third album One Foot in the Groove in 2008 produced by Dan Penn
with Ron Laury, recorded at Dandy Studio in Nashville.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
. A recording artist in his own right, he has been Kris Kristofferson
Kris Kristofferson
Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...
's keyboard player for over twenty years. In 2008 he was inducted into the Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
Music Hall of Fame.
He began playing drums in local bands such as the Satellites and Hollis Dixon at age 15, and later developed into a session keyboard player.
Working closely with Rick Hall
Rick Hall
Roe Erister "Rick" Hall is an American record producer, songwriter, music publisher and musician who is best known as the owner and proprietor of the FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.-Life and career:...
, Billy Sherrill
Billy Sherrill
Billy Sherrill is a record producer and arranger who is most famous for his association with a number of country artists, most notably Tammy Wynette...
, Dan Penn
Dan Penn
Dan Penn is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and sometime guitar player who co-wrote many soul hits of the 1960s including "Dark End of the Street" and "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" and "Out of Left Field" & "Cry Like A Baby"...
, Arthur Alexander
Arthur Alexander
Arthur Alexander was an American country soul singer. Jason Ankeny, music critic for Allmusic, said Alexander was a "country-soul pioneer" and though largely unknown, "his music is the stuff of genius, a poignant and deeply intimate body of work on par with the best of his...
, David Briggs
David Briggs
David Briggs may refer to:*David Briggs , American record producer*David Briggs , American keyboardist and record producer*David Briggs , English organist and composer...
, Jerry Carrigan
Jerry Carrigan
Jerry Carrigan is an American drummer and record producer born 13 September 1943 in Florence, Alabama. He first achieved widespread recognition by being part of the first wave of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and later as a session musician in Nashville, Tennessee for over 3 decades...
and Norbert Putnam
Norbert Putnam
Norbert Putnam is an American record producer and musician. He grew up near Florence, Alabama and was part of the Muscle Shoals musicians brought to Nashville to play for Elvis Presley in 1965. Putnam worked there as a bassist on recording sessions with Presley, Roy Orbison, Al Hirt, Henry...
, Fritts was involved in many of the early songs and recordings created in the Muscle Shoals
Muscle Shoals Sound Studio
The Muscle Shoals Sound Studio was formed in Muscle Shoals, Alabama,in 1969 when musicians Barry Beckett , Roger Hawkins , Jimmy Johnson and David Hood left FAME Studios to create their own studio...
music industry.
Kris Kristofferson
In 1965, Fritts signed with a Nashville publishing company. Songs which he wrote were recorded by Charlie RichCharlie Rich
Charles Rich was an American country music singer and musician. A Grammy Award winner, his eclectic-style of music was often hard to classify in a single genre, playing in the rockabilly, jazz, blues, country, and gospel genres.In the latter part of his life, Rich acquired the nickname The Silver...
and Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...
. He later met Kris Kristofferson
Kris Kristofferson
Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...
who was just beginning a career in songwriting. When forming his band, Kristofferson called on Fritts, who continued as his keyboard player for over two decades, performing live, on recordings and in numerous movies.
Film career
Through his association with Kristofferson, Fritts appeared in three of Sam PeckinpahSam Peckinpah
David Samuel "Sam" Peckinpah was an American filmmaker and screenwriter who achieved prominence following the release of the Western epic The Wild Bunch...
's movies: "Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid", "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia is a 1974 American action film directed by Sam Peckinpah and featuring Warren Oates....
", and "Convoy
Convoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...
" as well as other movies including "A Star Is Born
A Star Is Born (1976 film)
A Star Is Born is a 1976 American rock music musical film telling the story of a young woman, played by Barbra Streisand who enters show business, and meets and falls in love with an established male star, played by Kris Kristofferson, only to find her career ascending while his goes into decline...
" and "Songwriter".
Recording artist
In 1974 Kristofferson and producer Jerry WexlerJerry Wexler
Gerald "Jerry" Wexler was a music journalist turned music producer, and was regarded as one of the major record industry players behind music from the 1950s through the 1980s...
co-produced Prone To Lean at Muscle Shoals Sound. Everybody's Got A Song was released in 1998. The album included guest appearances by Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
, Kris Kristofferson
Kris Kristofferson
Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...
, Dan Penn
Dan Penn
Dan Penn is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and sometime guitar player who co-wrote many soul hits of the 1960s including "Dark End of the Street" and "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" and "Out of Left Field" & "Cry Like A Baby"...
, Spooner Oldham
Spooner Oldham
Dewey Lindon "Spooner" Oldham is an American songwriter and session musician. An organist, he recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and at FAME Studios on such hit R&B songs as "When a Man Loves a Woman" by Percy Sledge, "Mustang Sally" by Wilson Pickett and "I Never Loved a Man" by Aretha...
, Waylon Jennings
Waylon Jennings
Waylon Arnold Jennings was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. Jennings began playing at eight. He began performing at twelve, on KVOW radio. Jennings formed a band The Texas Longhorns. Jennings worked as a D.J on KVOW, KDAV and KLLL...
, Delbert McClinton
Delbert McClinton
Delbert McClinton is an American blues rock and electric blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, harmonica player, and pianist....
, Tony Joe White
Tony Joe White
Tony Joe White is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known for his 1969 hit "Polk Salad Annie"; "Rainy Night in Georgia", which he wrote but was first made popular by Brook Benton in 1970; and "Steamy Windows", a hit for Tina Turner in 1989...
, Leroy Parnell & John Prine
John Prine
John Prine is an American country/folk singer-songwriter. He has been active as a recording artist and live performer since the early 1970s.-Biography:...
. It would be another ten years before Fritts released his third album One Foot in the Groove in 2008 produced by Dan Penn
Dan Penn
Dan Penn is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and sometime guitar player who co-wrote many soul hits of the 1960s including "Dark End of the Street" and "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" and "Out of Left Field" & "Cry Like A Baby"...
with Ron Laury, recorded at Dandy Studio in Nashville.
Chart songs as a songwriter
| Song Title | Recording Artist | US Chart Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Easy To Love" | Joe Simon Joe Simon Joseph Henry "Joe" Simon is an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s-1940s Golden Age of Comic Books and served as the first editor of Timely Comics, the company that would evolve into Marvel Comics.With his... |
1977 | |
| "You're Gonna Love Yourself in The Morning" | Bonnie Koloc Bonnie Koloc Bonnie Koloc is an American folk music singer-songwriter, actress, and artist who was considered one of the three main Illinois-based folk singers in the 1970s, along with Steve Goodman and John Prine forming the "trinity of the Chicago folk scene."... |
1974 | |
| "You're Gonna Love Yourself in The Morning" | Charlie Rich Charlie Rich Charles Rich was an American country music singer and musician. A Grammy Award winner, his eclectic-style of music was often hard to classify in a single genre, playing in the rockabilly, jazz, blues, country, and gospel genres.In the latter part of his life, Rich acquired the nickname The Silver... |
1980 | |
| "Choo Choo Train" | Boxtops | 1968 | |
| "We Had It All" | Waylon Jennings Waylon Jennings Waylon Arnold Jennings was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. Jennings began playing at eight. He began performing at twelve, on KVOW radio. Jennings formed a band The Texas Longhorns. Jennings worked as a D.J on KVOW, KDAV and KLLL... |
1973 | |
| "We Had It All" | Dolly Parton Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk... |
1986 | |
| "You're Gonna Love Yourself in The Morning" | Roy Clark Roy Clark Roy Linwood Clark is an American country music musician and performer. He is best known for hosting Hee Haw, a nationally televised country variety show, from 1969–1992. Clark has been an important and influential figure in country music, both as a performer and helping to popularize the genre... |
1975 | |
| "Breakfast in Bed" | UB40 UB40 UB40 are a British reggae/pop band formed in 1978 in Birmingham. The band has placed more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success. One of the world's best-selling music artists, UB40 have sold over 70 million records.Their hit singles... featuring Chrissie Hynde Chrissie Hynde Christine Ellen "Chrissie" Hynde is an US musician best known as the leader of the rock/new wave band the Pretenders. She is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist, and has been the only constant member of the band throughout its history.-Early life and career:Hynde is the daughter of a part-time... |
1988 | |