A country way of life, Episode 11 (Jimmy Bowen, Mac McAnally & Mike Henderson)

Author: Jonny Brick.

Producer: Jimmy Bowen

Jimmy Bowen was the man who went to war with Garth Brooks and lost. Having been perfectly fine with the controversy over the video to The Thunder Rolls, Bowen locked horns with the artist who wanted ‘the Michael Jackson deal’ which would help him own his masters and be in more control of his career. After a year’s negotiation, Brooks walked away from MCA and set up his Pearl label in partnership with rival label Capitol Nashville; Bowen has called him ‘a control freak’ with a somewhat ‘self-destructive’ personality whose drug was power.

Born in New Mexico, Bowen played bass and sang at a time when teen idols like Elvis were king. He left the stage to become an executive, working in LA with Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra, for whom he produced Strangers in the Night. Bowen then headed to Nashville in the 1970s, where he managed MCA Records either side of time at the famous Elektra/Asylum label; the big acts of the 1980s, including Reba McEntire and Hank Williams Jr, were all helped by Bowen’s ears and eyes for what works best when making commercial country music.

After being treated for thyroid cancer around the time Brooks extricated himself from MCA, Bowen retired to Hawaii. At the age of 86, he is one of the grand survivors of the big-money era of country music.

Player: Mac McAnally

At one point in the 2010s, Mac McAnally only had to play an open A string to win the CMA Musician of the Year award. He picked up the prize every year between 2008 and 2018 except for 2016, where he was not nominated at all, perhaps to give Dann Huff a chance to win it.

It was delightful to see Mac play Country2Country in 2017 to promote his solo album AKA Nobody. The Mississippi-born guitarist was a teenage session musician at Muscle Shoals studios, and he went on to work on Keith Whitley’s album Don’t Close Your Eyes. Alabama cut Mac’s song Old Flame, while Shenandoah’s career song Two Dozen Roses is another Mac composition.

Mac was in Jimmy Buffett’s band The Coral Reefers, and he co-wrote Buffett’s songs When the Coast Is Clear, License to Chill and Changing Channels. He went on to produce many of his late-period albums, and is a key apostle in keeping the Buffett name alive now his bandleader has passed away.

Indeed, Mac was on guitar when Kenny Chesney gave an emotional rendition of A Pirate Looks at Forty at the 2023 CMA Awards; Chesney, who is the heir to Buffett’s musical ideas, had a huge hit with Mac’s songs Back Where I Come From and Down The Road.

Songwriter: Mike Henderson

Wretchedly the world lost Mike Henderson in 2023. He played guitar, mandolin and harmonica with dozens of acts including Mark Knopfler, the Chicks, Tim McGraw and Guy Clark, and he also produced the solo records of John Oates. He was a known face around Nashville, with a regular gig at the Bluebird Café on Monday nights with his blues band. He had begun that engagement in the 1980s.

On Tuesday nights Henderson wrote songs with Chris Stapleton, his bandmate in The Steeldrivers. With Stapleton was on vocals and Henderson on mandolin, the band recorded the original versions of Midnight Train to Memphis and If It Hadn’t Been for Love, which was interpreted by Adele on her 21 project. Stapleton’s pair of huge hits, Broken Halos and Starting Over, were Henderson/Stapleton compositions, as were Second One to Know and Death Row, which are both mainstays of Stapleton’s arena and stadium sets.

Rather fantastically, at Chicago’s Wrigley Field in 2022 Stapleton brought Henderson out to play with him at his gig, ‘a dream come true’ for a huge fan of the Chicago Cubs baseball team.

All Episodes can be found here

For more country music evangelism, go to countrywol.com where you can read Monday essays, Friday reviews and Sunday Hymn Sheets. Follow Jonny’s Country Music Calendar at the Country Way of Life Facebook page (facebook.com/acountrywayoflife).