| Summary: | Buddy Buie (January 23, 1941 - July 18, 2015)
Buddy Buie may not be a name that most folks recognize, but his impact on the music scene of the 1960s to the 1990s is one that transcends name recognition. As a songwriter, producer, and concert promoter, Buddy had a hand in showcasing the talents of such artists as Roy Orbison, Wynonna Judd, B.J. Thomas, The Classics IV, and, most of all, The Atlanta Rhythm Section. Born January 23, 1941, in the small town of Marianna, Florida, Perry Carlton Buie (pronounced Boo-ee) moved with his family to the town of Dothan, Alabama when he was still a child. After dropping out of Auburn University, Buddy moved north to New York City to focus on a career in music, but soon settled back in the south in Atlanta, Georgia, where he resided for much of his music career. In the early 1960s, Buddy became the road manager for Roy Orbison. A few years later, he became the producer for the Classics IV, whose guitarist, J.R. Cobb, became a frequent songwriting partner with Buddy. While based in Atlanta, Buddy spent his songwriting time in a small fishing trailer that he had in Eufaula, Alabama. It was during this period that Buddy and Cobb wrote such hits as “Stormy,” “Spooky,” and “Traces.” While the success that he had with the Classics IV set him on steady ground, it was his founding of the group Atlanta Rhythm Section that best-defined Buddy’s influence and success on the music scene. In 1970, Buddy had opened a recording studio in Atlanta. Combining members of the Classics IV and the Candymen, Atlanta Rhythm section established themselves as a Southern Rock band in the realm of the Allman Brothers Band and Lynryd Skynryd. Buddy managed and produced many of their albums, and co-wrote their hit “So Into You,” along with keyboardist Dean Daughtry and Robert Nix. The 1980s and 1990s, while not as productive as the years with Atlanta Rhythm Section, Buddy, along with Cobb, was still actively writing, his most significant hit being Wynonna Judd’s “Rock Bottom”, which hit #2 on the country charts in 1992. In 2003, Buddy retired to Eufaula, his inspiration for so many of his hits. Buddy was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1984, and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 2010. Buddy Buie passed away after suffering a heart attack on July 18, 2015, leaving behind a lasting influence on pop and southern rock music that still resonates to this day.
Watch and Listen:
"Stormy" Classics IV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18Sua_QTDs0
"Spooky" Classics IV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qpo9KZYJ4sA
"Traces" Classics IV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyxpQO0YYQo
"So Into You" Atlanta Rhythm Section https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmJWRLwQq7w
"Rock Bottom" Wynonna Judd https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrFfRQsBqd0
|
|---|
