In the world of modern country music history, Tony Brown has earned a critical spot. As a one-time A&R executive at RCA Records, he signed Alabama – a group that helped to keep the label high atop most year-end lists throughout the 1980s. In fact, that dominance only ended by the time that Brown was at Nipper’s biggest competitor – MCA Nashville. He began his career there as a production understudy of label head Jimmy Bowen, but steadily rose through the ranks and eventually ascended to head of the company. Along the way, he sat behind the glass on many of the biggest hits of George Strait, Reba McEntire, Wynonna Judd and Vince Gill. In his new coffee table book, Elvis, Strait, To Jesus, Bro

BOBBY KARL WORKS THE ROOM Chapter 595 A picture is worth a thousand words. At least that’s what uber producer Tony Brown believes. “I was going to write an autobiography, but I didn’t think I could stay with a book that long,” Tony said on Tuesday afternoon (June 12). “So I thought I would tell my story in pictures. If you ever wonder what my life was like, you’ll find it in this book, Elvis, Strait, to Jesus.” The coffee-table tome is visually stunning, containing hundreds of photos from Tony’s stellar career as a gospel pianist, rock sideman, country band member, record producer, label executive and bon vivant. Forty of Tony’s celebrity friends posed for formal portraits in his elaborately

Elvis Presley, Emmylou Harris, Rosanne Cash, Patty Loveless, Lyle Lovett, Vince Gill, Reba McEntire, Brooks & Dunn, George Strait, Trisha Yearwood, Lionel Richie. All of these people have one thing in common: Tony Brown. Born to an evangelist father, Brown grew up just outside of Greensboro, North Carolina, playing piano and loving Gospel songs. What started as a gig in the Southern Gospel group The Brown Family Singers at the tender age of thirteen would blossom into one of the most prolific careers in the music industry. What is perhaps the best part about Tony Brown, though, is not the rich history he carries with him but his genuine love for music, his sense of humor, and the fact that h