Fritts inducted into hall of fame

MONTGOMERY - Hours before the he was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame on Friday, Donnie Fritts sat down with his longtime friend Kris Kristofferson and talked about music, and their relationship.

Kristofferson was in Montgomery to induct Fritts into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, along with Muscle Shoals native Boyd Bennett, Ernie Ashworth, Cleveland Eaton and Styx guitarist Tommy Shaw.

The induction banquet and awards show was the first big event at the new Renaissance Montgomery Hotel & Spa at the Convention Center in downtown Montgomery.

Fritts said he is most proud of his longtime friendship with fellow artist Kristofferson.

"Right here, working with this man right here, spending 22 years with Kris Kristofferson doing all the things we got to do, some amazing things," the Florence native said, pointing to his friend. "Dreams do come true. That's what I'm most proud of."

Their 40-year friendship was evident Friday when Kristofferson sat to Fritts' right during a press conference because Fritts is hard of hearing in his left ear.

Another example of Fritts and Kristofferson's friendship is the fact that Kristofferson gave up a cameo role in a movie to be in Montgomery.

Kristofferson would have been shooting into the night Thursday and arriving in Montgomery very close to show time. Fritts said Kristofferson passed on the role.

"Donnie and I go back about 40 years," Kristofferson said, adding that Fritts is more like a brother to him than a friend.

Kristofferson said the one thing that stood out about Fritts was soul.

"I would have to say soul, everything that soul means to our music, everything it means to me," Kristofferson said.

Kristofferson was about as excited for his friend as Fritts was about his induction.

Joking, Kristofferson said the notion of Fritts joining the likes of Percy Sledge, Jimmie Rodgers and Nat King Cole in the hall of fame, "I would have thought one of us would be drunk."

Fritts and Kristofferson, both dressed in black, said they have numerous stories from their time on tour, but none they could share publicly.

Fritts is considered one of the unsung architects of the Muscle Shoals sound. He was about 15 years old playing drums in bands around the Shoals when the first recording studio was built above City Drug Store in Florence.

He shifted to keyboards and recorded his first session at that same studio.

Fritts said he and Kristofferson met around 1967 when they were both signed to a label owned by Columbia Records in Nashville, along with the likes of Tony Joe White and Billy Swan.

In 1970, Fritts went to work for Kristofferson playing piano in Kristofferson's touring band. He remained Kristofferson's keyboard player for the next 22 years.

Kristofferson was also the co-producer of Fritts' 1974 album "Prone to Lean," which gave him the nickname "The Leaning Man" along with "Funky Fritts."

"I was not prepared to do an album," Fritts said. "Just being able to do an album in Muscle Shoals is one of the greatest memories of my life."

He and Kristofferson appeared together in three Sam Peckinpah westerns, "Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid," "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia" and "Convoy."

Fritts' songwriting credits include "We Had it All," co-written with Troy Seals and recorded by Ray Charles, Dobie Gray, The Rolling Stones, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings, and "Breakfast in Bed," which appeared on Dusty Springfield's masterpiece "Dusty in Memphis."

"Breakfast in Bed" was co-written by another Muscle Shoals songwriter, the late Eddie Hinton.

Fritts and his wife, Donna, have been married for 40 years.

"I'm very proud of him, I really am," Donna Fritts said. "He's with his best friend."

Donna Fritts said it was "grace and mercy" that helped her and her husband stay together so many years.

"If you don't have Jesus as the Lord in your life, your marriage will not work," she said.

During the banquet, Killen native John Briggs, membership group vice president of the American Society of Composers, Artists and Producers, said he doesn't think he would have learned as much about music had he not grown up in the Muscle Shoals area.

Briggs said there are still many Shoals musicians to be honored by the hall of fame.

"I was glad to see Donnie get in," Briggs said.

Session guitarist Larry Byrom, a former member of the 1970s rock band Steppenwolf, received the Studio Musician Award, and said he wants to start developing young rhythm and blues artists.

"I want to revive the R&B of Muscle Shoals, bring it back to what it used to be," Byrom said.

Angela Hacker, the 2007 "Nashville Star" winner, was given the America's Music Award, along with the 2006 "American Idol" winner Taylor Hicks.

"I was really shocked when I got the letter," Hacker said. "It's a huge honor."

Hacker said she is working on an album at FAME studios with producer Rick Hall.

Russ Corey can be reached at 740-5738 or russ.corey@timesdaily.com.