Barry Beckett, founding member of Swampers, dies after long illness

Friends of Barry Beckett recall the keyboard player and founding member of the famed Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section as a hard-working musician with a compassionate heart.

Beckett died Wednesday at his home in Hendersonville, Tenn., at the age of 66, his longtime friend and co-worker, Dick Cooper, said. He had several health ailments.

"He was the best boss I ever had and one of the greatest friends I ever had," Cooper said. "He and Jerry Wexler taught me everything I know about the music industry."

Known worldwide as "The Swampers," Beckett, guitarist Jimmy Johnson, bassist David Hood and drummer Roger Hawkins performed with a variety of artists, including Bob Seger, The Staple Singers and Paul Simon.

On April 1, 1969, Johnson and Hawkins invited Beckett and Hood to join them in a venture that would become Muscle Shoals Sound Studios at 3614 Jackson Highway in Sheffield.

"Barry was one of the greatest keyboard players I ever worked with," Johnson said. "Definitely, in our field, he was in the top five in the world. He's going to be missed."

Before opening their own studio, the rhythm section worked at producer Rick Hall's FAME Recording Studio in Muscle Shoals.

"He was one of my dearest friends in life," Hall said of Beckett. "He was one of the motivators of Muscle Shoals music."

Johnson said Beckett was originally from Birmingham and spent some time at the University of Alabama, where he became acquainted with the Del-Rays, a band that included Johnson and Hawkins.

Beckett was working in Pensacola, Fla., with blues producer "Papa Don" Schroeder, who brought Beckett to Muscle Shoals where he met Hall and the rhythm section.

"He joined us in 1967 when we were still at FAME," Johnson said. "Within two weeks, he moved his whole family here without a promise of anything. When Barry came into the section, it topped off what we needed at the time."

Beckett was coming in to fill the void left behind by departing keyboard player Spooner Oldham.

Hawkins said he and Johnson spoke to Beckett extensively about joining the rhythm section permanently after Oldham's departure.

"He was a wonderful contributor to our rhythm section," Hawkins said. "We all played well together and had ideas together. He was definitely one of us. He will be missed because now one of us is gone."

Cooper, who was Beckett's assistant at Beckett's production company for 5 1/2 years, said Beckett sometimes came across as a hard-driving musician but was "a sweetheart" underneath.

"We fondly called him The Bear," Hall said. "He was just a great big teddy bear."

Hood said he was deeply saddened to learn of his friend's death.

"He was one of the most talented musicians, the most talented producers I've ever worked with," Hood said. "He was a perfectionist. I'm a much better musician for having worked with Barry."

He said the rhythm section members originally gave Beckett a hard time about following in the footsteps of legendary Shoals keyboardist Spooner Oldham.

"He got us back later on by pushing the heck out of us," Hood said. "He pushed me and made me do things I never knew I could do."

Beckett left the Shoals for Nashville in 1985 and took a job as a talent scout for Warner Brothers Records.

One of his first projects was co-producing Hank Williams Jr.'s "Mind Your Own Business" and "Born to Boogie." Beckett won a Country Music Association award for Williams' "There's a Tear in My Beer," according to a biography on Allmusic.com.

Cooper said one of Beckett's highlights while working at the second location of Muscle Shoals Sound Studios at 1000 Alabama Ave. in Sheffield was co-producing Bob Dylan's first platinum album, "Slow Train Coming," with the late Jerry Wexler.

Beckett and Wexler also produced Dylan's "Saved" album and he and Wexler co-produced "Communique," the second album by the British rock band Dire Straits.

Beckett's production credits cover a wide range of musical genres including Mary McGregor's "Torn Between Two Lovers," Kenny Chesney's "When I close My Eyes," Alabama's "If I Had You," Delbert McClinton's "Giving It Up For Your Love" and Neal McCoy's "No Doubt About It."

Beckett had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and later with thyroid cancer, Johnson said. He also suffered several strokes, including one in February that he never really recovered from.

His funeral arrangements were unavailable Thursday.

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