Lifenotes: Ted Jarrett and Ed Dye

Ted Jarrett
As a recording artist, songwriter, producer, manager and record label executive, Ted Jarrett was one of the leading figures of the Nashville R&B community. He died Saturday, March 21, at age 83. Jarrett’s many contributions were highlighted by the award-winning 2004-2005 Night Train to Nashville exhibit and record albums by the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum. He wrote “You Can Make it If You Try,” a 1958 r&b smash for Gene Allison that was later covered by The Rolling Stones. Jarrett also wrote Webb Pierce’s No. 1 country hit from 1955, “Love, Love, Love.” Ruth Brown, The Midnighters and Louis Brooks all had R&B hits with Jarrett’s “It’s Love, Baby (24 Hours a Day)” in 1955, and it went on to become a blues standard. Jarrett’s “Every Night in the Week” has been recorded by Lou Ann Barton, Christine Kittrell, Larry Birdsong, Earl Gaines, Marion James and several others. His songs were also recorded by Fats Domino, Roscoe Shelton, Solomon Burke, Freddie Waters, Pat Boone, Jerry Butler, Bobby Bland, Delbert McClinton, Carl Smith, Goldie Hill, Gail Davies, Johnnie Ray and many more. With the help of Ruth White, Jarrett authored his 2005 autobiography You Can Make it If You Try. Funeral arrangements are incomplete.

Ed Dye
Bluegrass headliner Ed Dye died of cancer on Wednesday, March 18, at home in Montgomery, Alabama, surrounded by his family. He was 72. Noted for his wildly entertaining, zany sense of humor, Dye was a regular presence at The Station Inn throughout the 1980s. He sang lead in The Nashville Jug Band, which recorded an album for Rounder Records in 1987. He was also a member of The Bluegrass Band with Alan O’Bryant and Blaine Sprouse. Born in Dothan, Alabama, Dye was a Navy veteran who worked in television production in Manhattan, San Francisco and Los Angeles. While in San Francisco, he joined Bob and Ingrid Fowler in forming the group The Styx River Ferry, said to be the Bay Area’s first hippie country band. While in Nashville, Dye was the ringleader of The Station Inn’s weekly, Tuesday-night, all-star jam sessions. He played Dobro and rattled bones on his signature tune “Alabama Jubilee.” This was captured on the 1994 CD The Sidemen: Almost Live  at The Station Inn.

The Nashville Jug Band, Dye’s most famous group, also included Michael Henderson, David Olney, Tommy Goldsmith, Jill Klein, Sam Bush, the late Dean Crum, Fred LaBour, Tom Roady, Brent Truitt and the late Roy Huskey Jr. Dye returned to his native Alabama about 10 years ago. Since then, he has performed with The Kudzu Kings, The Taylor Grocery Band, The Sincere Ramblers and other regional groups. A celebration of his life is currently in the planning stages.