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NEED TO KNOW
Jerry Kennedy, a Nashville producer who also played guitar for Tammy Wynette and Roy Orbison, has died at age 85
The late musician spent a few weeks in a Franklin comfort center before he died after being diagnosed with congestive heart failure, according to his son, Gordon Kennedy
"You just have to turn on the radio and you'll hear his fingerprints everywhere," Gordon said of his late father
Jerry Kennedy, a Nashville producer who also played guitar forTammy WynetteandRoy Orbison, has died. He was 85.
"The musician sits on one side of the glass. The producer sits on the other. My father sat on both in this world," Jerry's son,Gordon Kennedy, wrote in a Sunday, Feb. 15,Instagram tributealongside a throwback photo of his late father. "Scripture tells us we only see through a smoky glass this side of heaven. I imagine my father sitting on this side and last Wednesday, hearing a voice on the other side saying 'come on in and listen.' "
Gordon, who is a multi-Grammy Award-winning songwriter and record producer himself, confirmed toThe New York Timesthat his father died after being diagnosed with congestive heart failure. He also toldThe Tennesseanthat Jerry spent a few weeks in a Franklin comfort care facility before he died on Wednesday, Feb. 11.
In the days after his father's death, Gordon recalled toThe Tennesseanthat someone approached him at a funeral home, offering to make him a piece of jewelry with his father's fingerprint to ensure his legacy would be preserved.
Joe Rudis / The Tennessean via Imagn
"I just said, 'You just have to turn on the radio and you'll hear his fingerprints everywhere,' " he remembered responding. "And they'll be there forever. We've got them in a much more significant way than a necklace. You can hear his fingerprints."
Indeed, Jerry played a role in shaping the music made in Nashville throughout the 1960s and 1970s, featuring his iconic fretwork in hits by Tammy Wynette, Roy Orbison, Roger Miller and many more. He also co-wroteEric Clapton's Grammy Award-winning single, "Change the World," in 1996.
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Even in the days leading up to his father's death, Gordon recalled someone in the facility turning on the classic country music channel, where Jerry's music was often featured.
"There were days where I remember walking towards his room and I hear music coming out of his room and it was Tom T. Hall's 'Fox on the Run,' from the bluegrass album they did," he toldThe Tennessean. "It was a different song every day. We would hear 'I'll Go To My Grave Loving You' by the Statler Brothers or a Tammy Wynette song he played on. I was just amazed at how frequent it was."
Beyond working on hit songs likeElvis Presley's "Good Luck Charm" and Leroy Van Dyke's "Walk on By," Jerry, who signed a recording contract with RCA as a child, later went on to start his own company: JK Productions.
In addition to Gordon, the late musician is survived by his wife, Dolores Dea-Kennedy, and his two younger sons, Bryan and Shelby. He also has three grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and his two sisters, Barbara Blaylock and Kathy Price.
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Noting that all of Jerry's children were with him on the day that he died, Gordon went on to recall hearing Jeannie C. Riley's 1968 song "Harper Valley PTA," on which Jerry played dobro, in the hours before his death.
"That was on the day he passed away," he said. "There was just a constant reminder even while we were sitting with him for this handful of weeks, that this stuff is going to stay on a loop forever."
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