Swamper Legend Barry Beckett, R.I.P.

Noted session keyboardist and producer Barry Beckett, who had worked with some of the biggest and brightest stars in the rock, blues, soul, and country music worlds, passed away on Wednesday, June 10, 2009 in his Hendersonville, Tennessee home following complications from a stroke. Beckett was 66 years old at the time of his death.

Beckett made a name for himself during the late-1960s as keyboardist for the legendary Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, known as the "Swampers." Working in the Fame Recording Studio, and later in the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio that was opened by the Swampers, Beckett lent his keyboard skills to recordings by artists as diverse as bluesmen John Hammond, Otis Rush, and Albert King; R&B greats Etta James, Lowell Fulson, and Wilson Pickett; and folk and rock artists such as Odetta and Bob Dylan.

During the early-80s, Beckett moved to Nashville and behind the board, and launched a successful career as a superstar producer. Over the next twenty years Beckett helped shape the music of Bob Dylan, Etta James, Delbert McClinton, Phish, and many others. Beckett's greatest successes came in the field of country music, and he worked with many of the stars (and future stars) of the genre, from Hank Williams, Jr. to Kenny Chesney.

A veteran of hundreds, if not thousands of recording sessions, Barry Beckett had a hand in shaping much of the popular music of the late 20th century. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends.