Fred Foster, country music producer who launched Dolly Parton and Roy Orbison, dies at 87

Fred Foster – a Nashville music legend who helped launch the careers of Dolly Parton and Roy Orbison and founded Monument Records – died Wednesday at age 87.

His singular, 60-year career – as a producer, songwriter and label owner – was celebrated in grand fashion in 2016, when Foster was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. That evening, Parton stood on stage and paid tribute to the man who “saw things in me that nobody else did.”

“You started my life with my first record,” she said.

Introducing Parton to the world is just the start of Foster’s accomplishments. He did the same with Kris Kristofferson and Orbison, recognizing each artist’s inimitable gift and bringing it to the forefront of their sound.

“I tried to do the best I could every time,” Foster told The Tennessean in 2016. “I tried to do something time would not be critical of. It’s like Orbison said to me one time, ‘What’s the most important thing we’re going to do?’ I said, ‘We’re going to eliminate every gimmick you come up with. They don’t endure.’”

Foster was born July 26, 1931, in rural North Carolina. At 15, he took over the family farm when his father died, and moved to Washington, D.C., two years later where his sister lived. Foster wanted to be anything but a farmer, and he started to write songs.

A job in a record store was his introduction to the music business. He was hired at Mercury Records in 1953 and worked his way up to head of national country promotion. After a brief run at ABC/Paramount in 1956, Foster started Monument Records and publishing company Combine Music in 1958.

He moved the companies to Nashville two years later. Over the next decade, he produced the Orbison classics “Oh, Pretty Woman,” "Only the Lonely,” “Crying” and many others, as well as Parton’s 1967 debut album and her first hit, “Dumb Blonde.” He also co-wrote Kristofferson’s “Me and Bobby McGee” and produced his landmark 1970 debut for Monument.

Another big, albeit brief piece of Foster's legend: he signed a pre-fame Willie Nelson to the label. They released just one single – 1964's "I Never Cared For You" — before Nelson moved on to RCA.

Kristofferson's early tunes were published by Combine Music, as was Orbison's "Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)" and Tony Joe White's "Polk Salad Annie." Monument's roster also included Jeannie Seely, Ray Stevens, Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers, Boots Randolph and Charlie McCoy, among others.

Some of their recordings, Foster said, he loved more than others. Seely’s “Don’t Touch Me” and Grandpa Jones’ “The Christmas Guest,” a song Foster helped complete, were at the top of his list.

Foster sold his history-yielding companies in 1990, but his producing career continued into well the 21st century, at the helm of projects by Willie Nelson and Ray Price, as well as 2007’s “Last of the Breed,” which teamed those two legends up with Merle Haggard. His final project was released last year: Dawn Landes’ “Meet Me At the River.”

He was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2009 and he was given a Trustees Award to honor his career in music from the Recording Academy in early 2016.

“Musically I’m most proud of the relationships I had with the songwriters, artists and engineers,” Foster said in 2016. “These people are responsible for me being here. I didn’t do it by myself.”

The artists who worked with Foster, of course, felt the same way about him. Vince Gill spoke for them when he officially inducted Foster into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

“When we’re brave enough and have the courage to stand up in front of someone and do this, every one of us needs a champion,” he said. “And you look at a man like Fred Foster, and he’s been a champion (for singers and musicians) all these years.”

The Recording Academy released a statement Thursday marking Foster's life.

"Fred Foster was a famed producer, songwriter, and music business executive who made a lasting impact in the field of country music," said the statement from academy president Neil Portnow. It continued, "Fred will be deeply missed by many, but remembered as a pioneer within our industry. Our thoughts are with his loved ones during this difficult time."

Foster was preceded in death by his parents, Vance Hampton and Clara Marcella (Weaste) Foster, and siblings Albert Glen, Estelle, Charles Vance, Ray, Pauline, Ethel Lou, and Ann. He is survived by his son Vance Foster, and daughters Micki Foster (Greg) Koenig, Leah Foster (Dillon) Alderman, Brit Foster (Judd) Rothstein, and Kristen Foster and grandchildren Rachel DiGregorio, Rhys and Tess Rothstein, and Penelope Kirschner, and many nieces and nephews.

A memorial service is being planned for March. Details will be announced in the near future.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Fred Foster, country music producer who launched Dolly Parton and Roy Orbison, dies at 87