Jim Fogelsong | |
|---|---|
| Born | James Staton Foglesong (1922-07-26)July 26, 1922 Lundale,West Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | July 9, 2013(2013-07-09) (aged 90) |
| Occupation | Country music executive |
| Years active | 1951-2012 |
| Known for | President ofDot,ABC,Capitol andMCA Records |
James Staton Foglesong (July 26, 1922 – July 9, 2013) was an Americancountry music producer and executive from the 1950s until the 1990s, based inNashville, Tennessee.[1]
Foglesong was born inLundale, West Virginia.[2] As a teenager, he sang on a local radio show and in quartets and trios into his young adult years. He began his career in the music industry atColumbia Records'label in 1951, transferring78 RPM records intoLP formats.[2] Over the next 20 years, he worked forRCA-Victor until moving to Nashville in 1970 to head theA&R division atDot Records. He was named president of Dot in 1973 — the only president of a major Nashville label at the time, where he changed the company's vision frompop to country.[2]
He helped lay the foundation for the country music boom in the 1990s. As president of Dot,ABC,Capitol andMCA Records, he signed popular artists, among themBarbara Mandrell,Don Williams,Garth Brooks,Donna Fargo,Reba McEntire,The Oak Ridge Boys,Con Hunley,George Strait,Tanya Tucker,Sawyer Brown,Suzy Bogguss, and Kevin Morris. In Nashville, the records Fogelsong promoted won 46Grammy,CMA andACM awards.[2] He was inducted into theCountry Music Hall of Fame in 2004.[3]
He was aWorld War II veteran with theUnited States Army and a graduate of theEastman School of Music inRochester,New York. After retiring from the active recording industry, he became head of the music business department ofTrevecca Nazarene University in Nashville. He also taught a Business of Music class atVanderbilt University.
He died on July 9, 2013, at the age of 90. He is survived by wife of 62 years, Toni, and their four children.[2]
