Norbert Putnam

Norbert Putnam
Putnam in 2014
Background information
Birth name	Norbert Auvin Putnam
Born	(1942-08-10) August 10, 1942 (age 79) Florence, Alabama, United States
Genres	Rock, pop, country
Occupation(s)	Record producer, musician
Associated acts	Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Joan Baez, J. J. Cale, Jimmy Buffett

Norbert Auvin Putnam (born August 10, 1942) is an American record producer and musician.^[1][2][3][4]

Putnam grew up near Florence, Alabama and was part of the Muscle Shoals musicians brought to Nashville to play for Elvis Presley in 1965.^[1] Putnam worked there as a bassist on recording sessions with Presley,^[1] Roy Orbison, Al Hirt, Henry Mancini, Dan Fogelberg, Linda Ronstadt, J. J. Cale, Tony Joe White, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Michael Card, Ian & Sylvia and Bobby Goldsboro. On the Elvis recording of "Merry Christmas Baby", Putnam is referenced by Elvis, when he calls "Wake up Putt".

As a producer, Putnam was responsible for copious work on Nashville's non-country music output from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. His credits include major works that established the popularity of performers such as Jimmy Buffett, Joan Baez, Dan Fogelberg, Michael Card, Brewer & Shipley, Pousette Dart Band, Donovan, John Hiatt, J.J. Cale, the Flying Burrito Brothers, John Stewart and the New Riders of the Purple Sage. Putnam was instrumental in the wave of modernization of many recording studios in Nashville, and laid the groundwork for the city's growth and widening its appeal to pop/rock artist and virtually all other styles of music.

Early life[]

Putnam's father played in a family band as a young man and when son Norbert was growing up, an upright bass was in the household.^[5] In his mid-teens, Putnam played bass in a band in Florence with other teenagers David Briggs and Jerry Carrigan. The boys were too young to drive then and Carrigan's father drove them to engagements.^[6] After a couple of years they were hired by Tom Stafford, Rick Hall and Billy Sherrill to make demo recordings for a publishing company. In doing this, they learned how to work as a team to create arrangements for new songs. Putnam and his bandmates later followed Rick Hall to work at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals and served as the rhythm section for hit records by Arthur Alexander, Tommy Roe and The Tams.^[7] The success of these recordings drew the attention of the entire recording industry to the previously unknown and out-of-the way studio.^[8] Putnam, Carrigan and Briggs were subsequently recruited by prominent music producers to move to Nashville, about 125 miles north. The three musicians left Muscle Shoals simultaneously to pursue separate careers in Nashville . Their replacements in Muscle Shoals became the second generation of the "Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section" nicknamed "The Swampers".^[6]

Putnam is still an active touring musician, record producer and author. He was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2019. Putnam resides in Florence, Alabama with his wife Sheryl and two poodles, Sofie and Gracie. His book, Music Lessons Vol. 1: a Musical Memoir, was published in early 2017.^[6]

References[]

External links[]

• Norbert Putnam's website
• Norbert Putnam at IMDb
• Norbert Putnam NAMM Oral History Program Interview (2013, 2017, 2019)