Born: 1935 in North Carolina
Died: January 20, 2011, Nashville, Tennessee
Jim Williamson, an engineer and recording studio owner, worked in several of Music City's legendary studios. During his Nashville recording career, which began in the early 1960s, Williamson worked at many of the city's key studios, including the Columbia Recording Studios, Woodland Sound Studio and the Jack Clement Studios. He was later promoted to president and oversaw a renovation of the building, re-named the Sound Emporium.
Mr. Williamson masterfully captured and blended voices and instruments in the studio. He recorded Loretta Lynn’s “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” Tammy Wynette’s “Stand by Your Man,” Gene Watson’s “Farewell Party,” Haggard’s “That’s The Way Love Goes” and many more. On the session for Dylan’s “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35,” Mr. Williamson calmly adjusted microphones in the dark (Dylan had mandated dim lights) and documented a whirl of woozy noise that sounded like a raucous party, as Dylan repeated his admonition, “Everybody must get stoned.”
