Jim Foglesong started singing before he turned 2, and according to the pastor at Vine Street Christian Church — where he was an elder and longtime member of the Chancel Choir — he continued singing every single Sunday until two months before his death. Foglesong died July 9, about two weeks shy of his 91st birthday.
Foglesong sang his way into his church choir in his hometown of South Charleston, W.V., when he was just 4. He sang on local radio stations, he sang through high school, and he led several vocal groups during his service in the Army during World War II. After his honorable discharge, he earned a degree in vocal music from the Eastman School of Music, the respected conservatory in Rochester, N.Y.
After graduating, Foglesong moved to New York and married Toni Arnould, who would remain his lifetime singing partner. He also took "side jobs," first at Columbia Records and then RCA in production and executive positions — but he never stopped singing. His pure tenor voice can be heard on recordings by Rosemary Clooney, Connie Francis and on Neil Sedaka's monster hit "Calendar Girl."
When Foglesong came to Nashville in 1970 to head the A&R department of the country division of Dot Records, there was some speculation as to whether this classically trained, formally educated college graduate — who could not only read music but also write it, and whose background was in pop — would fit into the world of hillbilly music and the wild and woolly ways of an emerging Music Row. Foglesong, by then a father of four, quipped about it himself.
"When I first got here and was worried about fitting in," a friend recalls Foglesong saying, "I thought maybe I should divorce Toni, remarry her and introduce her to everyone as my second wife."
Not only did Foglesong fit in, he went on to become one of the most successful, honored, respected and beloved members of the country music industry. Katie Gillon, now vice president and general manager at Wrinkled Records, got her start in the business when Foglesong hired her to replace his secretary at Dot in 1973, the same year he became the first executive on Music Row to be named president of a major label.
"There were just six of us at the label then," Gillon remembers, "so everyone did everything, including Jim. He would answer the phone, he would greet people who wandered in to leave a tape, he would get down on the floor with us to get mailings out. He taught us all that no job was beneath us. Everyone rolled up their sleeves, pitched in and got it done. He treated everyone the same, from the cleaning man to the head of the national office. He respected everyone."
Through the takeovers, mergers and transitions from Dot to ABC, then MCA, there was one constant: Jim Foglesong. He signed some of the biggest milestone-marker names in country music — Don Williams, The Oak Ridge Boys, Barbara Mandrell, George Strait and Reba McEntire. In 1984, when Music Row maverick Jimmy Bowen was hired by MCA L.A. to clean house in Nashville, the entire staff (save Gillon and maintenance man J.R. Allison) was fired in one bleak afternoon.
"Bowen asked me to stay, and Jim encouraged me to take the opportunity," says Gillon. "He was worried about his staff more than anything. He kept tabs on everybody to make sure they ended up in a good position."
Foglesong ended up at Capitol Records, where he signed a young singer from Oklahoma by the name of Garth Brooks. In fact, Brooks was in attendance at the filled-to-capacity Vine Street Christian Church Tuesday afternoon for the aptly named Service of Grateful Memory. The Oak Ridge Boys and Vince Gill were among the singers
When Foglesong left the record business in 1989, he shared his vast knowledge and experience with the next generation. He became an adjunct professor at the Blair School of Music, where future Capitol Records star Dierks Bentley was among the students in his Music Business 101 class. Foglesong founded Trevecca Nazarene University's music business program, and was awarded distinguished professor status, an honor that meant as much to him as the Nashville Entertainment Association's Master Award, the CMA's Founding President's Award, Leadership Music's Dale Franklin Award (with Garth Brooks and Allen Reynolds) and his induction in 2004 into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
As a backup singer, as a skilled first baseman for countless softball teams (he played into his 60s), as a choir member, as a producer, Jim Foglesong spent a career making other people look good while constantly deferring the spotlight. He is remembered as much for his character — a gentleman, sincere, kind, generous and genuine — as his achievements, and for his favorite role as father, grandfather and devoted husband of 62 years.
Foglesong's daughter Leslie recalls the advice her father gave his children from a young age: "Always look for the good in everyone, especially in those it is hardest to find."
The good in Jim Foglesong was there for all to see. He was one of the best there ever was.
Email music@nashvillescene.com.
