The name may not be familiar to you, unless you’re an aficionado of Nashville’s  R’n’B scene in the fifties and sixties, but Mr. Ted was at the core of it as writer, producer, label owner, and all-round entrepreneur. His passing last week certainly received substantial coverage in the local press, so I’m just doing my bit to spread the word a little wider.

His best-known song was the iconic “ You Can Make It If You Try “, originally recorded by Gene Allison, and later famously covered by The Stones, but he also wrote a Number 1 country hit “ Love,Love,Love “ for Webb Pierce, and the much-covered “ ( It’s Love, Baby ) 24 Hours A Day “, among many, many others.

I was honored and thrilled to travel as bass player to The Blues Estafette in Utrecht, Netherlands a few years back with Mr.Ted and the surviving members of his Champion Records roster.
As he presided over the proceedings from behind a vigorously played electric piano, an ecstatic
international audience got to hear those great songs performed by Earl Gaines, Johnny ‘ Guitar’ Jones, Herbert Hunter et al., and Mr. Jarrett’s pleasure at the reception was palpable.

Ted Jarrett was eighty-one years old.