Jimmy Bowen

Since the 1970s, Jimmy Bowen has been a powerful executive in the record industry; he's worked for several labels, but has stayed with MCA since 1986, and is acknowledged as one of the most influential figures in Nashville. He entered the business a long time before that, though, as a teenage rockabilly singer, landing a Top 20 hit in 1957 with "I'm Stickin' With You." The song was basic in the extreme, built around a thwacking bass riff, a singsong melody, and Bowen's own nervous, boyish vocals, suggesting that it may have been intended as nothing more than a demo. That indeed may have been close to the truth, as it was first released as a B-side to a song that made number one, Buddy Knox's "Party Doll."



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