Donnie Fritts
November 8, 1942 - August 27, 2019
2008 Inductee
Donnie Fritts began playing drums in local bands at age 15 and later developed into a session keyboard player. His first studio experience was in the recording studio located in Florence above City Drug Store.
Working closely with Rick Hall, Billy Sherrill, Dan Penn, Arthur Alexander, David Briggs, Jerry Carrigan and Norbert Putnam, Fritts was involved in many of the early songs and recordings created in the Shoals music industry.
In 1965, Fritts was signed to a Nashville publishing company and had songs recorded by Charlie Rich and Jerry Lee Lewis. He later met Kris Kristofferson who was just beginning his songwriting career. When forming his band, Kristofferson called on Fritts, who has remained friend and co-worker for over two decades, performing live, on recordings and in numerous movies throughout that period.
Donnie was the keyboard player for Kris Kristofferson for over twenty years allowing him to experience every musicians dream - playing at Carnegie Hall! Not only did he perform all over the world with Kris, Donnie also appeared in three of Sam Peckinpah's movies, "Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid", "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia", and "Convoy" as well as other movies including "A Star Is Born" and "Songwriter".
As a songwriter, Fritts is known for "We Had It All", originally recorded by Waylon Jennings. Also, "You're Gonna Love Yourself In The Morning” (Wayne Carson), "Breakfast In Bed" (Dusty Springfield), and "Choo Choo Train" (The Box Tops).
Kristofferson and world famous producer Jerry Wexler co-produced an album on Donnie at Muscle Shoals Sound in 1974 which has become a collector's item within the music industry. His new album, "Everybody's Got A Song" was released nationally November 18, 1998. The album includes guest appearances by a few of Donnie's close friends whose names you might recognize: Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Dan Penn, Spooner Oldham, Waylon Jennings, Delbert McClinton, Tony Joe White, Leroy Parnell & John Prine!
