In the late 70’s, while living in Thomasville, GA, Jack began writing for Nashville, along with Brant Beene. “Country” seemed like the one genre where a writer had the best chance at success, because so much of the rest of popular music was dominated by singer songwriters and groups that wrote their own material. It wasn’t all that Jack and Brant wrote, but they did make a concerted effort to write and pitch songs to Nashville publishers, producers, and artists. They made several trips, and In 1979 one of Jack’s tunes received interest from Dave Conrad, at Chess Pigem publishing. Jack and Brant finished the song together, and in 1980 it was recorded by Barbara Mandrell, and released on her album, “Love Is Fair.” Coincidentally, the song “Sometime, Somewhere, Somehow” wasn’t a Country tune. It rose to #8 on the Country Billboard chart, but also reached #25 on the Adult Contemporary chart. Jack and Brant received ASCAP awards for Top 100 Country Songs of 1982.
Then there was a move to Atlanta, 15 years as staff composer at Doppler Enterprises, many jingles and post scores, then the start of Jack Music & Soundesign, 3 kids, etc. Jack wrote “Hamburgers For America” for the “cult classic” movie Hamburger in 1986. He wrote “One World” with Cheryl Rogers and Jim Ellis for the 1996 Olympic Games.
In the late 80’s Russ Davis had a popular night time radio show, Jazz Flavours, on 94Q in Atlanta. It featured the latest “chart” jazz, along with music from local writers, singers, and musicians. Four compilation CDs, Best of Jazz Flavours Cats I-
It wasn’t until 2000 that Jack had another song recorded in Nashville, and this time it was definitely Country. “There Ain’t No Good In Goodbye” was written with Tim Bays. It was recorded by Georgia Middleman for Giant Records, and released on her album Endless Possibilities. Giant, unfortunately, was a casualty of the brutal consolidation of the Nashville Music Industry at the time. Endless Possibilities is still available, although it never had commercial success.
Jack continues to write; the occasional Nashville pitch, but mostly in a different direction now. The years of pitching in Nashville, and Country’s emphasis on strong lyrics that tell a story, continues to infuse his work. In 2004 he released “Island Man”, a motley collection that began as a family project. In 2016 “Island Man” was remastered and released under the name John Lovick Turner (too many Jack Turners). Also in 2016 a new album “Salty Breezes” was released, as well as a digital version of “Rookie of the Year”
NASHVILLE PITCHES ’75-
PITCHES SINCE 2000 JAZZ FLAVOURS ’88-