I Wrote That One, Too . . . by Steve Dorff

Author:Steve Dorff
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: memoir
Publisher: Backbeat Books
Published: 2017-11-30T05:00:00+00:00

It was with great sadness that I learned of Alan Thicke’s sudden passing this year. His personality was a bright light in any room, and he had that rare gift of always making everybody smile who was around him. He was fun, intelligent, good-looking, super-talented, and a great father to his three sons. I was lucky to call him my friend. The other legacy he left us all was the character of Jason Seaver, an iconic “father knows best” for future generations who watch Growing Pains.

17

Reba

Sometimes, one bad apple spoils the whole barrel. Especially if he is a producer who mistakenly believes he is a musical guru.

I first got to work with Reba when my friend Keith Stegall asked me to do a few string arrangements for an album he was producing. Reba wasn’t there when I overdubbed the string session in Los Angeles with Keith, so it wasn’t until later that I would actually get to meet her.

Keith and I pretty much started in the business at the same time, and we had known each other for many years. I really like the records Keith makes, and I’m thankful he often thought of me to do the strings for him on projects ranging from Alan Jackson to Sammy Kershaw, Billy Ray Cyrus, and, of course, Reba.

I would see Reba and her husband, Narvel Blackstock, from time to time at awards shows in Nashville, and they were always kind, although we didn’t really know one another until I officially introduced myself one night at the BMI Awards and told her how much I enjoyed working on her album. Narvel always kept the door open for me to send Reba songs when I thought I had a good one for her, and I’ve always appreciated that. I came close a few times, but unfortunately never made one of her albums with a song that I had written.

One day, I was driving home from Hollywood over Coldwater Canyon when my phone rang. It was Narvel, calling from Vegas. Reba had just finished taping a television pilot for Fox, and he asked me if I would be interested in doing the music for the show. Now, I hadn’t done a half-hour show in quite a while, and I was trying to move away from that format to concentrate more on films and theater. But how could I possibly say no to Reba?

She and Narvel thought I was the right guy because they knew that I was familiar with both country music and the rigors of weekly television music. Narvel set up a meeting for me with the creator and executive producer of the show, Alison Gibson.

It was a fairly typical meeting—I had to pretty much audition for the gig by submitting cues from other projects I had done, and then explain how I would make this show sound totally unique in flavor. That process never ceases to amaze me, as most of the people making music decisions don’t know much about music. Alison, however, did know music, and I liked her from the start.

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