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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZMcANALLY, Mac(b Lyman McAnally Jr, 1 July '57, Red Bay AL) Session singer, guitarist, songwriter, producer. Grew up in Belmont MS; mother played piano in local church; learned piano and guitar as a child, performing locally at 13, becoming session guitarist in Muscle Shoals studios; dabbling with his own songs when the studio was quiet resulted in record deal with Ariola '75 and Top 40 pop hit with self-penned 'It's A Crazy World' (later a country hit by Steve Wariner); after he moved from Ariola to RCA '80 with album Cuttin' Corners '80 David Geffen bought his contract '82; he moved to WB '89 and scored country hits for them, then MCA '92--3. Along the way he penned hits for Sawyer Brown, Ricky Van Shelton, Alabama, etc; became his own producer and also co-produced Ricky Skaggs's My Father's Son and albums by Sawyer Brown '91--6 (with a sudden upswing in that band's album sales). Held in high esteem in Nashville music circles, but failed to make the impact as a performer that his talent promised. Albums incl. Mac McAnally '76 and No Problem '78 on Ariola; Nothin' But The Truth '83 and Finish Lines '89 on Geffen; Simple Life '90 on WB; Live And Learn '92 and Knots '95 on MCA. |