Bob Beckham

Robert Joseph Beckham (July 8, 1927 – November 11, 2013) was an American country music publisher based in Nashville, who mentored generations of songwriters as head of Combine Music Publishing from 1964 to 1989.[1] He played a pivotal role in the career of Kris Kristofferson and guided other artists including Dolly Parton, Larry Gatlin, Tony Joe White and Billy Swan.[2] As a young man, he had stint of acting in motion pictures in Hollywood and he himself became a recording artist with some fleeting success — but Beckham turned to music publishing in 1961 as his primary career.[3] In the 1970s, Beckham became a major power on Music Row,[4] and nurtured many great songwriters who wrote classic hits like "Me and Bobby McGee" and "Sunday Morning Coming Down" (Kris Kristofferson), and Elvis Presley's "Burning Love" (Dennis Linde). Beckham was a gruff but supportive father figure to his staff songwriters, whom he truly loved. He was given the Mentor Award by the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.[4] The Nashville Entertainment Association presented him with its Master Award in 1988[1] and he received the Pioneer Award by the Academy of Country Music in 2014.[5] Beckham died in 2013 in a Nashville hospital at age 86.