John Beland
He’s quite possibly the most famous musician you’ve never heard of.
A conversation with him is liberally peppered with a plethora of mid- to late-20th century musical household names such as Arlo Guthrie, Ricky Nelson, Rita Coolidge, Glen Frey, Kim Carnes, Johnny Cash, Slash, The Bellamy Brothers and The Flying Burrito Brothers. Beland’s memoir, “Best Seat in the House,” features jacket blurbs from some with whom he’s played and remained friends: Garth Brooks, Kris Kristofferson, Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt. His story is an American dream writ large, and it spans recording studios from Los Angeles to Nashville and stages around the globe.
Country music became Beland’s forte, and that meant moving to Nashville, where he became an in-demand player. “I’m proud of my long career playing country music in Nashville.” One highlight is his playing on a demo record for then-unknown singer Garth Brooks. “The song was ‘Friends in Low Places,’ and it became the biggest song in country music history.” In 1980 he was tapped to join The Flying Burrito Brothers, a country rock outfit originally formed in 1968. By that time, the band was “an underground hippy rock band” (in Beland’s words). Under his production, songwriting and guitar playing, he resurrected the band, inking a deal with Curb Records and racking up nine hit songs.
Now Beland is back in California, but he still has his finger on the pulse of the music business. “I do a lot of recording at my home studio,” he says. He’s also producing independent acts, including, interestingly, country rock bands in Norway. “I’m still rockin’ and rollin’.”