Songwriter, Producer and Musician Freddy Powers Dead at 84

Texas-based songwriter, producer and musician Freddy Powers has died. The outlaw country mainstay, who had battled Parkinson's disease for years, was 84 at the time of his death on Tuesday (June 21).

Powers, who grew up in Seminole, Texas, was born on Oct. 13, 1931. Known for blending Dixieland jazz with honky-tonk, Powers got his start musically by playing with his family's band. In Forth Worth, he worked with Paul Buskirk, who introduced Powers to Willie Nelson; Powers played bass in Nelson's band for a time and co-produced his 1981 album Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

In the 1960s through the early '70s, Powers held a residence at Las Vegas, Nev.'s Riviera Casino with his band, the Powerhouse Four. The 1980s found Powers moving to California on Merle Haggard's invitation. The two lived on houseboats on Lake Shasta, and Powers penned a string of No. 1 hits for Haggard, such as "A Place to Fall Apart;" they also toured together, with Powers played in Haggard's band, the Strangers. Additionally, Powers wrote George Jones' "I Always Get Lucky With You," as well as songs for Ray Charles, Big & Rich and more.

Powers co-hosted an Austin Music Network talk show in the '90s, and released an album, The Country Jazz Singer, in 2000. Following his diagnosis with Parkinson's disease in 2004, he created the Freddy Powers Parkinson Organization, which funds research and treatment of the disease.

Powers is survived by his wife Catherine. A GoFundMe campaign has been established to help defer his funeral expenses.

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