Jimmy Bowen

Early life Bowen was born in Santa Rita, New Mexico, United States.

Singing career Bowen began as a teenage recording star in 1957 with "I'm Stickin' with You". Bowen's singing career did not take off as well as that of Knox, his partner in the Rhythm Orchids, and ultimately he abandoned a singing career, choosing to stay in the production end of the music industry. Among the songs Bowen produced for Sinatra was the 1966 "Strangers in the Night", which went to No. 1 in the US and UK, and won three Grammy Awards in 1967, including Record of the Year for Bowen. Bowen brought Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood together, and introduced Sinatra to Mel Tillis for their album, Mel & Nancy.

Bowen also produced Dino, Desi & Billy, a group which included Dean Martin's son, and Desi Arnaz' and Lucille Ball's son.

In mid-1968, Bowen launched an independent record label, Amos Records,

In 1991, Bowen produced Andy Williams' well received album Nashville.

In 1988, Bowen founded a label named Universal Records (not to be confused with the much more famous Universal Records of 1995 to 2005), which he sold to Capitol Records a year later.

Soundtracks Bowen produced his first movie soundtrack in 1970, for Vanishing Point, which was released in 1971. That soundtrack contains three songs which he composed, as well as music from the band Mountain and from Big Mama Thornton. The three Bowen pieces are an incidental theme called "Love Theme", credited to Jimmy Bowen Orchestra, and two others, "Super Soul Theme" and the hard-rock piece "Freedom of Expression", credited to The J.B. Pickers. Other soundtracks include the movies Smokey and the Bandit II (1980), The Slugger's Wife (1985) and the soundtrack of the theater play Big River (1988). He married singer Keely Smith in 1965 and produced her recordings for Reprise Records. The couple divorced in 1969. He lives with his present wife Ginger in Longmont, Colorado. In 2025, he became the honorary chair of The Dean Martin Association.

Discography Albums YearAlbumRecord label 1957 Jimmy Bowen Roulette Records 1959 Buddy Knox & Jimmy Bowen 1966 Sunday Morning with the Comics Reprise Records 2002Vanishing Point Original Soundtrack Harkit Records

Singles YearTitlePeak chartpositionsRecord LabelB-sideAlbum US Pop US R&B 1957 "I'm Stickin' with You" 14 9 Roulette Records "Ever Lovin' Fingers" (BB #63) Jimmy Bowen "Warm Up to Me Baby" 57 — "I Trusted You" "Don't Tell Me Your Troubles" — — "Ever Since That Night" "Cross Over" — — "It's Shameful" 1958 "The Two Step" — — "By the Light of the Silvery Moon" (BB #50) Buddy Knox & Jimmy Bowen "My Kind of Woman" — — "Blue Moon" "Always Faithful" — — "Wish I Were Tied to You" 1959 "Walkin' on Air" — — "You're Just Wasting Your Time" 1960 "(I Need) Your Loving Arms" — — "Oh Yeah! Oh Yeah! Mm Mm" 1961 "Teenage Dreamworld" — — Capehart Records "It's Against the Law" "Somebody to Love" — — Crest Records "Don't Drop It" 1964 "The Big Bus" — — Reprise Records "The Biggest Lover in Town" 1965 "The Golden Eagle" — — "Spanish Cricket" 1966 "Captain Gorgeous" — — "Wonder Mother" Sunday Morning with the Comics 1967 "It's Such a Pretty World Today" — — "Raunchy"