CMT News

Larry Knechtel, a keyboard player who worked with the Beach Boys, the Byrds, Ray Charles, Neil Diamond, the Dixie Chicks, Elvis Presley and Hank Williams Jr., died Thursday (Aug. 20) in Yakima, Wash. He was 69. A band biography on the Dixie Chicks' Web site says, "Larry's resume is a history lesson in great American music all unto itself. The term 'legendary musician' isn't an overstatement when talking about a multi-instrumentalist who can be heard on some of music's most legendary recordings." Knechtel also performed on the Dixie Chicks' Grammy-winning album, Taking the Long Way. He won a Grammy for arranging Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water."