Foster left his family's farm in North Carolina at the age of 18 and moved near his sister's family in Washington, D.C., where he got a job working for the Hot Shoppes restaurant chain. While at work, he met popular area country music entertainer Billy Strickland, who invited Foster to one of his shows and sparked Foster's interest in songwriting.[4] Foster began working for J&F Distributing Co. in Baltimore, where he launched the company's pop division. He started recording local acts, and supervised Jimmy Dean's debut hit, "Bumming Around".[5]
In 1953 he started to work for Mercury Records, but clashed with the company's executives over his endorsement of rockabilly acts.[6] In late 1955, he unsuccessfully tried to convince Fred Talmadge, Mercury's Marketing Director, to sign the 20 year old Elvis Presley, then still at Sun Records but with competing offers from both Atlantic and RCA Records. Foster then briefly joined ABC-Paramount, where he acquired the rights to George Hamilton IV's recording, "A Rose and a Baby Ruth", which became the company's first million-seller,[5] and also signed Lloyd Price to the label.
After working in record promotions for several years, in March 1958 Foster co-founded Monument Records and publishing company Combine Music with business manager Jack Kirby and well-known Baltimore disc jockey "Buddy" Deane.[7] Founded in Washington, D.C., the label's name was inspired by the Washington Monument.[8]
For the label's first release, Foster took Billy Grammer to RCA's Nashville studio to record "Gotta Travel On" with Chet Atkins. Having spent all but $80 of Monument's initial $1,200 of funding to record the song, Foster negotiated for Monument to be the first label distributed by London Records.[8] Grammer's single, released in October 1958, was a crossover hit, reaching #4 on the U.S. pop chart, #5 on the U.S. country chart, and #14 on the U.S. R&B chart in 1959, selling over 900,000 copies.[9] It also spawned a nationwide dance craze called "The Shag", and Foster and Dick Flood co-wrote "The Shag (Is Totally Cool)" by Billy Graves which reached number 53 on Billboard's Hot 100.[10] Later that year, Monument co-founder "Buddy" Dean sold his 30% share of the company back to Foster.
Recognizing he was spending more than half of his time in Nashville for recording sessions with Monument artists, Foster relocated Monument Records and Combine Music to Hendersonville. in 1960.[4][8] In 1963, Foster expanded his label, forming the soul and R&B imprint Sound Stage 7. Its roster of artists included Joe Simon, the Dixie Belles, Arthur Alexander, and Ivory Joe Hunter.
Foster found the ideal location for his company's new recording studios and offices. The building, on 16th Avenue at the end of Music Row, was originally built in 1903 as a Presbyterian church.[13] Completed in 1969, Monument Recording Studios featured a 33 x 39 foot recording space with 23 foot high ceilings, a 19 x 27 foot control room, acoustic echo chambers, business office, and recreation room.[14] The studio was operated by Monument until 1975, when it was purchased by producer Chip Young, who operated it as a Nashville location of his Young 'Un Sound recording studio.[15]
Foster was born in Rutherford County, North Carolina. His father was Vance Hampton Foster, and his mother was Clara Marcella (Weaste) Foster. He had three brothers and four sisters. After his father's death in 1947, Foster struggled for two years to run the family's farm and support his mother. He married Carol Jean Wallace on December 17, 1955.They had one son, Vance, and two daughters, Micki and Leah. They divorced in 1972. He married Lisa Gale Lawalin in 1978. They had two daughters Brit, and Kristen and divorced in 1990. Foster died in Nashville in 2019, aged 87, after a short illness.[5]
^Watts, Cindy, "Randy Travis, Charlie Daniels, Fred Foster to be inducted to Country Music Hall of Fame," The Tennessean, March 29, 2016. Accessed 03-29-2016.