Quin Ivy

Quinon Ray Ivy (June 3, 1937 – December 10, 2022) was an American disc jockey turned songwriter and record producer, crucial to the Muscle Shoals scene in the 1960s.

Quin Ivy
Birth name	Quinon Ray Ivy
Born	(1937-06-03)June 3, 1937 Banner, Mississippi, U.S.
Died	December 10, 2022(2022-12-10) (aged 85) Oxford, Mississippi, U.S.
Genres	Pop, soul
Occupation(s)	Record producer, songwriter, session musician
Years active	1964–1991
Labels	Atlantic, Quinvy, South Camp, Atco

Early life

Ivy was born in Banner, Mississippi, the son of a sharecropper.^[1][2] He started his career as a DJ in Oxford, followed by spells at WMPS in Memphis, WKDA in Nashville and WLAY in Muscle Shoals, before settling in Sheffield, Alabama. There, he established a record store and began writing songs with producer Rick Hall of FAME Recording Studios.^[1] Their output includes the singles "I'm Qualified" and "Lollipops, Lace and Lipstick" both recorded by Jimmy Hughes.^[3][4]

Career

In 1965, Ivy opened his Quinvy recording studio,^[1] where he produced the Percy Sledge single "When a Man Loves a Woman" which went to number one on the Billboard charts.^[5] He set up the Quinvy (independently distributed) and South Camp labels (distributed by Atlantic Records) before leaving the music business in the 1970s to gain an MBA degree from The University of Mississippi. He then taught accounting at the University of North Alabama until his retirement.^[6]

Ivy died on December 10, 2022, at the age of 85.^[7]