Allen Reynolds Turns a Year Older—But His 1988 Gift Made Garth Brooks Timeless

The August Alliance: Allen Reynolds, Garth, and the G-Men Rewrote Country’s Playbook

Beloved producer Allen Reynolds will celebrate his birthday this week — but in August of 1988, he was the one giving gifts. It was then that Allen's calm hand and sharp instincts started guiding Garth Brooks from Oklahoma rookie hopeful to having a career worthy of the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Allen, Garth, engineer Mark Miller, and Garth's powerhouse studio band christened the G-Men assembled for the first time in August of 1988. Their union lit the fuse on a country music revolution, forging the team that rewrote the rule book, cementing country music in stadiums and bridging oceans to give the genre worldwide appeal.

"Allen Reynolds is timeless in his wit, his work ethic, and his love and knowledge of music," Garth said. "We started this journey in August of '88, and it's still all about the song.  I love that.”

Allen, Mark, and the G-Men worked with Garth on virtually all of his blockbuster hits from 1989 to 2001, recording most of the songs at Allen's Jack's Track recording studio in Nashville. The men brought "If Tomorrow Never Comes," "The Dance," "Friends in Low Places," "Callin' Baton Rouge," and many, many more to life in that space.

When Allen retired, Garth bought Allen's Jack's Tracks studio and renamed it Allentown in his honor.

In 2016, Garth, Allen, Mark and the G-Men were inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame together.

They continue to work together today.

To make the August celebration even bigger, Garth's touring fiddle player Jimmy Mattingly, and Sevens Radio's Maurice Miner, and Allentown Studios Manager Charles Green, also have birthdays this week.

"Happy birthday to my friends and partners in crime for the last three decades!" Brooks laughed. "It's birthday week!!!"