After his Army discharge, Bradley returned to work with his father Owen at the first Bradley Barn recording studio in Mount Juliet, Tennessee. He would learn the music business at the Forest Hills Music Studio, the official name of "Bradley's Barn", during the 1960s. While there, Jerry saw the recording of three future Country MusicHall of Fame inductees take place. Other artists who recorded at the Bradley Barn during the 1960s were Joan Baez, Gordon Lightfoot, Warner Mack, and Dinah Shore. Some of those sessions lasted until after midnight, forcing Bradley to sleep on a couch at the Bradley Barn to be ready for the next recording session to occur at 9 a.m. the following day.
Transition to RCA
While also at the Bradley Barn, Bradley befriended Chet Atkins of RCA Nashville. Atkins, a record producer and head of RCA Nashville, was a creator of the Nashville Sound in the 1960s along with Bradley's father Owen. Bradley told his father about a possible job at RCA Nashville to which Owen replied, "You already have a job." Owen then advised Jerry on the RCA position: "If you aim for another position, make sure it's an opportunity to advance".
RCA Records
Accepting the position as a staff assistant to Chet Atkins of RCA in 1970, Bradley assisted Atkins in communications and paperwork with RCA's main office in New York. Bradley would also assist Atkins in the recording studio. In 1973, Atkins stepped down as head of RCA Nashville following a bout with cancer. Bradley succeeded Atkins in the position. During Bradley's tenure at RCA, he played a role in the early careers of Ronnie Milsap, Dolly Parton, Charley Pride, and Alabama. The biggest role in country music Bradley would play though was in legitimizing the Outlaw movement prevalent during the 1970s, led by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson among others. Bradley collected previously recorded songs from Jennings, Nelson, Jessi Colter, and Tompall Glaser ; and created them into the albumWanted! The Outlaws with the cover showing it in an Old West poster. Released in 1976, it was the first platinum country music album certified by the Recording Industry Association of America.
After RCA
After stepping down from RCA Records in 1982, Bradley would become head of the Opryland Music Group, an organization created from Gaylord Entertainment's purchase of Acuff-Rose Music in 1985. While at Opryland Music Group, he was head of 16th Avenue records which produced some of Pride's albums after he left RCA. Bradley stayed as head of Opryland Music Group until his 2003 retirement, when Sony Music Group purchased Opryland Music Group's publishing.
Service with CMA
Bradley served as president of the Country Music Association Board in 1975. He was also instrumental in the creation of Fan Fair and in managing the historic RCA Studio B in downtown Nashville.
Personal life
Besides Bradley sharing the musical talent of his father Owen, uncle Harold was a well-known session guitarist who was part of the Nashville A-Team players. Bradley's wife Connie worked for the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers offices in Nashville from 1980 until her 2010 retirement and was CMA Board president in 1989. Another uncle, Charlie, and a cousin, Bobby, were noted recording studio engineers. Bradley's aunt Ruby Bradley Strange was a pioneering office manager on Music Row while his sister Patsy was an executive for Broadcast Music, Inc.. His son Clay is an artist manager.
Honors
In 2019, Bradley was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, in the same year as Brooks & Dunn and Ray Stevens. This made Bradley the third member of his family inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, after his father Owen and uncle Harold.
