Deceased
Millie Detgen was one of the very few female manufacturers reps in the music products industry in the 1970’s and 80’s. She began working with her husband Gene Detgen after they were married in 1971. Gene was the Sales Manager at Pacific Music Supply in Los Angeles at that time. His main product...
Jerry Muenchow a veteran of the music industry worked in music retail for five years before joining the famed Chicago Musical Instrument Company (CMI) as a field sales representative in Michigan. Jerry held that position for 10 years before becoming a Regional Sales Manager for Fender Musical...
Donald Johnson was known throughout the industry as DJ. He began working in music retail in 1958 in the San Jose, California, area before joining Coast Wholesale in 1961. It was an interesting and historic time to begin calling on retail stores in the San Francisco Bay Area. The folk music boom was...
Gary Burgett and his brother Kirk established PianoDisc out of their piano retail store in Sacramento, California in the late 1970s. Gary was a pianist and music teacher with a successful studio of his own, and Kirk was a skilled piano technician and rebuilder. The store, Burgett Pianos, sold a...
George Duke built his musical career on innovative styles and sounds. His reputation for creative and influential performances cross over jazz, pop and rock music and have since his early recordings in the 1960s. The dozen albums he recorded with Frank Zappa included George’s use of synthesizers in...
Joe Seawright was a piano designer and engineer for the Baldwin Piano factory in Greenwood, Mississippi, beginning in the early 1970s. Joe created several improvements to the workflow of the operations as well as designing new features to the piano line of products. When the Greenwood factory was...
Joe Ussery was the supply manager for the Baldwin Piano factory in Greenwood, Mississippi when he first joined the company in 1973. He later helped manage the raw materials for Greenwood as well as other Baldwin factories in the United States including Holly Springs, Mississippi, and the Conway and...
Wayne Jackson and his saxophone-playing friend, Andrew Love, formed the Memphis Horns, a group that played on countless recordings and on stage for over 40 years! Wayne, on trumpet, began playing professionally in the late 1950s and teamed with Andrew a few years later. Together they created a...
Joe Guercio is best known for the 8 years he served as Elvis Presley’s musical director, beginning in Las Vegas in 1969. He formed the orchestra that backed Elvis and his band on every tour until the King of Rock’s passing in 1977. Joe arranged Elvis’ stage introduction and wrote the 6-note fanfare...
Richard Ellis was proud of the three main areas of his professional career; playing, teaching and selling musical instruments. As a teenager Richard traveled with a big band, playing dances during the Swing Era. He later taught music at several levels as well as directed the local community band....