Deceased
Sonny Burgess was known as the wild man of rock and roll who brought a driving guitar style to early Sun recordings (the label that launched Elvis Presley). Among those recordings were “We Wanna Boogie” and “Feelin’ Good.” Sonny’s early days with Sam Phillips, the founder of Sun Records, were at...
Milt Okun was the founder of Cherry Lane Music Publishing. His career in music, outside of his own playing, began as a record producer. He had success during the folk movement of the 1950s and 60s with performers such as Peter, Paul and Mary. While he continued to produce, he established Cherry...
Rose Wernes Drake traveled with her husband, Ivor, when he became the second salesperson hired for the Winter Piano Company following World War II. He often said the company got two for the price of one as she soon became as good an asset to the company as he was. It was Ivor’s idea to train her on...
Dave Brubeck played Baldwin Pianos for most of his long career. As a classically trained performer, he added poly-rhythmic concepts to jazz. Among his most celebrated recordings is the world famous “Take Five.” While he never caught the teaching bug, he was greatly influential on countless...
Dick Contino had a series of hit recordings and popular television appearances in the 1950s playing his trusty accordion. By the end of that decade, he was hired by M. H. Berlin at Chicago Musical Instruments (CMI) to introduce a string of innovative products. It was Dick who first introduced the...
Jane Smisor Bastien together with her husband. James Bastien., wrote the best-selling method-book, Bastien Piano Methods, enjoyed by millions of students and teachers worldwide. The series of books, all published by the Neil A. Kjos Music Company, are now translated into more than 16 languages....
Garrett Bowles was always interested in computer technology, music and library science, so it came to no surprise to his family that Garrett found a way to combine the three fields long before most other librarians even knew there was a need. Garrett was an early architect of the computer music...
William Callaway worked in his father’s music store as a child, sweeping up on weekends and working his way up to president of Thearle Music in San Diego. His father, Harry, was President of NAMM from 1951-1953. William recalled the pride his father had in being involved with the industry that he...
Trini Lopez became an early Latin-American pop singer with a string of recordings in the late 1950s and 60s including "If I Had a Hammer" and "Lemon Tree." Frank Sinatra took him under his wing and signed Trini to an eight year record contract that included the talents of Sinatra's arranger Don...
Gary DeShazo began his musical career as a Texas bandmaster and then worked with James Caldwell, the founder of Caldwell Music. With a great understanding of the educators’ needs, Gary soon developed lasting relationships with band directors over the entire state and beyond. In 1969, he bought...