Deceased
Joe Keith felt that the local music teachers needed specialized service when it came to finding the tools they needed. Along with his wife, Claudia, he opened The Music Mart in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with the goal of doing all that was possible to support music education and lesson programs. As...
Owen McPeek always wanted to play music, so he found several day jobs that allowed him to play music at night. He ran Rush’s Music on Alcoa Highway in Knoxville, Tennessee, for over a decade beginning in the late 1960s. The full line store pioneered in providing pro-audio gear to its customers....
Charles Connor was a pioneer in the early beat of rock and roll. As a drummer in New Orleans in the early 1950s, he played with Professor Longhair and became the original drummer for Little Richard. In fact, it was Little Richard who asked Connor if he could produce a rhythm that sounded like a...
William Brilhart grew up in a house of music. His father, Arnold Brilhart, was the jazz saxophonist who established a mouthpiece and accessories company and introduced innovative products to the music products industry. His mother was a world-renowned harpist who traveled the world and made several...
Hajime Yamaguchi was born on September 26, 1944 in Tokyo, Japan. At the age of 18 he traveled the country as a professional drummer and a year later landed a stellar job as drummer for a late night TV talk show in Japan. After a few years his girlfriend (and future wife) explained her parents...
Joseph Rashid studied the art of violin-making like few others. His goal was not to mass produce the instrument or even to sell them, but rather to hand-make the instruments based on scientific evidence. When he could not locate data on frequency measurements, he conducted his own studies to...
Don Ravitch pioneered many elements of keyboard retailing as president of Sherman Clay. With an engineering and financial background Don and his partners purchased the music store chain in 1959 from the third generation of Clay’s. Moving to San Francisco in 1960 and focusing on changing the stores...
Lou Berger was an energetic piano salesman in the style of the old piano traveler of a by-gone era. In fact, what Lou knew about selling pianos he learned from some of the old timers when he was a young man starting out in the business. Lou was a walking encyclopedia of the piano business and was...
Robert Johnson served as a sales manager for Chicago Musical Instruments (CMI) when the company first acquired the noted violinmakers William Lewis & Son. As a salesman, he worked closely with Harry Benson, who was also interviewed for the NAMM Oral History program thanks to Robert. William...
Stanley Schireson’s father opened up a small music store in 1902 that would eventually branch out into manufacturing and distribution of musical instruments. The company began making ukuleles and acoustic guitars under the Hollywood brand name before developing the Volutone name. Stanley took to...