Full Interview
Eddie Kramer began his long career as a record salesman in the San Francisco Bay Area before opening his own record store in the 1960s. As the Beatle Boom began, Eddie was selling a few guitars and some accessories, which were about 10% of his business at the San Carlos-based Eddie Kramer’s World...
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...
Rick Shubb has always been fascinated with bluegrass music and its instruments. He has recorded and performed often playing his five-string banjo. He grew up in the Berkeley area and met many performers including the members of the Warlocks that would later become the Grateful Dead. Rick designed...
John D’Addario’s family history in the music industry can be traced back to the 1670s when Donato D’Addario worked as a “cordaro” – the Italian word for “string maker.”
Since that time the family has perfected the art of handcrafting strings as well as other music accessories. John’s father had a...
Ed Boyer began working for Yamaha Corporation of America in 1983 with a focus on the band and orchestral products. With a strong background in retail, Ed developed long-lasting partnerships with dealers while working with them to gain relationships with area school directors. Yamaha designed...
Babe Simoni began working for the Fender Guitar Company in 1953. He was a teenager when George Fullerton hired him to work on the factory floor. Babe’s father had worked in the plant just the year before but had suffered a stroke and left the company. Babe worked on nearly every style of guitar the...
Dorothy Schwartz was one of the original members of a girls Barber Shop style group that was brainchild of a girlfriend from high school in her hometown of Sheboygan, Wisconsin. The group called themselves The Chordettes. Dorothy traveled with the group performing at Barber Shop fairs and programs...
Carol Buschmann grew up in Sheboygan, Wisconsin where she joined the all girls singing group the Chordettes just a year after it was formed in 1947. She stayed with the group until they disbanded in the early 1960s after having several top selling albums and two hit records in the 1950s including “...
Russ Turner opened his own organ repair company in the early 1960s in the early days of the home organ boom. He worked with all of the organ dealers in and around the San Francisco Bay Area for nearly four decades. During this time he also repaired other electronic products with a focus on radios,...
Brian Kehew played a big role in the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making Music’s 2009-2010 Waves of Inspiration: The Legacy of Bob Moog exhibit, which provided the NAMM Resource Center a chance to interview him for this Oral History program. Brian discussed his personal background in music and the...