Full Interview
Dale Beacock grew up with a love of band music. After college he was hired as a band director and he felt as if his dreams had come true. He worked hard to design methods of teaching that brought out the best in his students, and he always sought ways of improving his bands. Over the years he felt...
Bob Moore’s bass can be heard on countless recordings made in Nashville during the 1950s through the 1980s. As a member of studio musicians known as the A Team, Bob played on recordings with everyone from Patsy Cline to Elvis Presley. In the 1960s he had a string of hits with his own band...
Fred Bramante formed the music retail store Daddy’s Junky Music on the East Coast and went on to play a vital role on the NAMM Board during a dynamic period in the association’s history. While playing in a rock band in college in the late 1960s, Fred got the idea of buying used music gear and...
Gene Chrisman was among the celebrated studio musicians from Tennessee who played on countless recordings and helped shape the Memphis Sound during the 1960s and 70s. Gene’s creative drumming style has been cited by percussionists around the world as an influence on their own careers. Gene was the...
Dennis Houlihan has played many important roles within the industry, all of which have been driven by his passion and love of music and music making. After years as a demonstration artist for Lowrey Organs, Dennis worked with retailers and suppliers alike, building his knowledge of music products...
Charles Watkins invented the Watkins Copicat, an echo unit introduced in 1958. Mr. Watkins was inspired by the Morino Marini Quartet who made famous the Comi Prima, which contained a special use of repeated phrasings. The Copicat revolutionized the world of music beginning in the United Kingdom,...
Peter Pulham had a distinct place in the history of the music products industry, in part because he helped preserve it! As publisher and editor of United Kingdom based Music Business magazine (together with Sandie Smith) in the 1980s and 1990s, Peter reported on the news of the day in the pages of...
George Hanson’s father was hired by M. Steinert and Sons, the piano dealer in Boston, in 1900. Forty years later George would help his father out after school and on weekends to earn some pocket money. In 1947 George was hired full time and became the longest running employee in the company’s...
Bob Casey enjoyed a long career in pro audio and radio. It all began when he was four years old when he saw the large sound cones on his father’s truck. His father formed Edward P. Casey’s Sound System Company and became one of the early inventors of PA (Public Address) systems in New York. Over...
Candido Camero was born in Cuba on April 22, 1921. By the age of four he was already interested in percussive instruments--a field he would revolutionize by blending Latin beats with jazz. Working with other pioneers on the concepts of Latin Jazz, such as Dizzy Gillespie, Candido opened up the...