Gibson Guitar Corp.
Susan M. Davis has fond memories of Les Paul and Mary Ford coming over to her house for dinner when she was a little girl. Her father was Gibson Guitar president Ted McCarty who signed Les Paul to a company contract and who introduced a line of electric guitars with Les Paul’s name on it. Susan...
Walter Carter along with his wife, Christie, formed Nashville's "friendliest guitar store" when they opened Carter Vintage Guitars. With a last name so well known in country music, you can understand why a beautiful painting of Mother Maybelle Carter adorns the outside wall of the building. The...
Henry Juszkiewicz, Gibson Guitar Corporation’s former CEO, attended the Rainforest Alliance’s annual gala concert in 1994, where he first heard about the SmartWood program. He realized by teaming with environmentally friendly operations, Gibson could sustain its wood supply for a longer period of...
Scotty Moore set a date and time on July 4, 1954, to get together with a young singer who wanted to record with Sam Philips at Sun Records in Memphis. Sam asked Scotty, who had recorded with several bands on Sun, to call this kid and work out a few songs. This was his first meeting with Elvis...
Arnold Berlin was a one-time president of Chicago Musical Instruments (CMI) and co-founder of Norlin Music Corp. He is also Mr. M.H. Berlin’s son, one of the true icons of the industry. Arnie spoke of how his father got started in the industry as well as how he was able to grow the company into one...
Ted McCarty was the president of Gibson Guitars when he signed Les Paul to help design a series of instruments with his name. Ted went on to design and patent guitars such as the Flying V before working with Chicago Musical Instruments and Bigsby Guitars, becoming an industry icon. Among the...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Barney Kessel was a well-respected and sought-after studio musician who became part of the famed “Wrecking Crew.” He was also an innovative jazz technician who inspired...
Alvino Rey tinkered with putting a phonograph pickup in his banjo to increase the volume in 1927. His inventive mind also led to early guitar pickups and the design of a pedal-steel guitar. A life-long performer, he is also known to generations for his work during the swing era including his own...
Les Paul will forever be known for his role in the popularity of the electric guitar, the design of the Gibson Les Paul guitar, the multi track recording, the early guitar effects, and his million selling recordings with wife Mary Ford. However, did you know Les also appeared as product endorsee in...