Rock and Roll
Jim Peterik was just a teenager when he joined a rock band and knew what he wanted to do when he grew up! He began writing songs and formed several bands including The Ides of March, which scored a couple of hit recordings on songs Jim wrote including “Vehicle”. He also formed the band Survivor and...
Roy Gaines, like his brother, Grady, who played saxophone for Little Richard, made his mark in the early days of rock and roll. As a blues guitarist, Roy recorded a number of songs for RCA, which have become popular rockabilly tunes such as "Skippy is a Sissy" in 1958. He worked with a number of...
Abraham Laboriel has often been called the most recorded bass player of all time. Bass Player Magazine placed him on their top 50 bass players list and listed Abraham as having performed on over 4,000 records and soundtracks. Among the projects he spoke about during his NAMM interview were those...
Don Blocker worked behind the music, promoting and selling for several record companies over his long and impressive career. First working for Dot Records, Don learned the craft, which he later honed at Liberty Records. His deep understanding of the business and his caring approach to the artist...
Jody Stephens, along with three of his friends, formed the influential rock band Big Star and went on to recording several albums with the band. The band cut their early demos and all of their studio recordings at Ardent Studios in Memphis. The studio's founder, John Fry, took a liking to Jody and...
Spooner Oldham was a studio musician down in Muscle Shoals, Alabama before becoming a noted songwriter. Spooner's keyboard skills can be heard on such classic records as "You'd Better Move On" and several songs with Aretha Franklin including the Wurlitzer introduction on "Never Loved a Man the Way...
Donna Jean Godchaux was the only female singer with the Grateful Dead (on stage and on recordings) from 1971 until 1979. In fact, she was the first female singer with the group and was once married to the band's keyboard player. When she was just nine years old, she met Rick Hall before he opened...
Wayne Moss is the Nashville studio musician who, in 1961, built the Cinderella Recording Studios. Since that time several top recordings were captured in the studio including those by artists Chet Atkins, Barefoot Jerry, Area Code 615, Mickey Newberry, and Jerry Reed. As a session player, Wayne is...
Artie Kornfeld was originally a trumpet player in symphonic orchestras. As a Rock and Roll fan, Artie eventually switched to guitar and performed with several groups before landing a job at Capitol Records as an executive. Artie wrote over 75 Billboard charting songs including the Crispian St....
Garth Hudson sat down at the piano and played several classical works as the NAMM Oral History crew set up the camera and lights. He began by playing, stopping every once in a while, to review his notes. Garth spoke about his love for music and his first teacher in Canada who impressed upon him the...