Documenting a Milestone

We are very pleased to have documented the longevity of Amro Music in Memphis, Tennessee. With the recent donation of an audio recording of the store’s founder, the NAMM Oral History Program now contains four generations of owners!

It is a special day for the NAMM Oral History collection and for me personally! Thanks to my amazing staff of Elizabeth Dale and Mike Mullens, and our volunteer Suzanne Glasnapp, we have completed a task that has been in the works for several years. Today, the last of the interviews I completed in my radio days, before working at NAMM, have been donated, digitized, and included within the NAMM collection. This means that every interview I have captured since I was 15 years old is all in this library archive, all 4,000 plus!

As most of you know, I am a fan! I truly do get excited about each interview because I appreciate and respect those who have given us music! Along the way, I began gathering selfies (long before there was such a term) and the very first was with Milt Hinton when I was only 15. These selfies have come to be affectionately known as “Dan and...”. Later, while in my 20s, I got to meet Jonah Jones and we posed for a photo where he pointed to me, thus the beginning of the now-famous pose of mine, 'The Point!' Over the years I have pointed and was pointed to in many photos. Since I am often asked about who was in the first pointing photo, I wanted to share it, along with a few other personal highlights.

The company was once referred to as The Mighty Wurlitzer! Perhaps this was because of the strength of its products, renowned training program, and educational efforts. For me, the secret behind the power of the Wurlitzer Company was its people!

This special video was created by members of the NAMM staff to honor Hal Blaine, the studio drummer who was recently presented the Grammy Life Time Achievement Award. Congratulations Hal! If you'd like to see more about Hal Blaine, click here to check out the segment from our 2002 interview with him. 

When Santa Cruz Guitar Company celebrated its 40th anniversary in September 2016, the NAMM Oral History cameras were there!  It was an honor to take part in the celebration as we were able to capture several great interviews for our collection.

Over the years we have been able to document the history of many important NAMM member companies by collecting several different accounts of its beginnings, focus within the industry, and impact. Among those that have become especially rewarding to the archive are companies where the founders or early employees begin the story and more recent employees or owners can bring that story to the present. Such is the case of Rodgers Organ Company.