Library - In Memoriam
Remembering oral history interviewees who have passed away.
Billy Ray Hearn is credited by many for pioneering the concept of Contemporary Christian Music during the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Gerold Hannabach was born in Schönbach, Czechoslovakia into a family with a long tradition in the building of music instruments.
Denver Spence joined the music industry in 1968 after having been involved with his school marching bands and school band programs since he was in elementary school. He worked as a school road rep for Jenkins Music in Kansas City for two years before opening his own retail store
Jim Coffin was instantly recognized at any given trade show or industry meeting as the energetic advocate for music and music making. Jim’s career as a music director and educator includes authoring several important method tools including the popular “Performing Percussionist.”
Georg Steinmeyer was the factory supervisor at the Estey Organ Company in Brattleboro, Vermont. He joined the company in the years following World War II when he moved from Germany to the United States.
Tut Taylor was a world renowned Dobro player, but did you know he partnered with George Gruhn and the two hired Randy Wood to form a music store in Nashville? Gruhn Guitars began as GTR, which was an abbreviation for George, Tut and Randy, when it opened in the 1970s.
Milton DeLugg wrote many remarkable and popular songs such as "Orange Blossom Sky," recorded by Nat King Cole. He wrote TV theme songs and stacks of movie music.
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Ray Charles, or as he called himself "The Other Ray Charles" was a choral director whose choir backed such singers as Perry Como and Bing Crosby. Ray en
Doug Sax was the pioneering mastering engineer who helped shape the craft beginning in the late 1960s. Doug was part of the original design team for the famed Mastering Lab in Hollywood California that was established in 1967.
Robert Laube spent over 30 years as the top salesman for Kimball Piano and Organ Company. In fact, he may very well have sold over one million organs during the big boom of the early 1970s.