Library - In Memoriam
Remembering oral history interviewees who have passed away.
Frank Green opened his first music retail store in Southern California in 1959 and called it Music For Everyone. He began working in the music industry some 12 years earlier as student enroller in an accordion school.
Jerry Grote grew up in Minnesota and began playing guitar after seeing the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964. As a high school student, Jerry began visiting local music stores and discovered music retail. One of the stores he visited was called The Guitar Center,
Jerry Freed began working in the music industry along with Tommy Moore. Together they promoted percussive instruments for schools and built Kasuga International in the 1960s. Jerry later created Freed International before deciding to concentrate on instrument case products.
Eleanor Anderson helped establish Woodbury Music Company with her late husband, Leroy Anderson. The company is managed by their three children (Kurt, Rolf and Jane) with a third generation very active in music as well. As composer and arranger, Leroy Anderson published popular
Al Rinaldi was the first person ever to receive the Steinway Lifetime Achievement Award, which was given to him in 2012. Al never worked for the piano manufacturer nor did he work for any of it's sister companies. Al was a Steinway dealer in Philadelphia, who in fact was turned
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.
Patrick Stansfield was the legendary stage manager who, along with Bill Graham of FM Productions, launched the modern music concert format by creating and popularizing the arena rock business.
Robina Miller opened Swing City Music with her husband, in London, England, in the days following World War II. During the time of the record shortage in the UK, Swing City offered American music, beginning with service records known as V-Discs (Victory Discs).
Stanley Jay always admired rare and special fretted musical instruments, so it came as no surprise when he and his friend, Haf Kuffner, opened a guitar shop on Staten Island in New York. They named the store the Mandolin Brothers.
Paul Craft always felt a pull towards music but was not just sure how it would take hold in his life. For a time he ran a music store in Memphis called Paul Craft’s Music and Drum City all the while writing poems and setting them to music.