Oral History - all
Bob Henrit has been a regular artist at music trade shows all around the world for decades. As a top rated drummer who has performed with many bands and stars over the years, Bob has endorsed several drum and accessory companies over his career. As a result, he is not only well known to the NAMM... more
Birth Date: January 24, 1936
Deceased Date: October 27, 2016
Bobby Wellins was surprised to learn that Charlie Watts, the drummer for the Rolling Stones, listed Bobby as an influence on his playing. After all, the jazzman played tenor saxophone. However, it was Bobby’s delivery that gained the ear of the young Mr. Watts, who later got to work with his hero... more
Glen D. Hardin had the opportunity to play alongside his favorite performer, the artist he most admired as a young music fan, Ray Charles. Glen grew up in Lubbock, Texas, and began playing the piano when he heard a family member play. He went on to become a well-known arranger and pianist in the... more
Birth Date: May 4, 1922
Deceased Date: May 21, 2018
Glenn Snoddy was working in the recording studio in Nashville, when a short on the control board caused Grady Martin's guitar to take on a new sound. The engineers and producer looked at one another and asked if they heard that fuzzy sound. That sound was later requested by other artists who... more
Bill Walzak grew up in Chicago and found his way to the drums whenever he could. Trash cans and pots were often turned upside down and were Bill’s set! While playing in a band later he invented a cup holder to attach to music stands. In 1982, Bill made his first trip to the NAMM Show with his... more
Joe Lovano worked with the Borgani Musical Instrument Company in Italy on a series of saxophones that fit his style of playing. The Borgani-Lovano instruments use pearl-silver alloy with the famous gold keys. Joe has been endorsing the company since 1991 and his proud to play a role in... more
Larry Graham fondly recalls stepping out onto stage to perform at Woodstock! He remembers the sea of people and the energy in the air as he performed as a member of Sly & the Family Stone. Larry recorded many of the band’s big hits in the 1960s and early 70s before he formed his own funk band... more
Rikki Farr has been an active member of the audio engineering community most of his life and as such has been involved in countless innovations along the way. With Rikki’s incredible career in mind, it would take a page just to list the fields he has been involved with such as concert promotions,... more
Adrian Emsley is the Technical Director at Orange Amps in London. The company’s founder, Cliff Cooper, hired Adrian to lead the teams that created several key products for Orange including the RockerVerb, the OR-50 and the AD series, which was introduced in 1998. Over the years, Adrian has become... more
Richard Blackford is the noted classical composer who studied at the Royal College of Music in England before becoming the assistant to Hans Werner Henze in Rome. His works are heard at the ballet and in the opera house and with such accessibility he began receiving requests to compose for film... more
Phil Rich remembers sitting on the couch with his mother, who was a nurse during the day and a songwriter in her spare time, as she wrote songs. His band directed the music at their church and as a result, he always had the passion for playing music. He played guitar at an early age and into high... more
Chuck Rainey picked up a violin as a boy and knew very early on that he wanted to make music! His legendary career as a studio musician and band leader included some iconic projects such as Aja with Steely Dan and a tour with King Curtis, when he toured with the Beatles. Chuck is best known as a... more
Bob Olhsson started as a mastering intern at Motown Records in the mid-1960s, when he was still a teenager. His long and innovative career as an engineer has included several historic projects including albums with Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye. After moving from Detroit to San Francisco, Bob... more
Paul McGill is a luthier’s luthier. He wanted to create a tool that would allow others to express themselves and to create music that could be enjoyed by many people he may never meet or even know about. He was trained by Charles Fox in the late 1970s and found that he was able to put his passion... more
Leslie East studied musicology at King’s College in London and followed with a Master in Musical Analysis. He put his education to use right away as he became teacher and began working as a musical journalist. After some time as an educator, he became the Director of Music at the Guildhall School... more
Paul Campion developed a rich passion for opera and classical music as a youngster. He later wrote about singing and music that has been very meaningful to him throughout his life. While a fan and an expert of music, Paul also worked in the music industry as his profession. Paul played an active... more
Keith Beckingham recalls watching his father, a church organist, playing the piano at home and then sitting down and copying the music he heard. He grew up fascinated by the piano and organ and played throughout his school years. A job at Boosey and Hawkes, London as a Hammond Organ demonstrator... more
Mike Anderson remembers hanging out with his best friend in the 8th grade and hearing him play an original song. Mike was hooked and wanted to focus on music and worked on it every day. Over the years he began writing music and picked up the bass, his first from Sears. A contracted artist at age... more
Don Airey is widely known as the current keyboardist for Deep Purple, a gig he has had since 2002. His career spanned the development of electronic instrumentation, which grew as his own career did over the years. In his early work with Gary Moore, Don played the Wurlitzer electric piano, which... more
Carol Cuellar has always had a love for music, especially classic country music, which was somewhat rare for a young girl growing up in England. When she moved to Florida she landed a filing clerk job at Screen-Gems. She has been in the music publishing industry ever since. Early in her career ... more