Oral History - all
Jane Jones began her career as a piano technician while working in music retail. She noticed pianos in the repair shop lined up and wanted to do all she could to get those instruments back in the home making music. She began teaching herself as a tuner and soon joined the Piano Technicians Guild... more
Birth Date: October 27, 1939
Deceased Date: January 14, 2022
Dallas Frazier was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame for writing such hits as "There Goes My Everything" and "Elvira." "There Goes My Everything" has been recorded dozens of times by artists such as Jack Greene, who had the first number one hit with the song and Elvis Presley,... more
Bruce Clark was interviewed for the NAMM Oral History program during the 2015 Piano Technician Guild’s (PTG) annual convention in Denver, Colorado in July 2015. During his interview he covered his passion for music and well as his long association with the piano industry. Much of his design work... more
Birth Date: October 3, 1947
Deceased Date: September 21, 2015
Ben Cauley can be heard on hundreds of Stax Record hits including those with Otis Redding. Ben was a member of Otis's backup band called the Bar-Kays, which originated as the horn section at the Stax studio in Memphis beginning in the 1960s. Ben was the only survivor of the plane crash that took... more
David Briggs was a struggling musician in Nashville when he received a call to replace Floyd Cramer on a recording session. That session just happened to be for an album titled “How Great Thou Art” for Elvis Presley. That session took place in May of 1966, impressing Elvis and his band enough to... more
Rick Baldassin is the President and Founder of Baldassin Pianos in Salt Lake City, Utah. As a piano technician, Rick has been an active and passionate member of the Piano Technicians Guild (PTG) both serving with his local chapter as well as on the board of the guild. Over the years he has... more
Pat Alger formed his own music publishing company in Nashville after writing several hit songs. His tune "Thunder Rolls" was a big hit for Garth Brooks, and other songs have been recorded by a range of artists including "Small Town Saturday Night." Pat, in fact, grew up in a small town in... more
James Alexander reformed his band, the Bar-Kays following the plane crash that took the lives of three members, and singer Otis Redding. The new band was created in tribute to those killed with the help of Ben Cauley, the only survivor of the crash (James was on a second plane) and singer Larry... more
Paul Adams began his career as a piano technician in New Jersey after earning his degree in music at Rutgers University in 1972. Soon after establishing his business, Paul joined the Piano Technicians Guild (PTG) to learn all he could about his profession. Within a few years it was Paul who was... more
Norbert Abel formed the Abel Hammer Company (Helmut Abel GmbH) in 1982 along with his father, to manufacture piano hammerheads, shanks and flanges for the piano industry. Over the years, they have created many interesting products such as chemical free felt and high quality hammerheads for both... more
Birth Date: December 3, 1921
Deceased Date: April 10, 2021
Quinton Claunch was a musical innovator who formed Hi Records in Memphis as well as the Goldwax label. He played guitar and bass professionally beginning in 1943 and can be heard on a number of recordings on the Sun label in the early to mid 1950s, including those by Carl Perkins and Wanda Jackson... more
Elizabeth Ward and her husband, Dale Probst, brought their love of pianos and their backgrounds as tuner and technicians together to form Ward & Probst Piano & Organ Service in Wichita Falls, Texas. Since she was a young girl, the piano has been a big part of her life. Her father... more
Birth Date: September 19, 1950
Deceased Date: January 27, 2017
Dale Probst and his wife, Elizabeth Ward, formed Ward & Probst Piano & Organ Service Piano Tuning Service in Wichita Falls, Texas. They both have followed their life's dream to provide working instruments to assist their customers to make music! Dale was particularly active in the Piano... more
Lee Paynter outlined the rich history of the JW Pepper Publishing Company during his NAMM Oral History interview. Lee covered the founding of the company in 1876 by James Welsh Pepper who in the early days not only printed sheet music but also made musical instruments. In fact, Lee told the story... more
Sandra Miller realized as a professional musician working in Memphis that she learned enough about her Steinway piano that she could sell them. So, she got a job at Amro Music and has become a Steinway specialist doing just that. Her passion comes out the moment you mention Steinway, a fact very... more
Christian McBride teamed with his wife, Melissa Walker, to create a school music program in Montclair, New Jersey called Jazz House Kids. Advocating for their program, the couple have become knowledgeable on the importance of music education, and well spoken cheerleaders for arts funding. As an... more
Mark Despotakis has become a well respected arts advocate and strong supporter of music education policies as Director of Market Development for Progressive Music in McKeesport, Pennsylvania. Working closely with music educators throughout the state, Mark has been able to serve his music store by... more
Steve Cropper became an integral part of the Stax Studio sound in Memphis as guitarist, songwriter and producer. He was a member of the studio's house band, the Mar-Keys as well as Booker T. Jones' MGs and recorded hundreds of sides for a wide range of artists. Steve famously played guitar on Otis... more
Deceased Date: July 22, 2015
Eric Glasnapp (1969-2015) was the archivist in the NAMM Resource Center, where he took part in the filming of 74 interviews during his short four months as an employee. He worked closely with his friend and NAMM Historian, Dan Del Fiorentino to help document the history of the music products... more
John Mayall has been an enduring voice on the modern blues scene since the early 1960s. Mayall is a self-taught musician well versed on guitar, harmonica, and piano. Following art school and military service, Mayall entered the British blues scene in 1962 at Alexis Korner’s burgeoning blues club.... more