Oral History - all
Denny Tedesco archived his father’s career as a noted studio musician in Los Angeles in the award winning documentary, The Wrecking Crew. Tommy Tedesco, along with other top rated studio musicians in LA in the 1960s and 70s, have been called The Wrecking Crew, which Denny used as the title of his... more
Charlie Butten, audio engineer, teamed up with Bob Cohen in the mid-60’s to create an intercom system for crew communication in live productions. By 1968, they developed the industry’s first distributed amplifier analog beltpack system, known today as the ‘partyline analog beltpack system’ and... more
Bob Ulius began working in the music industry when San Francisco retailer, Stu Goldberg, hired Bob at Marina Music in 1969. It was the beginning of a long career that included gigs at Leo’s Pro Audio in Oakland, California, and with Sound Genesis. Bruce Hatch formed Sound Genesis, which was located... more
Steve Dillon has a great appreciation and knowledge of vintage band and orchestra instruments. The first musician in the Dillon family can be documented back to the 1700s, thus the store’s slogan “Dillon Music: Bringing America Music since 1776". Steve became an expert on vintage instruments and... more
Jim Fahey adds a unique twist to many of the tours he provides as a docent for the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making Music. Growing up in the 1960s, Jim understands the impact music has on social issues. As a result of this, sociology and the impact of music on culture has been a part of his... more
Sandy Radom is a volunteer at the NAMM Foundation’s Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad, California and can often be found enjoying one of the many concerts presented at the museum. Sandy is a medical doctor and photographer who adds his own background to the interaction he has with museum visitors... more
Philip Burn is currently the managing director of Hal Leonard Australia. He first commenced work for iconic Australian distributor, Rose Music, in 1976 (which in 1986 became Yamaha Music Australia) as a product manager, rising through the ranks to become General Manager in 1987, a position he held... more
Birth Date: February 22, 1930
Deceased Date: February 22, 2021
Merv Cargill was the owner of Cargill Custom Guitars. After completing an apprenticeship in violin making he learned the finer details of building wooden instruments and became a qualified luthier. Merv made the old Australian brand of Pacific Guitars until he turned his hand to his own custom... more
Birth Date: December 16, 1919
Deceased Date: March 30, 2022
Vera May was the matriarch figure of the iconic Australian acoustic instrument maker Maton Guitars. Wife of the founder, Bill May, Vera worked in the business from 1954 until her retirement in 1987, organizing the administrative and financial aspects, while Bill built the guitars. The husband and... more
Ray Fransen was born in New Orleans and began playing drums at an early age. He played professionally full-time for years and taught drum lessons until the birth of his first child. At that time, he decided to try to find a full-time job that would allow him to continue to play and teach. ... more
Frank D'Arcangelo grew up in a house that always had music playing. He has memories of his parents record collection and large stereo system that seemed to always be playing. He took to the drums and grew up in an area with a vast amount of resources for musicians. In his oral history interview,... more
James Singleton was born in Chicago and took to playing bass at an early age. After performing in the Chicago area and briefly attending the University of North Texas, James was called to New Orleans to perform with Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. As he cut his teeth further with Brown, James became a... more
Robert Strait is proud of the music retail traditions that his father developed when their family owned store was first established back in 1967. Since that time, his father, Dan, along with his brother, David, expanded the store to offer a complete line of musical instruments as well as lessons... more
David Strait is one of two sons of original Strait Music Company owner and founder, Dan Strait. During his interview David talked about growing up working with their father in a true family business. David has been very successful as the head of the piano department for over 40 years and expanded... more
Tommy Robertson was born in Austin, Texas, a feat he calls “as rare as a unicorn these days.” Tommy played drums throughout his teen years before he decided to open his first drum shop. Tommy’s Drums has provided the Austin area drummers with service and quality products as well as repairs. In the... more
Steve Fulton was born in California but quickly made his way to Austin to perform in bands all over town. Although he was originally a drummer, he was struck by the aura of the guitar and switched instruments. Steve purchased an already established guitar store and began to collect older guitars... more
Mike Henry was born in Los Angeles, CA and studied drums with Mel Zelnick at Mel's store, The Music Stop. When he was older, Mike toured all over the US, Canada, and Japan, eventually settling in Houston where he performed with some of the cities' best musicians. After working for Keith Kanekey's... more
Johnny Vidacovich was born in New Orleans and raised by his mother and grandparents. He started playing drums when he was ten years old and would go to night clubs around New Orleans and stand outside the open windows of the clubs to listen and learn from some of the city's best drummers and... more
Herlin Riley is a native of New Orleans and a continuing link in the chain of great jazz drummers. Herlin was raised in a musical household by his grandparents and originally played the trumpet in the family group, The Lastie Brothers Combo, as well as unknowingly playing in the same youth marching... more
Donald Harrison Jr. was born in New Orleans to a deeply musical family steeped in all styles of music: brass bands, jazz, R&B, funk, and world music. His father was a Mardi Gras Indian Big Chief, an offshoot of the cultural tradition that goes all the way back to the time of Congo Square. ... more