OH Taxonomy
Emilio Lyons would often have his well-known customers such as Stan Getz and Benny Carter meet him at his home whenever they needed work done on their saxophone. Emilio was the manager for a music store in Boston while also repairing instruments whenever he could. Over the years he built a...
Larry Dalton started playing drums at a young age after seeing The Beatles on TV. His love for music stayed with him, and he began playing in multiple bands and went on many tours in Europe, Canada, and the United States. Larry then went on to get heavily involved with drum machines, programming...
Michael Doucet has become an important link to the roots of Cajun music, not only because he has written and performed the musical style since he was 6 years old, but because of the months he spent conducting a geological survey in and around his hometown of Scott, Louisiana. He discovered how the...
Paul Hamer has a fascinating background that includes giving guitar lessons for Bob Gand back in the late 1960s. Being surrounded by fellow guitarists and having design ideas to improve the instrument, Paul made his first guitar under the Hamer name a few years later. Having approached artists to...
Jimmy Johnson helped define the Chicago Blues of the 1960s and 70s with a series of live performances and recordings. Some of his best known songs were captured at Bob Koester's Delmark Records. Jimmy wrote several songs recorded by other artists and toured the world performing with the likes of...
Ramsey Lewis had a monster hit record with his jazz version of "The In Crowd." The song, which is considered to be the quintessential instrumental jazz hit of the 60s, led to a series of other recordings including sessions with Earth, Wind & Fire. Ramsey began playing organ and piano in church...
Rich Covas owned Modern Music store's three locations for thirteen years beginning in 1966. The locations covered band and orchestra instruments as well as guitar, keyboards, and drums. The company also offered music lessons and repair. In fact, providing lessons is how Rich first began working in...
Bob Stroger found himself on stage at a blues club as a teenager not sure exactly what to do. He had an electric bass in his hand and laid down the bass parts he heard on his Jimmy Reed records. The club owner told Bob there was much more to playing the blues than copying a riff. As he felt the...
Bob Koester was the founder of the Delmark label who began recording blues and jazz in 1953 in St. Louis. He later moved to Chicago where he helped define the music scene by recording artists such as Bud Powell, Donald Byrd, Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, Luther Allison, Magic Sam, Otis Rush, Sonny Stitt...
Rick Nielsen is among the very few rock stars who grew up in a music store! His story and background is perfect for the NAMM Oral History program as it ties together a professional career in music making with mom and pop music retailing! Rick's father purchased a music store in Rockford, Illinois...