Dave Olsen’s passion for music began when he was eight years old and his mother, who also played, gave Dave lessons. He later played French horn for the school band and piano for the hig...
Bob Olsen often said because he did not play a musical instrument yet had a successful career in the music products industry that he was “a vegetarian in the business of prime meat.” The ...
Matanya Ophee was born in Jerusalem at the time when it was Palestine. He began playing guitar as a young boy and continued to play it as a hobby while he trained to be an airplane pilot...
Gil Orr played a part in the era of popular music known as the Surf Sound. With the steady growth of instrumental hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Orr performed and recorded his gu...
Anthony Ortega was a mainstay on the west coast jazz scene beginning in the 1940s. Growing up in Watts, Anthony (known as Tony) went to school with and was exposed to many of the era's Lo...
Mary Ortigara has always had a deep passion for education and was an English major at Xavier College. After graduating in the late 1950s, she began working in her brother’s music store gi...
Sonny Osborne and his brother Bobby created one of the most powerful bluegrass sounds of their generation. The Osborne Brothers were powerful in popularity because of their influence as w...
Bobby Osborne is the mandolin/guitarist who teamed with his brother to form one of the most beloved duets in bluegrass music history. The Osborne Brothers recorded several key songs for ...
Jerry Osiecki’s grew up in the music industry. His father started Osiecki’s Music store out of his parent’s home in the middle of the Depression. When he was little his father passed away...
Harry Osiecki’s father started a music store out of his parent’s home. In 1933, he opened up his first store, which had a living unit upstairs for his family. Although he tragically died ...
Tom Ostrander was the founder of Colonial Music in Mt. Vernon, Ohio. Now a string of stores, the retail company began with the simple idea of providing top quality instruments to the area...
Chip Owen was the product specialist at Fox Bassoons who helped engineer a series of instruments for Fox over the years including the Fox Model 900 Contrabassoon, which was first introduc...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Patti Page was the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner...
Bob Page opened a small store in Pasadena, California, in 1971 called The Guitar Shop. Nearly from the beginning his brother Tim was involved. By the time Bob moved the store to Leucadi...
Earl Palmer may be the most recorded jazz and rock drummer in history! He performed with just about every recording artist from Little Richard and Fats Domino to Ricky Nelson and Frank Si...
Fred Parris grew up close to the Apollo Theater in New York where he was able to see many of the top acts in music. These experiences sparked a passion which led to his singing in several...
Vito Pascucci was assigned to band instrument repair during World War II for Glenn Miller’s Army Air Force Band. Although Miller was much older, the world-famous bandleader and Vito becam...
Phil Passin began working for Carl Fischer in 1947 in the shipping department, where he took a deep interest in the industry. After serving in the US Army during the Korean War, Phil ret...
Les Paul will forever be known for his role in the popularity of the electric guitar, the design of the Gibson Les Paul guitar, the multi track recording, the early guitar effects, and hi...
Michael Paul, known as MP, always had an interest in the visual arts, especially those that could involve multiple formats. When he had the chance to create light and color programs for ...
Alan R. Pearlman was nicknamed “ARP” as a kid growing up in New York City, so it seemed the perfect name for a company when he was later designing electronic musical instruments. The firs...
Sir John Pearse was proud of the role he played in encouraging countless people to play the guitar. His BBC program Hold Down a Chord was based on lessons he created by picking up simple ...
Curtis Pearson served proudly during World War II and, upon returning to the United States, was told of a sales job at the Poole Music Company. After several successful years and getting ...
Nick Peck’s entire face lights up whenever he talks about a great school music program! The son of a band director, the passion seems to be in his blood. After taking over the store his f...
Bruno Pedrini and his brother Tom both started music stores in Southern California after World War II –yet the stores remained separate although they were both called Pedrini Music. Bruno...
Dave Pell had a long and remarkable life in music. As a saxophonist he played with many of the top dance bands in the later years of the Big Band Era, including Les Brown and his band of ...
Rocky Peoples was the saxophonist heard on hit recordings such as “Will We Go Round In Circles” and “Nothing From Nothing” by Billy Preston, as well as his own composition “Driver’s Licen...
Cal Perkins was the product engineer for a number of innovative products over his long and successful career. Cal's background and training on early amplification and audio technology r...
This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Walter Perkins was an energetic jazz drummer who provided s...
Toni Perrine grew up in England where she was a touring actress in several musical productions. When she came to the United States she worked for Pedrini's Music in Southern California fo...
Sylvia Perry and her late husband, Mack, teamed up in 1945 to establish Peripole, Inc. Mr. and Mrs. Perry taught music and worked to innovate and manufacture instruments for the growth an...
