Dave Bartholomew was a noted bandleader, trumpeter, and songwriter who captured a pioneering sound known as the “big beat” of rock and roll. His uncanny ability to provide the perfect mus...
Hal Blaine was perhaps the most recorded drummer from the California recording studios of the 1950s-'70s. His influential style can be heard on more than 170 number one hit songs and 450...
Solomon Burke’s amazing career in music included a number of important landmarks! His early recordings, which combined gospel and the blues, have become important and influential material...
Jack Casady played electric bass for the Jefferson Airplane before forming the band Hot Tuna with his lifelong friend, Jorma Kaukonen. Jack and Jorma played together in Jefferson Airplane...
Gene Cornish began playing harmonica at an early age and soon added guitar to his list of instruments, the very two he would make a full career from. As an original member of the rock ba...
Bo Diddley was the pioneering rhythm and blues performer who taught the industry one main point in the early days of the electric guitar era. With his square cigar box guitar, patented by...
Don Felder was just a kid in Gainesville when he traded firecrackers for an old guitar and embarked on a self-taught musical journey. His natural affinity for the guitar was evident from ...
Lamont Dozier was one of the most successful songwriters in popular music history. From 1962-1967 he teamed with Brian and Eddy Holland to write a string of impressive hit records for Mo...
Larry Dunn played a key role in the success of the legendary group Earth, Wind & Fire! As the keyboardist for the group he added new sounds in the innovative era of electronic musica...
Duane Eddy has profoundly influenced generations of guitarists and helped establish instrumental songs as viable hits in popular music. Beginning in the late 1950s, Duane recorded numerou...
Nokie Edwards was an original member of the Ventures, a rock group of the 1960’s that helped popularize instrumental recordings. The band enjoyed several hit records including “Walk Don’t...
DJ Fontana drove down to Houston in a pink Cadillac with Elvis Presley after being hired as the then unknown singer’s first drummer. They pulled up to Herbie Brodstein’s Drum Shop (Herb w...
Eddie Holland gained worldwide fame as a Motown Record’s songwriter and music publisher along with his brother Brian. Eddie was also a recording artist who performed the chart-topping hit...
Brian Holland and his brother Eddie are among the most popular songwriting teams in the history of popular music! For decades they have created the words and music to Motown’s classic sou...
Ernie Isley was born into a very musical family and grew up with his older brothers forming a group and singing gospel. When Ernie was 14 years old he played drums as a member of the fam...
Wanda Jackson has been performing as an entertainer and singer worldwide for over 50 years. Known affectionately as the “Queen of Rockabilly”, she began her career as a teenage country si...
This audio only interview was conducted by David Schwartz and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Al Jardine can be heard on the very first Beach Boys recording. The song, “Surfin’”...
Dr. John became the unofficial ambassador of New Orleans music by showcasing the mystic and voodoo rich traditions of southern Louisiana, which has become the backdrop to many Mardi Gras ...
Ralph Johnson joined Earth, Wind and Fire in 1972. That was an important year for the band as founder Maurice White changed the line-up to include singers Jessica Cleaves and Philip Baile...
Jorma Kaukonen played guitar in two classic rock bands of the 1960s and 70s, Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna! His passion for the blues helped create his style, which was in such demand ...
Keith Shocklee is a pioneering DJ who began performing at the local youth center on Long Island in 1974, only a year after Hip Hop was established. Keith gives credit to the radio disc jo...
B.B. King spoke of his great love of music making and provided sound advice for those who want to play an instrument. He smiled as he recalled buying his first guitar amplifier and spoke ...
Robby Krieger is the guitarist and songwriter best known for being a founding member of the rock band, The Doors. The incredible influence the band had on generations of music makers and...
Jerry Leiber was one half of Leiber and Stoller, one of the most influential and successful songwriting teams of the 1950s R&B movement. They played a critical role in the early days ...
Ray Manzarek founded the iconic rock band The Doors on the beach in Venice in 1965 with his friend from UCLA film school, Jim Morrison. From that sunny summer day of sharing songs and the...
Dave Mason was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005 as the guitarist for Traffic. His influential playing was only matched by his talents as a songwriter. He wrote a numbe...
Roger McGuinn got a transistor radio from his parents as a young kid and was never the same after hearing Elvis Presley. He instantly picked up the guitar and it changed his life forever....
Steve Miller led a popular rock band beginning in the 1960s with a string of hit songs, most of which he wrote. His passion for music began at a very young age. Did you know Les Paul was ...
Scotty Moore set a date and time on July 4, 1954, to get together with a young singer who wanted to record with Sam Philips at Sun Records in Memphis. Sam asked Scotty, who had recorded w...
Sam Moore and his singing partner Dave Prater helped put Stax Records on the map with their string of top hits in the 1960s. Their powerful performances inspired their nicknames of Double...
Spooner Oldham was a studio musician down in Muscle Shoals, Alabama before becoming a noted songwriter. Spooner's keyboard skills can be heard on such classic records as "You'd Better Mov...
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...
