Nashville A-Team

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nashville A-Team is the name of studio musicians of varying composition in the recording studios of Nashville played between 1956 and about 1978 in the background of the famous artist.

General

By 1946, most of the country music recording sessions were in New York or Chicago. It was only in that year that Castle Studio was built in Nashville as the first recording studio by three radio technicians from WSM . Then the recording studios shot up. Increasingly, the focus of country music production shifted to Nashville. 16th Avenue South alone, as part of Nashville's famous Music Row, is now home to 23 recording studios and music publishers who, together with music producers and session musicians, made the city the center of American country music. For a while the musicians were so busy that they could hardly get to sleep. When the Owen Bradley Studios opened in 1955 , Music Row became the epitome of the Nashville-based music industry .

Beginnings

The earliest meeting of individual members of the session crew was evident in the recordings of December 28, 1953 for Ray Price (Grady Martin, Rusty Gubbard, Don Helms, Bob Moore, Farris Coursey). On May 30, 1955 the musicians Hank Garland, Ernest Newton and Farris Coursey played for Eddy Arnold , the day after Garland / Harman with Jim Reeves . On September 15, 1955, Garland, Grady Martin, Lightnin 'Chance and Harman gathered at Roy Hall for the original of There's A Whola Lotta Shakin' Goin 'On . Garland and Chance accompanied Faron Young from January 15, 1956, from April 27, 1956 Garland, Chance, Chet Atkins and Buddy Harman were represented. Marty Robbins enlisted her help on March 13, 1956 ( El Paso , April 7, 1959). Jimmy Newman relied on her services from March 1956.

The individual studio musicians were experienced instrumentalists. Hank Garland himself recorded records in Nashville as an interpreter since May 1949. Bob Moore took part in recording sessions for country singer Little Jimmy Dickens on October 14, 1949 at the age of 17 . Grady Martin was already playing guitar for the million seller Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy by Red Foley , recorded on November 7, 1949.

The A-Team and the Nashville Sound

The Nashville Sound began, according to popular opinion, on November 7, 1956 when Ferlin Husky recorded his country hit Gone . The song has all the characteristics of the Nashville sound, namely no violins and no steel guitars, but with a background choir. However, those songs that played violins and steel guitar were also part of the Nashville sound . Husky's recording session on December 2, 1957 featured Hank Garland (guitar), Floyd "Lightnin '" Chance (bass) and Buddy Harman (drums). The recognizable sound was provided not only by the recording studios and their recording technology, music producers and interpreters, but also by the professional session musicians in an almost unchanged composition.

Brenda Lee used the A-Team for her first recording session on July 30, 1956 ( Jambalaya ; April 12, 1957 for Dynamite ). Bobby Helms hired Garland, Grady Martin, Ray Edenton, Bob Moore, Buddy Harman and Owen Bradley on April 25, 1956. These session musicians were also present on his first number one hit, Fraulein (November 15, 1956). The country duo Rusty & Doug (Kershaw) used Atkins, Garland and Cramer for the first time on November 8, 1956. At Bobby Darin's LP session on May 6, 1957, Garland, Moore and Ferris Coursey (drums) were present, although Darin is more pop music. From July 12, 1957 they were represented at Carl Smith , at Little Jimmy Dickens from March 4, 1957. Oh Lonesome Me / I Can't Stop Loving You by Don Gibson on December 3, 1957 was a classic example of the Nashville Sound. The Browns were accompanied by members of the A-Team on June 1, 1959 in their world hit Three Bells . From September 18, 1959, members of the A-Team played alternately in the hits of Roy Orbison . They also accompanied Bill Anderson , Carl Dobkins Jr. ( My Heart is an Open Book , November 7, 1958), Ronnie Self (from February 16, 1957), Roger Miller (from December 13, 1958, King of the Road from 3. November 1964) or Johnny Horton ( Sink the Bismarck , January 7, 1960).

Country legend Don Gibson can measure how consistently members of the A-Team participated in the recording sessions. Grady Martin alone participated in at least 64 sessions with Don Gibson, continuously from April 30, 1958 to November 15, 1977. Buddy Harman was even involved in at least 79 sessions until November 24, 1980. Bassist Bob Moore had 22 sessions up until March 27, 1973. The loose connection between the A-Team became increasingly dynamic, as previous members were replaced by new instrumentalists - mostly due to age. Bobby Dyson, for example, took over the role of bassist for Bob Moore until July 25, 1978. These personnel changes also gradually caused a change in the Nashville sound.

Statistics and members

The core of the A-Team has consisted of the following instrumentalists over the years:

  • Guitars: Grady Martin , Hank Garland , Jerry Kennedy , Ray Edenton (also mandolin, ukelele and banjo), Harold Bradley, Paul Yandell, Pete Wade, Norman Blake, Jimmy Capps, Fred Carter Jr., Jimmy Colvard;
  • Mandolin: Jethro Burns ;
  • Bass guitar: Bob Moore , Joe Osborn , Ernie Newton, Henry Strzelecki, Junior Huskey, Floyd “Lightnin '” Chance;
  • Drums: Buddy Harman , Jerry Carrigan, Ferris Coursey, Larrie Londin;
  • Keyboards: Floyd Cramer , Owen Bradley , Hargus "Pig" Robbins;
  • Fiddle: Tommy Jackson, Johnny Gimble, Buddy Spicher, Dale Potter, Vassar Clements, Brenton Banks;
  • Steel Guitar: Pete Drake, Jerry Byrd, Buddy Emmons, Ralph Mooney, Lloyd Green, Buck West, Shot Jackson, Jerry Kennedy, Maurice Anderson;
  • Saxophone: Boots Randolph ;
  • Harmonica: Charlie McCoy;
  • Harp: Mary Alice Hoepfinger;
  • Violin: Howard Carenter, Lilian Van Hunt and Brenton Banks;
  • Trumpet: Carl Garvin (trumpet / clarinet), Danny Davis and William McElhiney;
  • Background choir: The Jordanaires, The Anita Kerr Singers, The Hardin Trio

Drummer Buddy Harman alone was present at around 17,000 recording sessions. He can be heard on the evergreens Only the Lonely (Know the Way I Feel) and Oh, Pretty Woman ( Roy Orbison ), Cathy's Clown ( The Everly Brothers ) or King of the Road ( Roger Miller ). In total, the core consisted of almost 50 people (without background choirs).

End of the A team

At the beginning of the seventies “outlaws” like Waylon Jennings or Willie Nelson brought country music back to its original roots, relied less often on the employed producers and increasingly resorted to their own studio musicians, especially as the group of people who did not change the recordings that had lost individuality and dynamism over the years. As a result, the Nashville Sound lost its musical dominance, but remained fragmentary in the music world. The era of the leading Nashville sound came to an end around 1980, especially since the instrumentalists of yore were getting on in years or had already died (Grady Martin † 2001, Hank Garland † 2004, Buddy Harman † 2008). However, some musical approaches have been preserved to this day.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Michael Kosser: How Nashville Became Music City USA. 50 Years of Music Row. Hal Leonard, Milwaukee WI 2006, ISBN 0-634-09806-3 , p. 69 .
  2. ^ Fabian Holt: Genre in Popular Music. University of Chicago Press, Chicago IL et al. 2007, ISBN 978-0-226-35037-0 , p. 71 .
  3. ↑ Patric Carr (Ed.): The Illustrated History of Country Music. Random House - Times Books, New York NY 1995, ISBN 0-8129-2455-X , p. 276.