Tommy Tedesco

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Tommy Tedesco (born July 3, 1930 in Niagara Falls (New York) as Thomas J. Tedesco , † November 10, 1997 in Northridge , California ) was an American guitarist in the fields of jazz , rock and pop and belonged to a group of California studio musicians , The Wrecking crew called.

Live and act

Tommy Tedesco came to California in the late 1950s and has been one of the most sought-after studio guitarists ever since. He plays melody guitar in the Bonanza theme of the television series, which was first shown in the United States on September 12, 1959. Since then he has contributed to well over a thousand recordings. Although he was mainly a guitarist, he played a large number of other string instruments such as the banjo , mandolin , bouzouki , balalaika , ukulele and sitar . In doing so, however, he often used the guitar tuning on these instruments. He worked on the west coast of the USA for many well-known artists such as the Beach Boys , Jan & Dean , Phil Spector , The Mamas and the Papas , Elvis Presley , Ella Fitzgerald , Sarah Vaughan , Frank Zappa ( Lumpy Gravy , 1968), The Monkees , The 5th Dimension or Cher . In the early 1960s, he also worked on the B. Bumble And The Stingers studio project .

As a studio musician, Tommy Tedesco was involved in a variety of productions for film and television in addition to recordings for other musicians. For example, he can be heard on the scores for The French Connection , The Godfather , Jaws , The Deer Hunter and Field of Dreams . For television he made recordings for series such as The Twilight Zone , Green Acres , M * A * S * H and Batman .

He has also played a number of albums under his own name since 1978. Tedesco's pieces were influenced by guitarists Howard Roberts , Jimmy Raney , Barney Kessel and Tal Farlow , among others . In 1992, a stroke and the resulting partial paralysis put an abrupt end to his work. The following year he published his autobiography, entitled Confessions of a Guitar Player.

For several years, Tedesco wrote the Studio Log column for Guitar Player magazine on a regular basis , in which he reported in detail on his studio work for record productions, films and television.

Cinematic reception

In the 2008 film The Wrecking Crew , produced by his son Denny, Tommy Tedesco is portrayed as a studio musician with a number of his work colleagues.

literature

  • Tommy Tedesco: Confessions of a Guitar Player (autobiography). Centerstream Publications, 1993, ISBN 0-931759-71-4 .

Discography (selection)

  • Alone at Last (Tommy Tedesco Trio), Trend Records, 1979, LP
  • Carnival Time (Tommy Tedesco Trio), Trend Records, 1983, LP
  • Tommy Tedesco Performs Roumanis' Jazz Rhapsody for Guitar & Orchestra , Capri, 1992, CD
  • Fine Fretted Friend , Discovery / Wea, 1992, CD

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Tedesco, Tommy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Tedesco, Thomas J. (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American guitarist (jazz, rock, pop) and author
DATE OF BIRTH 3rd July 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH Niagara Falls , New York
DATE OF DEATH November 10, 1997
Place of death Northridge