Session Musicians

Fortunes, The: Fortunes Admit It: They Use Session Boys!

Interview by Keith Altham, NME, October 1965

THE FORTUNES go on record as the first group I have met who have had the honesty to admit they use session musicians on their ...

King Curtis

Obituary by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, August 1971

CURTIS OUSELEY – known the world over as King Curtis – was fatally wounded and died on Friday, August 13 only a few yards away ...

Al Kooper: The (Almost) Complete History of Al Kooper

Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, October 1971

Tell me about the first Supersession.Well the concept came from that Grape Jam album (given free with Wow in the States but not released here), ...

King Curtis: A Good Man Gone

Obituary by Michael Lydon, Fusion, October 1971

MAYBE THIS should be a collection of unrelated notes. I’m not sure how the things I’m thinking about fit together. King Curtis is dead. That ...

Nicky Hopkins

Interview by Andrew Tyler, Disc and Music Echo, December 1971

DURING THE NEXT 12 months Nicky Hopkins, the world's best-known anonymous pianist, will be the fourth German on the right no more. After years of ...

Cornell Dupree: The Boss Guitar of Cornell Dupree

Interview by Roger St. Pierre, NME, March 1973

CORNELL DUPREE's name will mean nothing to the general public, but those who scan LP sleeve credits will recognise him as one of America's busiest ...

Nicky Hopkins: Sixth Stone Rolls Alone

Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 1973

THE NEWS THAT the Rolling Stones are to tour next month without their long serving pianist Nicky Hopkins will come as a surprise to those ...

Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page, Yardbirds, The: Session Star: Jimmy Page

Interview by Nick Kent, NME, September 1973

JIMMY PAGE is as wary of discussing his formidable past as he is talking to the press in the first place. ...

Elton John: 'It's Not All Down To Elton...

Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, January 1975

...he's just part of a band'. And that's the way Elton John's always wanted it, drummer Nigel Olsson tells CHRIS WELCH, in a rare behind-the-scenes ...

Tom Scott: Tom Scott In LA

Review by Max Bell, NME, July 1975

NAT HENTOFF really should know better. Having, in the past, written liner-notes for the very best (Davis, Trane) he now finds himself eulogising the "scope ...

James Burton

Profile and Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, April 1976

IF ANY OF YOU missed seeing Emmylou Harris and the Hot Band on their recent tour, you were either very unlucky or very foolish. I ...

Elvis Presley, Rick Nelson, James Burton, Emmylou Harris: James Burton

Book Excerpt by Stuart Grundy, John Tobler, 'The Guitar Greats' (BBC Books), 1983

ONE OF THE GREAT rock'n'roll guitarists of the 1950s, but a man who remained virtually unknown to all but the cognoscenti until comparatively recently, is ...

King Curtis: Blow Man, Blow! (Bear BCD 15670)

Sleevenotes by Pete Grendysa, Bear Family, 1992

"BLOW MAN, BLOW!" The big man with the glittering horn sent showers of squeals and shrieks out over the heads of his ecstatic shouting audience, ...

Blood Sweat & Tears, Al Kooper: Al Kooper: The Adventures Of Kooperman

Retrospective and Interview by Jeff Tamarkin, Goldmine, February 1994

THE COVER of Rekooperation, Al Kooper's new album, his first in 12 years, is divided into 16 postage stamp-sized photographic portraits of the artist as ...

James Burton: Play It, James!

Book Excerpt by Colin Escott, 'Tattooed on their Tongues' (Schirmer), 1996

JAMES BURTON CRADLES a dark red 1953 Telecaster. The finish is cracked in a few places and the fretboard is worn, but it's got ...

Booker T & The MGs: Memphis Sunset: The Mysterious Death of Stax Heartbeat Al Jackson, Jr.

Retrospective by Andria Lisle, Grand Royal, Fall 1997

July 31, 1975 – Booker T & the MGs drummer and Stax session musician Al Jackson, Jr. is shot in the chest with a .22-caliber ...

Hall-of-Fame Hitter: Drummer Earl Palmer gets his due

Retrospective and Interview by Ted Drozdowski, Boston Phoenix, January 2000

LIKE ANY GOOD GRANDFATHER, Earl Palmer has tried to find interests to share with his grandkids. So far, coin collecting has been a favorite. It's ...

Ace Cannon: The Best of Ace Cannon: The Hi Records Years

Sleevenotes by Colin Escott, The Right Stuff/Hi Records, 2001

SPARE, FUNKY, and disarmingly simple. Ace Cannon and Bill Black defined a sound. There was never a surplus note or inflection. These were records that ...

Mel Brown: Whaddya Mean You've Never Heard Of… Mel Brown?

Retrospective by James Maycock, MOJO, 2002

"WITH THE GUITAR outselling all other musical instruments today," declared a Down Beat editor confidently in 1967, "it's good to have Mel Brown around to ...

A Swamper Tells the Muscle Shoals Story: An Interview with David Hood

Interview by Carl Wiser, unpublished, 2006

ABOUT TWO minutes into 'I'll Take You There', a sultry bass groove plays while Mavis Staples implores, "Little David, help me out now..." ...

Big Jim Sullivan: The Man With The Golden Arm

Interview by Jon Stewart, Guitarist, September 2006

Jon Stewart talks about what it takes to make it as a professional musician with Big Jim Sullivan, the legendary UK session guitarist who has ...

The Master: Reggie Young

Profile by Barney Hoskyns, Uncut Legends, December 2008

REGGIE YOUNG is a southern institution: the session guitarist's session guitarist. His inimitable licks and fills, at once clipped and fluid, have graced a zillion ...

Motown's Guitarists

Retrospective by Jon Stewart, Guitarist, April 2009

Jon Stewart celebrates the magic of Motown’s multiple guitarists ...

Barry Goldberg: Barry Goldberg/Soul Riot

Review by Steve Roeser, hollywoodconcerts.com, December 2009

BARRY GOLDBERG has been flying under the radar forever, the man who always seems to be there in the thick of things, quietly, unobtrusively making ...

Roben Jones: Memphis Boys – The Story of American Studios (University Press Of Mississippi)

Book Review by Mike Atherton, Blues and Rhythm, 2011

"THOSE SEVEN MUSICIANS, the American rhythm section, are the most creative and innovative studio musicians I know," said Memphis promotion man Marty Lacker, who, having ...