The reputations of Nashville’s top players were built on more than musicianship. The music created by the Nashville Cats and their guests would influence pop music for years to come.
Part 3
The Nashville Cats
Play Clean as Country Water
“Nashville Cats,” a 1966 pop hit by The Lovin’ Spoonful, humorously extolled the talent of the city’s musicians. The title has become a widely accepted catchphrase for Nashville studio professionals, from the early A-team players who dominated recording sessions beginning in the late 1940s, to the wave of younger musicians who expanded the city’s studio scene in the 1960s.
Many excellent musicians made important contributions to the recording sessions highlighted in this exhibit. While most of the original A-team maintained long careers, more often than not it was the next generation of players who were called when folk and rock artists booked sessions in Nashville.
Joan Baez at Nashville's Woodland Studios, 1971. Left to Right: Rex Collier, Ernie Winfrey, Joan Baez, Norbert Putnam
Joan Baez at Nashville's Woodland Studios, 1971. Left to Right: Rex Collier, Ernie Winfrey, Joan Baez, Norbert Putnam
Ernie Winfrey, an engineer, left, Joan Baez and Norbert Putnam at Woodland Studios in the 1970s. Courtesy of Ernie Winfrey
Michael Nesmith of The Monkees at RCA Studios in Nashville, 1968. Standing: Norbert Putnam, Lloyd Green, and Kenny Buttrey. Sitting: Felton Jarvis, Michael Nesmith, Wayne Moss. Photo courtesy of Tony Fros
Pledging My Time
After Bob Dylan’s first recording trip to Nashville, to begin work on Blonde on Blonde, he praised the city’s musicians to guitarist Robbie Robertson of the Hawks. “(Bob) was really impressed by the Nashville music machine,” Robertson recalled. “He said, ‘I just went in there, these guys didn’t know me, they didn’t know this music … They just all got in a huddle and they figured it out so quickly, coming up with an arrangement, a whole idea for the song.’”
To show his gratitude for their inspired work, Dylan included the names of the musicians on the gatefold cover of the Blonde on Blonde double LP. He was among the first to credit the Nashville pickers in that way. The music Dylan created with the Nashville Cats between 1966 and 1970 continues to rank among his most vibrant and influential work.
Bob Dylan, Pete Drake, Fred Carter Jr. and Delores Edgin at Nashville's Columbia Records Studio A, 1969. Courtesy of Sony Entertainment Music Archives
Bob Dylan, Pete Drake, Fred Carter Jr. and Delores Edgin at Nashville's Columbia Records Studio A, 1969. Courtesy of Sony Entertainment Music Archives
Meet the Cats
Best known for his harmonica technique—distinguished by speed, clarity, and exceptional phrasing, Charlie McCoy is a multi-instrumentalist who has been recorded on bass, guitar, keyboards, percussion, saxophone, trumpet, and tuba.
Charlie Daniels proved pivotal to many of the Nashville recording sessions of Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan. Because Daniels had a strong blues influence, Johnston felt he would fit with the adventurous singer-songwriters.
Ben Keith was a prominent Nashville pedal steel guitarist and dobro specialist before becoming a producer and instrumentalist for Neil Young.
One of country music’s most admired and influential steel guitarists, Weldon Myrick taught himself to play lap steel and, at age thirteen, landed a job on a radio station near his hometown of Jayton, Texas.
Mac Gayden grew up fascinated by the R&B acts he heard in his hometown of Nashville. That interest helped him develop a style as a guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter distinctly different from other Nashville studio pros.
Lloyd Green developed an emotional, resonant style of pedal steel guitar playing that gave him a distinct sound apart from other top steel specialists.
At age eighteen, Pete Drake heard steel guitarist Jerry Byrd on the Grand Ole Opry during a trip to Nashville. Duly inspired, Drake purchased a steel guitar in an Atlanta pawnshop. The decision not only changed his life, but impacted the sound of country and rock music.
Pig Robbins earned his stripes by creating the rocking piano on George Jones’s “White Lightnin’.” Over the ensuing decades, his integral role on Music Row recording sessions earned him membership in the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2012.
In his distinctive fiddle style, Buddy Spicher combined a rich tonal quality with bluegrass precision and an adventurous sense of swing. After arriving in Nashville, he quickly gained attention as a dazzling instrumentalist capable of handling country, jazz, pop, and rock.
Inspired by Country Music Hall of Fame members Chet Atkins and Earl Scruggs, Wayne Moss’s iconic guitar riffs helped forge the identifiable sounds of country and rock hits.
Norbert Putnam is a widely admired bassist, record producer, and studio owner. He started his career in his teens recording with soul singer Arthur Alexander at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, as part of a renowned rhythm section that included keyboardist David Briggs and drummer Jerry Carrigan.
Grady Martin was a member of a loose collection of legendary studio musicians known as the Nashville A-team. His versatility and creativity as a guitarist also appealed to younger rockers and singer-songwriters who came to Nashville.
David Briggs began playing piano on R&B, pop, and country hits in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, in his teens. After a brief stint as a pop singer, Briggs moved to Nashville in 1964 to focus on a career as a studio musician.
Three-time Grammy winner Jerry Reed is most famous for his colorful, catchy story songs steeped in Southern attitude and lore. He was recognized as a groundbreaking guitarist with a guitar technique that gave an extra layer of funky, back-country grease.
The preferred drummer for artists across America—he built a lasting legacy with his work in R&B and rock.
Fred Carter Jr. began his career in northeastern Louisiana playing rock & roll. He backed Dale Hawkins, known for his rock hit “Susie-Q,” and later played with Ronnie Hawkins, Dale’s cousin, in his backing group, the Hawks. Carter left and was replaced by Robbie Robertson before the group evolved into the Band.
Sample the Cats
