b. Chapel Hill, Tennessee, January 17, 1929; d. December 3, 2001
Nashville Cat
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 at a time when increased recording activity broadened the pool of musicians working sessions on Music Row.
Martin was fifteen in the mid-1940s, when he became the fiddler for Nashville band Big Jeff & the Radio Playboys. After a stint with Paul Howard, Martin recorded with Little Jimmy Dickens. He eventually led Red Foley’s band on ABC-TV’s Ozark Jubilee and, as a session player, provided essential contributions to classic hits by Patsy Cline, Lefty Frizzell, Loretta Lynn, Jeanne Pruett, Marty Robbins, Conway Twitty, and Billy Walker.
Martin recorded several jazzy instrumental albums under his own name, and he demonstrated his versatility on recordings with clarinetist Pete Fountain, trumpeter Al Hirt, and composer and orchestra leader Henry Mancini. When Vanguard Records’ Maynard Solomon brought the label’s New York folk artists to Nashville to record, he hired Martin as session leader and arranger, and the two men worked together on albums by Joan Baez, Buffy Sainte-Marie, and Country Joe McDonald.
In his later years, Martin toured as a member of Willie Nelson’s band.
Country Joe McDonald, Thinking of Woody Guthrie, 1969
Country Joe McDonald, Thinking of Woody Guthrie, 1969
Listen to Grady Martin
Selected Songs
Joan Baez, “Love Is Just a Four Letter Word”(Bob Dylan)
Among the musicians featured on this recording are Grady Martin, electric sitar; Pig Robbins, piano; Junior Huskey, bass; Kenny Buttrey, drums.
From the album Any Day Now, 1968. Produced by Maynard Solomon at Columbia Studios, Nashville.
Country Joe McDonald, “The Sinking of the Reuben James” (Woody Guthrie)
Among the musicians featured on this recording are Grady Martin, guitar; Harold Bradley, guitar; Hal Rugg, pedal steel guitar; Norbert Putnam, bass.
From the album Thinking of Woody Guthrie, 1969. Produced by Samuel Charters at Bradley’s Barn, Mt. Juliet, Tennessee.
Buffy Sainte–Marie, “Take My Hand for a While” (Buffy Sainte-Marie)
Among the musicians featured on this recording are Grady Martin, guitar; Buffy Sainte-Marie, guitar; Floyd Cramer, piano; Junior Huskey, bass.
From the album I’m Gonna Be a Country Girl Again, 1968. Produced by Bob Lurie and Maynard Solomon at RCA Studios, Nashville.
Loretta Lynn, “You Ain’t Woman Enough (to Take My Man)” (Loretta Lynn)
Among the musicians featured on this recording are Grady Martin, guitar; Pete Wade, guitar; Harold Bradley, guitar; David Briggs, piano.
From the album You Ain’t Woman Enough, 1966. Produced by Owen Bradley at Columbia Studios, Nashville.
Marty Robbins, “El Paso” (Marty Robbins)
Among the musicians featured on this recording are Grady Martin, guitar; Jack Pruett, guitar; Bob Moore, bass; Louie Dunn, drums.
From the album Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs, 1959. Produced by Don Law at Bradley Film and Recording Studio, Nashville.
Johnny Horton, “Honky-Tonk Man” (Johnny Horton, Tillman Franks, Howard Hausey)
Among the musicians featured on this recording are Grady Martin, guitar; Harold Bradley, guitar; Bill Black, bass.
Single, 1956. Produced by Don Law at Bradley Film and Recording Studio, Nashville.
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.