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

Now Playing
El Paso – Marty Robbins

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 SainteMarie, “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.

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