Rock and Roll

John McCarthy has been running a music studio and teaching guitar lessons since the 1990s. After a conversation with his sister, he realized if he recorded and distributed his lessons on video, he could reach many more people who wanted to learn to play guitar.

Randy McCormick began playing piano as a child and while still a teenager began making money playing in and around the studios of Muscle Shoals, Alabama.  He began working at Fame Studios and later for Muscle Shoals Sound Studio.  Along the way he performed on hundreds of albums including those featuring Mac Davis, Clarence Carter, Roy Clark, Eddie Rabbitt and Dr. Hook.  Randy may be best known for the keyboard lead-in for the most requested song in Jukebox history, Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock and Roll!”

Dave McCumiskey enjoyed a long career as a Music Sales Group manager. He worked for the music publisher from the late 1960s until his retirement in 2008, having seen many of the developments and changes in print music during that time. Before his gig in the industry Dave was one-fifth of the rock band The Liverpool Five. The popular band got its start alongside the Beatles and the Rolling Stones in the heyday of the British rock sound of the early 1960s. In fact, the bands greatest hits are currently available on CD. 

Frank McIlquham is the founder and executive director of Rock for Vets, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting military veterans through the healing power of music. Inspired by a belief in music’s ability to foster connection and renewal, Frank established a music program for youth in high schools, to the senior aged community to inmates to Veterans. Rock For Vets program is to provide veterans with opportunities to learn instruments, develop vocal skills, and actively participate in a collaborative musical environment.

Don McLean walked into the House of Music in New Rochelle, New York as a kid dreaming of owning a Martin Guitar.  When he finally owned one, that instrument assisted him in writing several hit songs.  The rock and roll anthem "American Pie" and "Vincent" were both written on his Martin, as were many others. Don attended a NAMM Show when Martin unveiled the Don McLean signature model guitar, an epic moment in his life. 

Ron McMaster grew up in the Sacremento area and joined a rock band while still in school. The band went through a few name changes before settling on Public Nuisance. They released a single and later recorded a full album (Gotta Survive), which was not released at that time. Years later the album was released on CD and gained the attention of Jack White who at first covered some of their songs and later signed the band to his label, Third Man Records. While still in school Ron also taught drums at Andy Penn’s Drum Shop before moving to Los Angeles where he started a new career as

Big Jay McNeely was there when the emotions of rhythm and blues gave birth to rock and roll. His honkin' sax style gave raw and bold tones to the feelings behind the R&B and Jump Swing styles of the early 1950’s, all of which played a key role in the popular musical trends that would follow. 

Jerry Michelsen started playing the piano when he was four years old. His father worked for the Federal Aviation Agency, so Jerry moved many times during his childhood, but never stopped taking piano lessons. He went on to study classical piano at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. During this time, Jerry was really getting into Rock and Roll, and wanted to apply that style to his piano playing. It was seeing Mike Smith with the Dave Clark 5 playing an electric piano that really gave him a bug for rock, and since then he’s been playing everything from roc

Steve Miller led a popular rock band beginning in the 1960s with a string of hit songs, most of which he wrote. His passion for music began at a very young age. Did you know Les Paul was his godfather? The Steve Miller Band was formed in San Francisco in 1966 and went on to record some 25 albums (including five of which were recorded live). Their biggest hits include “The Joker,” “Take The Money and Run,” “Rockin’ Me,” Fly Like an Eagle,” “Jet Airliner,” “Abracadabra”, “Swingtown” and “Jungle Love.” Steve is also a gear-head and a big fan of innovative musical products.

Jerry Miller was a founding member of the innovative and influential ‘60s rock band Moby Grape. His roots in music go back to his grandfather, who was a famous violin maker in Sweden. When Jerry was eight he was given a guitar for Christmas and never wanted to do anything else but make music. He began songwriting at an early age and felt a special connection when he purchased a Gibson L5 guitar at Tacoma Music. He has in fact played that very guitar throughout his career, including during his NAMM Oral History interview. His big break came when he joined the Seattle-based rock ban

Stanley Miller received the 2009 Parnelli Audio Innovator Award for his long and successful career in the music and concert production industries. In 1962, he opened a small commercial audio store where he designed sound systems and provided sound for touring acts such as the Smothers Brothers and the Carpenters as they traveled through the Midwest. In 1967, Stanley found himself in Vermillion, South Dakota, working with several artists, including a young singer-songwriter from New York named Neil Diamond. Over the years, Stanley worked with Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, John Denver, and

Ivan Mogull had a special connection with the Brill Building in New York City, the long time hub of music publishing for decades.  Ivan was born the same year the famed building was built and his father, a foot doctor, was the first tenant.  As a boy Ivan ran the halls and got to know many of the other tenants in the Brill Building, including music publishers and musicians.  He recalled meeting Tommy Dorsey, Harry James and Frank Sinatra.  Ivan was hired as a counter boy to assist with the stock of the publishers and grew up in the business.  He created his own firm and helped pro

Chris Montez recorded a number of hit records including “Let’s Dance” in 1962 followed by “Call Me” and “There Will Never be Another You.” He also scored an international hit with “Cartas de Amor,” which Chris sang in Spanish. In addition to his popular recordings, Chris toured with some of the legends of rock and roll including Sam Cooke, Tommy Roe, Smokey Robinson and The Beatles. The lads from Liverpool opened for Chris a few times including in London before they traveled to the United States in 1964. Herb Alpert produced a number of albums for Chris including the successful Th

Scotty Moore set a date and time on July 4, 1954, to get together with a young singer who wanted to record with Sam Philips at Sun Records in Memphis. Sam asked Scotty, who had recorded with several bands on Sun, to call this kid and work out a few songs. This was his first meeting with Elvis Presley. Playing his Gibson, Scotty can be heard on every recording the King made up through the soundtrack for “Jailhouse Rock” in 1957. When Elvis returned from the United States Army, Scotty returned to Elvis’ side on nearly all of his recordings until Elvis’ comeback television special of

Mike Moran is the noted recording engineer who helped put the sound on tape for several hits as well as historic albums.  While working for RCA, Mike engineered several sessions for Elvis Presley as well as for Perry Como, David Bowie and a long list of Broadway Cast albums including the original “Hair.”  Mike was hired by RCA after his years in the service and in fact joined the company in the shipping department.  He soon was told about educational classes the company offered and before long he had developed a real interest in sound recording and engineering.  He worked as an as

Mo Morrison could often be found behind the stage at every concert and performance by Lady Gaga.  As a concert production and tour manager, he worked with many of the biggest and brightest stars in pop music and rock and roll.  His career started as a stage hand and rigger, which led to such highlights as his 11 years at the Capitol Theater in Passaic, NJ.  As production manager for the Grateful Dead, Mo expanded into stadium performances, which later served him well when he was the site coordinator for three concert tours for Michael Jackson.  In 2013, Mo was inducted into the Pa

Steve Morse has been a regular attendee at the NAMM Shows for several decades thanks to the Ernie Ball Company.  In fact, it was thanks to Sterling Ball that Steve was interviewed during the show in 2015.  Steve’s long career in music, which began professionally in 1969, has included gigs with the bands Kansas, Living Loud and Deep Purple.  Over the years he has been closely associated with the Music Man brand of products, which is owned by Ernie Ball Music as well as Fender Guitar, which created a signature model Telecaster for Steve after he famously played the Frankenstein Tele

Wayne Moss was a renowned Nashville studio musician whose career became emblematic of the city’s golden era of recording. In 1961, he built Cinderella Sound Studios, where countless influential recordings were captured by artists such as Chet Atkins, Mickey Newbury, Jerry Reed, Area Code 615, and Barefoot Jerry. Born in South Charleston, West Virginia, Wayne moved to Nashville in 1959 and quickly established himself within the studio community, working alongside musicians including Charlie McCoy and Kenny Buttrey.

Keith Mulholland is a rock bass player from Liverpool, England who played with the signed band, Nutz. He also played the Reading Festival twice as well as toured with Queen and Status Quo during the 1970s. Keith also played in a band with Ian Gillan of Deep Purple. His chosen bass has always been the Fender Precision, which he has gigged with for 40 years. At one-point, Keith purchased a Fender six string bass after seeing his hero Jack Bruce of Cream use one during a session with Manfred Mann. During his career with the band Nutz, Keith released over six albums including a live a

Gary Myers was known within the music industry for his decades of retail service in Southern California, beginning in the 1980s with Sherman Clay. To record fans, he was best recognized for a series of instrumental and vocal tracks beginning in 1962 when he was just 19 years old. Gary played drums on several recordings that went on to achieve a cult-like following among fans and collectors, including sides on TIDE Records such as “Poor Little Baby.” He also recorded as a member of the Portraits and the Mojo Men. At the time of his NAMM interview, Gary was once again active, workin

Graham Nash has been an outspoken advocate for music education, especially with regards to programs that provide instruments to young students.  He has often mocked the thinking that allows school budget cuts to affect the music programs.  As a result, Graham has worked with NAMM on raising the awareness of arts education initiatives, both in the United States as well as in the UK and other countries.  While attending the NAMM Show in Anaheim 2016, he sat down to share some of his thoughts about music education and our need to continue to support our future.

Matthew Nelson always knew he wanted to be a musician and follow in the footsteps of his famous father and grandparents. Ozzie and Harriet were a famous television couple; however, they first came to fame in the 1930s with a big band. His father, Ricky Nelson, was an early rock and roll recording star with a long list of hit songs. Along with his twin brother, Gunnar, Matthew formed a rock band that scored top hits in the 1980s and 90s and the two became stars on MTV. Indeed, following in the footsteps of his family!

Gunnar Nelson and his twin brother, Matthew, formed a rock band in the 1980s that followed the musical traditions of their father, Ricky Nelson, and their grandparents, Ozzie and Harriet. The Nelson twins wrote and recorded “I Can’t Live Without Your Love and Affection” and in the era of MTV, became international stars. They were always encouraged to play music and in fact, their 12th birthday present was a day in a recording studio arranged by their dad. The backup singers were the Pointer Sisters!

Michael Nesmith is best known as the woolen hat-wearing member of iconic television pop band the Monkees, which enjoyed massive global success during the 1960s. Outside of the Monkees, Nesmith has gained kudos as a solo artist and songwriter, particularly with his group First National Band, which recorded three albums and are considered to be one of the pioneers of country rock. In other artistic pursuits, Nesmith created a video-clip for his song ”Rio" which helped spur the creation of a television program called PopClips. That program was eventually sold to the Time Warner/Amex

Rick Nielsen is among the very few rock stars who grew up in a music store! His story and background is perfect for the NAMM Oral History program as it ties together a professional career in music making with mom and pop music retailing! Rick's father purchased a music store in Rockford, Illinois when Rick was a young boy. Rick grew up with musical instruments all around and fell in love with electronic keyboards and the guitar. As a professional musician, Rick helped form the rock band Cheap Trick in 1973 and wrote many of the bands hit records including "Surrender" and "I Want Y

Prescott Niles was the original bassist for the Knack. His driving licks can be heard on the classic recording of “My Sharona” and his strong rhythmic teaming with band drummer Bruce Gary has been the source of inspiration for a generation of garage bands the world over. Prescott endorsed several musical products over the years and was often seen signing autographs at the NAMM shows during the 1980s and 90s.  

Johnny Nitzinger began playing guitar and writing music at an early age.  By the early 1970s, several of his songs were recorded by the Fort Worth band Bloodrock for their first two albums.  This success led to his own record deal with Capitol Records and the release of his first two albums.  Alice Cooper asked Johnny to join his Special Forces tour in 1981, which began a long association with Alice, who went on to record several of Johnny's songs.  Alice and Johnny teamed to co-write the album Zipper Catches Skin.  Since that time Johnny has continued to write music for several p

José Nogueira was eight years old when his parents started a music business in Porto, Portugal. He took accordion lessons as a child as well as guitar and piano. In 1974, a group of friends formed a rock band combining elements of R&B and jazz, but they already had a piano player so one of José’s band-mates asked if he would play the saxophone instead. José took to the soprano saxophone and quickly discovered it was the perfect missing element of the band. The band, Jafumega, toured and recorded together until 2008 and is known as one of the founders of Portuguese Rock! He als

Jozef Nuyens founded The Castle recording studios in 1982. The Castle is one of the best known recording facilities in the world. About 450 gold and platinum artists from all genres of the music industry have recorded there over the years. It was one of the first digital recording facilities in the world, and the first in the Southeastern US. The Castle was built under the auspices of the notorious gangster, Al Capone. He and his “gang" used it as a rest stop for their travel route from Chicago to New Orleans or Miami. Gambling activity would be rampant in the Castle’s basement th

Ryo Okumoto began his professional musical career as a keyboardist during the height of the electronic musical instrument boom of the 1970s.  The synthesizer was growing nearly every month and new sounds were being created at nearly every NAMM Show, an opportunity Ryo-san took full advantage of as a performer.  He often played the Hammond Organ and Mellotron in his early career and later specialized in playing the Minimoog, which can be heard on many of his recordings with the band Spock’s Beard.

Jamie Oldaker sat down in his living room in Tulsa, Oklahoma for his riveting and inspiring NAMM Oral History interview in December 2018. He opened up about his background in music and how his drive and passion led to a series of gigs, including the Silver Bullet Band and Eric Clapton. He recorded 11 albums with Eric, toured the world and played historic events such as Live Aid with the iconic guitarist. Jamie spoke honestly about the challenges of being a rock star and the difficulties of losing good friends and bandmates to drugs and alcohol abuse.

Spooner Oldham was a studio musician down in Muscle Shoals, Alabama before becoming a noted songwriter. Spooner's keyboard skills can be heard on such classic records as "You'd Better Move On" and several songs with Aretha Franklin including the Wurlitzer introduction on "Never Loved a Man the Way that I Love You." Spooner teamed with fellow songwriter Dan Penn to write "I'm Your Puppet", "Cry Like a Baby", and "Lets Do It Over".