Grady Martin
Encyclopedia
Thomas Grady Martin was one of the most renowned, inventive and historically significant American session musician
s in country music
and rockabilly
.
A member of Nashville A-Team
, he played guitar on hits ranging from Roy Orbison
's "Oh, Pretty Woman
" and Marty Robbins
' "El Paso
" to Loretta Lynn
's "Coal Miner's Daughter
" and Sammi Smith
's "Help Me Make It Through the Night
". During a nearly 50-year career, Martin backed such names as Elvis Presley
, Buddy Holly
, Johnny Burnette
, Woody
and Arlo Guthrie
, Johnny Cash
, Patsy Cline
and Bing Crosby
. He is a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame
.
. He grew up on a farm with his oldest sister, Lois, his older brothers, June and Bill, and his parents, Claude and Bessey; and had a horse he named Trigger. His mother played the piano and encouraged his musical talent.
At age 15, Martin was invited to perform regularly on WLAC-AM in Nashville, Tennessee
, and made his recording debut two years later on February 15, 1946 with Curly Fox
and Texas Ruby
in Chicago, Illinois.
That same year, he joined Paul Howard's Western swing-oriented Arkansas Cotton Pickers as half of Howard's twin guitar ensemble with Robert "Jabbo" Arrington and performed on the Grand Ole Opry
. When Howard left, Opry newcomer Little Jimmy Dickens
hired several former Cotton Pickers, including Martin, as his original Country Boys road band. He later joined Big Jeff Bess and the Radio Playboys followed by a stint with the Bailes Brothers Band.
By 1950, Martin was a part of the rising Nashville recording scene as a studio guitarist and fiddler, and his guitar hooks propelled Red Foley
's "Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy
" and "Birmingham Bounce". In 1951, he signed with Decca Records
with own country-jazz band, Grady Martin and the Slew Foot Five. In addition to backing mainstream acts like Bing Crosby and Burl Ives
, they began to record in their own right, with later sessions under the name Grady Martin and his Winging Strings when he introduced his twin-neck Bigsby guitar. The band, with Hank Garland
, Bob Moore
, Tommy Jackson and Bud Isaacs made regular appearances on ABC-TV's Ozark Jubilee
in the mid-1950s.
's studio.
As a guitarist with The Nashville A-Team
, he provided the guitar on the Marty Robbins hits "El Paso" (1959) and "Don't Worry
" (1961), on Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman" (1964) and Lefty Frizzell
's "Saginaw, Michigan
" (1964). His guitar work was also displayed in Johnny Horton
's "The Battle of New Orleans
" (1959) and "Honky Tonk Man
" (1956), and especially his pure rockabilly sound on "I'm Coming Home
" (1957). He shaped countless other classics, including Elvis Presley's "(You're The) Devil in Disguise
", Brenda Lee
's "I'm Sorry
" and "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree
", Willie Nelson
's "On the Road Again
", Ray Price
's "For the Good Times
" and Jeanne Pruett
's "Satin Sheets
".
Martin is credited with accidentally stumbling onto the electric guitar
"fuzz" effect during a recording session with Robbins; his guitar was run through a faulty channel in a mixing console
, generating the fuzz sound on "Don't Worry".
In the 1960s, he played on sessions with Joan Baez
, J. J. Cale and others; and played on Sammi Smith's 1971 hit, "Help Me Make it Through the Night", among the most successful country singles of all time. In the early 1970s, Martin played on many records by Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty
, worked with Kris Kristofferson
and produced the country-rock band Brush Arbor.
and then as lead guitarist for Willie Nelson's band, appearing in Nelson's 1980 film Honeysuckle Rose
. In 1994, deteriorating health forced him to retire, but he produced Nelson's 1995 honky tonk
album, Just One Love
.
The Nashville Entertainment Association gave him its first Master Award in 1983, and he was the 83rd inductee into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. On April 5, 2000, he received a Chetty award for significant instrumental achievement at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium during the Chet Atkins
Musician Days festival. Health problems prevented Martin from attending; Nelson, Vince Gill
and Marty Stuart
presented the award—named after Atkins, who attended—to Martin's son, Joshua. Grady Martin was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2007.
He was married three times and had three daughters, Alisa, Angie and Julie; and seven sons, Grady Jr., Joe, Tal, Jason, Joshua, Justin and Steve.
Martin died from a heart attack on December 3, 2001 in Lewisburg, Tennessee
; and was interred at Hopper Cemetery in Marshall County, Tennessee.
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
s in country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
and rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
.
A member of Nashville A-Team
The Nashville A-Team
The Nashville A-Team was a nickname given to a group of session musicians in Nashville, Tennessee, who earned wide acclaim in the 1950s and 1960s. They backed dozens of popular singers, including Elvis Presley, Eddy Arnold, Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, Bob Dylan and others.The Nashville A-Team's...
, he played guitar on hits ranging from Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison
Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...
's "Oh, Pretty Woman
Oh, Pretty Woman
"Oh, Pretty Woman" is a song, released in August 1964, which was a worldwide success for Roy Orbison. Recorded on the Monument Records label in Nashville, Tennessee, it was written by Roy Orbison and Bill Dees. The song spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100...
" and Marty Robbins
Marty Robbins
Martin David Robinson , known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist...
' "El Paso
El Paso (song)
"El Paso" is a country and western ballad written and originally recorded by Marty Robbins, and first released on Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs in September 1959. It was released as a single the following month, and became a major hit on both the country and pop music charts, reaching number...
" to Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn is an American country music singer-songwriter, author and philanthropist. Born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky to a coal miner father, Lynn married at 13 years old, was a mother soon after, and moved to Washington with her husband, Oliver Lynn. Their marriage was sometimes tumultuous; he...
's "Coal Miner's Daughter
Coal Miner's Daughter (song)
"Coal Miner's Daughter" is an autobiographical 1969 country music song written, released and made famous by Loretta Lynn. Released in 1970, the song became Lynn's signature song, one of the genre's most widely-known songs, and provided the basis for both her autobiography and a movie on her...
" and Sammi Smith
Sammi Smith
Sammi Smith was an American country music singer and songwriter. Born Jewel Faye Smith, she is best known for her 1971 country/pop crossover hit, "Help Me Make It Through the Night", which was written by Kris Kristofferson...
's "Help Me Make It Through the Night
Help Me Make It Through the Night
"Help Me Make It Through the Night" is a country music ballad composed by Kris Kristofferson and released on his 1970 album Kristofferson.Kristofferson said that he got the inspiration for the song from an Esquire magazine interview with Frank Sinatra...
". During a nearly 50-year career, Martin backed such names as Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, Buddy Holly
Buddy Holly
Charles Hardin Holley , known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll...
, Johnny Burnette
Johnny Burnette
John Joseph "Johnny" Burnette was an American rockabilly musician. Along with his older brother Dorsey Burnette, and also a friend named Paul Burlison, Burnette was a founding member of The Rock and Roll Trio. He was the father of 1980s rockabilly singer Rocky Burnette.-Early life:Johnny Burnette...
, Woody
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
and Arlo Guthrie
Arlo Guthrie
Arlo Davy Guthrie is an American folk singer. Like his father, Woody Guthrie, Arlo often sings songs of protest against social injustice...
, Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
, Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline , born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Gore, Virginia, was an American country music singer who enjoyed pop music crossover success during the era of the Nashville sound in the early 1960s...
and Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
. He is a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame
Rockabilly Hall of Fame
The Rockabilly Hall of Fame was established on the internet on March 21, 1997, to present early rock and roll history and information relative to the artists and personalities involved in this pioneering American music genre....
.
Biography
Grady Martin was born January 17, 1929 in Chapel Hill, TennesseeChapel Hill, Tennessee
Chapel Hill is a town in the northeastern part of Marshall County, Tennessee, United States. The town was named after Chapel Hill, North Carolina by settlers from that area...
. He grew up on a farm with his oldest sister, Lois, his older brothers, June and Bill, and his parents, Claude and Bessey; and had a horse he named Trigger. His mother played the piano and encouraged his musical talent.
At age 15, Martin was invited to perform regularly on WLAC-AM in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, and made his recording debut two years later on February 15, 1946 with Curly Fox
Curly Fox
Arnim LeRoy Fox , better known as Curly Fox, was an American fiddler and country musician.-Biography:...
and Texas Ruby
Texas Ruby
Texas Ruby , born Ruby Agnes Owens, was a pioneering country music female vocalist of the 1930s through the early 1960s.-Biography:...
in Chicago, Illinois.
That same year, he joined Paul Howard's Western swing-oriented Arkansas Cotton Pickers as half of Howard's twin guitar ensemble with Robert "Jabbo" Arrington and performed on the Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
. When Howard left, Opry newcomer Little Jimmy Dickens
Little Jimmy Dickens
James Cecil Dickens , better known as Little Jimmy Dickens, is an American country music singer famous for his humorous novelty songs, his small size, 4'11" , and his rhinestone-studded outfits...
hired several former Cotton Pickers, including Martin, as his original Country Boys road band. He later joined Big Jeff Bess and the Radio Playboys followed by a stint with the Bailes Brothers Band.
By 1950, Martin was a part of the rising Nashville recording scene as a studio guitarist and fiddler, and his guitar hooks propelled Red Foley
Red Foley
Clyde Julian Foley , better known as Red Foley, was an American singer, musician, and radio and TV personality who made a major contribution to the growth of country music after World War II....
's "Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy
Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy
"Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy" is a popular song written by Harry Stone and Jack Stapp and published in 1950.Many versions of the song charted in 1950, but the biggest was by Red Foley. His recording, produced by Owen Bradley, was released by Decca Records as catalog number 46205...
" and "Birmingham Bounce". In 1951, he signed with Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
with own country-jazz band, Grady Martin and the Slew Foot Five. In addition to backing mainstream acts like Bing Crosby and Burl Ives
Burl Ives
Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives was an American actor, writer and folk music singer. As an actor, Ives's work included comedies, dramas, and voice work in theater, television, and motion pictures. Music critic John Rockwell said, "Ives's voice .....
, they began to record in their own right, with later sessions under the name Grady Martin and his Winging Strings when he introduced his twin-neck Bigsby guitar. The band, with Hank Garland
Hank Garland
Walter Louis Garland , better known as Hank Garland, was a Nashville studio musician who performed with Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, Roy Orbison and many others.-Biography:...
, Bob Moore
Bob Moore
Bob Loyce Moore is an American session musician, orchestra leader, and bassist who was a member of the legendary Nashville A-Team during the 1950s and 60s.-Biography:...
, Tommy Jackson and Bud Isaacs made regular appearances on ABC-TV's Ozark Jubilee
Ozark Jubilee
Ozark Jubilee is the first U.S. network television program to feature country music's top stars, and was the centerpiece of a strategy for Springfield, Missouri to challenge Nashville, Tennessee as America's country music capital...
in the mid-1950s.
Nashville A-Team
It was as a session musician starting in the late 1950s that Martin made his greatest mark on country and rockabilly music. He played lead guitar on Johnny Burnette's Rock 'n' Roll Trio album on tracks such as "Honey Hush", "Lonesome Train", "Sweet Love On My Mind" "Rockbilly Boogie", "Lonesome Tears in my Eyes", "All by Myself", "The Train Kept a Rollin'", "I Just Found Out", "Your Baby Blue Eyes", "Chains Of Love", "I Love You So", "Drinkin Wine Spo Dee o Dee", "Eager Beaver Baby", "If You Want it Enough", "Blues Stay Away from Me", "Rock Therapy", and "Please Don't Leave"; Don Woody's recordings including "Bird Dog", "Morse Code", "Make Like Rock and Roll"; and with other rockabilly artists who recorded with MCA in Owen BradleyOwen Bradley
Owen Bradley was an American record producer who, along with Chet Atkins and Bob Ferguson, was one of the chief architects of the 1950s and 1960s Nashville sound in country music and rockabilly.-Before the fame:...
's studio.
As a guitarist with The Nashville A-Team
The Nashville A-Team
The Nashville A-Team was a nickname given to a group of session musicians in Nashville, Tennessee, who earned wide acclaim in the 1950s and 1960s. They backed dozens of popular singers, including Elvis Presley, Eddy Arnold, Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, Bob Dylan and others.The Nashville A-Team's...
, he provided the guitar on the Marty Robbins hits "El Paso" (1959) and "Don't Worry
Don't Worry (Marty Robbins song)
"Don't Worry" is a 1961 country/pop single written and recorded by Marty Robbins. "Don't Worry" was Marty Robbins seventh number one on the country chart and stayed at number one for ten weeks...
" (1961), on Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman" (1964) and Lefty Frizzell
Lefty Frizzell
Lefty Frizzell , born William Orville Frizzell, was an American country music singer and songwriter of the 1950s, and a proponent of honky tonk music. His relaxed style of singing was an influence on later stars Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, George Jones and John Fogerty...
's "Saginaw, Michigan
Saginaw, Michigan (song)
Saginaw, Michigan is a 1964 song performed by Lefty Frizzell. The single was Lefty Frizzell's sixth and final number one on the U.S. country chart. "Saginaw, Michigan" spent a total of twenty-three weeks on the country chart and peaked at number eighty-five on the Billboard Hot 100...
" (1964). His guitar work was also displayed in Johnny Horton
Johnny Horton
John Gale "Johnny" Horton was an American country music and rockabilly singer most famous for his semi-folk, so-called "saga songs" which began the "historical ballad" craze of the late 1950s and early 1960s...
's "The Battle of New Orleans
The Battle of New Orleans
"The Battle of New Orleans" is the title of a song written by Jimmy Driftwood. The song describes the 1815 Battle of New Orleans from the perspective of an American soldier; the lyrics are evidently intended to be comical. It has been recorded by many artists, but the singer most often associated...
" (1959) and "Honky Tonk Man
Honky Tonk Man (song)
"Honky Tonk Man" is the title of a song co-written and recorded by American country music singer Johnny Horton. It was released in March 1956 as his debut single, reaching #9 on the U.S. country singles charts...
" (1956), and especially his pure rockabilly sound on "I'm Coming Home
I'm Coming Home
"I'm Coming Home" is the title track from a 1973 album by Johnny Mathis. The song was written by Thom Bell and Linda Creed and was Mathis' only release as a solo artist to make it to number one on the Billboard Easy Listening chart. "I'm Coming Home" went to number one for a single week in...
" (1957). He shaped countless other classics, including Elvis Presley's "(You're The) Devil in Disguise
(You're The) Devil in Disguise
" Devil in Disguise" is a UK number one single by Elvis Presley which was written by the songwriting team Giant, Baum and Kaye and published by Elvis Presley Music in 1963. It peaked at number three in the US on the Billboard singles chart and number nine on the Billboard Rhythm and Blues singles...
", Brenda Lee
Brenda Lee
Brenda Mae Tarpley , known as Brenda Lee, is an American performer who sang rockabilly, pop and country music, and had 37 US chart hits during the 1960s, a number surpassed only by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Ray Charles and Connie Francis...
's "I'm Sorry
I'm Sorry (Brenda Lee song)
"I'm Sorry" is a 1960 hit song for 15-year-old American country pop singer Brenda Lee. It peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in July 1960. Allmusic guide wrote that it is the pop star's "definitive song", and one of the "finest teen pop songs of its era". It was written by...
" and "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree
Rockin' around the Christmas Tree
"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" is a Christmas song written by Johnny Marks and recorded by Brenda Lee in 1958 on Decca 9-30776.-Background:...
", Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
's "On the Road Again
On the Road Again (Willie Nelson song)
"On the Road Again" is a song made famous by country music singer Willie Nelson, and is part of the soundtrack to the 1980 movie Honeysuckle Rose....
", Ray Price
Ray Price (musician)
Ray Price is an American country music singer, songwriter and guitarist. His wide-ranging baritone has often been praised as among the best male voices of country music...
's "For the Good Times
For the Good Times (song)
"For the Good Times" is a 1970 song penned by Kris Kristofferson that appeared on his debut album Kristofferson.Later that year, Ray Price recorded a version of the song which topped the U.S. country music charts and was awarded "Song of the Year" by the Academy of Country Music...
" and Jeanne Pruett
Jeanne Pruett
Jeanne Pruett is an American Country Music Singer and Grand Ole Opry star, best-known for her 1973 chart-topping Country hit, "Satin Sheets", that spent three weeks at No. 1....
's "Satin Sheets
Satin Sheets
"Satin Sheets" is the title of a country music song written by John Volinkaty. It was recorded by Jeanne Pruett on her 1973 album of the same name, from which it was released in February 1973...
".
Martin is credited with accidentally stumbling onto the electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
"fuzz" effect during a recording session with Robbins; his guitar was run through a faulty channel in a mixing console
Mixing console
In professional audio, a mixing console, or audio mixer, also called a sound board, mixing desk, or mixer is an electronic device for combining , routing, and changing the level, timbre and/or dynamics of audio signals. A mixer can mix analog or digital signals, depending on the type of mixer...
, generating the fuzz sound on "Don't Worry".
In the 1960s, he played on sessions with Joan Baez
Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
, J. J. Cale and others; and played on Sammi Smith's 1971 hit, "Help Me Make it Through the Night", among the most successful country singles of all time. In the early 1970s, Martin played on many records by Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty
Conway Twitty
Conway Twitty , born Harold Lloyd Jenkins, was an American country music artist. He also had success in early rock and roll, R&B, and pop music. He held the record for the most number one singles of any act with 55 No. 1 Billboard country hits until George Strait broke the record in 2006...
, worked with Kris Kristofferson
Kris Kristofferson
Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...
and produced the country-rock band Brush Arbor.
Later years
In 1978, with his studio career over, Martin returned to the life of a touring musician; first with Jerry ReedJerry Reed
Jerry Reed Hubbard , known professionally as Jerry Reed, was an American country music singer, innovative guitarist, songwriter, and actor who appeared in more than a dozen films...
and then as lead guitarist for Willie Nelson's band, appearing in Nelson's 1980 film Honeysuckle Rose
Honeysuckle Rose (film)
Honeysuckle Rose is a 1980 romantic drama film directed by Jerry Schatzberg and starring Willie Nelson, Dyan Cannon and Amy Irving.-Plot:...
. In 1994, deteriorating health forced him to retire, but he produced Nelson's 1995 honky tonk
Honky tonk
A honky-tonk is a type of bar that provides musical entertainment to its patrons...
album, Just One Love
Just One Love
-Track listing:# "Just One Love" - 4:03# "Each Night at Nine" - 2:21# "This Cold War with You" - 2:52# "Better Left Forgotten" - 3:05# "It's a Sin" - 2:02...
.
The Nashville Entertainment Association gave him its first Master Award in 1983, and he was the 83rd inductee into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. On April 5, 2000, he received a Chetty award for significant instrumental achievement at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium during the Chet Atkins
Chet Atkins
Chester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...
Musician Days festival. Health problems prevented Martin from attending; Nelson, Vince Gill
Vince Gill
Vincent Grant "Vince" Gill is an American neotraditional country singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman to the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s, and as a solo artist beginning in 1983, where his talents as a...
and Marty Stuart
Marty Stuart
John Martin "Marty" Stuart is an American country music singer-songwriter, known for both his traditional style, and eclectic merging of rockabilly, honky tonk, and traditional country music...
presented the award—named after Atkins, who attended—to Martin's son, Joshua. Grady Martin was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2007.
He was married three times and had three daughters, Alisa, Angie and Julie; and seven sons, Grady Jr., Joe, Tal, Jason, Joshua, Justin and Steve.
Martin died from a heart attack on December 3, 2001 in Lewisburg, Tennessee
Lewisburg, Tennessee
Lewisburg is a city in Marshall County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 10,413 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Marshall County...
; and was interred at Hopper Cemetery in Marshall County, Tennessee.