(L-R) Harrison Calloway, Harvey Thompson, Charles Rose, and Ronnie Eades. (Photo courtesy of Dick Cooper)
The Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum will hold their 2019 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Concert on Tuesday, October 22, 2019, at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. The Museum, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, itself is located on the lower level of the historic Nashville Municipal Auditorium, along with the GRAMMY Museum Gallery at Musicians Hall of Fame and many exciting exhibits.
Inducted as a group will be The Muscle Shoals Horns Section, which included a few former TSU students. The Muscle Shoals Horns is an American brass section of session musicians who performed on many R&B and rock records between the late 1960s to the present, as well as making their own recordings which included the 1976 R&B chart hit “Born To Get Down”. The performers include Harrison Calloway Jr. (trumpet), Ronnie Eades (baritone saxophone), Harvey Thompson (saxophone, flute), and Charles Rose (trombone).
Calloway, Eades and Thompson met while at Tennessee State University in Nashville and began performing with local bands and, on one occasion, young guitarist Jimi Hendrix. Together with Rose, they began recording together at the FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals in the late 1960s, and performed on 300 albums, by musicians including Bob Dylan, B.B. King, and Elton John, often working with the musicians of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section.
The Muscle Shoals Horns also achieved commercial success in their own right, releasing three albums under their name, with four records on the R&B singles chart in 1976-77 – “Born To Get Down (Born To Mess Around)” (#8), “Open Up Your Heart” (#47), “Bump De Bump Yo Boodie” (#63), and “Dance To The Music” (#57). They also released three albums – Born To Get Down (1976), Doin’ It To The Bone (1977), and Shine On (1983) – and were credited on the 1975 DJM album Elton John Band featuring John Lennon and the Muscle Shoals Horns. The four members reunited in 2015 after a 30-year break, with a performance to mark the release of their recordings on CD. Harrison Calloway, seen by the other members as “the father of the group”, died in Jackson, Mississippi on April 30, 2016, aged 75, following a stroke.
On Tuesday, July 16, 2019, multi-GRAMMY nominated guitar virtuoso, Joe Bonamassa, announced the 2019 inductees to the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum.
This year’s other inductees are:
Felix Cavaliere – One of the best Rock n Roll and R&B Keyboardists ever, not to mention Songwriters Hall of Famer, Rock n Roll Hall of Famer, soulful singer and original member of The (Young) Rascals charting 18 top 40 hits, 5 top 10 hits, and 3 #1 mega hits.
Steve Wariner – Being honored in 2019 by Gretsch Guitars with his own Steve Wariner Signature Model Nashville Gentleman guitar, Steve is not only a fabulous guitar player, but also singer, multi-GRAMMY Award-winning Songwriter and named, by Chet Atkins, as one of the only 5 guitarists to receive the CGP (certified guitar player) title.
The Surfaris (Bob Berryhill, Pat Connolly*, Jim Fuller*, Ron Wilson*) – In 1963, surf music was ruling the airwaves from coast to coast. Millions of young musicians were starting garage bands in every neighborhood, in every city and the song most every young drummer and guitarist first learned to play was by this Southern California band. That song is the very first Musicians Hall of Fame Instrumental Song Award Winner…“Wipe Out”.
Don Everly – The Everly Brothers are one of the most iconic vocal duos in recording history, influencing everyone from Simon & Garfunkel to The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. They’ve seen recognized for their angelic harmonies and their incredible songwriting. The GRAMMY Award winning duo has been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, but Don is also a great arranger and rhythm guitarist and his ground breaking rhythm guitar opening for “Wake Up Little Susie” is this year’s winner of the Iconic Riff Award.
ALABAMA (Jeff Cook, Teddy Gentry, Randy Owen) – Celebrating 50 years in 2019, ALABAMA has sold more than 80 million records, charted 43 #1 singles, including 21 #1 singles in a row, and have won dozens of CMA, GRAMMY®, and ACM Awards. They are members of the Country Music Hall of Fame and have their own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. They are world-class philanthropists who have raised millions of dollars for various charities. ALABAMA is currently on the road celebrating five decades of music on its historic “50th Anniversary Tour.” In addition to their induction, Cook, Gentry and Owen will receive the first ever Life Time Achievement Award from the Musicians Hall of Fame.
The Original Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section (David Briggs, Jerry Carrigan*, Norbert Putnam, Terry Thompson, and friends Earl “Peanutt” Montgomery, Joe South*, Reggie Young*) – Speaking of Alabama, who would have ever thought that a little town in North Alabama would have become, at one time, one of the most famous recording centers in the world? Muscle Shoals, AL produced some of the best music ever recorded and it all started with the original Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, at Rick Hall’s Fame Studios.
Nashville A-Team – The Players (Eddie Bayers, Paul Franklin, John Hobbs, Brent Mason, Michael Rhodes) – Nashville is now the undisputed center of the music business, but since its inception, it has always been one of the top music cities anywhere in the world. When the recording business got rolling in Nashville originally, we had the Nashville A-Team Musicians and that tradition has carried on with these great musicians. Our next group of A-Team studio musicians have recorded on thousands of sessions and performed on countless hit recordings.
Owen Bradley* – Nashville would not be the magical place where dreams come true, and the world renowned city it is today without our incredible music industry. There wouldn’t be that music industry without this visionary and musical genius. Besides creating Music Row, the songs he produced in the 50’s and 60’s sound as timeless today as they did then. Owen Bradley is this year’s Musicians Hall of Fame Producer.
Billy Sherrill – Every great record has a great engineer, and there are a lot of good songs that became great records because of our next Musicians Hall of Fame Inductee. Recipient of this year’s Engineer Award goes to Billy Sherrill.
Bob Taylor – The Industry Icon Award is presented to someone for not only making a difference in the world of music, but also in the world itself. Taylor Guitars co-founder Bob Taylor is a pioneering acoustic guitar maker whose modern innovations have transformed the company from a small shop into a world-class manufacturer. Bob was 19 years old when he and cofounder Kurt Listug started the company that bears his name in 1974. Bob’s slim-profile guitar necks and easy playability helped put Taylor on the map, and in the decades that followed, Bob introduced many groundbreaking refinements to the guitar-making process, establishing new standards of quality and consistency, and making the acoustic guitar more inspiring to players at every level. Today, Taylor is an industry leader and the top-selling acoustic guitar brand in North America. In recent years, Bob has turned his attention to forest conservation and sustainability initiatives, including several pioneering reforestation programs that are planting thousands of trees for the benefit of future generations of guitar makers and musicians.
*Being honored posthumously
From Jimi Hendrix to Michael Jackson to Prince, and many more, the Musicians Hall of Fame celebrates the achievements of musicians from every decade since the 1950s, and from every corner of the country. With education being paramount, each section of the museum focuses on an important city in the history of American music – including Detroit, Los Angeles, Muscle Shoals, Atlanta, Memphis, and Nashville, exploring each area’s contributions. The museum focuses on the session musicians who played on thousands of iconic recordings.
The GRAMMY Museum Gallery is an interactive music space, which permanently opened at the Musicians Hall of Fame in April 2016. The Induction Ceremony and Concert honors new members, and ensures the continued growth of the Musicians Hall of Fame. Pre-sale tickets will be available August 2, 2019 for Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum members (to become a member go to www.musicianshalloffame.com). Tickets will be on sale to the public on August 5, 2019 through the Schermerhorn Symphony Center box office.
