Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
One More: Happy 77th Birthday, Charlie McCoy
http://www.thisdayinmusic.com/March 28th: Born on this day
1941, Born on this day, Charlie McCoy, Grammy-winning American session musician noted mainly for his harmonica performance, but also for his skill on a wide variety of instruments. He was a member of Area Code 615 and played the harmonica on the 1970 theme for UK BBC TV Music show 'The Old Grey Whistle Test', 'Stone Fox Chase.' McCoy has performed with musicians including Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Chet Atkins, Waylon Jennings and Loretta Lynn.
Charlie McCoy
Charles Ray "Charlie" McCoy (born March 28, 1941 in Oak Hill, West Virginia) is a Grammy-winning American session musician noted mainly for his harmonica performance, but also for his skill on a wide variety of instruments. In 2009 he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Based in Nashville, McCoy has performed with musicians including Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Chet Atkins, Waylon Jennings and Loretta Lynn. He has recorded thirty-seven studio albums, including fourteen for Monument Records. Thirteen of his singles have entered the Billboard country charts. He was a member of Area Code 615 and Barefoot Jerry. In 2007 McCoy was inducted into the International Musicians Hall of Fame as a part a group of session musicians dubbed " The A-Team".
....
Big break
Chet Atkins heard one of McCoy's demo tapes and immediately hired him in May 1961. Thus, his first recording as a harmonica player was on the song "I Just Don't Understand", by Ann-Margret for RCA. Fred Foster of Monument Records also heard about McCoy and hired him as harmonica player on Roy Orbison's song "Candy Man". It became a million-seller. McCoy's reputation as a harmonica player and studio musician increased. McCoy continued to record for the Monument label without a written contract. Although some of his singles and albums at this time did not sell, Foster believed in McCoy's music. Tex Davis, the promotion manager of Monument Records, was persuaded by Charlie Dillard of WPFA to release "Today I Started Loving You Again" as a single. It had previously been released on McCoy's second LP. When the single came out in 1972 it sold 750 000 copies. The single went to No. 16 in the Billboard country charts. For his next album, The Real McCoy, he won a Grammy from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. His album Good Time Charlie reached No. 1 in the Billboard country chart. In the 1970s, McCoy, as a studio musician, took part in more than 400 sessions a year. He has won two CMA Awards and seven ACM Awards.
Success
From there, he went on to play harmonica for other acts, Elvis Presley, Perry Como, Joan Baez, Steve Miller Band, Johnny Cash, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Kris Kristofferson, Paul Simon, Ringo Starr, Barefoot Jerry, Gene Summers In Nashville LP and Ween. He also played guitar on Dylan's "Desolation Row", from the album Highway 61 Revisited, and "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands", from the album Blonde on Blonde, bass guitar (on all the tracks from Bob Dylan's John Wesley Harding,) keyboards, and drums plus several wind and brass instruments. For 19 years McCoy worked as music director for the popular television show, Hee Haw and was a member of the Million Dollar Band.
On May 17, 2009, McCoy was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame along with Roy Clark and Barbara Mandrell. He is also a member of the International Musicians' Hall of Fame and the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. In May 2016, West Virginia University awarded McCoy an Honorary Doctor of Musical Arts.
In 2017 The West Virginia University Press published Fifty Cents and a Box Top The Creative Life of Nashville Session Musician Charlie McCoy.
Charles Ray "Charlie" McCoy (born March 28, 1941 in Oak Hill, West Virginia) is a Grammy-winning American session musician noted mainly for his harmonica performance, but also for his skill on a wide variety of instruments. In 2009 he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Based in Nashville, McCoy has performed with musicians including Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Chet Atkins, Waylon Jennings and Loretta Lynn. He has recorded thirty-seven studio albums, including fourteen for Monument Records. Thirteen of his singles have entered the Billboard country charts. He was a member of Area Code 615 and Barefoot Jerry. In 2007 McCoy was inducted into the International Musicians Hall of Fame as a part a group of session musicians dubbed " The A-Team".
....
Big break
Chet Atkins heard one of McCoy's demo tapes and immediately hired him in May 1961. Thus, his first recording as a harmonica player was on the song "I Just Don't Understand", by Ann-Margret for RCA. Fred Foster of Monument Records also heard about McCoy and hired him as harmonica player on Roy Orbison's song "Candy Man". It became a million-seller. McCoy's reputation as a harmonica player and studio musician increased. McCoy continued to record for the Monument label without a written contract. Although some of his singles and albums at this time did not sell, Foster believed in McCoy's music. Tex Davis, the promotion manager of Monument Records, was persuaded by Charlie Dillard of WPFA to release "Today I Started Loving You Again" as a single. It had previously been released on McCoy's second LP. When the single came out in 1972 it sold 750 000 copies. The single went to No. 16 in the Billboard country charts. For his next album, The Real McCoy, he won a Grammy from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. His album Good Time Charlie reached No. 1 in the Billboard country chart. In the 1970s, McCoy, as a studio musician, took part in more than 400 sessions a year. He has won two CMA Awards and seven ACM Awards.
Success
From there, he went on to play harmonica for other acts, Elvis Presley, Perry Como, Joan Baez, Steve Miller Band, Johnny Cash, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Kris Kristofferson, Paul Simon, Ringo Starr, Barefoot Jerry, Gene Summers In Nashville LP and Ween. He also played guitar on Dylan's "Desolation Row", from the album Highway 61 Revisited, and "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands", from the album Blonde on Blonde, bass guitar (on all the tracks from Bob Dylan's John Wesley Harding,) keyboards, and drums plus several wind and brass instruments. For 19 years McCoy worked as music director for the popular television show, Hee Haw and was a member of the Million Dollar Band.
On May 17, 2009, McCoy was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame along with Roy Clark and Barbara Mandrell. He is also a member of the International Musicians' Hall of Fame and the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. In May 2016, West Virginia University awarded McCoy an Honorary Doctor of Musical Arts.
In 2017 The West Virginia University Press published Fifty Cents and a Box Top The Creative Life of Nashville Session Musician Charlie McCoy.
Charlie McCoy
HARMONICA SESSIONS
Elvis Presley: 7 movie soundtracks. Single records; “Big Boss Man”, “High Heel Sneakers"
Bob Dylan: “Obviously Five Believers”
Simon and Garfunkle: “The Boxer”
Perry Como: “Dream On Little Dreamer”, “Seattle”
Paul Simon: “Papa Hobo”
Ann Margaret: “I Just Don’t Understand”
Roy Orbison: “Candy Man”, “Blue Bayou”
George Jones: “He Stopped Loving Her Today”
Tom T. Hall: “Old Dogs, Children And Watermelon Wine”
Loretta Lynn: “When The Tingle Becomes A Chill”
Dolly Parton: “My Tennessee Mountain Home”, “Joshua”
Conway Twitty: “Play, Guitar Play”
Johnny Cash: “Orange Blossom Special”, “It Ain’t Me Babe”
Vince Gill: “Christmas Won’t Be The Same This Year”
Barbara Mandrell: “I Was Country, When Country Wasn’t Cool”
Johnny Paycheck: “Take This Job And Shove It”, “Slide Off Of Your Satin Sheets”
Ronnie Milsap: “I Wouldn’t Have Missed It For The World”
Tanya Tucker: “Delta Dawn”, “Blood Red And Going Down”, “What’s Your Mama’s Name”
Bobby Bare: “Five Hundred Miles”
Nancy Sinatra: “Jackson”
Ringo Starr: album “Beaucoup Of Blues”
Patti Page: “Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte”
Gordon Lightfoot: “Canadian Railroad Trilogy”
Manhatten Transfer: “Love For Sale”
Peter, Paul and Mary: “Album Seventeen”
Steve Miller Band: “Going Back To The Country”
Flatt And Scgruggs: “Times They Are Changing”, Instrumental with Doc Watson
Steve Wariner: “Tennessee Christmas”
Osborn Brothers: “Midnight Flyer”
Anne Murray: “I’m In Love With You”
Jerry Lee Lewis: “What Made Milwaukee Famous”
Waylon Jennings: “Only Daddy That’ll Walk The Line”, “Brown Eyed Handsome Man”
Blake Shelton: “The Baby”
Josh Turner: “Jacksonville”
Wilma Burgess: “Baby”
Marie Osmond: “Paper Roses”
Jim Ed Brown: “Southern Lovin’”
Chet Atkins: “Chet Atkins Picks On The Beatles”, “Superpickers”
Ray Stevens: “The Streak”
Bellamy Brothers: “Old Hippie”
Willie Nelson: “Songs Of Cindy Walker”
Willie Nelson, Ray Price and Merle Haggard: “Last Of A Breed”
Wynonna: “I’ll Be Home For Christmas”
Sammy Kershaw: “Tattoo”
Rodney Crowell: “Candy Man”
Leon Russell: “Hank Wilson’s Back”
Sonny James: “Bright Lights, Big City”
B.J. Thomas: "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry"
{snip}
HARMONICA SESSIONS
Elvis Presley: 7 movie soundtracks. Single records; “Big Boss Man”, “High Heel Sneakers"
Bob Dylan: “Obviously Five Believers”
Simon and Garfunkle: “The Boxer”
Perry Como: “Dream On Little Dreamer”, “Seattle”
Paul Simon: “Papa Hobo”
Ann Margaret: “I Just Don’t Understand”
Roy Orbison: “Candy Man”, “Blue Bayou”
George Jones: “He Stopped Loving Her Today”
Tom T. Hall: “Old Dogs, Children And Watermelon Wine”
Loretta Lynn: “When The Tingle Becomes A Chill”
Dolly Parton: “My Tennessee Mountain Home”, “Joshua”
Conway Twitty: “Play, Guitar Play”
Johnny Cash: “Orange Blossom Special”, “It Ain’t Me Babe”
Vince Gill: “Christmas Won’t Be The Same This Year”
Barbara Mandrell: “I Was Country, When Country Wasn’t Cool”
Johnny Paycheck: “Take This Job And Shove It”, “Slide Off Of Your Satin Sheets”
Ronnie Milsap: “I Wouldn’t Have Missed It For The World”
Tanya Tucker: “Delta Dawn”, “Blood Red And Going Down”, “What’s Your Mama’s Name”
Bobby Bare: “Five Hundred Miles”
Nancy Sinatra: “Jackson”
Ringo Starr: album “Beaucoup Of Blues”
Patti Page: “Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte”
Gordon Lightfoot: “Canadian Railroad Trilogy”
Manhatten Transfer: “Love For Sale”
Peter, Paul and Mary: “Album Seventeen”
Steve Miller Band: “Going Back To The Country”
Flatt And Scgruggs: “Times They Are Changing”, Instrumental with Doc Watson
Steve Wariner: “Tennessee Christmas”
Osborn Brothers: “Midnight Flyer”
Anne Murray: “I’m In Love With You”
Jerry Lee Lewis: “What Made Milwaukee Famous”
Waylon Jennings: “Only Daddy That’ll Walk The Line”, “Brown Eyed Handsome Man”
Blake Shelton: “The Baby”
Josh Turner: “Jacksonville”
Wilma Burgess: “Baby”
Marie Osmond: “Paper Roses”
Jim Ed Brown: “Southern Lovin’”
Chet Atkins: “Chet Atkins Picks On The Beatles”, “Superpickers”
Ray Stevens: “The Streak”
Bellamy Brothers: “Old Hippie”
Willie Nelson: “Songs Of Cindy Walker”
Willie Nelson, Ray Price and Merle Haggard: “Last Of A Breed”
Wynonna: “I’ll Be Home For Christmas”
Sammy Kershaw: “Tattoo”
Rodney Crowell: “Candy Man”
Leon Russell: “Hank Wilson’s Back”
Sonny James: “Bright Lights, Big City”
B.J. Thomas: "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry"
{snip}
Chet Atkins Picks on the Beatles
