NAMM Oral History Program
The NAMM Oral History Program is a collection of one-on-one interviews with people involved in the music products industry, including music instrument retailers, instrument and product creators, suppliers and sales representatives, music educators and advocates, publishers, live sound and recording pioneers, innovators, founders, and artists. The mission of the program is to preserve the history of the music products industry, including industry innovations, the evolution of musical instruments and music retail, as well as improving music education worldwide.[1] The Oral History Program was established by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) in 2000.
The NAMM Resource Center, which curates the program, was approved by the NAMM Board of Directors in 1996, five years before the associations 100th anniversary. The first NAMM Oral History was conducted on March 5, 2000 with professional harmonica player, Bill Walden, who attended the grand opening of The NAMM Foundation's Museum of Making Music. Just a few weeks later, a more formal interview was captured with former Gibson Guitar president Ted McCarty. McCarty was responsible for signing Les Paul on to Gibson in the 1950s in order to lend his name to the now famous Gibson Les Paul Guitar. Les Paul was also interviewed as part of the NAMM Oral History program back in 2008.[2] In August 2019, the program reached a milestone of interviewing 4,000 people,[3] and the collection currently houses around 4,500 oral history interviews.
History
The NAMM Oral History program is unique, unlike any other collection in the world. The heart of the collection is the depth of its narratives that cover innovative creations, the evolution of musical instruments, the ever-changing world of music retail, as well as our collective quest to improve music education around the globe. Oral History participants have come from over 79 different countries, 49 U.S. states and were born between 1903 and 1997. This collection is our journal, our own way of chronicling ourselves and our community—the community we so eagerly embrace at the NAMM shows and so proudly celebrate throughout the year. This library of video interviews, now over 3,500 strong and always growing, contains the story of our industry told by those who helped to shape it and have watched it expand and develop through the years.
The NAMM Oral History program seeks to capture one-on-one interviews with those involved with the music products industry. Among those interviewed as part of this collection include but are not limited to music retailers, manufacturers, arrangers and composers, individuals who design, make, market and sell music products, as well as music publishers, engineers and artists closely associated with the industry.
The collection is collection also includes the stories of those who have inspired others to make music! As a result, interviews with innovators such as Hartley Peavey and Remo Belli have been captured. In addition, the stories of these and similar companies have their histories archived through the use of those associated with the companies including person(s) in roles such as musicians, composers, method book authors, factory workers and salesman.
Music industry pioneers that have been interviewed for the NAMM Oral History Collection include Bob Moog, Don Buchla, Henry Z. Steinway, Bob Taylor and Ray Kurzweil.
The Collection also includes music retailers and the history of such store chains as Sam Ash and Guitar Center, as well as independent music stores around the world such as Daynes Music and Andertons Music Co.. The first music retailer interviewed for the Collection was Chip Averwater of Amro Music in 2000. The oldest interviewee in the collection is Mil Averwater, founder of Amro Music, who was born in 1896.
Musicians interviewed for the Collection are those who designed an instrument, endorsed a product or wrote a method book that has inspired others to make music. These include B. B. King, Roy Clark, Joe Morello, Herbie Hancock and original member of the Beatles, Pete Best. The first interview to be donated to the collection was conducted in 1996 with jazzman Jonah Jones. Jones spoke of his relationship with King Musical Instruments as a product tester and endorser. He later played an F. E. Olds trumpet, which was featured on many recordings during his long career.
The Oral History Collection reached its first milestone with the completion of its 100th interview, Seymour Duncan, in July 2002. Later milestone interviews include 500th interview, Danny Rocks, interview 1,000, Dennis Houlihan, and in the Spring of 2011, NAMM announced the completion of its 1,500th interview, Scott Mandeville, followed by interview 2,000, Tom Schmitt. Chick Corea was the 3,000th interview which occurred in Summer 2016, and the 4,000th interview was with Meyer Sound Co-Founder, Helen Meyer. The first international interview occurred in 2001 and was with Ikutaro Kakehashi, who sat down multiple times throughout his life for follow-up interviews. Later, the depth of the international collection was expanded with the addition of interviews with Mr. and Mrs. Tom Lee of Tom Lee Music in Hong Kong. These interviews expanded the Collection into a diverse, global representation of the music products industry. The NAMM Oral History Collection was also proud to add the first female to the collection in 2001 with the addition of music retailer, Luella Derwin.
Over the years the scope of the Collection has expanded to include Live Sound pioneers, whose involvement with professional audio equipment and recording studios has helped the industry grow. The inclusion of stories from music educators and advocates who have championed the importance of music making in the lives of people of all ages have also been added to the Collection.
The NAMM Oral History Service Award
An honor presented at The NAMM Show to individuals who have contributed to the program which includes arranging interviews and providing historical context.
- 2011: George Gruhn
- 2012: Keith Mardak
- 2013: Dennis Houlihan
- 2014: Jim Funada
- 2015: Madeline Crouch
- 2016: Ernie Lansford
- 2017: Craig Smith
- 2018: Bernie Capicchiano
- 2019: Harold “Hap” Kuffner
- 2020: Robert Wilson
The NAMM In Memoriam Industry Tribute
The NAMM Annual Industry Tribute was established by NAMM and the Resource Center in 2002 when the inaugural tribute was shown at The NAMM Show in Anaheim, California. The program provides NAMM Show attendees and their family and friends with an opportunity to collectively pause, reflect and honor members and industry icons who have died in the prior year, many of which were interviewed as part of the NAMM Oral History Collection. The program runs on the Thursday evening during The NAMM Show and is hosted immediately after on the NAMM website.
The Music History Project
The Resource Center debuted The Music History Project podcast in the summer of 2017. NAMM’s resident Music Historian, Dan Del Fiorentino, and co-hosts, Michael Mullens and Elizabeth Dale examine the innovative creations, evolution of musical instruments, the changing world of music retail, music industry icons and other topics covered in NAMM’s Oral History Collection in bi-weekly episodes.
Episode List:
- Ep. 1 – Sun Records Pt. 1
- Ep. 2 – Sun Records Pt. 2
- Ep. 3 – Les Paul
- Ep. 4 – DJs and the Birth of Turntablism Pt. 1
- Ep. 5 – DJs and the Birth of Turntablism Pt. 2
- Ep. 6 – Graham Nash
- Ep. 7 – Lenise Bent - Part 1
- Ep. 8 – Lenise Bent - Part 2
- Ep. 9 – Behind the Scenes
- Ep. 10 – Working with Leo
- Ep. 11 – Dr. Robert Moog
- Ep. 12 – World War II and the Music Industry
- Ep. 13 – George Gruhn
- Ep. 14 – Elvis Presley - Part 1
- Ep. 15 – Elvis Presley - Part 2
- Ep. 16 – Music in the Civil Rights Movement
- Ep. 17 – Armand Zildjian
- Ep. 18 – Women in the Music Industry: Influential Performers
- Ep. 19 – Michael Boddicker – Part 1
- Ep. 20 – Michael Boddicker – Part 2
- Ep. 21 – Industry Heroes: Guitar Amp Innovators
- Ep. 22 – Industry Heroes: Luthiers
- Ep. 23 – Irving Berlin
- Ep. 24 – Al Schmitt
- Ep. 25 – Industry Heroes: Audio Innovators
- Ep. 26 – Surf Music
- Ep. 27 – John Philip Sousa
- Ep. 28 – Peter Yarrow
- Ep. 29 – The Beatles: Road to America
- Ep. 30 – Music Publishers
- Ep. 31 – Favorite Webclips – Part 1
- Ep. 32 – Henry Z. Steinway – Part 1
- Ep. 33 – Henry Z. Steinway – Part 2
- Ep. 34 – The Wrecking Crew
- Ep. 35 – Pioneers of Rock and Roll
- Ep. 36 – Bernie Williams
- Ep. 37 – William F. Ludwig II
- Ep. 38 – Favorite Webclips – Part 2
- Ep. 39 – Jody Stephens
- Ep. 40 – Manny’s Music
- Ep. 41 – Sam Ash
- Ep. 42 – Buddy Holly: 60 Years Later
- Ep. 43 - Piano Stores
- Ep. 44 - NAPBIRT
- Ep. 45 - Music Advocacy
- Ep. 46 - Rockabilly with Deke Dickerson
- Ep. 47 - Bob See
- Ep. 48 - Ravi Shankar
- Ep. 49 - Blues with Wolf Marshall
- Ep. 50 - Motown - Part 1
- Ep. 51 - Motown - Part 2
- Ep. 52 - Seth's Picks
- Ep. 53 - Vintage Guitars
- Ep. 54 - Fred Catero
- Ep. 55 - Songwriting Teams
- Ep. 56 - Woodstock
- Ep. 57 - The Fairlight Founders
- Ep. 58 - The Big Band Era - Part 1
- Ep. 59 - The Big Band Era - Part 2
- Ep. 60 - Paul Hamer
- Ep. 61 - The Nashville A-Team
- Ep. 62 - Todd Rundgren
- Ep. 63 - The Banjo: Makers
- Ep. 64 - The Banjo: Players
- Ep. 65 - The NAMM Show: Staff Memories
- Ep. 66 - Mike Post
- Ep. 67 - Mom N' Pop Shops
- Ep. 68 - Marcus Ryle
- Ep. 69 - Allee Willis
References
- Sharples, Sarah. "Behind the scenes on NAMM's oral history program". PSNEurope. Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
- Dungan, Ronnie. "3,000 up for NAMM history program". MMR Magazine. Timeless Communications. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
- https://fohonline.com/newsroom/news/namms-4000th-oral-history-interview-with-helen-meyer/