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, 1960s, and early 1970s, similar to their West Coast counterpart who became known (after the fact) as the Wrecking Crew. Some members of the Nashville A-Team were also subsequently or previously members of the Wrecking Crew. They backed dozens of popular singers, including Elvis Presley, Eddy Arnold, Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, Bob Dylan, Moon Mullican, Jerry Lee Lewis, Brenda Lee, and others.^[1]

The Nashville A-Team's members typically had backgrounds in country music but were highly versatile. Examples of their jazz inclinations can be found in the Nashville All-Stars album with Chet Atkins titled After the Riot at Newport, the Hank Garland LP entitled Velvet Guitar, Tupper Saussy's Said I to Shostakovitch, Kai Winding's Modern Country, Gary Burton's Tennessee Firebird and Chester and Lester by Chet Atkins and Les Paul. The progressive country band Area Code 615 was composed almost entirely of members of the Nashville A-Team.

In 2007, The Nashville A-Team was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville.^[2] That year's inductees included Harold Bradley, Floyd Cramer, Pete Drake, Ray Edenton, Hank Garland, Buddy Harman, Tommy Jackson, Grady Martin, Charlie McCoy, Bob Moore, Boots Randolph, Hargus "Pig" Robbins, and Jerry Kennedy.^[3]

Noteworthy also is the fact that many A-Team members went on to have solo careers of their own.

Members

Notable members of "The Nashville A-Team" included:

• Bassists: Bob Moore, Ernie Newton, Henry Strzelecki, Roy Madison `Junior' Huskey, Joe Zinkan, Norbert Putnam, Floyd "Lightnin' " Chance,^[4] Joe Osborn
• Drummers: Buddy Harman, Jerry Carrigan, Farris Coursey, Doug Kirkham, Larrie Londin (1970s), Kenny Buttrey
• Keyboardists: Floyd Cramer, Hargus "Pig" Robbins, Owen Bradley, Bill Pursell, David Briggs, Steve Nathan
• Guitarists: Chet Atkins, Grady Martin, Hank Garland, Ray Edenton (also mandolin, ukulele, and banjo), Harold Bradley, Velma Williams Smith, Paul Yandell, Pete Wade, Jerry Kennedy, Norman Blake, Jimmy Capps, Spider Wilson, Fred Carter Jr., Billy Sanford, Joe South, Wayne Moss, Jimmy Colvard, Chip Young
• Fiddle: Tommy Jackson, Johnny Gimble, Buddy Spicher, Dale Potter, Vassar Clements, Brenton Banks
• Steel guitar: Pete Drake, Jerry Byrd, Buddy Emmons, Ralph Mooney, Lloyd Green, Shot Jackson, Jerry Kennedy, Maurice Anderson, Hal Rugg, Weldon Myrick, Little Roy Wiggins, Walter Haynes
• Banjo: Earl Scruggs, Buck Trent, Sonny Osborne, Bobby Thompson
• Mandolin: Jethro Burns
• Saxophone: Boots Randolph
• Percussion: Farrell Morris
• Harmonica: Charlie McCoy (also keyboards, brass, percussion and guitar), Jimmy Riddle
• Harp: Mary Alice Hoepfinger
• Backing singers: The Jordanaires, The Anita Kerr Singers, The Nashville Edition

See also

• Booker T. & the M.G.'s
• The Funk Brothers
• The Memphis Boys
• MFSB
• Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section
• Salsoul Orchestra
• The Section