NMG Musicians Spotlight - Reggie Young

©2007 By Bronson Herrmuth

One of the most recorded guitar players of all time, Reggie Young has played on hundreds of hit songs in multiple genres. His career spans over 50 years and between the years 1967 thru 1971 alone his guitar was on 120  Top 40 pop and R&B hits. He's recorded with Elvis and opened for The Beatles along with playing guitar on several hundred different artists recordings, playing rockabilly, R&B, rock, pop, country and jazz with some of the greatest of all time: Alabama, Paul Anka, Eddy Arnold, BabyFace, Joan Baez, Bill Black Combo, Clint Black, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Eddie Bond, Bonnie Bramlett, Garth Brooks, Buck Owens, Jimmy Buffett, Buffy Sainte-Marie, JJ Cale, Glen Cambell, Ace Cannon, Johnny Cash, Rosanne Cash, Ray Charles, Kenny Chesney, Petula Clark, Patsy Cline, Joe Cocker, Jessie Colter, Earl Tomas Conley, Conway Twitty, Bing Crosby, Crusaders, Billy Ray Cyrus, Lacy J. Dalton, Neal Diamond, Bob Dylan, Duane Eddy, Don Everly,  Donna Fargo, Janie Fricke, Lefty Frizzell, Amy Grant, Lee Greenwood, Dobie Grey, Merle Haggard, Ronnie Hawkins, Highwaymen, Clarence Frogman Henry, Johnny Horton, Etta James, Waylon Jennings, George Jones, Tom Jones, Doug Kershaw, B.B. King, Al Kooper, Kris Kristopherson, Jerry Lee Lewis, Dave Loggins, Patty Loveless, Loretta Lynn, Herbie Mann, Dean Martin, Delbert McClinton, Little Milton, Scotty Moore, Willie Nelson, Aaron Neville, Mickey Newbury, Danny O'Keefe, Roy Orbison, Buck Owens, Dolly Parton, Johnny Paycheck, Carl Perkins, Wilson Pickett, Elvis Presley, Charlie Pride, John Prine, Kenny Rogers, Earl Scruggs, Dusty Springfield, Cat Stevens, George Strait, Ernest Tubb, Shania Twain, Dion Warwick, Andy Williams, Don Williams, and there are many more. Reggie Young is known internationally and his style of playing is copied by guitar players all over the world. The following interview is taken from a 30 minute sit down I had with Reggie on Sept. 28, 2007. Meet Reggie Young.

Listen to this entire 25 minute interview:
Part One (4.5 MB) mp3   Part Two (4.9 MB) mp3   Part Three (4.6 MB) mp3   Part Four (4.5 MB) mp3   Part Five (5.2 MB) mp3

B: What year did you actually move to Nashville and who helped you the most when you first came?
RY: In 1972 and David Briggs, 'cause I'd worked with Briggs and Norbert Putman. They were with Rick Hall in Muscle Shoals and they were the first wave of outside players to kinda infiltrate Nashville. You know there was the A Team and so they kind of broke through that clicque and then I think we were sorta the second wave. I remember I was driving back and forth from Memphis to Atlanta and I stopped by and David Briggs said, "How long you gonna be here?" I said, "I don't know." He said, "Want to work?" and I said "Sure." I've been here ever since.

B: Do you have any idea how many sessions you have played on?
RY: No, not all, I don't have a clue. I've got a book that I started keeping in 1964, just to keep up with getting paid. I kept it fairly good so I could go back and count them.

B: Do you have a favorite musical genre? You play so many different genres, is there one that would be yours or do you just enjoy playing them all?
RY: I guess I'm more comfortable playing R&B ballads like the first stuff we did at Quadraphonic, which was Dobie Gray's "Driftaway". Those kind of songs and country ballads. I love tones, instrument tones.

B: What was it like playing with Waylon?
RY: Oh man, I guess that was my favorite time. Well recording with him and then getting to tour with him the last years of his life, from 1999 to when he passed away in 2002. The Waymore Blues Band and that was the coolest band I've ever been in, in my life. I played on a lot of Waylon's old records back in the 70's and later ones like "Luckenbach, Texas" and I played on Jesse Colters, "I'm Not Lisa", so that's how far back that goes. I worked a lot with Waylon and also with The Highwaymen. I was part of The Highwaymen band.

B: Do you have a preference to playing live or in the studio?
RY: I used to, I thought the studio was the only world there was 'til I did the first Highwaymen tour. Man that was a major major tour, you know, with those 4 guys, Haggard, Johnny Cash, Waylon and Kristoffersen all on the stage at the same time and we're all old friends 'cause we all go way way back. The first tour was like 30 days and man that was really cool. There was life outside of the studio world and I really loved playing live, I'd never got to do that very often. I do a little bit more and more each year.

B: How many guitars do you carry to a master session call?
RY: I have a box, probably 6 or 7 guitars but I usually only play 2 guitars. I've got a '69 Telecaster that I moved here with and a '57 Stratocaster. I've even got the same amp I moved here with, an old Fender Deluxe and I've yet to find anything that sounds better than that. I've got a garage full of guitars, amps, all that stuff, but it's that old shoe thing I guess. It's what I moved here with and what I'm comfortable playing.

B: Any advice for musicians trying to break into the session world?
RY: The main thing is word of mouth by other players. You work your way through the demo world and meet as many musicians as you can. Try to play as much as you can whether it's clubs, whatever. The studio world is such a tight knit little group. Meet as many studio players as you can.

B: You can visit Reggie Young online at www.myspace.com/reggieyoungguitar

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