Young, Reggie (12th December 1936-17th January 2019)

He was a guitarist born in Caruthersville, Missouri and brought up in Osceola, Arkansas whose father was a classical Hawaiian guitar player and bought him his first guitar in 1950 and gave him his first lessons.

At fifteen the family moved to Memphis, Tennessee, and this was where he began to immerse himself in the music scene and become influenced by the sounds he heard around him. When he was 19 years old he became the guitarist for Eddie Band & The Stompers and this would soon see him gaining recognition when their “Rockin’ Daddy” became a hit in 1956 and their subsequent tour followed shortly after.

Once back in Memphis he became a member of Bill Black’s Combo who had a hit in 1959 with “Smokie” and were the opening act for The Beatles in 1964. At the same time he was a busy session musician in Memphis, New York and the highly acclaimed FAME studios at Muscles Shoals as well as a member of the house band of Goldwax Records, which would lead to him being with Chips Moman’s American Studio’s house band.

From 1967 with that house band he saw a run of 120 hit records that included such songs as “Drift Away” by Dobie Gray, “I Can Help” by Billy Swan and “In the Ghetto” and “Suspicious Minds” by Elvis Presley and he was now a well-respected and much sought after musician.

Deciding to move to Nashville in 1972 to join his co-FAME musicians, David Briggs and Norbert Putnam at the newly set up Quadrophonic Studios he found himself over the next seven or so years performing on even more sessions than he had before. He needed a change though, so decided to join up with The Highwaymen and toured Europe with them, before returning to Nashville to resume his session work, which he continued with until the 2010s.

It would be impossible to name all the singers, musicians and groups he has worked with over the years, but a select few include Alabama, David Amram, John Anderson, Paul Anka, Joan Baez, Moe Bandy, Bobby Bare, Maggie Bell, The Bellamy Brothers, Clint Black, Booker T & The MGs, The Box Tops, Bonnie Bramlett, Solomon Burke, J.J. Cale, Johnny Cash, Roseanne Cash, Buzz Cason, Marshall Chapman, Petula Clark, Joe Cocker, Tommy Cogbill, Rita Coolidge, Bily Ray Cyrus, Jackie DeShannon, Neil Diamond, Barbara Dickson, Donovan, Duane Eddy, Donna Fargo, Crystal Gayle, Vern Gosdin, Etta James, John Jarvis, Waylon Jennings, Samy Kershaw, Kris Kristofferson, Nicolette Larson, Jerry Lee Lewis, Loretta Lynn, Melissa Manchester, Herbie Mann, Dean Martin, Reba McEntire, Frankie Miller, Ronnie Milsap, Farrell Morris, Mickey Newbury, The Oak Ridge Boys, Roy Orbison, Buck Owens, Dolly Parton, Johnny Paycheck, Carl Perkins, Wilson Pickett, Charley Pride, John Prine, Bobby Purify, Eddie Rabbitt, Tommy Roe, Kenny Rogers, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Earl Scruggs, Dan Seals, Paul Simon, Hank Snow, Dusty Springfield, Cat Stevens, Ray Stevens, George Strait, Billy Swan, B.J. Thomas, Travis Tritt, Tanya Tucker, Conway Twitty, Andy Williams and Don Williams.

The albums he has worked on could fill a library but just a small example of them are In the Life of Chris Gaines by Garth Brooks, A White Sports Coat & A Pink Crustacean by Jimmy Buffett, Legacy 1961-2002 by Glen Campbell, In the Blues With E.C., Pt. 1 by Eric Clapton, Genius & Soul: The 50^th Anniversary Collection by Ray Charles, Better Days by Guy Clark, Standing Tall by The Crusaders, 30^th Anniversary Concert Celebration by Bob Dylan, Brother Juke Box by Don Everly, Wayward Wind by James Galway, Amy Grant by Amy Grant, Don’t Let Our Dreams Die Young by Tom Jones, Love Me Tender by B.B. King, Dream Come True by Earl Klugh, One Way Ticket to Paradise by Dave Loggins, Go For Broke by Iain Matthews, Always on My Mind by Wilie Nelson, From Elvis in Memphis by Elvis Presley, Best Of… by Candi Staton, Photograph: The Very Best Of… by Ringo Starr, Shania Twain by Shania Twain, Soulful by Dionne Warwick, Whiskey Bent & Hell Bound by Hank Williams Jr., Understanding by Bobby Womack and Crossing by Paul Young among literally hundreds, if not thousands, of others.

Aside from carrying out his work as a session musician he could be seen with some of the original members of The Memphis Boys on Elvis related tours and performed occasionally with The Highwaymen.

He was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2019.

He died of heart failure at his home in Lieper’s Fork, Tennessee in 2019 when he was 82 years old.

Kenny Rogers recordings
The Gambler (Don Schlitz)
United Artists UA-X1250-Y (UAST-20122)

Sources:

Young, Reggie (12th December 1936-17th January 2019)

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