Country Music Hall of Fame Inducts Class of 2015
Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood and Dierks Bentley were among the artists on hand to pay tribute to the newest inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame Sunday night, October 25th. The annual Medallion Ceremony, held at downtown Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, was attended by an elite group of family members and colleagues of this year’s inductees, vocal groups the Oak Ridge Boys, Jim Ed Brown and the Browns and studio session guitarist Grady Martin.
Martin, a Tennessee native who moved to Nashville at age 15, was one of the few musicians to work with both Elvis Presley and Hank Williams, was celebrated with a performance of “El Paso” from Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives. Hall of Fame member Vince Gill played Martin’s memorable guitar part from the 1959 Marty Robbins hit. Martin’s distorted, fuzzy solo on Robbins’ “Don’t Worry (‘Bout Me),” was recreated by Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Duane Eddy, with Mandy Barnett on vocals. The result of a blown amplifier on the soundboard, Martin’s guitar work on the Robbins original inspired Keith Richards to recreate the sound for the Rolling Stones’ classic, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” Other, countless hits are stamped with Martin’s distinctive guitar work including Johnny Horton’s “The Battle of New Orleans,” Jeannie Pruett’s “Satin Sheets,” and the Ray Price crossover smash “For the Good Times.”
Guitarist Pete Wade, a longtime friend and colleague of Martin’s, performed an emotionally charged solo using “Big Red,” a Gibson 335 electric guitar Martin had given him. He was joined by Buddy Miller for a poignant version of Conway Twitty’s “Fifteen Years Ago.”
Brenda Lee, herself a member of both the Country Music and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, was visibly emotional as she officially announced Martin’s induction. The singer noted her long history with Martin, who died in 2001, saying, “I started recording with Grady when I was 10 years old. Grady meant the world to me, and he played on every one of my hits.”
Hailing Martin as her mentor, friend and surrogate father, Lee said, “What Grady played is a part of the fabric of what we all do. So often, what we all do, he did it first. So often, what we do, he did it best.”
She also acknowledged the lasting impact the instrumentalist has on Nashville, which continues to boom as a musical town and tourist destination, saying, “Grady Martin is in the songs we write, and he’s in the records we make, and he’s in the air we breathe. He’s in the cranes we see around town, building skyscrapers, because people want to live and work here, and they want to make music here. Grady Martin is a big part of the reason why.”
Joshua Martin, the guitarist’s son, accepted the Hall of Fame medallion on behalf of his family.
Country Music Hall of Fame Inducts Class of 2015, Page 1 of 2