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A session musician whose career spanned seven decades, the story of
Reggie Young's career is, in many ways, a miniature version of the story of Southern soul music. Raised in Memphis and influenced by the Delta blues,
Young's musical education came at the hands of Dewey Phillips' Red Hot & Blue radio show, where he soaked up the sounds of
Ike & Tina Turner and a young
Elvis Presley. Like many key figures in Southern soul
Young was a white kid drawn to the sound of black music and, later, his musicianship figured prominently in shaping the reputation of many southern studios including Goldwax, American, and
Rick Hall's FAME studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
Young got his first real break as the guitarist in
Eddie Bond and the Stompers when a local DJ named Sleepy Eyed John heard their music and asked the group to record a song called "Rockin' Daddy." The record became a hit on Mercury Records and, at 20 years old,
Young found himself touring alongside
Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and
Roy Orbison. After the tour,
Young moved to Shreveport, Louisiana to further his career. Though he had little or no money, the Shreveport scene was strong at the time and
Young befriended fellow musicians
Jerry Kennedy,
D.J. Fontana, and Billy Sandford, all of whom would help him in the '70s when he finally made the move to Nashville.
When
Young returned to Memphis he began playing with former
Elvis bassist
Bill Black in the
Bill Black Combo. The group had a smash instrumental hit with 1959's "Smokie," parlaying their success into a tour with
the Beatles. Throughout the mid-'60s
Young also did session work at Royal Studio in Memphis, FAME studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and in New York at the Atlantic Records recording facility where he added guitar to releases by Don Covay and
Solomon Burke.
Young was also a member of the Goldwax Records house band, backing up stars like
James Carr and
O.V. Wright. It was from his association with Goldwax that led
Young to become part of the house band at
Chips Moman's American Studios along with
Gene Chrisman on drums,
Bobby Wood and
Bobby Emmons on piano, and
Mike Leech or
Tommy Cogbill on bass.
What followed between the period of 1967-1971 was an unparalleled run of 120 hit records recorded at American, primarily with the above-mentioned musicians. The American house band cut
Elvis' comeback records such as Suspicious Minds and In the Ghetto, and played with
Dusty Springfield,
Wilson Pickett,
Neil Diamond, and
the Sweet Inspirations, among others.
Young's guitar playing was now gracing releases by the upper echelon of the pop world and, in 1972, after being a key player in every major studio of the Southern soul world,
Young moved to Nashville to join fellow FAME alumni
David Briggs and
Norbert Putnam at Quadrophonic Studios. From 1972 through 1979,
Young played on so many sessions that he decided to charge double scale in an attempt to cut back on his studio work. Later, in an attempt to escape studio burn-out, he joined
the Highwaymen (
Willie Nelson,
Kris Kristofferson,
Johnny Cash, and
Waylon Jennings), touring Europe for the first time since he'd traveled with the
Bill Black Combo back in the early '60s. After decades backing other musicians,
Young finally made his solo debut in 2017 with the instrumental set
Forever Young, and in 2019 Ace Records released the collection Reggie Young: Session Guitar Star, featuring highlights from his career as a sideman.
Reggie Young died at his home in Nashville on January 17, 2019; he was 81 years old. ~ Steve Kurutz