Robert Ford Ogdin (born September, 1945) is a Nashville-based recording session pianist. He is best known as a member of
Elvis Presley's TCB band
The TCB Band is a group of professional musicians who formed the core rhythm section of Elvis Presley’s band from August 1969 until his death in 1977. (Depending on the context, the nickname may also extend to Elvis’ background vocalists du ...
. He performed on 20 of Presley's recordings and accompanied him on 45 live shows until Presleys' death in 1977. Ogdin's piano playing was synchronized with archival footage of Presley's vocal performance on "Unchained Melody" in the 2022 motion picture, ''
Elvis
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...
'' directed by
Baz Luhrman. Ogdin's experiences during the Presley tours have been chronicled in a four-part series of video interviews by Billy Stallings.
Over a career spanning four decades as a
session musician, Ogdin recorded with
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...
artists including
Kenny Rogers
Kenneth Ray Rogers (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences but also charted m ...
,
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album '' Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of '' Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (1 ...
,
George Jones
George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song " He Stopped Loving Her Today", ...
,
The Judds
The Judds were an American country music duo composed of lead vocalist Wynonna Judd and her mother, Naomi Judd. The duo signed to RCA Nashville in 1983 and released six studio albums between then and 1991. The Judds were one of the most success ...
,
Kenny Chesney
Kenneth Arnold Chesney (born March 26, 1968) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He has recorded more than 20 albums and has produced more than 40 Top 10 singles on the US ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs and Country ...
,
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...
, and
Ronnie Milsap. In
rock music
Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...
, he was a member of the
Marshall Tucker Band
The Marshall Tucker Band is an American rock band from Spartanburg, South Carolina. Noted for incorporating blues, country, and jazz into an eclectic sound, the Marshall Tucker Band helped establish the Southern rock genre in the early 1970s. Wh ...
for five years (1984–1989) after departures of some of the original members. He also recorded and performed concerts with the
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...
band
Ween
Ween is an American rock band from New Hope, Pennsylvania, formed in 1984 by Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo, better known by their respective stage names, Gene and Dean Ween. Generally categorized as an alternative rock band, the band a ...
.
Career
Born in
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
, Ogdin grew up in
Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...
.
As a youth, he studied piano and violin from age 4 to 16 and won a
Knoxville Symphony Orchestra
The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra is a professional orchestra in Knoxville, Tennessee.
The orchestra was established in 1935 and is the oldest continuing orchestra in the southeastern United States.Roy C. BrewerSymphony Orchestras ''Tennessee Enc ...
music-writing contest. His father was an executive at
Robertshaw Controls Company; his sister, Sue Ogdin Lynch, is a
visual artist
The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...
.
As a teen, he became interested in
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...
music and played piano and a
Hammond B3
Hammond may refer to:
People
* Hammond Innes (1913–1998), English novelist
* Hammond (surname)
* Justice Hammond (disambiguation)
Places Antarctica
* Hammond Glacier, Antarctica
Australia
* Hammond, South Australia, a small settlement in S ...
organ in local bands.
He graduated from the
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...
and attended law school briefly, but realized it was not his calling. He served in the
army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
for two years.
Tom Collins
The Tom Collins is a Collins cocktail made from gin, lemon juice, sugar, and carbonated water. First memorialized in writing in 1876 by Jerry Thomas, "the father of American mixology", this "gin and sparkling lemonade" drink is typically serv ...
, a Nashville record producer whom Ogdin had known as a
Sigma Chi Fraternity
Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American fraternal literary societies. The fraternity has 244 active (undergraduate) chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated more tha ...
brother in college, urged him to come to Nashville to explore music opportunities. Collins arranged for him to get some work playing on
jingles
A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually t ...
and
demo recordings.
He worked his way up to become an in-demand
studio musician
Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a t ...
for scores of major artists
including
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
,
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album '' Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of '' Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (1 ...
,
Kenny Rogers
Kenneth Ray Rogers (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences but also charted m ...
,
The Judds
The Judds were an American country music duo composed of lead vocalist Wynonna Judd and her mother, Naomi Judd. The duo signed to RCA Nashville in 1983 and released six studio albums between then and 1991. The Judds were one of the most success ...
,
Travis Tritt
James Travis Tritt (born February 9, 1963) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1989, releasing seven studio albums and a greatest hits package for the label between then and 1999. In the 20 ...
,
George Jones
George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song " He Stopped Loving Her Today", ...
,
Kenny Chesney
Kenneth Arnold Chesney (born March 26, 1968) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He has recorded more than 20 albums and has produced more than 40 Top 10 singles on the US ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs and Country ...
,
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...
,
Barbara Mandrell
Barbara Ann Mandrell (born December 25, 1948) is an American country music singer and musician. She is also credited as an actress and author. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, she was considered among country's most successful music artist ...
,
Dan Hill
Daniel Grafton Hill IV (born 3 June 1954) is a Canadian pop singer and songwriter. He had two major international hits with his songs " Sometimes When We Touch" and "Can't We Try", a duet with Vonda Shepard, as well as a number of other charti ...
,
Amy Grant
Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She began in contemporary Christian music (CCM) before crossing over to pop music in the 1980s and 1990s. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christia ...
and
Ronnie Milsap.
With Elvis Presley
In 2018, Ogdin was interviewed by Billy Stallings in a four-part video series chronicling Ogdin's experiences on tour with Presley.
These first-hand accounts are the source for some of the following information.
In early 1977, a vacancy opened in Elvis Presley's
TCB Band
The TCB Band is a group of professional musicians who formed the core rhythm section of Elvis Presley’s band from August 1969 until his death in 1977. (Depending on the context, the nickname may also extend to Elvis’ background vocalists du ...
when
David Briggs resigned.
Ogdin was chosen as his replacement primarily by Briggs and by Elvis' record producer
Felton Jarvis
Charles Felton Jarvis (November 15, 1934 – January 3, 1981) was an American record producer and singer.
Career
As an RCA Victor record producer, Jarvis was responsible for most recordings of Elvis Presley in the years 1966–1977. He also rele ...
, seconded by
Bob Beckham. When Ogdin accepted, Jarvis told him there were no
charts
A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tab ...
and no rehearsals. He was given a
cassette tape of the show to memorize. There were no
sound checks for him to attend; the instruments were transported, positioned and tuned by
roadies
Roadie refers to support personnel who travel with a band on tour.
Roadie or roadies may also refer to:
* ''Roadie'' (1980 film), a 1980 film starring Meat Loaf
* ''Roadie'' (2011 film), a 2011 American comedy film
* ''Roadies'' (TV series), an A ...
and sound levels and monitors were done by a crew supervised by veteran sound engineer
Bill Porter.
Ogdin's debut performance in what would become a series of 45 shows
was on March 23, 1977, at
Arizona State University in
Tempe.
He had written himself cue cards to refer to on stage. After the warm-up acts finished, TCB Band members along with the Joe Guercio Orchestra from
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
took their places and began the overture with a dramatic build-up as Elvis appeared and pandemonium followed. Ogdin said, "I was the most excited one in the place".
He saw Presley for the first time only then, and Ogdin was seated at the front of the stage fairly close to him. Elvis walked over to Ogdin and shook his hand during the initial crowd reaction, acknowledging Elvis' awareness and collegiality toward the new member. Three powerful spotlights on Elvis blinded Ogdin and his cue cards were of no use.
Elvis' isolation from the other musicians during those days was near complete, to the extent that no band member had any contact with him except during the actual performances. His schedule was opposite from theirs. When the performance was over, he was immediately taken to his own plane and flown to the next city to spend the night and usually slept until the next afternoon. The band stayed in town after the show and left the next morning. Ogdin said, "We stayed in the best hotels and everything was taken care of for us."
Wardrobe was provided (seven different pastel outfits) and there was a ''
per diem ''Per diem'' (Latin for "per day" or "for each day") or daily allowance is a specific amount of money that an organization gives an individual, typically an employee, per day to cover living expenses when travelling on the employer's business.
A '' ...
'' allowance for food and expenses, so backstage catering was fairly basic. In each city, the people there knew this was a big event, and each hotel where the musicians stayed was full of excitement. Ogdin was amused when people asked for his autograph and brought food and gifts for the band. He said, "You accepted but never ate the food, and the gifts (usually teddy bears) were collected and donated."
Ogdin recalled how they added a new song, "
Moody Blue
Moody may refer to:
Places
* Moody, Alabama, U.S.
* Moody, Indiana, U.S.
* Moody, Missouri, U.S.
* Moody, Texas, U.S.
* Moody County, South Dakota, U.S.
* Port Moody, British Columbia, Canada
* Hundred of Moody, a cadastral division in South Au ...
" to the show. An on-the-road rehearsal was called one afternoon and the musicians assembled at the arena, which was already set up for that evening's show. Felton Jarvis called to the stage an
Elvis impersonator
An Elvis impersonator is an entertainer who impersonates or copies the look and sound of American musician and singer Elvis Presley. Professional Elvis impersonators, commonly known as Elvis tribute artists (ETAs), work all over the world as ent ...
whom he had hired. This person sang "Moody Blue" (imitating Elvis) standing on Elvis' very spot to rehearse the band.
"Unchained Melody"
On June 21, 1977, while Ogdin was playing electric piano for Presley at a live concert in
Rapid City, South Dakota
Rapid City ( lkt, link=no, Mni Lúzahaŋ Otȟúŋwahe; "Swift Water City") is the second most populous city in South Dakota and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed, it is in western So ...
,
he witnessed Presley suddenly going off script— he commandeered the grand piano and started singing
Unchained Melody
"Unchained Melody" is a 1955 song with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret. North wrote the music as a theme for the prison film '' Unchained'' (1955), hence the song title. Todd Duncan sang the vocals for the film soundtrack.Robert Rodr ...
while accompanying himself.
This was not on the usual
set list
A set list, or setlist, is typically a handwritten or printed document created as an ordered list of songs, jokes, stories and other elements an artist intends to present during a specific performance.
A setlist can be made of nearly any materi ...
and the orchestra members were surprised and unprepared; they remained silent.
Elvis continued on the piano but his playing lacked the polish of a studio musician; nevertheless, Jarvis said the vocal was "the best thing 'The King' had done in years"
and wanted to save it.
Back in Nashville, Jarvis scheduled Ogdin for an
overdub
Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...
session at Nashville's
RCA Studio A
RCA Studio A is a music recording studio in Nashville, Tennessee built and founded in 1964 by Chet Atkins, Owen Bradley and Harold Bradley. Originally known simply by the name " RCA Victor Nashville Sound Studios" (or “RCA Studios” for short) ...
to replace the backing music without altering the original vocal.
This was nothing new to Ogdin who had overdubbed about 20 of Elvis' previous recordings. "Unchained Melody" had been captured on
24 track tape. Working with
engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...
Al Patchucki,
Jarvis asked Ogdin to come up with a smooth, synchronized piano track to follow Presley's vocal. "This was no easy task", said fellow musician
Norbert Putnam
Norbert Auvin Putnam (born August 10, 1942) is an American musician, studio owner and record producer who was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2019.Robert McFarland, Jr"Norbert Putnam."'' Delta Business Journal''. November 2004. Acce ...
, who was there that day waiting to add his bass part after Ogdin finished.
Presley's vocal contained
rubato Tempo rubato (, , ; 'free in the presentation', literally ) is a musical term referring to expressive and rhythmic freedom by a slight speeding up and then slowing down of the tempo of a piece at the discretion of the soloist or the conductor. Ru ...
passages that did not follow a strict tempo. Ogdin's playing defined a clear framework for the rest of the parts to be added, using two tracks for a stereo effect.
Putnam's bass part required several
takes, he said, "to perfectly follow Ogdin's left hand".
With these two essential parts finished, Jarvis subsequently added many additional musicians and singers; it amounted to creating a new band, one instrument at a time.
The final product was first released as a
single, then on the album
Moody Blue
Moody may refer to:
Places
* Moody, Alabama, U.S.
* Moody, Indiana, U.S.
* Moody, Missouri, U.S.
* Moody, Texas, U.S.
* Moody County, South Dakota, U.S.
* Port Moody, British Columbia, Canada
* Hundred of Moody, a cadastral division in South Au ...
, which shot up on the
record charts after Presley's death and ultimately sold two million copies.
The video of Presley (with audio overdubs) has been viewed millions of times via
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
.
Four decades later Ogdin's piano part was used with archival footage of Presley's vocal performance on Unchained Melody in
Baz Luhrman's 2022 motion picture, ''
Elvis
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...
''.
Presley's death
On the day Presley died, August 16, 1977, Ogdin was waiting at a private airport in Nashville along with Felton Jarvis, Randy Cullers,
J.D. Sumner, members of the
Stamps Quartet and others. They were the last pickup for a large plane, already-airborne, containing the Joe Gurcio Orchestra
and others from
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
and
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
. After picking up the Nashville group, the plane was to head for
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropo ...
, for a show scheduled on August 17, 1977. Ogdin said, "The airport wasn't busy and we were about the only people there. We got the news through the air-traffic controllers that Elvis had died." Shortly thereafter Jarvis, who was to be on the plane with them, appeared and said simply and succinctly, "Elvis is dead, everything is cancelled... go home ... act of God".
Ogdin said that Jarvis had just been on the phone with
Colonel Tom Parker
Thomas Andrew Parker (born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk; June 26, 1909 January 21, 1997), and "act of God" was a phrase from the musicians' contracts that dealt with financial obligations if some disastrous event occurred.
Ogdin didn't think it sounded like a phrase Jarvis would use.
Associated acts
The
Marshall Tucker Band
The Marshall Tucker Band is an American rock band from Spartanburg, South Carolina. Noted for incorporating blues, country, and jazz into an eclectic sound, the Marshall Tucker Band helped establish the Southern rock genre in the early 1970s. Wh ...
, one of the major
southern rock bands of the 1970s,
had an upheaval in 1983 when five of the original seven members quit the band.
The two remaining founders,
Doug Gray
Doug Gray (born May 22, 1948) is an American singer, who is a founding member and lead vocalist of The Marshall Tucker Band.
Biography
Doug Gray was born on May 22, 1948, in Spartanburg, South Carolina. While high school mates, Gray and bassi ...
and
Jerry Eubanks
Jerry Eubanks (born March 9, 1950) is an American musician best known as the original saxophonist, keyboardist and flautist for The Marshall Tucker Band. His flute and sax solos were a signature of the band. Eubanks left the Marshall Tucker Band ...
decided to recruit replacements and carry on. They chose primarily studio musicians including Ogdin, bassist Bob Wray, drummer
James Stroud
James Stroud is an American musician and record producer who works in pop, rock, R&B, soul, disco, and country music. He played with the Malaco Rhythm Section for Malaco Records. In the 1990s, he was the president of Giant Records (a subsidiar ...
, and guitarists Rusty Milner and Ken Mimms. Ogdin played in the group for five years (1983-1988)
and recorded the album ''Still Holdin' On'' which yielded two country chart singles, "Hangin' Out in Smokey Places" (No. 44) and "Once You Get The Feel of It" (No. 79).
![Ween at Ryman Auditorium, Nashville 10](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Ween_at_Ryman_Auditorium%2C_Nashville_10.16.2018.jpg)
"
Ween
Ween is an American rock band from New Hope, Pennsylvania, formed in 1984 by Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo, better known by their respective stage names, Gene and Dean Ween. Generally categorized as an alternative rock band, the band a ...
", the duo of
Aaron Freeman
Aaron Freeman (born June 8, 1956) is an American journalist, stand-up comedian, author, cartoonist, and blogger.
Career
During the 1990s, Freeman was the host of the weekly informational radio program ''Metropolis'' which was broadcast in the ...
and
Mickey Melchiondo
Michael Melchiondo Jr. (born September 25, 1970), better known by his stage name Dean Ween, is an American guitarist, singer and a founding member of the alternative rock group Ween. He is currently active in the groups Ween, Moistboyz and The ...
,
a.k.a. Gene and Dean Ween, built a cult following with their oddball musical parodies in various genres; however, their recordings, said the ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', sounded "homemade".
That changed in 1996 when they came to Nashville to record a country album on
Elektra called "''
12 Golden Country Greats
''12 Golden Country Greats'' is the fifth studio album by the American rock band Ween, and their third on Elektra Records. It is the only album on which the group limited themselves to a specific genre of music (in this case, country music).
Ba ...
'' " (a misnomer since the album contained less than 12 songs). This time they used seasoned session players including
Charlie McCoy
Charles Ray McCoy (born March 28, 1941) is a Grammy-winning American session musician, harmonica player, and multi-instrumentalist. In 2009, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Based in Nashville, McCoy's playing is heard on r ...
,
The Jordanaires
The Jordanaires were an American vocal quartet that formed as a gospel group in 1948. Over the years, they recorded both sacred and secular music for recording companies such as Capitol Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Decca Records, Vocal ...
,
Hargus Robbins, Russ Hicks, and Bobby Ogdin.
The success of this association led to Ogdin's being asked to tour with Ween with a backing unit dubbed "Bobby Ogdin and the Shit Creek Boys".
One of these shows (October,1996) was released as a live album entitled "''
Live in Toronto Canada'' ". Ogdin reunited with Ween for two concerts at Nashville's
Ryman Auditorium
Ryman Auditorium (also known as Grand Ole Opry House and Union Gospel Tabernacle) is a 2,362-seat live-performance venue located at 116 Rep. John Lewis Way North, in Nashville, Tennessee. It is best known as the home of the ''Grand Ole Opry'' fr ...
in October, 2018.
Playing style
Ogdin is known musically for his skill in playing to bring out or enhance the vocalist or soloist without overplaying. Although it sounds simple, many otherwise skilled players cannot seem to master it.
Barry Beckett
Barry Edward Beckett (February 4, 1943 – June 10, 2009) was an American keyboardist, session musician, record producer, and studio founder. He is best known for his work with David Hood, Jimmy Johnson, and Roger Hawkins, his bandmates in ...
, one of the founders of the
Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section
The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section is a group of American session musicians based in the northern Alabama town of Muscle Shoals. One of the most prominent American studio house bands from the 1960s to the 1980s, these musicians, individually or a ...
and later a Nashville record producer, was asked in an interview, "Who would you use for keyboards?" His answer: "There are three:
Matt Rollings
Matt Rollings is a Grammy Award-winning American composer, keyboard player and record producer.
Known mainly for playing in Lyle Lovett's Large Band, Rollings has worked with many artists, not all country. Matt won the 'Best Traditional Pop Voc ...
,
John Jarvis, and Bobby Ogdin. Those three really know taste. They know when not to play. That is probably the most important thing".
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ogdin, Bobby
TCB Band members
20th-century American keyboardists
American male pianists
American country pianists
Living people
Musicians from Tennessee
1945 births
20th-century American male musicians
Session
The Marshall Tucker Band members