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The Memphis Boys, as they would come to be known, went on to record a perhaps-unparalleled string of hit records, including Elvis Presley’s “Suspicious Minds” and “In the Ghetto” (recorded with Young’s 1967 Garcia nylon acoustic), Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline,” Merrilee Rush’s “Angel of the Morning,” and Dusty Springfield’s classic Dusty in Memphis-to name but a few. There, they put together the legendary band of Tommy Cogbill, Gene Chrisman, and Bobby Emmons. “There’s no other guitar player on earth that has his taste, soul, and expertise at making a song shine just by adding his parts to it.”-Brent Masonīack at Royal Studios, Young was dissatisfied with the meager pay, so when former Stax producer Chips Moman asked him to start doing sessions at his new American Sound Studio, the guitarist was happy to jump ship. The Combo also toured Europe, where Young met young Eric Clapton. He told the Beatle he played through a Standel amp, and schooled Harrison on the use of an unwound third string for easier bending. After the first concert, George Harrison began questioning Young about gear. Though mostly a studio band, they made an exception to tour with the Beatles in 1964. Back in Memphis, Young began working at Hi Records’ Royal Studios, and again with Bill Black’s Combo. Black started him on his studio career and employed him in his own Bill Black’s Combo, which led to Young playing on his first national hit, the Combo’s “Smokie Part 2.” Young’s unique sound on that record was created by tuning his Gibson ES-335 down two whole-steps and tapping on the strings with a pencil.ĭrafted right after the song hit the charts, the guitarist spent most of his military tour in Ethiopia, where he played a newly acquired Fender Duo-Sonic at the enlisted men’s club. He was soon learning the licks of Chet Atkins and fellow Memphis resident B.B King.Īs a teenager, his band Eddie Bond & the Stompers had a regional hit and found themselves touring with Elvis, where Young met Presley bassist Bill Black. His first guitar was a National flattop that he fitted with a DeArmond pickup and ran through a Rickenbacker amp. When he was 13, his family moved to Memphis. He had suffered through surgeries in recent years and never fully recovered, and is survived by his wife, Jenny, who he met while they were both in Waylon Jennings’ touring band in 1999. Young died at his home outside of Nashville. Although he didn’t record an album of his own until age 80, by that time Young had been helping other artists, from Elvis Presley to Bing Crosby to Willie Nelson to Martina McBride, make records for more than half a century. The world lost one of the greatest session guitarists who ever lived, on Thursday, January 17: Reggie Young.