Reggie Young (82) was born on Dec. 12, 1936, in Caruthersville, Missouri and raised in Osceola, Arkansas. Young first picked up a guitar in the 1950s. From the start, he never wanted to be a frontman. “I was a little shy,” he said prior to the release of his solo album. He discovered that he could make himself useful by fitting into virtually any music situation that came his way and joined a rockabilly band called Eddie Bond and the Stompers, who cut a single in Memphis in 1956 called “Rockin’ Daddy.” Released on the Mercury label, it became a regional hit.
Toward the end of the 1950s, Young became the go-to guitarist for Elvis Presley’s former bassist Bill Black in the latter’s own group, Bill Black’s Combo. Just as they scored their first big hit—“Smokie—Part 2,” on Memphis’ Hi Records, in late ’59—with stardom looming, Young was drafted into the Army and stationed in Ethiopia, far from the rock and roll revolution back home. When he came home he joined up with the Combo again, in time for the group to open for the Beatles on their first American tour in 1964. Continue reading Reggie Young 1/2017
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