Stars honor bands that helped make hits

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - They helped make some of the best-loved songs in popular music with the likes of Stevie Wonder, Patsy Cline and Elvis Presley, but they were content to let the stars take the spotlight.

But on Monday, artists including Garth Brooks, Vince Gill, Peter Frampton, Amy Grant and Roger McGuinn paid tribute to some of the musicians who played behind the big names, as the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum honored its first class of inductees.

"These are the players who've been making music for America for many years," said Harold Bradley, a guitarist for The Nashville A-Team, an inductee that has played for Cline and Brenda Lee. "If you take us away, you won't have anything but the voice in the song, and as great as they are, we are the setting for the diamond."

The Hall of Fame opened last year just south of the city's honky-tonk district. Founder Joe Chambers wanted to honor the musicians who help create some of the most memorable recordings in popular music but who often get overlooked.

Inductees included The Nashville A-Team; The Funk Brothers; The Wrecking Crew; The Memphis Boys; The Tennessee Two; and The Blue Moon Boys.

The musicians played on hits for artists including The Beach Boys, Johnny Cash, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, George Jones, The Supremes, Frank Sinatra and others.

"For just about every recording artist, they couldn't have made it without the musicians sitting behind us," Lee, who co-hosted the event at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center with actor Creed Bratton of "The Office," told the crowd.

Vince Gill paid tribute to Presley's Blue Moon Boys with his version of "That's All Right," while Frampton honored the Funk Brothers with his performance of "Signed, Sealed and Delivered."

"The music the funk brothers made was a real education and it's one I'm not done with yet," Frampton said.

Funk Brothers drummer Uriel Jones was moved.

"I've been choked up all day. All the great musicians up here; I'm just excited to be among them," he said.

The Nashville A-Team consists of Bradley, Ray Edenton, Charlie McCoy, Bob Moore, Hargus "Pig" Robbins and Jerry Kennedy; The Funk Brothers is Jones, Joe Messina, Eddie Willis and Bob Babbitt; The Wrecking Crew is Billy Strange, Don Randi, Larry Knechtel, Joe Osborn, Hal Blaine, Lyle Ritz, James Burton, Jim Horn and Mike Deasy; The Memphis Boys is Bobby Emmons, Bobby Wood, Gene Chrisman, Mike Leech and Reggie Young; The Tennessee Two is Marshall Grant and Bob Wooten, who replaced the late Luther Perkins; and The Blue Moon Boys is Scotty Moore and D.J. Fontana.

The nominees are chosen by other musicians rather than industry executives, with a new class of inductees expected each year.

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On the Net:

Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum: http://www.musicianshalloffame.com/

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