Wayne Moss obit

Nashville Session Musician Wayne Moss Dead at 88

 

He was not on the list.

Wayne Moss, a Nashville-based session musician who worked with some of rock’s biggest acts, has died. He was 88 years old.

“Wayne was a musical torchbearer and a creative pathfinder who left his own resounding stamp on music history,” Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, said in a statement confirming the news.

Born in 1938 in South Charleston, West Virginia, Moss spent his teenage years playing in local bands, and then made the big move to Nashville in 1959. Before long, Moss had befriended the right people, leading to session work with people like Patsy Cline, Waylon Jennings, Loretta Lynn, Charley Pride, Joan Baez and more. Eventually, Moss helped found two bands of fellow Nashville session players, Area Code 615 and Barefoot Jerry.

What Did Wayne Moss Play On?

Moss appeared on a number of highly successful recordings through the ’60s and ’70s, including Roy Orbison‘s hit song “Oh, Pretty Woman,” Bob Dylan‘s 1966 album Blonde on Blonde and Dolly Parton‘s iconic “Jolene.”

Other artists Moss worked with include Fats Domino, the Everly Brothers, Kris Kristofferson, Mike Nesmith, Carl Perkins and Nancy Sinatra.

Moss also founded one of Nashville’s oldest independent recording studios, Cinderella Sound. Over the years, it hosted the likes of Jackie DeShannon, theSteve Miller Band, Linda Ronstadt, Grand Funk Railroad, James Gang and many more.

“We’re not even in the phone book, you know?” Moss explained to Sound on Soundin 2011. “So unless you know somebody that knows somebody, you can’t even get in here. But Steve Miller did and Ronstadt did and Leo Kottke did and a lot of folks. So we’ve had the business, despite the fact that you can’t even find us, you know? You can’t Google us or anything else, therefore there’s not a Gray Line bus tour coming through here every day saying ‘Is that Johnny Cash in here? I wanna get his autograph.’ That drives artists crazy.

“And Steve Miller didn’t want anybody in the studio that wasn’t hired to play on it, and that’s what he got. He wanted to engineer his own vocals? Fine, go ahead. You know? So we try to bend in whatever direction the artist wants and we’ve had a lot of people in here over the years.”

“My dear friend, the great guitarist Wayne Moss, has died,” Roy Orbison Jr. wrote on social media following the news of Moss’ passing, describing Moss as “my Dad’s good friend” and sharing a photo. “We love you Wayne.”