Charlie McCoy
b. 28 March 1941, Oak Hill, West Virginia, USA. When McCoy was eight years old, he ordered a harmonica for 50 cents and a box-top, but he was more interested in the guitar. He played in rock ‘n’ roll bands in Miami, where Mel Tillis heard him and suggested that he came to Nashville to work as a singer. This did not work out, but he played drums for US hitmakers Johnny Ferguson and Stonewall Jackson. In 1961, McCoy recorded as a singer for US Cadence Records and entered the charts with Cherry Berry Wine. He then formed a rock ‘n’ roll band, Charlie McCoy And The Escorts, which played in Nashville clubs for several years. McCoy played harmonica on Ann-Margret's I Just Don't Understand and Roy Orbison's Candy Man, and the success of the two records led to offers of session work. McCoy became the top harmonica player in Nashville playing up to 400 sessions a year. He worked with Bob Dylan, playing harmonica on Obviously Five Believers, trumpet on Rainy Day Women, Nos. 12 And 35, and bass on several other tracks. The success of Dylan and other rock musicians in Nashville prompted McCoy and other sessionmen to form Area Code 615. McCoy had a US chart hit in 1972 with a revival of Today I Started Loving You Again, but, considering his love of blues harmonica player Little Walter, his records are unadventurous and middle-of-the-road. Nevertheless, he often made the US country charts with instrumental interpretations of over-worked country songs. McCoy joined Barefoot Jerry and was featured on the group's 1974 US country hit, Boogie Woogie. He now limits his session appearances, largely because he is musical director of the television series, HEE-HAW. McCoy frequently visits the UK and has played the Wembley Country Festival with other Nashville musicians.