Session Guitarist Reggie Young Dies at 82

Guitarist Reggie Young, a Tennessee -based session player whose signature licks defined hit records from Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and many more, has died. He was 82. Friend and fellow Nashville Cats session musician David Briggs said Young died Thursday, January 17th, at his home in Nashville, Tennessee.

Young started his extensive career in Memphis, where he was an in-demand session player working with acclaimed producer Chips Moman, and opened for the Beatles with the Bill Black Combo in 1964. At Moman’s American Studio in Memphis, he played the signature sitar intro on “Hooked on a Feeling,” by B.J. Thomas, and played guitar on “Son of a Preacher Man” by Dusty Springfield, “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond, and “Suspicious Minds” by Elvis Presley.

His first-ever album, containing a collection of hits he played on from Memphis to Nashville, was due out later this month through London-based record label Ace.

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