Garth & Vince Honor Musicians Hall of Famers

Vince Gill photo courtesy of MCA Nashville.

Garth Brooks photo by Mark Tucker, courtesy of Pearl Records.

November 28, 2007 — Garth Brooks and Vince Gill were among the stars paying 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, the AP reports.

The studio musicians honored at Nashville's Schermerhorn Symphony Center Monday night helped make some of the best-loved songs in popular music with the likes of Patsy Cline, Elvis Presley, the Beach Boys, Johnny Cash, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, George Jones, the Supremes and Frank Sinatra, but they were content to let the stars take the spotlight.

"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 who has played for Patsy 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."

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

Vince paid tribute to Elvis' Blue Moon Boys with his version of "That's All Right," while Garth said his performance with the Memphis Boys of Elvis' "Suspicious Minds" made him more nervous than he'd been onstage in years.

"Singing Elvis with these guys? Are you kidding?" he said. "This is an incredible night. This one is all about the music itself, and the people who make it. The things these people played are as well known as the artists they made famous."

Throughout the evening, vocalists took the stage to sing the songs recorded by the new Hall of Famers. In addition to Vince and Garth, George Jones, Peter Frampton, Amy Grant, Roger McGuinn, Rodney Crowell, Mary Wilson of the Supremes, Dobie Gray, B.J. Thomas, Keith Anderson and Mandy Barnett all sang in honor of the musicians.