Bob Moore
Musician · 1932–2021 · Nashville, Tennessee
Best known for
Bass
Bob Moore was an architect of the Nashville Sound — a charter member of the city's session-musician "A-Team" and the upright bassist on more than 17,000 documented recording sessions across roughly four decades, from Elvis Presley's RCA Studio B sides to Roy Orbison, Patsy Cline, Roger Miller, and Bob Dylan.
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- Born Bob Loyce Moore on November 30, 1932 in Nashville, Tennessee; met producer Owen Bradley at age 12 and cut his first session at 17 in 1950.
- Toured with Little Jimmy Dickens at age 18 and joined Red Foley's Ozark Jubilee on ABC-TV at 23 before settling into Nashville session work full-time.
- Became a charter member of the Nashville A-Team alongside Floyd Cramer (piano), Buddy Harman (drums), Boots Randolph (saxophone), Hank Garland and Grady Martin (guitars); credited by Life magazine as the #1 country bassist of all time in 1994.
- Played his first Elvis Presley session at RCA Studio B in 1958; served as Monument Records' musical director under Fred Foster from 1959 onward, anchoring Roy Orbison's classic sessions.
- Notable individual credits include the bass intro on Roger Miller's "King of the Road" and session work for Bob Dylan, Patti Page, Marty Robbins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Flatt & Scruggs, Connie Francis, Burl Ives, Sammy Davis Jr., and Quincy Jones.
- Recorded the instrumental hit "Mexico" with the Bob Moore Orchestra in 1961, which peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100, topped the Easy Listening chart, and sold over a million copies.
- Inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2007 as part of the Nashville A-Team group induction.
- Father of lo-fi DIY recording pioneer R. Stevie Moore; died September 22, 2021 at age 88.
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The Osborne BrothersPlayed on recordings with The Osborne Brothers
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Flatt & ScruggsPlayed on recordings with Flatt & Scruggs
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Jim & JessePlayed on recordings with Jim & Jesse
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George Jones and Melba MontgomeryPlayed on recording with George Jones and Melba Montgomery
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Tom T. HallPlayed on recording with Tom T. Hall
