Charlie McCoy

Charlie McCoy (born Charles Ray McCoy), is an American harmonica virtuoso and multi-instrumentalist in country music. He is best known for his harmonica solos on iconic recordings such as Candy Man (Roy Orbison), He Stopped Loving Her Today (George Jones), I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool (Barbara Mandrell), and others. He was a member of the progressive country rock bands Area Code 615 and Barefoot Jerry. After recording with Bob Dylan in New York, McCoy is credited for unknowingly influencing Dylan to decide to come to Nashville to record the critically acclaimed 1966 album "Blonde on Blonde". A prolific session musician, McCoy performed on many recordings by established artists, including Elvis Presley (on eight of his film sound tracks), Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Chet Atkins, Waylon Jennings, Roy Orbison, Leon Russell, and Loretta Lynn. In the recording industry, he was known as the "utility man" because of his ability to play with sufficient skill on many different instruments in addition to the harmonica; for example, he played trumpet on Dylan's "Rainy Day Women ♯12 & 35", saxophone on Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman", and bass harmonica on Simon and Garfunkel's "The Boxer". For Elvis Presley's 1965 film Harum Scarum (soundtrack), he played guitar, harmonica, organ, and vibraphone. He is a member of three halls of fame, including the Country Music Hall of Fame and the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame; he was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2007 as a part of a group of session musicians dubbed "The Nashville A-Team". For 19 years, McCoy worked as music director for Nashville's popular television show, Hee Haw. In 2022, he became a member of the Grand Ole Opry. His memoir, Fifty Cents and a Box Top– The Creative Life of Nashville Session Musician Charlie McCoy, was published in 2017.