Biography
Al Hendrickson emerged as one of American music’s most extensively documented session guitarists after earlier experience as a jazz and dance-band player plus formal training on classical strings. Recording ledgers often garble his name, prompting the plausible but incorrect assumption that several different guitarists produced the same body of work. In stylistic terms he bridges the Weavers and the Monkees, just as he links country-novelty specialist Sheb Wooley with bebop pianist Dodo Marmarosa. Among the landmark tracks to which he contributed are “Moon River,” “Memories Are Made of This,” and “Goodnight, Irene.”
Born Alton Hendrickson—one of the variants under which he is occasionally listed—he passed his first five years in Texas before relocating to the West Coast. His professional career opened in 1940 with bandleader Artie Shaw, after which he served in the Coast Guard until roughly the middle of the decade. Subsequent engagements included Freddie Slack, Ray Linn, and Benny Goodman, the last of whom featured him in a select sextet. Film and television scores as well as pop dates soon claimed the bulk of his time, culminating in an exclusive Columbia contract signed in 1959.
Born Alton Hendrickson—one of the variants under which he is occasionally listed—he passed his first five years in Texas before relocating to the West Coast. His professional career opened in 1940 with bandleader Artie Shaw, after which he served in the Coast Guard until roughly the middle of the decade. Subsequent engagements included Freddie Slack, Ray Linn, and Benny Goodman, the last of whom featured him in a select sextet. Film and television scores as well as pop dates soon claimed the bulk of his time, culminating in an exclusive Columbia contract signed in 1959.