Al Casey (pop guitarist)

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Alvin W. “Al” Casey (born 26 October 1936 in Long Beach, California, died 17 September 2006 in Phoenix, Arizona is most noted for the records he made with producer Lee Hazlewood, with artists like Duane Eddy and Sanford Clark. He also has made numerous records on his own, reaching his commercial peak in the early 1960s, when a few of his instrumental (or mostly instrumental) surf and R&B-rock singles made the Top Hundred. In the 1960s and 1970s he worked often as a session player in Los Angeles, and was still putting out records under his own name in the 1990s.

Casey is mainly known for his studio backup work, but also released records and had minor chart success under his own name. He was part of the backup for Duane Eddy's recordings, playing bass, piano, and rhythm guitar. Casey was still in his teens when he started working with Hazlewood in Phoenix, introducing Lee to Sanford Clark, whose hit "The Fool" was produced by Hazlewood. Casey's band backed Clark on the singer's records, as well as other discs cut by Hazlewood. Casey was in Eddy's band, the Rebels, in which he played the piano, although he's more known for his guitar playing. Casey also wrote one of Eddy's earliest hits, "Ramrod," as well as co-writing another Eddy hit, "Forty Miles of Bad Road," with Eddy.

In the early 1960s Casey was dividing his time between sessions in L.A. and Phoenix, and working with his own group, the Al Casey Combo. Somewhat surprisingly, considering his twangy background with Eddy and the surf recordings in his near future, his first successes were with bluesy instrumental rock singles with a jazzy organ groove (played by Casey himself). "Cookin'" made #92 on the pop chart, while a similar follow-up, "Jivin' Around," did a little better, getting to #71 pop and #22 in the R&B listings. In 1963, however, he and Hazlewood rode the surf craze and cut an entire surf LP, much of which featured Hazlewood compositions, and all of which had respectably tough reverberant guitar by Casey. A single from the album, "Surfin' Hootenanny" (with almost incidental female vocals by the K-C-Ettes, aka the Blossoms), became Casey's biggest hit, making #48; top L.A. session dudes Leon Russell (organ) and Hal Blaine (drums) were present on many or all of the tracks.

Casey and Lee Hazlewood worked together in 1963, recording "Surfin Hootenanny", which was a chart success. (The backup vocal group was even named The K-C-Ettes.) Recorded in the style of Duane Eddy's "Dance with the Guitar Man", "Surfin Hootenanny" featured Al mimicking the styles of Dick Dale, The Ventures, and Duane Eddy. The "Surfin Hootenanny" album is somewhat of a classic among surf and rock and roll fans. Later he was a featured guitarist on the "Exotic Guitars" series of albums, and he continued recording until a few years before his death.

Casey's solo career petered out when the small independent label he recorded for, Stacy, closed shop around the beginning of 1964. Casey found a lot of work, though, as a session man, on recordings by artists including the Beach Boys, Eddy Arnold, Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell, and Frank Sinatra. Casey is one of the guitarists on Nancy Sinatra's These_Boots_Are_Made_for_Walkin' He also ran a music store in Hollywood in the late 1960s, and played as a member of the band on Dean Martin's television show. In the mid-'90s he made a solo recording for Bear Family, "Sidewinder". Casey's last recording was "Return Of The Green Gretsch" in 2006 for Ramco.

Casey died 17 September 2006 in Phoenix, Arizona.