Interview with the Brown Brothers

Interview with the Brown Brothers

James Brown
Rich Brown

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Interviewers

Jay Gavan

Description

Interview with James Brown and Rich Brown, with Aaron Cowles, recorded on January 26, 2013 at Aaron's Music, Vicksburg, Michigan. Recorded by interviewer James 'Jay' Gaven for a Kalamazoo Valley Museum exhibit on Gibson Guitars. Rich started working at the Gibson Guitar factory in 1962 in the Woodshop, moved to Buffing where he exceled, then the Mandoline Department. Minus a tour in Vietnam, he worked at Gibson until the 1980s. James Brown started working at Gibson in October 1962 gluing LG1 rims, moved to the spray room as a repairman, then three years as a tuner and adjuster, ending in the Custom Department before leaving in 1977 to go back to school. They recount their memories at the factory, including:

  • dangers of buffing, accidents
  • buying wood to make rifle stocks
  • adjusting famous custom guitars
  • quality of the guitar repairmen in Kalamazoo
  • Rich buffing Chet Atkins' special order
  • walking in a Nashville parade with Chet Atkins
  • signing their names to famous guitars they worked on, some of which ended up in the Country Music Hall of Fame
  • time studies in the factory, quotas, bonuses for going over quota
  • big room with departments of assemblers, stringers, adjusters, cleaners
  • fine-tuning their work spaces, custom benches, house-made tools

Date of Interview

1-26-2013

Location of Interview

Vicksburg (Mich.)

Series

Gibson Guitar Factory Oral Histories

Keywords

Gibson Inc., Gibson guitar, Guitar makers, Guitar history, Factories, Personal narratives

Disciplines

Oral History | Other Music | Public History

Language

ENG

Document Type

Interview

Length of video

01:15:18

Length of video log

n/a

Interview with the Brown Brothers

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Rights Statement

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted.