The Million Dollar Band was an all-star group of session musicians that often performed on the Hee Haw television variety show from August 1980 through November 1988.
The group's members included some of Nashville's most well-known virtuosos at their respective instruments: Chet Atkins, Boots Randolph, Floyd Cramer, Charlie McCoy, Danny Davis, Jethro Burns and Johnny Gimble, along with Hee Haw co-host Roy Clark. Many of them, at one time or another, were members of The Nashville A-Team, the list of session musicians responsible for creating the famous Nashville Sound. Of the group's eight members, only McCoy (the youngest of the group) is still alive as of 2022.
Its name made reference to the 1956 jam-session Sun Records impromptu group known as "The Million Dollar Quartet", which included Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins. Although it primarily played instrumental country music, the Million Dollar Band's jam sessions often included influence from jazz, blues, easy listening and other styles that reflected the diverse interests and instruments of the various musicians involved in the project.
Instrumentation Lead guitar: Chet Atkins Rhythm guitar: Roy Clark Mandolin: Jethro Burns Fiddle: Johnny Gimble Saxophone: Boots Randolph Piano: Floyd Cramer Harmonica: Charlie McCoy Trumpet: Danny Davis
Performance dates The group performed on the following 27 Hee Haw episodes:
Hee Haw season 13 Episode 287, 08-13-1980 Episode 290, 10-04-1980 Episode 293, 10-25-1980 Episode 296, 10-18-1980 Episode 299, 12-06-1980 Episode 303, 01-17-1981 Episode 309, 02-28-1981 Episode 312, 03-21-1981
''Hee Haw season 14Episode 314, 09-19-1981 Episode 317, 10-10-1981 Episode 320, 10-31-1981 Episode 326, 10-12-1981 Episode 330, 01-23-1982Hee Haw season 15Episode 340, 09-18-1982 Episode 349, 11-20-1982 Episode 353, 12-18-1982 Episode 356, 01-22-1983 Episode 363, 03-12-1983Hee Haw season 16Episode 374, 11-26-1983 Episode 386, 02-25-1984 Episode 390, 03-24-1984Hee Haw season 17Episode 391, 09-22-1984 Episode 396, 10-27-1984 Episode 402, 12-08-1984 Episode 406, 01-05-1985Hee Haw season 18Episode 438, 02-15-1986Hee Haw'' season 21 Episode 503, 11-26-1988
Sources tviv.org tviv.org episode schedule tvguide.com episode list
References The Johnny Gimble website
External links Photo of the group