Alton Reynolds Hendrickson (May 10, 1920 – July 19, 2007) was an American jazz guitarist and occasional vocalist.He estimated that he played on over 5,000 film scores from 1939 to 1980, as well as hundreds of TV show soundtracks. He played on more than 15,000 record dates including the soundtrack for Elvis Presley's Viva Las Vegas.
Al Hendrickson became one of the most prolifically recorded studio guitarists in the history of American music following a career as a jazz and dance band guitarist and studies as a classical string-meister. His name is frequently mutilated in recording credits, leading to the mistaken if perhaps understandable conclusion that more than one guitarist was responsible for all his work. He can be cited as the missing link between the Weavers and the Monkees or between artists with such cool names yet diverse styles as country novelty king Sheb Wooley and bebop pianist Dodo Marmarosa. Famous records this guitarist contributed to include "Moon River,""Memories Are Made of This," and "Goodnight, Irene."
Born in Eastland, Texas, when he was five years old, Hendrickson's family moved to California, where he grew up. He worked with Artie Shaw’s band and the Gramercy Five in 1940 and became recognized as a premier jazz guitarist.. An early film credit was as the guitar player in the 1940 Fred Astaire movie Second Chorus. In 1941, he joined the United States Coast Guard, playing with its band, which was led by Rudy Vallee.
He worked with Benny Goodman’s big band and sextet (1947) and sang baritone vocals On a Slow Boat to China, which became a million seller. He then toured and recorded with Ray Nobel, Boyd Raeburn, Woody Herman (intermittently, 1947-1959), Billy May (1954-7), Johnny Mandel (1958), Neal Hefti and Bill Holman. In 1955 he made a recording with Barney Kessel on which his playing is particularly prominent. He also worked with Ray Linn, Freddie Slack, Andre Previn, Louis Prima, Shorty Rogers and Bud Shank to name but a few.
Hendrickson has accompanied many popular singers and has worked with such arrangers as Quincy Jones, Lalo Schifrin, and Nelson Riddle. He has also taken part in many sessions for films and television, and has been a long standing member of two studio recording groups, Guitars Inc. and Guitars Unlimited. His playing was an important component of many recordings in the bossa-nova style during the early 1960’s. His metronomic, full-bodied rhythmic pulse has brought cohesion to many rhythm sections, and his light buoyant beat is reminiscent of the Chicago jazz style.
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| Guitars Inc. Hendrickson is far left |
In 1962, he appeared at the Monterey Jazz Festival alongside Louie Bellson and Dizzy Gillespie. He also worked as an accompanist and session musician for many popular vocalists, such as Rosemary Clooney, Bing Crosby, Doris Day, Lee Hazlewood, Eartha Kitt, Frankie Laine, Ann-Margret, Dean Martin, Ella Mae Morse, Harry Nilsson, and Elvis Presley (Viva Las Vegas).
Playing mandolin as well as guitar, Hendrickson backed up pianist Harry Nilsson on the soundtrack of The Point, a 1971 ABC special that was the first made-for-TV animated movie to air in prime time. The album reached #25 during a 32-week stay on the charts. A regular member of Frankie Capp's late 1970s "Juggernaut" big band, he retired to Oregon in the late 1980s.
Hendrickson died of a heart attack on July 19, 2007, at his home in North Bend, Oregon, at the age of 87.
(Edited from New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, Wikipedia, All Music, & Fresh Sound Records)