Bradley is the brother of one of Nashville's legendary record producers, Owen Bradley. In the early '50s, the brothers opened one of the first recording studios in the city. They formed the A-Team: a dozen session musicians who, while you may never have heard their names, helped build Nashville. These musicians thrived in the background, ready to play behind any star who came in with a new album to create. Harold Bradley is believed to be the most recorded instrumentalist in history.
During the next 60+ years, Harold Bradley’s recording-session work included backing Elvis Presley, Brenda Lee, Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Clyde McPhatter, Ruth Brown, Carl Perkins, The Everly Brothers and several other members of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame.
In addition to his 2006 induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame, Harold Bradley and other members of the “A Team” were made members of the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2007. He was honored with a Trustee Award at the Grammy Awards of 2010. He won the Recording Academy’s Superpicker Award every year between 1974 and 1979. The AFM gave him its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.
On working with Elvis:
"When Elvis first walked in the studio, he had that magic about him. He had a positive air. He was easy to work with. Elvis never blamed the band if the song wouldn't come off. He'd just go to another song. The only bad thing about him was he liked to work at night and work all night long. Some of the guys couldn't stand that. The first session I did with him started at eight Sunday night and end eight Monday morning. He'd go eat breakfast and go to bed, and we'd go eat breakfast and go back and do more sessions and meet him the next night. It was exciting to work with Elvis. He was so nice during those times."
"My first session with Elvis, I tune up and I'm standing around. I hear all this commotion out in the alley. Well, I had finally gotten to where I could afford a new car and I had a Nash station wagon parked right behind the studio. I went out and opened the door, and there was a sea of kids out there. They wanted to see Elvis, and they were standing on my station wagon. I just closed the door, shook my head and I thought, 'I don't know how much money I'm going to make with this guy, but it's not going to be enough to pay for my car.' "
While Bradley was observing history firsthand in these recording sessions, he says he didn't realize it at first. In fact, he wasn't even keeping records.
(Source: NPR / Country Music Hall of Fame / Rolling Stone / Elvis Fans Nashville)