# Sideman

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{{short description|Role for a musician}}
{{Other|Sideman (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2020}}

A '''sideman''' is a professional musician who is hired to perform live with a solo artist, or with a group in which they are not a regular band member.<ref>Hinton, Kerry. ''Cool Careers Without College for Music Lovers''. The Rosen Publishing Group, 2002. p. 57</ref> The term is usually used to describe musicians that play with jazz or rock artists, whether solo or a group.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Sideman {{!}} Definition of Sideman by Oxford Dictionary on Lexico.com also meaning of Sideman|url=https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/sideman|access-date=September 30, 2020|website=Lexico Dictionaries {{!}} English|language=en}}{{dead link|date=September 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

Sidemen and sidewomen are often well-versed in multiple styles of music, and can be hired at any level of the music industry, from playing in a [cover band](/source/cover_band) to backing up established artists on major tours.<ref name="Styles">{{cite web|url=http://www.musicianwages.com/the-working-musician/a-guide-to-being-a-successful-sideman/|title=A Guide to Being a Successful Sideman|last=Melvin|first=Gary|publisher=Musician Wages.com |access-date=December 16, 2009|location=Los Angeles, California|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120508011200/http://www.musicianwages.com/the-working-musician/a-guide-to-being-a-successful-sideman/|archive-date=May 8, 2012}}</ref>

While many artists can work as sidemen or [session musicians](/source/session_musicians), others will only fill one role. The generally accepted difference is that a sideman performs live while a session musician is hired to perform in a recording studio.<ref>{{cite web |title=Earl Slick on Being David Bowie's Sideman and His New Documentary |url=https://reverb.com/news/earl-slick-on-being-david-bowies-sideman-and-his-new-documentary |website=reverb.com |access-date=October 1, 2020 |language=en |date=July 5, 2017}}</ref>

==Career progression==
Aspiring musicians often start out as sidemen, playing rhythm guitar, [comping](/source/Comping_(jazz)) on keyboards, playing drums in the [rhythm section](/source/rhythm_section), or singing backing vocals for a well-known bandleader or singer.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Mel |title=From Zero to Sideman |year=2008 |publisher=Career Equity LLC |isbn=978-0-9815706-0-0 |page=24 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y0I2OAAACAAJ |access-date=28 December 2020 |language=en}}</ref> Once sidemen have become experienced with live performance and recording with established artists, some move on to develop their own sound, a recognized name, and fans of their own, or go on to form their own groups, at which point they become bandleaders and recruit their own sidemen and sidewomen.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wake |first1=Matt |title=20 rock stars who got their start as sidemen |url=https://www.al.com/life/2020/06/20-music-stars-who-got-their-start-as-sidemensidewomen.html |publisher=Advance Local |language=en |date=25 June 2020}}</ref>
Some examples of this are:
* [James Burton](/source/James_Burton) and [Glen Hardin](/source/Glen_Hardin), playing guitar and keyboards respectively, who performed in [Elvis Presley](/source/Elvis_Presley)'s [TCB Band](/source/TCB_Band), also backed [Gram Parsons](/source/Gram_Parsons) before joining newcomer [Rodney Crowell](/source/Rodney_Crowell) and veteran [Albert Lee](/source/Albert_Lee) in [Emmylou Harris](/source/Emmylou_Harris)' "Hot Band".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stanton |first1=Scott |title=The Tombstone Tourist: Musicians |date=September 2003 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-0-7434-6330-0 |page=191 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9eEPAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA191 |language=en}}</ref>
* [Don Henley](/source/Don_Henley) and [Glenn Frey](/source/Glenn_Frey) were in the initial backup band for [Linda Ronstadt](/source/Linda_Ronstadt), which toured in support of her [eponymous debut album](/source/Linda_Ronstadt_(album)). Afterwards, with the addition of [Bernie Leadon](/source/Bernie_Leadon) and [Randy Meisner](/source/Randy_Meisner), they formed the [Eagles](/source/Eagles_(band)).<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=January 18, 2016 |title=How Glenn Frey & Don Henley Became the Eagles, As Told by Linda Ronstadt |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6844113/linda-ronstadt-glenn-frey-don-henley-eagles |access-date=September 30, 2020 |magazine=Billboard |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:David Lindley.jpg|thumb|230px|[David Lindley](/source/David_Lindley_(musician)) (1980) playing lap steel guitar]]
Some sidemen become famous for their musical specialties, and become highly sought after by [pop](/source/Popular_music), rock, [blues](/source/blues), [jazz](/source/jazz) and [country music](/source/country_music) bands. Examples of some of these include multi-instrumentalists. [David Lindley](/source/David_Lindley_(musician)) is a multi-instrumentalist who has worked with such diverse musicians as [Curtis Mayfield](/source/Curtis_Mayfield), [Dolly Parton](/source/Dolly_Parton), [Jackson Browne](/source/Jackson_Browne), and [Hani Naser](/source/Hani_Naser).<ref name="Acoustic Guitar Magazine1">{{cite web|url=http://www.acousticguitar.com/issues/ag90/coverstory.shtml|title=Big little Music: The Weird and Wonderful World of String Wizard David Lindley|last=Kotapish|first=Paul|year=2012|work=Cover Story, [Acoustic Guitar Magazine](/source/Acoustic_Guitar_Magazine)|publisher=String Letter Publishing, Inc., David A. Lusterman, publisher|access-date=December 13, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090614013145/http://www.acousticguitar.com/issues/ag90/coverstory.shtml|archive-date=June 14, 2009}}</ref>

[Waddy Wachtel](/source/Waddy_Wachtel)'s guitar licks and experience have placed him as a bandleader while on tour with [Stevie Nicks](/source/Stevie_Nicks), and [Chuck Leavell](/source/Chuck_Leavell), who has toured with [The Allman Brothers Band](/source/The_Allman_Brothers_Band), but more often, is onstage with [The Rolling Stones](/source/The_Rolling_Stones) on keyboards.<ref name="No Moss">{{cite news|last=O'Malley Greenburg|first=Zach|title=Chuck Leavell: The Rolling Stone Who Gathers Moss|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2011/08/26/chuck-leavell-the-rolling-stone-who-gathers-moss/|access-date=January 11, 2012|newspaper=Forbes|date=August 26, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first= CHUCK|last=LEAVELL |author2=JOAN RAYMOND |title=Rolling? We're More Like the Flying Stones |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/business/08flier.html |work=New York Times |date=January 8, 2008 |access-date=January 16, 2008}}</ref><ref>Greenhaus, Mike https://relix.com/articles/detail/chuck-leavell-talks-stones-tour/ Relix</ref>

Often sidemen go on to form their own groups and/or solo careers; for instance, [John Lennon](/source/John_Lennon), [Paul McCartney](/source/Paul_McCartney), [George Harrison](/source/George_Harrison), and [Pete Best](/source/Pete_Best) acted as sidemen to [Tony Sheridan](/source/Tony_Sheridan) before becoming famous as [The Beatles](/source/The_Beatles), with the addition of [Ringo Starr](/source/Ringo_Starr).<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lewis |first=Randy |date=February 20, 2013 |title=Tony Sheridan, British rocker who performed with the Beatles in the early 1960s, dies at 72 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/tony-sheridan-british-rocker-who-performed-with-the-beatles-in-the-early-1960s-dies-at-72/2013/02/20/2114da96-7b7c-11e2-82e8-61a46c2cde3d_story.html |access-date=September 30, 2020 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US}}</ref>
[Jimmy Page](/source/Jimmy_Page) left his first attempts working in bands to hone his skills as a session player, where he met [John Paul Jones](/source/John_Paul_Jones_(musician)); he later recruited [Robert Plant](/source/Robert_Plant) and [John Bonham](/source/John_Bonham) to form [Led Zeppelin](/source/Led_Zeppelin).<ref>{{cite book |last1=FOGARTY |first1=Mark |title=Went to See the Gypsy |date=August 14, 2008 |isbn=978-1-4357-5140-8 |page=211 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T0euZbWPvXUC&pg=PA211 |access-date=28 December 2020 |language=en}}</ref>
[Bob Dylan](/source/Bob_Dylan)'s first recorded song was as a harmonica sideman on [Harry Belafonte](/source/Harry_Belafonte)'s cover of "[Midnight Special](/source/Midnight_Special_(song))".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/2013-04-24/ty-article/.premium/1961-bob-dylan-lays-down-his-first-track/0000017f-db20-d856-a37f-ffe0fb010000|title=1961: Bob Dylan Lays Down His First Track|newspaper=Haaretz}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bob-dylan.org.uk/archives/16386|title=Dylan's early released recordings: With Belafonte, Hester & Big Joe Williams &#124; Untold Dylan}}</ref>

Other musicians may take time from their own bands to tour or record as a sideman for other artists, such as punk bassist [Mike Watt](/source/Mike_Watt) with [J Mascis and the Fog](/source/J_Mascis_and_the_Fog) or [Iggy and the Stooges](/source/Iggy_and_the_Stooges).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Callwood |first1=Brett |title=The Stooges: Head On |date=September 2011 |publisher=Wayne State University Press |isbn=978-0-8143-3710-3 |page=75 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mSYeETrSxrkC&pg=PT75 |access-date=28 December 2020 |language=en}}</ref>
[[File:BAD DOG.jpg|thumb|230px|right|Bernard Fowler, backup vocalist for [The Rolling Stones](/source/The_Rolling_Stones)]]

==See also==
* [Session musician](/source/Session_musician)
*''[Rock 'n' Roll Guns for Hire: The Story of the Sidemen](/source/Rock_'n'_Roll_Guns_for_Hire%3A_The_Story_of_the_Sidemen)''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.rockhall.com/inductees/ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame list, which also inducts sidemen]

Category:Music production
Category:Musicians
Category:Occupations in music

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sideman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sideman) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sideman?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.