"The Fool" In his teens, Casey joined a local group, the Sunset Riders, and worked with vocalist
Jody Reynolds. Around 1956, Casey crossed paths with
Lee Hazlewood, a
Coolidge, Arizona radio DJ who was looking for a singer to record his song, "
The Fool". Casey suggested his schoolmate and friend
Sanford Clark for the lead vocals. Casey played guitar for the recording and suggested a guitar riff which he had taken from Howlin' Wolf's song "Smokestack Lightnin". "The Fool" became a national hit and reached number No. 9 on the
Billboard Top 10 pop charts. It also put the Phoenix music scene in the national spotlight. Due to the song's success, Casey went on a week long rockabilly tour with
Carl Perkins,
Gene Vincent,
Eddie Cochran,
Johnny Burnette, and
Sonny James, traveling the country in Sanford Clark's Ford Mercury.
Duane Eddy and the Rebels In 1955, Casey met
Duane Eddy and joined his band, Duane Eddy and the Rebels. For five years, Casey worked on and off with Eddy's band and performed for the
Alan Freed and
Dick Clark shows. Casey was also part of the backup for other Eddy recordings, playing bass, piano, and rhythm guitar. Casey wrote one of Eddy's earliest hits, "
Ramrod" (1958), and when Eddy performed the song on
American Bandstand he was flooded with requests for the single. "Ramrod" peaked at No. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 17 on the Billboard R&B charts in 1958. Casey also co-wrote another Eddy hit, "Forty Miles of Bad Road", which peaked at No. 9 on Billboard's Hot 100 on July 27, 1959. In 1958 he also played guitar on
Jody Reynolds's hit song "Endless Sleep".
Al Casey Combo In the early 1960s, Casey began working with his own ensemble, the Al Casey Combo. With this group he scored three instrumental hits: "Cookin" (U.S. No. 92, 1962), "Jivin' Around" (peaked at No. 71 on the
Billboard Hot 100 and No. 22 on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop charts in 1962), and "Surfin' Hootenanny" (U.S. #48, 1963). The ''Surfin' Hootenanny
album featured Casey mimicking the styles of Dick Dale, the Ventures, and Duane Eddy. Drummer Hal Blaine and organist Leon Russell played on many of these recordings; the backup vocal group, named the K-C-Ettes, were in fact the Blossoms. Casey recorded many of his albums with Stacy Records, which folded in 1964. In 1964, he gave up touring and began to play a variety of music styles for studio sessions. In 1965, Casey moved to Los Angeles and became part of the group of session musicians which became known as the Wrecking Crew. He worked with this group for 18 years playing a variety of music styles including jazz, country, rock, and pop. Phil Spector, Elvis Presley, Glen Campbell, the Association, the Monkees, Johnny Cash, Eddy Arnold, Simon & Garfunkel, the 5th Dimension, Harry Nilsson, the Partridge Family, Frank Sinatra, and Nancy Sinatra. During this time, Casey also worked for three years as a member of the band on The Dean Martin Show''.
Guitar teacher and music store owner In the late 1960s, Casey owned a music store in Hollywood called Al Casey's Music Room. Casey also played guitar on the "stand-up" live shows and studio sessions for the special's
corresponding album. In 1983, Casey moved back to Phoenix, where he taught guitar lessons at
Ziggie's Music and performed for occasional shows.
Later recordings and legacy Casey continued recording into the 1990s, including an LP release,
Sidewinder, for
Bear Family Records. In 2001, he played guitar, dobro, mandolin, and banjo on Al Beasley's
A Rainbow in the Clouds album, recorded live at the
Kerr Cultural Center in
Scottsdale, Arizona. He was a featured guitarist on the
Exotic Guitars series of albums on the
Ranwood Records label. Casey died on September 17, 2006, in Phoenix, Arizona. In 2008, Casey, along with many of his fellow studio musicians, was featured in the documentary film
The Wrecking Crew. Independent Record label,
Fervor Records, has placed many of his recordings in TV and film. ==Discography==