Area Code 615 was an American progressive country rock band from

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, active in the late 1960s and early 1970s, taking its name from the telephone

area code A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone numbers to subscriber telephones or other telephony endpoints. Telephone numbers are the addresses of participants in a telephone network, rea ...

, which at the time covered all of Central and Eastern Tennessee. The band was made up of session musicians, recording only two albums before resuming normal session work. Several of the members were backing musicians for

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

's ''

Blonde on Blonde ''Blonde on Blonde'' is the seventh studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released as a double album on June 20, 1966, by Columbia Records. Recording sessions began in New York in October 1965 with numerous backing musici ...

'' and ''

Nashville Skyline ''Nashville Skyline'' is the ninth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on April 9, 1969, by Columbia Records as LP record, reel-to-reel tape, and audio cassette. Building on the rustic style he experimented with o ...

'' albums plus recordings by

Billy Swan William Lance Swan (born May 12, 1942) is an American country singer-songwriter, best known for his 1974 single " I Can Help". Background Swan was born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri southeast of St. Louis on the Mississippi River. As a child, ...

and

The Monkees The Monkees were an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles in the mid-1960s. The band consisted of Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones (musician), Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork. Spurred by the success of ''The Monkees (TV series), Th ...

. They also backed

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is an American singer who has performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin music. Ronstadt has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three A ...

on her '' Silk Purse'' album. Its best-known work was "Stone Fox Chase", which was used as the theme to the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's music program ''

The Old Grey Whistle Test ''The Old Grey Whistle Test'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''Whistle Test'' or ''OGWT'') is a British television music series broadcast by the BBC. It was devised by producer Rowan Ayers, commissioned by David Attenborough, and aired on BBC2 from ...

''. Area Code 615 members

Wayne Moss Wayne Moss (born February 9, 1938, in South Charleston, West Virginia, United States) is an American guitar player, bassist, record producer and songwriter best known for his session work in Nashville. In 1961, Moss founded Cinderella Sound reco ...

Mac Gayden McGavock Dickinson Gayden (June 5, 1941 – April 16, 2025) was an American rock and country singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer working in Nashville during the latter half of the 20th century. As a session guitarist, Gayden was f ...

, and

Kenny Buttrey Aaron Kenneth Buttrey (April 1, 1945 – September 12, 2004) was an American drummer and arranger. According to CMT, he was "one of the most influential session musicians in Nashville history." Buttrey was born in Nashville, Tennessee, became a ...

went on to play with Nashville-based

Barefoot Jerry Barefoot Jerry is an American progressive country rock band from Nashville, Tennessee. They have been described as a seminal southern rock band. The band was most active from 1971 to 1977. It was composed of area studio musicians under the tut ...

, while David Briggs later worked with

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

and

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (, ; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing mo ...

. The band’s 1969 cover of "

Classical Gas "Classical Gas" is an instrumental musical piece composed and originally performed by American guitarist Mason Williams with instrumental backing by members of the Wrecking Crew. Originally released in 1968 on the album '' The Mason Williams P ...

" was featured in Irish and UK

Guinness Guinness () is a stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at Guinness Brewery, St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in the 18th century. It is now owned by the British-based Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic bever ...

TV commercials.

Musicians

– Lead guitar, vocals *

Charlie McCoy Charlie McCoy (born Charles Ray McCoy, March 28, 1941) is an American harmonica virtuoso and multi-instrumentalist in country music. He is best known for his harmonica solos on iconic recordings such as " Candy Man" ( Roy Orbison), "He Stoppe ...

– Harmonica, vocals * Bobby Thompson – Banjo, guitar (died 2005) *

– Guitar, bass *

Buddy Spicher Buddy Spicher (born Norman Keith Spicher; July 28, 1938 in DuBois, Pennsylvania; pronounced “Spiker”) is an American country music fiddle player. He is a member of The Nashville A-Team of session musicians, and is Grammy-nominated. He was ...

– Fiddle, viola, cello * David Briggs – Keyboards *

Ken Lauber Ken Lauber (born May 14, 1941) is an American composer, arranger producer, musician, singer and playwright. Early career Lauber was born in New York City in 1941 and raised on Long Island. His first music lessons of note were drum lessons at th ...

– Keyboards *

Norbert Putnam Norbert Auvin Putnam (born August 10, 1942) is an American musician, studio owner and record producer who was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2019.Robert McFarland, Jr"Norbert Putnam." '' Delta Business Journal''. November 2004. Acc ...

– Bass, cello *

– Drums (died 2004) *

Weldon Myrick Weldon Myrick (born Weldon Merle Myrick; April 10, 1938 – June 2, 2014) was an American steel guitar player.Elliot Mazer Elliot Mazer (September 5, 1941February 7, 2021) was an American audio engineer and record producer. He was best known for his work with Linda Ronstadt, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, The Band, and Janis Joplin. In addition, he worked on film and televi ...

– Co-producer

Discography

*''Area Code 615'', 1969 *Linda Ronstadt, ''Silk Purse'', 1970 *''Trip in the Country'', 1970

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Area Code 615 (Band) 1969 establishments in Tennessee 1971 disestablishments in Tennessee Musical groups from Nashville, Tennessee Musical groups established in 1969 Musical groups disestablished in 1971 Polydor Records artists Progressive country musicians