Roland Janes passed away

After a stint in the Marines during the Korean War, Janes settled in Memphis where he started playing for artists at a small recording studio. It was there that he met Jack Clement who brought him to Sam Phillips at Sun Records. Janes became the house guitarist at Sun in 1956, a position he would hold for seven years. His guitar can be heard on the majority of tracks cut by Jerry Lee Lewis, including Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On and High School Confidential, along with other Sun artists like Charlie Rich and Sonny Burgess. He also was a member of Billy Lee Riley's Little Green Men. While still at Sun, Janes and Riley founded their own label, Rita Records, where they had a hit with Harold Dorman's original version of his song Mountain of Love. Janes also opened his own Sonic Studios where he would specialize in recording artists for small, independent labels. The studio stayed open until 1974 when Janes went into a semi-retirement only to reemerge in 1977 as a producer and engineer at The Sounds of Memphis Recording Studio. On the side, he taught recording technique classes at a local vocational school. In 1982, he left teaching and returned to Sun with Sam Phillips. While most of his work was now behind the scenes, he did pull out the guitar on occasion for sessions, including one for Mudhoney's 1998 album Tomorrow Hit Today. Janes was recently elected to the Memphis Music Hall of Fame and was scheduled to receive a Brass Note on Beale Street. Janes is survived by his wife of 54 years, Betty, two sons, a daughter, eight grandchildren and three great grandchildren. Read more here