Master session guitarist

"Now, who is that?" he asks again, his finger aimed this time at the young, raven-haired guitarist sitting in the background.

It doesn't take long to realize that he is pointing at himself.

For the last six years, Grasso has lived a quiet, peaceful life as a music instructor in the Quail Creek resort community, 30 miles south of Tucson.

Back in the day, things were busier. Grasso made his living as a highly regarded studio player who recorded on countless albums, movie scores and television shows throughout the late 1950s, '60s, '70s and '80s.

He and Sinatra were friendly.

"Frank knew everybody's name," Grasso recalled. "He was very personable, with the greatest respect for musicians. He would tell us, 'Without you guys, I'm just another Italian singing in the shower.' "

Yet Sinatra was only one in a long list of artists who worked with the seasoned session man over the course of three decades.

Grasso's office is full of memories that reflect his life's work: pictures of bandleader Nelson Riddle hanging out at his house; invitations to perform for former President Jimmy Carter, one of five presidents he has entertained; cabinets full of demos and scores that Grasso helped create with iconic figures like Riddle, Henry Mancini and Hugo Montenegro.

"The career has been fun," he said. "Life has been fun."

Grasso got his start growing up in Newark, N.J. He was a third-generation Italian-American whose grandparents came through Ellis Island. His family lived dirt poor in an empty storefront near the Newark Airport.

"We had no heat, no hot water, no bathroom of our own," he said. "We shared a toilet with 14 other families."

Grasso might have ended up working as a truck driver like his father had fate not intervened.

He was just a boy when one of the helpers at the day-care center he attended gave him a guitar that once belonged to her son.

"It was a small, three-quarter guitar with a Hawaiian scene painted on it," he said. "Nothing spectacular, but I wish I still had it."

His father set him up with lessons through musicians he knew. Grasso admits that he had no natural talent of his own, but he did have the drive. It wasn't long before he picked up some skill. He eventually went pro, hitting the clubs as a local artist in his teens.

By the time he was drafted into the Navy, he was making a name for himself around New Jersey and New York. An assigned engineman, he used his talents to get in good with the band unit at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

"They took me to play for the bandmaster," he said. "After I was done, he took me down to see the commander of the base. He said, 'I want this guy. I want him in music.' "

Grasso's time as a Navy musician earned him plenty of accolades, including first place in the Navy World Wide Talent Contest in 1957.

More important, it introduced Grasso to Randy Sparks, a guitarist who went on to form the popular folk group the New Christy Minstrels.

As military men, Grasso and Sparks toured the country as part of a Navy recruiting drive.

"The girls who attended our shows would tell their boyfriends how nice we looked in our uniforms," Sparks, 76, said. "And their boyfriends would be anxious to sign up immediately."

Shortly after leaving the service, Sparks recruited Grasso to help work on the music and make a cameo appearance in the Robert Mitchum film "Thunder Road."

After Grasso got out of the Navy, Sparks found him a place to stay in Los Angeles.

"I got there and the next morning I was at NBC on the Andy Williams set," Grasso said. "(Randy) started opening doors. He introduced me to Hugo Montenegro. Then Nelson Riddle heard of me. Things started rolling."

Grasso began branching out. Soon, he had his hands in every facet of the entertainment industry, including a heavy amount of television work.

He was a regular player on "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour," "The Jonathan Winters Show," "The Smothers Brothers Show" and sitcoms ranging from "I Dream of Jeannie" to "The Partridge Family."

He also made the rounds on studio albums for artists such as Jimmie Rodgers and Ella Fitzgerald and film scores for movies, including Elvis Presley's "Charro," Barbra Streisand's "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever" and Sinatra's "Lady in Cement."

Grasso used to bring his entire collection of instruments to sessions, everything from his banjo to his 12-string to his mandolin, because he never knew what to expect.

He said there were only about 200 musicians at the time who were good enough to hold regular studio gigs.

"All of these guys were good jazz players," he said. "We could invent quickly. We didn't see anything up front. There were no rehearsals and we cut everything perfect the first time."

"(Ralph) was one of the super guys," said Carol Kaye, a session bass player who worked with Grasso. "He could play any style. He was a good person in the sense that he stuck to business. The studio musicians really paid attention to their craft, and Ralph was the best at that."

Grasso is semiretired these days. The hustle and bustle of studio work is long behind him, which is OK with him.

"Working in Hollywood made it hard to take vacations," he said. "If somebody called you and you were gone, they'd cross you off the list. You had to be around."

He has dedicated his time in Arizona to teaching students guitar and holding clinics and workshops.

Every Saturday, he rehearses with a group he formed called The Velvet Guitars. Its members play regularly in Quail Creek and places like Tucson's veterans hospital.

It's no gig with Ol' Blue Eyes, but Grasso finds it fulfilling.

"It is important to be able to share my experience and knowledge," he said. "It is a shame to see so many good artists die and have all their art go with them. I was lucky enough to be able to do it. Now let's see if I can give some back."

Editor's note: This summer we are taking a look at some of the people who make art a reality in the Old Pueblo. Today: musician Ralph Grasso.