Lloyd Wells

Who is Lloyd Wells?

Lloyd Wells is an American jazz guitarist, now residing in Nashville, Tennessee. He is best known for his work on The Merv Griffin Show, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Sesame Street, The Electric Company, The Ed Sullivan Show, and later as arranger and Music Director at Opryland USA theme park in Nashville. He also worked with Peggy Lee and Rosemary Clooney, and with the Glenn Miller orchestra, under the direction of Buddy DeFranco. He is an inductee of the Mississippi Music Hall of Fame.

Wells grew up in Laurel, Mississippi, the same town where another notable jazz guitarist, Mundell Lowe, grew up. He did his first professional work playing for square dances while still attending high school. He attended the University of Southern Mississippi, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education.

In 1964, with encouragement from Mundell Lowe, Wells moved to New York City, where he soon got work in the pit orchestras of Broadway shows. He remained in New York for 10 years, where he was a self-described "work-a-day guitar player." According to Wells, he "... made a decent living, bought a house, raised a family, lived in Manhattan for six years and then moved to Englewood, New Jersey... Mundie opened a lot of doors for me. I did a lot of subbing. Mundie had The Merv Griffin Show at the time and I did subbing there and then he had The Tonight Show Band and I got to do a lot of subbing there."