Charlie McCoy, Roy Clark and Barbara Mandrell attend the 2009 Country Music Hall of Fame Medallion... 
(Ed Rode/WireImage/Getty Images)
Roy Clark, Barbara Mandrell and Charlie McCoy were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on Sunday in a ceremony that saluted them for their music as well as their contributions to bringing the genre to a mass audience through television.
"All three of tonight's inductees looked at the way country music was presented on television and said: 'We can make this even better. We can present country music to a mainstream audience with respect, love and humor," said Tammy Genovese, the Country Music Association's chief executive officer.
Clark co-hosted the TV show "Hee Haw" with Buck Owens for more than two decades. Mandrell joined sisters Louise and Irlene to host "Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters" on NBC in 1980. McCoy, an ace session musician, served as musical director of "Hee Haw" for 18 years.
The three were honored in a tribute that included performances by Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, George Jones, Alison Krauss, Josh Turner, Michael McDonald, Rodney Crowell and others.
Crowell led a harmonica-heavy rendition of Roy Orbison's "Candy Man" for McCoy, 68, a multi-instrumentalist best known for his harmonica work.
McCoy's first session was "Candy Man" in 1961. Since then, he's recorded with Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, Gordon Lightfoot, Paul Simon, Ringo Starr, Leon Russell, Tanya Tucker and many more.
"Well, I never really cared for harmonica or harmonica players until I heard Charlie McCoy," said Harold Bradley, a veteran session guitarist who formally inducted McCoy. "Charlie has taken harmonica playing to a whole different level. It's not just his great technique, it's his interpretation of many musical styles, from bluegrass, country and rock 'n' roll to a Hugo Montenegro album with strings and French horns."
McCoy, who continues to record and perform, said when he first arrived in town he wanted to be a singer and didn't know what a "session" was. But he learned fast watching a teenage Brenda Lee record "Sweet Nothin's" with Nashville's top studio musicians, known as the "A Team."
