Three sidemen, Mo Ostin will be inducted

Saxophonist Steve Douglas, Motown drummer Benny Benjamin and Nashville pianist Floyd Cramer are the 2003 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the sidemen category.

Former Warner Bros. Records executive Mo Ostin will be inducted in the non-performer category.

Douglas, who died in 1993, was a member of the Los Angeles-based “Wrecking Crew” group of studio musicians that played on hundreds of hits by artists including Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, the Beach Boys, Sam Cooke and John Lennon.

Benjamin, who died in 1969, was one of the Funk Brothers team of studio pros that shaped the vast majority of Motown’s ‘60s hits.

Cramer’s signature sound was part of Nashville records made by Presley, Roy Orbison, the Everly Brothers, Patsy Cline and others. He died in 1997.

Ostin oversaw the careers of such Warner Bros. acts as Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, the Kinks and Frank Sinatra.

The Hall of Fame’s annual induction ceremony will take place March 10 in New York City.