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Jimmy Ryan (Guitarist)

From EverybodyWiki Bios & Wiki

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Jimmy Ryan is an American guitarist, bassist, keyboardist, composer, producer, arranger, and author.  His career in the music business began in 1964 and is ongoing.

Early Life[edit]

Jimmy Ryan was born James Edmund Ryan Jr. on November 17, 1946 to James Edmund Ryan Sr. and Elva Rockefeller Ryan. James Sr. received his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from MIT and spent his working years as a sales engineer for Diehl Mfg. Corp. He died in 1986. Elva received her master's degree from Fordham University and was a schoolteacher. She died in 2000.  Jimmy attended Villanova University, but left in 1965 to pursue a career as a recording and touring musician. He is the youngest of four siblings, including Elva Ryan Darden, Richard J. Ryan, and Marilyn Ryan Kavanagh (deceased).

Career[edit]

Jimmy’s interest in music began with watching American Bandstand and The Ed Sullivan Show, particularly Elvis, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry. At twelve years old, he took up guitar and began performing live at school events. By thirteen he had formed his first band, “The Fliptones,” and performed on Long Island at school events and local country clubs. At sixteen, he and his family moved to Westfield, NJ, where he joined The Vibra-Tones, a successful local band.[1] By nineteen, his college band, The Critters produced their first top forty hit, “Younger Girl.” In the next few years, they produced three charting albums and two more top forty hits, “Mr. Dieingly Sad” and “Don't Let The Rain Fall Down on Me.” In 1966 they toured with Dick Clark’s Where The Action Is, sharing the stage with The Knickerbockers, BJ Thomas, Keith Allison, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Shades of Blue and The Young Rascals. The Critters remained active from 1964 to 1969.[2]

In late 1970, Jimmy, Andy Newmark and The Critters' keyboardist, Paul Glanz, formed an organ/bass/drums trio called Ivory. Beyond a few rehearsals, the band was short-lived, as Jimmy’s friend, Carly Simon asked him to put a band together for her to perform some live concerts. He suggested Ivory, Carly auditioned them and ultimately hired them. Carly was becoming well-known in the US and England with “That's The Way I’ve Always Heard It Should Be,” the first single release from her debut album, “Carly Simon.” Ivory became the touring and future recording band for Carly for the next year. [3]The band, together with Carly, recorded her Anticipation album in the summer of 1971 at Morgan Studios, London. The recording was produced by Paul Samwell-Smith, who was known for his work with Cat Stevens and The Yardbirds. [4]As a result of Anticipation's success, Jimmy continued to work with Carly on many of her future albums through 1994.[5] Jimmy is featured in the 2018, BBC Special “Classic Albums - Carly Simon: No Secrets.” He was the guitar soloist on many of Carly’s hits, including “You’re So Vain,” and the Academy Award-winning theme song from the movie, Working Girl, “Let The River Run.” Jimmy also appeared in the song’s official video. He performed in two HBO specials with Carly, Live From Martha’s Vineyard, and My Romance. He also played on the studio recording of her My Romance CD.

In 1973, Jimmy moved to London to pursue a career as a studio musician. He recorded with many artists, including Cat Stevens, Jim Croce, John Entwistle of the Who, Elton John & Kiki Dee, Tommy James, Jimmy Webb, The Doors, Andy Williams, Martha Reeves, Andy Williams, and Rod Stewart. As a studio musician from 1970 to present, Jimmy has performed in recording sessions with musicians Jim Gordon, Jim Keltner, Klaus Voormann, Nicky Hopkins, Bobby Keys, Richard Tee, Will Lee, Steve Gadd, Lowell George, Robbie Robertson, Paul Shaffer, Rick Marotta, Tony Levin, Roger Hawkins, Michael Brecker, and David Sanborn. On Carly Simon sessions, he has recorded/collaborated with Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Luther Vandross, James Taylor and many more, earning him seven RIAA Certified Platinum Records/CDs.

In 1977, Jimmy moved back to the US and formed a group with Andy Goldmark and Holly Sherwood called Wondergap. The group was signed to A&M Records by John Anthony and produced one album. The album did not do as well as anticipated, so A&M did not renew their contract. In 1980, a songwriter's position became available at Walden Music, so Jimmy interviewed and eventually was signed as staff writer for a renewable yearly contract. During the two years at Walden, he co-wrote several minor hits including “After You” by Michael Johnson, “Why,” by Irene Cara, and “She’s Got You Running,” by Mickey Thomas formerly of Jefferson Starship. During this time in the early eighties, Jimmy also created music for advertising, writing, arranging, and producing many national TV and radio commercials. None are listed here, because they were, in almost every case, created in his capacity as a staff writer for production companies that make a policy of not crediting writers. This part of his career lasted until 1998, when he formed his own production company, Rampage Music New York and began working for himself. With Rampage, Jimmy has been responsible for creating music for such news themes as NBC News, New York (WNBC), most of the financial shows on CNBC, and most recently, CNBC’s The News With Shepard Smith. And again, writers are seldom credited for news, promo or commercial themes, however verification, if desired, can be got from http://pyburn.com, the overseeing production company.

From 1998 to 2010, Jimmy’s work was mainly writing background music, themes and promos for The Discovery Channel, Lifetime, USA Network, and PBS, scoring the Nova production, The Pluto Files with Neil deGrasse Tyson in March, 2010. In collaboration with the History Channel, he composed music for exhibitions at the Smithsonian Institution, including Deep Ocean Explorers, and Messages from the Graves, as well as documentary music that introduces The Liberty Bell, which is shown to visitors to Independence Hall, Philadelphia, as well as four exhibition films for the George Washington Museum in Mt. Vernon, and a four part series on Abraham Lincoln.[6] Most of the above were commissioned by Terri Randall Productions, Pyburn Films or directly through the TV network.[7]

From 2010 to 2020, Jimmy performed with the band, The Hit Men,[8][9][10] who included three of Frankie Valli’s Four Seasons, touring the US and Canada. They were Lee Shapiro, Don Ciccone and Gerry Polci. All the Hit Men achieved similar status in the music business, having recorded and performed with a large roster of well-known artists. Don Ciccone left the band in 2012 and Gerry Polci left in 2015 to pursue other opportunities. Steve Murphy replaced Gerry Polci, and Don Ciccone was never replaced. The other members of the band were Larry Gates, Russ Velazquez and Jimmy Ryan. Both Don and Larry passed away in 2016. In October 2019, The Hit Men were awarded the first Road Warrior Award from The Musicians Hall of Fame.[11][12][13][14]The Hit Men continued until 2020, when COVID-19 closed almost all live performance venues. Unable to tour anymore, the band split up.[15][16][17]

In 2021 Jimmy wrote a memoir of his sixty plus years in the music business. The title of the book is, “Behind - Autobiography of a Musical Shapeshifter."[18][19]

On Nov 5, 2022, Jimmy was commissioned by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame to assist with the induction of Carly Simon. He performed his 1972 solo from the original recording of “You’re So Vain,” with Olivia Rodrigo.[20]

Awards/Recognition[edit]

Discography[edit]

Albums[edit]

Singles, Writing, and Arrangements[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ "So Mystifyingly Glad: The Critters' Project 3 Recordings Are Coming From Now Sounds". The Second Disc. 2011-09-08. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
  2. ↑ "The Critters – "Mr. Dieingly Sad" | Mental Itch". mentalitch.com. 2015-01-14. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  3. ↑ Jahn, Mike (1971-05-22). "CARLY SIMON SINGS AT THE BITTER END". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  4. ↑ "Carly Simon — Anticipation". Carly Simon. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  5. ↑ Kurtz, Warren (July 25, 2022). "Carly Simon: Inside story of singer's 1971 "Anticipation" / "The Garden" single". Goldmine Magazine: Record Collector & Music Memorabilia. Retrieved 2022-12-29. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  6. ↑ Randall, Terri (March 16, 2011). "Recreations Archives". Randall Productions, Inc. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  7. ↑ "Terrirandallproductions". Randall Productions, Inc. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  8. ↑ Coughlin, Kevin (March 25, 2016). "The Hit Men hit all the right notes in Morristown | Morristown Green". Retrieved 2022-12-29. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  9. ↑ Lippincott, Rustin (May 8, 2018). "The Hit Men: Rock Supergroup Plays the Music That Defined a Generation". Iowa Source. Retrieved 2022-12-28. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  10. ↑ News Times Staff (March 21, 2013). "The Hit Men are coming". NewsTimes. Retrieved 2022-12-29. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  11. ↑ Associated Press (October 16, 2019). "Musicians Hall of Fame to honor group with New Jersey roots". spectrumnews1.com. Retrieved 2022-12-29. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  12. ↑ BAND & MUSICIAN NR, NEWS RELEASES (2019-03-21). "THE HIT MEN, CLASSIC ROCK'S LEGENDARY SIDE MEN, TO BE HONORED BY MUSICIANS HALL OF FAME + MUSEUM". MusicPlayers.com. Retrieved 2022-12-29. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  13. ↑ Cantrell, LB (2019-03-21). "Musicians Hall Of Fame And Museum To Honor Legendary Group The Hit Men". MusicRow.com. Retrieved 2022-12-29. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  14. ↑ Porter / AP, David (Oct 16, 2019). "Musicians Hall of Fame to honor group with New Jersey roots". www.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2022-12-29. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  15. ↑ Cadgene, Suzanne (May 8, 2018). "Hit Men guitarist Jimmy Ryan solves mystery". Elmore Magazine. Retrieved 2022-12-29. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  16. ↑ Porter, David (July 21, 2017). "Long after Frankie Valli, the Hit Men are still making music". The Berkshire Eagle. Retrieved 2022-12-29. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  17. ↑ Kurtz, Warren (April 22, 2018). "Fabulous Flip Sides – The Critters' Jimmy Ryan". Goldmine Magazine: Record Collector & Music Memorabilia. Retrieved 2022-12-29. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  18. ↑ Kurtz, Warren (Sep 25, 2021). "Fabulous Flip Sides of The Beatles, Carly Simon and Don Henley, with New Books by John Borack, Jimmy Ryan and Karen Jonas". Goldmine Magazine: Record Collector & Music Memorabilia. Retrieved 2022-12-29. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  19. ↑ Chalmers, Daisy (2021-11-01). "Jimmy Ryan – Behind: Autobiography of a Musical Shapeshifter… with TRE´s Giles Brown | Talk Radio Europe". Retrieved 2022-12-29. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  20. ↑ Smith, Troy L. (2022-10-28). "Carly Simon's tribulations and triumphs gave modern women a voice". cleveland. Retrieved 2022-12-29. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)



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