Al Gorgoni

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Al Gorgoni
Born (1939-10-11) October 11, 1939 (age 85)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
GenresR&B/Soul, Rock/Folk, Pop, Jazz/Jazz-Rock
Occupation(s)musician, songwriter, record producer, composer, arranger.
Instrumentguitar
Website gorgoni.net

Al Gorgoni (born 1939) is an American guitarist, composer, arranger, and producer, known for his work as a studio musician during the 1960s and 1970s.

Contents

Biography

Growing up in Philadelphia, his family moved to The Bronx where he took up the guitar at age 14. [1] [2]

His first recording sessions took place in 1959, playing on demo recordings with Brill Building songwriters Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Carole King, Gerry Goffin, and Phil Spector. [3] Gorgoni eventually moved into proper sessions, appearing on hit singles such as "The Name Game" by Shirley Ellis, "Sherry," "Walk Like A Man" and "Big Girls Don't Cry" by The Four Seasons, "Leader of the Pack" by The Shangri-Las, and "Chapel of Love" by The Dixie Cups. [4] Other hits featuring Gorgoni's playing are "The Sound of Silence" by Simon & Garfunkel, "Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison, "I'm a Believer" by The Monkees, "At Seventeen" by Janis Ian, "Sugar, Sugar" by The Archies, and "Brand New Key" by Melanie. [5] [6] [7] [8]

Gorgoni worked with many other artists including Joan Baez, Blood Sweat & Tears, Bobby Darin, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Richard and Mimi Fariña, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, Astrud Gilberto, Herbie Mann, Laura Nyro, James Taylor, and B.J. Thomas. [9] This article contains only a partial list of credits.

Discography

With Herbie Mann

With Barry Mann

With Al Kooper

With Kai Winding

With Simon & Garfunkel

With Carole Bayer Sager

With Janis Ian

With B.J Thomas

Gorgoni, Martin and Taylor ( Buddah /Legacy, 1972)

Personal life

Gorgoni is married, and they have two sons, Adam and Julian. Adam Gorgoni is a film composer. [2]

References

  1. ↑ Michael Gray. The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia . 2006, ISBN   0-8264-6933-7, p. 268.
  2. 1 2 "Home". algorgoni. Retrieved 2025-06-07.
  3. ↑ "Al Gorgoni webpage biography". Archived from the original on 2016-01-18. Retrieved 2011-09-07.
  4. ↑ Gray, p. 268.
  5. ↑ Gorgoni webpage.
  6. ↑ Forte, Dan (2012-08-26). "A Small Part of the '60s | Vintage Guitar® magazine" . Retrieved 2025-06-07.
  7. ↑ Neville Marten (2022-04-21). ""I definitely felt something special in the air that day" – the story of recording Van Morrison's Brown Eyed Girl". MusicRadar. Retrieved 2025-06-07.
  8. ↑ "My Place: Al Gorgoni". Vermont Public. 2014-02-27. Retrieved 2025-06-07.
  9. ↑ Gray, p. 268.


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