Chuck Rainey

Last updated
Chuck Rainey
Chuck Rainey (cropped).jpg
Rainey at Detroit Bass Festival in 2013.
Background information
Birth nameCharles Walter Rainey III
Born (1940-06-17) June 17, 1940 (age 83)
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)Bass guitar
Website https://chuckrainey.com/

Charles Walter Rainey III (born June 17, 1940) is an American bass guitarist who has performed and recorded with many well-known acts, including Aretha Franklin, Steely Dan, and Quincy Jones. [1] Rainey is credited for playing bass on more than 1,000 albums, [2] and is one of the most recorded bass players in the history of recorded music. [3] [4]

Contents

Early life

Rainey was born in Cleveland, Ohio on June 17, 1940, and grew up in Youngstown. His parents were both amateur pianists. He learned viola, piano, and trumpet as a child [5] and majored in brass instruments in college. [6] He attended Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee. [4] Rainey began playing bass guitar in the military. [5]

Career

Rainey (right) and Ronnie Cuber at the Porretta Soul Festival 2005 Ronnie Cuber.jpg
Rainey (right) and Ronnie Cuber at the Porretta Soul Festival 2005

After leaving the military, Rainey joined a local band. His first big professional gig was playing with Big Jay McNeely. He then joined up with Sil Austin to tour Canada and New York. [5] In 1962, Rainey joined King Curtis and his All-Star band; [7] in 1965, they opened for The Beatles' 1965 US tour. He joined Quincy Jones's big band in 1972. [6] By the 1970s he had played with Jerome Richardson, Grady Tate, Mose Allison, Gato Barbieri, Gene Ammons, as well as with Eddie Vinson at the 1971 Montreux Festival, and on five albums of Steely Dan. [1]

Although much of his work was as a session player, Rainey recorded a solo album, The Chuck Rainey Coalition, in 1969. Other solo albums were Born Again (1982), Hangin' Out Right (1999), [8] Sing & Dance (2001), [9] and Interpretations of a Groove (2012). [10]

Rainey wrote the five-volume Complete Electric Bass Player instructional books, and filmed instructional videos. The early bass curriculum at Musicians Institute and the Dick Grove School of Music were created by Rainey. He also wrote columns for Bass Player magazine from 1990-1992. [5]

On November 5, 2011, Rainey had a stroke [11] which paralyzed his left side. He spent four years receiving physical therapy and practicing meditation and Hatha yoga, and made a full recovery. [6]

In 2014, Rainey and drummer John Anthony Martinez [12] cofounded Rhythm Intensive, which provides clinics, workshops, and master classes for aspiring rhythm section musicians. [13] Rainey and Martinez also co-authored The Tune of Success: Unmask Your Genius. [6]

In an interview with Chris Jisi in April 2020, Rainey disclosed that he had retired as a bassist and turned his focus to writing his biography and working with Rhythm Intensive. [14]

A Rainey signature line of bass guitars are produced by Alvarez Guitars and Ken Smith Basses. [7]

Rainey received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Berklee College of Music at a ceremony on May 7, 2022. [15]

Discography

As leader

As guest

With Alessi Brothers

With Louis Armstrong

With Gato Barbieri

With George Benson

With Delaney & Bonnie

With Donald Byrd

With David Castle

With Joe Cocker

With Larry Coryell

With The Crusaders

With King Curtis

With Aretha Franklin

With Gene Harris

With Richard "Groove" Holmes

With Bobbi Humphrey

With Etta James

With Quincy Jones

With Yusef Lateef

With David "Fathead" Newman

With The Rascals

With Steely Dan

With Sadao Watanabe

With Ernie Wilkins

With others

Related Research Articles

Jerome Richardson was an American jazz musician and woodwind player. He played the soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, bass saxophone, soprano clarinet, alto clarinet, bass clarinet, piccolo, western concert flute, soprano flute, alto flute, tenor flute, and bass flute. He played with Charles Mingus, Lionel Hampton, Billy Eckstine, The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, Kenny Burrell, and later with Earl Hines' small band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Babbitt</span> American bassist (1937–2012)

Robert Andrew Kreinar, known as Bob Babbitt, was an American bassist, most famous for his work as a member of Motown Records' studio band, the Funk Brothers, from 1966 to 1972, as well as his tenure as part of MFSB for Philadelphia International Records afterwards. Also in 1968, with Mike Campbell, Ray Monette and Andrew Smith, he formed the band Scorpion, which lasted until 1970. He is ranked number 59 on Bass Player magazine's list of "The 100 Greatest Bass Players of All Time".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornell Dupree</span> American R&B/soul jazz guitarist

Cornell Luther Dupree was an American jazz and R&B guitarist. He worked at various times with Aretha Franklin, Bill Withers, Donny Hathaway, King Curtis, and Steve Gadd, appeared on Late Night with David Letterman, and wrote a book on soul and blues guitar, Rhythm and Blues Guitar. He reportedly recorded on 2,500 sessions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bennie Maupin</span> American jazz musician

Bennie Maupin is an American jazz multireedist who performs on various saxophones, flute, and bass clarinet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grady Tate</span> American drummer (1932–2017)

Grady Tate was an American jazz and soul-jazz drummer and baritone vocalist. In addition to his work as sideman, Tate released many albums as leader and lent his voice to songs in the animated Schoolhouse Rock! series. He received two Grammy nominations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Farrell</span> American jazz musician

Joseph Carl Firrantello, known as Joe Farrell, was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist who primarily performed as a saxophonist and flutist. He is best known for a series of albums under his own name on the CTI record label and for playing in the initial incarnation of Chick Corea's Return to Forever.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Airto Moreira</span> Brazilian drummer and percussionist

Airto Guimorvan Moreira is a Brazilian jazz drummer and percussionist. He is married to jazz singer Flora Purim, and their daughter Diana Moreira is also a singer. Coming to prominence in the late 1960s as a member of the Brazilian ensemble Quarteto Novo, he moved to the United States and worked in jazz fusion with Miles Davis and Return to Forever.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernard Purdie</span> American R&B, soul and funk drummer

Bernard Lee "Pretty" Purdie is an American drummer, and an influential R&B, soul and funk musician. He is known for his precise musical time-keeping and his signature use of triplets against a half-time backbeat: the "Purdie Shuffle." He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Gale</span> American jazz and R&B guitarist (1938–1994)

Eric Gale was an American jazz and jazz fusion guitarist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilton Felder</span> American saxophone and bass player

Wilton Lewis Felder was an American saxophone and bass player, and is best known as a founding member of the Jazz Crusaders, later known as The Crusaders. Felder played bass on the Jackson 5's hits "I Want You Back" and "ABC" and on Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On".

Emil Richards was an American vibraphonist and percussionist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chick Corea discography</span> American pianist and composer

Chick Corea (1941–2021) was an American jazz pianist and composer born on June 12, 1941, in Chelsea, Massachusetts. Corea started learning piano at age four. He recorded his first album, Tones for Joan's Bones, in 1966. Corea performed with Blue Mitchell, Willie Bobo, Cal Tjader and Herbie Mann in the mid-1960s. In the late 1960s he performed with Stan Getz and Miles Davis. The National Endowment for the Arts states, "He ranked with Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett as one of the leading piano stylists to emerge after Bill Evans and McCoy Tyner, and he composed such notable jazz standards as 'Spain', 'La Fiesta', and 'Windows'."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Butler (guitarist)</span> American soul jazz guitarist

William Butler Jr. was an American soul jazz guitarist.

Paul Nelson Humphrey was an American jazz and R&B drummer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chuck Domanico</span> American jazz bassist

Charles Louis Domanico was an American jazz bassist who played double bass and bass guitar on the West Coast jazz scene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marvin Stamm</span> American jazz trumpeter (born 1939)

Marvin Louis Stamm is an American jazz trumpeter.

Wayne Andre was an American jazz trombonist, best known for his work as a session musician.

Herbert Edward Lovelle was an American drummer, who played jazz, R&B, rock, and folk. He was also a studio musician and an actor.

Oscar Brashear was an American jazz trumpeter and session musician from Chicago, Illinois.

Dennis Matthew Budimir was an American jazz and rock guitarist. He was considered to be a member of The Wrecking Crew.

References

  1. 1 2 "Chuck Rainey | Biography & History". AllMusic . Retrieved February 18, 2020.
  2. Shuster, Fred (August 29, 2000). "RAINEY NIGHT IN HOLLYWOOD MUSICIAN, RECORDING SESSION LEGEND ON STAGE TONIGHT AT BAKED POTATO". Daily News. Los Angeles, Calif., United States. p. 5. ProQuest   281762179 . Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  3. Koster, Rick (May 8, 2000). Texas Music. Macmillan. ISBN   978-0-312-25425-4.
  4. 1 2 "Music Legend Chuck Rainey to Lecture, Perform at Tennessee State University". US Fed News Service, Including US State News. Washington, D.C., Iceland. September 13, 2013. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Friedland, Ed (2005). The R & B bass masters. San Francisco, California: Backbeat Books. pp. 15–22. OCLC   946460558.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "The Heart of a Bass Legend: How Chuck Rainey Found His Groove". International Musician. Vol. 114, no. 10. October 2016. p. 20. ISSN   0020-8051 . Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  7. 1 2 Friedman, Josh Alan (2008). Tell the Truth Until They Bleed: Coming Clean in the Dirty World of Blues and Rock 'n' Roll. Hal Leonard Corporation. pp. 189–200. ISBN   978-0-87930-932-9.
  8. Jisi, Chris (1999). "Chuck Rainey: Hangin' Out Right". Bass Player. Vol. 10, no. 10. p. 70. ISSN   1050-785X . Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  9. Jisi, Chris (April 2001). "Chuck Rainey's sing & dance". Bass Player. Vol. 12, no. 4. p. 24. ISSN   1050-785X . Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  10. Jisi, Chris (July 2012). "Chuck Rainey Rocks Steady". Bass Player. Vol. 23, no. 7. p. 22. ISSN   1050-785X. ProQuest   1025748122 . Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  11. "Bass Player Chuck Rainey Suffers Stroke". Billboard. November 7, 2011. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  12. "The Tune of Success Live Comes to Dallas!". Dallas Weekly. June 6, 2016. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  13. "Rhythm Intensive". Rhythm Intensives. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  14. Jisi, Chris (9 April 2020). "Bass Magazine Lockdown Check-In With Chuck Rainey". Bass Magazine - The Future of Bass. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  15. Pesquerra, Daniel (May 7, 2022). "Berklee Honors Ringo Starr, Lalah Hathaway, James Newton Howard, and Chuck Rainey at Commencement | Berklee". Berklee. Retrieved May 8, 2022.