Frank Simes | |
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Born | Tokyo, Japan |
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Years active | 1970–present |
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Website | franksimes |
Frank Turner Simes is an American musician, singer, guitarist, songwriter, composer and record producer. Simes is the musical director for Roger Daltrey, and has recorded and performed with Mick Jagger, Don Henley, and Stevie Nicks.
Born in Tokyo as a US citizen, Frank Simes began studying guitar at the age of ten. The second and younger son of Stephen Hardy Simes, legal attaché to General Douglas MacArthur and judge advocate at US Army Japan, and Japanese model and restaurateur, Sachiko Nakamura. His early interests also included close-up magic and fine arts, which remain lifelong passions. His professional career began at 14 when his band, Sunrise, which he formed with Mickie Yoshino and Steve Fox, later of Godiego released a record on RCA Victor. The following year he moved to Los Angeles to study music at Fairfax High School. When Simes was 16 he began attending college as a music major. At 20, his band, the Whizz Kidds, was signed by Highland/A&M Records, and Frank's song, "Sweet Honey", their debut single, received national airplay.
Simes continued his music career, working with Martha Davis of The Motels as a songwriter, producer, and guitarist for three years in the mid-1980s. In 1989, he began touring with Don Henley as a guitarist, and vocalist and soon after as a songwriter when Simes co-wrote "Workin' It" and "Goodbye to a River". Simes was featured on the Inside Job DVD and continues to work with Henley today.
Simes toured and recorded with Mick Jagger on his Wandering Spirit album and tour, was the band leader for Don Henley on the Inside Job tour, and played guitar and sang for Stevie Nicks on the Enchanted tour. During the next two decades, Simes also worked with Rod Stewart, Don Felder, Charlotte Church, Sylvie Vartan, Engelbert Humperdinck, David Lee Roth, Warren Zevon and Roger Waters. Simes played on Roger Daltrey's album Moonlighting and appeared in The Who's documentary Amazing Journey . Simes was named musical director for Roger Daltrey's band No Plan B.
Since 1993, Simes has composed over 1,400 pieces of music for such companies as Paramount Television and Los Angeles Post Music. Simes has also composed original guitar and piano pieces in the Modern, Baroque, and Romantic styles, some of which were recorded by the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Simes produced several albums for major labels [1] such as Sony Music Entertainment, RCA Records, Epic Records and Mitsubishi. Frank Simes is the recipient of nine platinum records with such artist as Don Henley, Rod Stewart and various soundtrack albums. His credits include producing three albums on Sony, recording with Rod Stewart on his album entitled, As Time Goes By: the Great American Songbook, Volume II, performing on Roger Daltrey's Moonlighting anthology CD and DVD, and Daltrey's Gold CD, as well as on Engelbert Humperdinck's The Winding Road album and Greatest Hits and More. Simes also recorded with Art Garfunkel on Some Enchanted Evening, Mylène Farmer on her Innamoramento album, and with Sylvie Vartan on her album Nouvelle Vague. He has produced five albums for vocalist Ann Lewis.
Simes composed and recorded a musical entitled The Door with partner Lisa Verlo. Together they formed Soundlove Productions, collaborating on a children's CD, Turner's Treehouse, [2] as well as music for TV and film.
In 2009, Simes toured as lead guitarist and musical director in Roger Daltrey's No Plan B band for the Use It or Lose It tour. [3] The band also opened for Eric Clapton on two tours in 2010. In 2011, continuing as musical director and lead guitarist for Roger Daltrey, Simes performed the rock opera Tommy and other songs at a warm-up show in Bournemouth at the O2 Academy in preparation for a show at the Royal Albert Hall to benefit Teenage Cancer Trust. Simes performed alongside Pete Townshend who played and sang as a guest at the TCT show. In July 2011, Roger Daltrey and band toured England, [4] Scotland, Ireland, Belgium, and Denmark, performing the legendary rock opera Tommy, The Who classics, and Roger's solo works. Roger and band also toured in the US and Canada [5] beginning September 2011. [6] Additional dates in Europe, Australia and Japan were booked for 2012.
On 18 July 2012, The Who announced Simes as musical director and on keyboards/backing vocals for a 35-date tour where they played their album Quadrophenia in its entirety. [7]
In November 2014, The Who started their 50th-anniversary world tour, The Who Hits 50! [8] with Simes as musical director and playing keyboards, mandolin, banjo, percussion, and backing vocals.
Simes is composer of over 1,200 musical pieces. His works have appeared in TV shows and films including:
The Who are an English rock band formed in London as The Detours in 1962. They changed their name to The Who in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered one of the most influential rock bands of the 20th century, and have sold over 100 million records worldwide. Their contributions to rock music include the development of the Marshall stack, large public address systems, the use of synthesisers, Entwistle's and Moon's influential playing styles, Townshend's feedback and power chord guitar technique, and the development of the rock opera. They are cited as an influence by many hard rock, punk, power pop and mod bands. The Who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.
Roger Harry Daltrey is an English singer, musician and actor. He is a co-founder and the lead singer of the rock band the Who.
Quadrophenia is the sixth studio album by the English rock band the Who, released as a double album on 26 October 1973 by Track Records. It is the group's third rock opera, the two previous being the "mini-opera" song "A Quick One, While He's Away" and the album Tommy. Set in London and Brighton in 1965, the story follows a young mod named Jimmy and his search for self-worth and importance. Quadrophenia is the only Who album entirely composed by Pete Townshend.
David William Sanborn is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album Taking Off in 1975, but has been playing the saxophone since before he was in high school.
Inside Job is the fourth solo studio album by Don Henley, the lead vocalist and drummer for the Eagles. The album was released through the Warner Bros. record label on May 23, 2000, the album was Henley's last album of all-new material until the release of Cass County in 2015, as well as his first album to be recorded fully digitally. The album was the first solo album for Henley in 11 years, the album reached #7 on the charts and released two Adult Contemporary Tracks singles with "Taking You Home", and "Everything Is Different Now". "Taking You Home" was also released as a single, and on the Billboard Hot 100, it peaked at #58.
Simon Townshend is a British guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is the younger brother of the Who's guitarist Pete Townshend, and is most associated with The Who and the various side projects of its original members. Simon Townshend has also performed with numerous other acts including Pearl Jam, Dave Grohl and Jeff Beck.
Anton Fig, known as "The Thunder from Down Under", is a South African session drummer, perhaps best known as the drummer and second-in-command for Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Band. David Letterman, for whom the band served as house band on his late-night talk shows, often referred to Fig as "Anton Zip" or "Buddy Rich Jr." Fig is also well known for his work with Kiss, Ace Frehley and Joe Bonamassa.
The Knights of Prosperity is an American sitcom that premiered on ABC in the United States on Wednesday, January 3, 2007. It was created by Rob Burnett and Jon Beckerman, who also created the NBC comedy-drama Ed. The show follows a group of misfits—the titular Knights—who attempt to rob various celebrities, the first being Mick Jagger. The series was made by Letterman's Worldwide Pants Incorporated and Touchstone Television.
In the Studio with Redbeard is a North American radio program, produced and hosted by Dallas, Texas, based rock and roll disc jockey Doug "Redbeard" Hill.
Frank McNamara is an internationally known arranger, conductor, composer, and pianist from Ireland.
Jody Linscott is an American session musician and percussionist who resides in England and maintains an extended discography. She has two daughters Kachina Dechert and Coco Linscott and has written two children's books which were published by Doubleday, both edited by Jackie Onassis. Linscott has written several songs to accompany the books.
"Sara" is a song written by singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks of the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, which was released as a single from the 1979 Tusk double LP. The vinyl album version length is 6 minutes 22 seconds, and the edited single version length is 4 minutes 37 seconds. The song peaked at No. 7 in the US for three weeks, No. 37 in the UK for two weeks, No. 11 in Australia, and No. 12 in Canada.
Carmine Rojas is an American bass guitarist, musical director and composer. His musical styles include rock, R&B, funk, and jazz.
Loren Gold is an American keyboardist, vocalist, music director, and songwriter. Gold is a keyboardist and vocalist for the Who and Chicago. In addition, Gold has been the touring keyboardist and backup vocalist for Roger Daltrey since 2009. Gold also performs with Rita Wilson and has toured regularly with Don Felder since 2009. Other artists he has toured with include Kenny Loggins, Natalie Maines, and American Idol winner Taylor Hicks. Gold has been musical director for pop stars Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, and Hilary Duff, and he continues to build and develop bands for other artists. Gold has published two instructional books through his collaboration with Alfred Music, and his original compositions have been featured on HBO and Showtime.
No Plan B, also known as the Roger Daltrey Band, is an English rock band assembled by The Who singer Roger Daltrey to support performances and tours outside The Who. Daltrey's band includes Simon Townshend on guitar and vocals, Frank Simes on lead guitar, Jon Button on bass, Loren Gold on keyboards and Scott Devours on drums. Frank Simes is also musical director for the band. In a 2010 appearance on The Alan Titchmarsh Show, Daltrey called the band No Plan B.
Quadrophenia is a stage musical based on the sixth studio album by English rock band The Who, released on 19 October 1973, and a film of the same name, released in 1979. The album was the group's second full-length rock opera, and the story reveals social, musical and psychological events from an English teenager's perspective. The music and songs were composed by Pete Townshend and the story is set in London and Brighton in 1964 and '65.
The Who Tour 2012–2013 was their third to feature the 1973 album Quadrophenia. Billed as "Quadrophenia and More", the band played Quadrophenia in its entirety, followed by a selection of their greatest hits. Before starting the tour, the group gave a special performance at the closing ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Happening '68 was a rock-and-roll variety show produced by Dick Clark Productions, which aired on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) network. The show followed American Bandstand on Saturday afternoons. Happening '68 premiered on January 6, 1968 and was popular enough that ABC added a weekday spin-off. It's Happening ran on Mondays through Fridays from July 15, 1968 through October 25, 1968. When 1968 ended, Happening '68 became just Happening, which was canceled in October 1969.
Quadrophenia Live in London is a live release from British rock band, The Who. It documents their 8 July 2013 concert at London's Wembley Arena, the final show of their 2013 tour. It is available as a double-CD album, DVD, Blu-ray and deluxe box set and was released on 9 June 2014. The DVD debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Music Video Sales Chart.
Billed as The Who Hits 50!, The Who's 2014–16 tour was a tour celebrating the 50th anniversary of the band. Roger Daltrey has referred to this tour as the band's "long goodbye" hinting that it will be the final tour for The Who. The tour consisted of 70 dates with the band performing in Asia, Europe and North America.