Brian Thomas Ray (born January 4, 1955) is an American session musician, guitarist, bassist,

singer–songwriter A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk-acoustic tradition, although this role has transmuted th ...

, and musical director. He is best known for his work as a bass, rhythm, and lead guitarist with

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

's touring band, though he has worked with an extensive list of artists in addition to his own solo career.

Early life

Brian Ray grew up in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

. His first musical performances were in front of his peers – at show and tell – setting his own lyrics to the tune of old folk songs. By the age of nine, he began playing the

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

. His elder sister, Jean (of folk duo

Jim and Jean Jim and Jean, composed of Jim Glover (born 1942) and Jean Ray (1941–2007)

) spurred his interest in

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

through her record collection. Jean invited Brian to play at the LA Troubadour when he was 15 years old. She was "probably the most important and influential person" in Ray's early life.

Career

In 1973, shortly after graduating from high school, Ray began his musical career as part of

Bobby Pickett Robert George Pickett (February 11, 1938 – April 25, 2007), known also by the name Bobby "Boris" Pickett, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, and comedian known for co-writing and performing the 1962 hit novelty song " Monster Mash". ...

and the Crypt Kicker Five, playing the "Monster Mash" at a fundraising benefit hosted by and for Phil Kaufman. Kaufman took Ray in and would later introduce him to singer Etta James at a rehearsal for the world-famous

Troubadour A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a ''trobairi ...

, just as James was on the brink of a career comeback. That brief introduction would eventually lead to Ray's 14-year career as Etta James' musical director and guitarist. While working for Etta James, Ray also shared stages with musicians such as

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...

, Santana, Joe Cocker, Bonnie Raitt, John Lee Hooker, and

Bo Diddley Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, inc ...

. At this time he also began focusing more on songwriting. Ray spent the late 1980s collaborating with musicians such as Peter Frampton,

Rita Coolidge Rita Coolidge (born May 1, 1945) is an American recording artist. During the 1970s and 1980s, her songs were on ''Billboard'' magazine's pop, country, adult contemporary, and jazz charts, and she won two Grammy Awards with fellow musician and the ...

, Nicolette Larson,

Michael Steele Michael Stephen Steele (born October 19, 1958) is an American political commentator, attorney, and Republican Party politician. Steele served as the seventh lieutenant governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007; he was the first African-American ...

(of

The Bangles The Bangles are an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1981. The band recorded several singles that reached the U.S. top 10 during the 1980s, including " Manic Monday" (1986), " Walk Like an Egyptian" (1986), "Hazy Shad ...

), and Steve LeGassick, who became a songwriting partner for 13 years. It was this songwriting partnership with LeGassick that would create the 1987 Smokey Robinson award-winning hit "One Heartbeat", which has received over 2,000,000 airplays. Prior to working with

in 2002, Ray was working on tour in France with two different French artists,

Mylène Farmer Mylène Jeanne Gautier (; born 12 September 1961), known professionally as Mylène Farmer (), is a Canadian-born French singer, songwriter, occasional actress, writer, and entrepreneur. Having sold more than 30 million records in France, she is ...

and

Johnny Hallyday Jean-Philippe Léo Smet (; 15 June 1943 – 5 December 2017), better known by his stage name Johnny Hallyday, was a French rock and roll and pop singer and actor, credited for having brought rock and roll to France. During a career spanning 57 ...

Abe Laboriel Jr. Abraham Laboriel Jr. (born March 23, 1971) is an American session drummer. He is the son of Mexican bass guitarist Abraham Laboriel, nephew of Mexican rocker Johnny Laboriel, and brother of record producer, songwriter, and film composer Mateo ...

, a drummer who had previously worked with Brian Ray, mentioned that Paul McCartney was in search of a guitarist who could switch between

and

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

(for songs on which McCartney plays piano or guitar). After meeting with McCartney's producer for '' Driving Rain'',

David Kahne David Kahne is an American record producer, musician, composer, and former record company executive. Professional career Kahne started his musical career as a working musician and soon became Director of A&R for America's first punk and new ...

, Ray joined Paul McCartney for the pre-game performance of "Freedom" at the NFL's

Super Bowl XXXVI Super Bowl XXXVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion St. Louis Rams and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

in 2002. Ray joined the rest of Paul McCartney's band for the ''Driving Rain'' tour in promotion of the album. As of then, he has appeared on McCartney's solo albums, such as ''

Back in the World ''Back in the World'' (subtitled ''Live'') is a live album by Paul McCartney composed of highlights from his spring 2002 "Driving USA" tour in the United States in support of McCartney's 2001 release '' Driving Rain''. It was released internati ...

'', '' Back in the U.S.'', ''

Memory Almost Full ''Memory Almost Full'' is the fourteenth solo studio album by English musician Paul McCartney. It was released in the United Kingdom on 4 June 2007 and in the United States a day later. The album was the first release on Starbucks' Hear Music la ...

'', ''

New New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

'' and ''

Egypt Station ''Egypt Station'' is the 17th solo studio album by English singer-songwriter Paul McCartney, released on 7 September 2018 through Capitol Records. ''Egypt Station'' was produced by Greg Kurstin and co-produced by McCartney, with the exception ...

'' as well as three concert DVDs: '' Paul McCartney in Red Square'', ''

The Space Within US ''The Space Within US'' is a live DVD by Paul McCartney, released in November 2006. It is composed of footage taken during his fall 2005 'US' Tour in the United States in conjunction with his '' Chaos and Creation in the Backyard'' album releas ...

'', and ''

Good Evening New York City ''Good Evening New York City'' is a CD/DVD double live album by Paul McCartney consisting of material performed over three nights as the inaugural concerts at New York City's Citi Field, 17, 18 and 21 July 2009, part of his Summer Live '09 conce ...

''. In addition to being a session musician, Brian Ray has also contributed to film scores such as the soundtrack to the film '' Heartbreakers'' in 1984. In 2002, Ray and

composed the score for the independent film ''The Failures''. In 2011, Ray joined with Oliver Leiber to form

The Bayonets The Bayonets is an independent rock band based in Los Angeles, California. Formed in 2011 by Brian Ray and Oliver Leiber after years of collaboration on Brian Ray's two solo albums, Mondo Magneto (2005) and This Way Up (2009). Oliver had the idea ...

Solo career

After decades of performing, writing, and recording with musical artists, Brian Ray released his first solo album, '' Mondo Magneto'', on October 16, 2006 through his record label ''Whooray Records''. "People have always asked me when I was going to do my own thing", Ray said, "I guess I was just busy." Musicians on ''Mondo Magneto'' include

Scott Shriner Scott Gardner Shriner (born July 11, 1965) is an American musician best known as a member of the rock band Weezer, with whom he has recorded twelve studio albums. Joining the band in 2001, Shriner is the band's longest serving bass guitarist. Pri ...

from

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backing ...

Davey Faragher David Allen "Davey" Faragher (born August 18, 1957) is an American bass guitarist from Redlands, California. Faragher's career took off and received critical notice as a founding member of the nineties band Cracker, and his subsequent work with ...

from Elvis Costello's band, as well as Abe Laboriel, Jr.,

Wix Wickens Paul Wickens (born 27 March 1956) is an English musician, composer, and record producer, professionally known as Wix. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Wickens has worked with artists including Nik Kershaw, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Bon ...

, and

Rusty Anderson Rusty Anderson is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter who is best known for his work as the lead guitarist for Paul McCartney's touring band though he has worked with an extensive list of artists in addition to his own solo career. Ca ...

from

's band. When Ray asked the blues singer and his former boss Etta James if she would sing with him on the album her answer was simple, and immediate – "I'll do anything for Brian." Mondo Magneto's record release party was held at The Mint in Los Angeles, California, on January 21, 2006. Ray's live band, ''Black Unicorn'', includes musicians Peter Thorn on guitar, John Button on bass, and Matt Laug on drums. The band performs their music in Los Angeles clubs, such as

The Viper Room The Viper Room is a nightclub and live music venue located on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California, United States. It was established as The Viper Room in 1993 and was partly owned by actor Johnny Depp. The other part owner was Sal J ...

and The Mint. In 2008, Larry Graves and Brian Ray made a video for Ray's song "Coming Up Roses". In 2010, Ray released a second album, entitled ''This Way Up''.

Discography

References

External links