Jay Joseph Graydon (born October 8, 1949,

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, who ...

) is an American songwriter, recording artist, guitarist, singer, keyboardist, producer, arranger, and recording engineer. He is the winner of two

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

s (in the R&B category) with twelve Grammy nominations, among them the title "Producer of the Year" and "Best Engineered Recording". He has mastered many different music styles and genres, and his recordings have been featured on record, film, television and the stage.

History

Graydon made his singing debut on his second birthday on the "Joe Graydon Show," the first music/talk television show in Los Angeles, hosted by his father,

Joe Graydon Joe Graydon (born Joseph G. Dosh, February 6, 1919 – May 19, 2001), was an American big band vocalist, television host, personal manager and concert producer. He is the father of Grammy-winning songwriter Jay Graydon. He is father of Gary Josep ...

. During and for a brief time after his college days, Graydon played in the

Don Ellis Donald Johnson Ellis (July 25, 1934 – December 17, 1978) was an American jazz trumpeter, drummer, composer, and bandleader. He is best known for his extensive musical experimentation, particularly in the area of time signatures. Later in his li ...

Band, whose style can be described as experimental post-bop jazz. He can be heard on the live double album '' Don Ellis at Fillmore'' and the studio albums ''

The New Don Ellis Band Goes Underground ''The New Don Ellis Band Goes Underground'' is an album by trumpeter/bandleader Don Ellis recorded in 1969 and released on the Columbia label. Reception Scott Yanow of Allmusic says the album is "one of trumpeter Don Ellis' lesser efforts".Yano ...

'', '' Connection'' and '' Soaring''.

L. A. session musician

From the late 1960s to late 1970s Graydon was a

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

in Los Angeles, working with such artists as

Gino Vannelli Gino Vannelli (born June 16, 1952) is a Canadian rock singer and songwriter who had several hit songs in the 1970s and 1980s. His best-known singles include "People Gotta Move" (1974), "I Just Wanna Stop" (1978), "Living Inside Myself" (1981) an ...

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album ...

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups ...

, The Jackson Five,

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guilloti ...

Cheap Trick Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. The current lineup of the band consists of Zander, Nielsen a ...

Al Jarreau Alwin Lopez Jarreau (March 12, 1940 – February 12, 2017) was an American singer and musician. His 1981 album '' Breakin' Away'' spent two years on the ''Billboard'' 200 and is considered one of the finest examples of the Los Angeles pop and R ...

Christopher Cross Christopher Cross (born Christopher Charles Geppert; May 3, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter from San Antonio, Texas. He won five Grammy Awards for his eponymous debut album released in 1979. The singles "Sailing" (1980), and "Arthur's T ...

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...

Joe Cocker John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances that featured expressive body movements. Most of his best known singles were recordings of son ...

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

Hall & Oates Daryl Hall and John Oates, commonly known as Hall & Oates, are an American pop rock duo formed in Philadelphia in 1970. Daryl Hall is generally the lead vocalist; John Oates primarily plays electric guitar and provides backing vocals. The two ...

Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Shorter came to prominence in the late 1950s as a member of, and eventually primary composer for, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. In the 1960s, he joined Miles D ...

Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British-Australian singer, actress and activist. She was a four-time Grammy Awards, Grammy Award winner whose music career included 15 top-ten singles, including 5 number-one s ...

Albert King Albert Nelson (April 25, 1923 – December 21, 1992), known by his stage name Albert King, was an American guitarist and singer who is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential blues guitarists of all time. He is perhaps b ...

. One of Graydon's most notable session performances is his guitar solo on

Steely Dan Steely Dan is an American rock band founded in 1971 in New York by Walter Becker (guitars, bass, backing vocals) and Donald Fagen (keyboards, lead vocals). Initially the band had a stable lineup, but in 1974, Becker and Fagen retired from liv ...

's 1977 hit single " Peg". In 1977 he appeared as a character in a number of

Doonesbury ''Doonesbury'' is a comic strip by American cartoonist Garry Trudeau that chronicles the adventures and lives of an array of characters of various ages, professions, and backgrounds, from the President of the United States to the title character, ...

strips as Jay "Wah-Wah" Graydon. Graydon played on the Jimmy Thudpucker album "Greatest Hits" along with Steve Cropper and Donald "Duck" Dunn. He was the subject of the track "Fretman Sam" and played its guitar solo. He also programmed the synthesizers for the album.

Producer

Jay Graydon's production credits include work with

Airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

Air Supply Air Supply is a soft rock duo formed in Melbourne, Australia, in 1975. It consists of Englishman Graham Russell (vocals, guitar) and Australian Russell Hitchcock (vocals). They had a succession of hits worldwide, including eight top-five ...

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, play ...

DeBarge DeBarge was an American musical recording group composed of several members of the DeBarge family. In addition to various solo projects completed by members of the family, DeBarge was active between 1979 and 1989. The group originally consisted ...

El DeBarge Eldra Patrick "El" DeBarge (born June 4, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He was the focal point and primary lead singer of the family group DeBarge. Popular songs led by El DeBarge include " Time Will Reveal", " Who's Hold ...

Sheena Easton Sheena Shirley Easton (; born 27 April 1959) is a Scottish singer and actress. Easton came into the public eye in an episode of the first British musical reality television programme '' The Big Time: Pop Singer'', which recorded her attempts to ...

Art Garfunkel Arthur Ira Garfunkel (born November 5, 1941) is an American singer, poet, and actor. He is best known for his partnership with Paul Simon in the folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel. Highlights of Garfunkel's solo music career include one top-10 h ...

The Manhattan Transfer The Manhattan Transfer is a Grammy award–winning vocal group founded in 1969 that has explored a cappella, vocalese, swing, standards, Brazilian jazz, rhythm and blues, and pop music. There have been two editions of the Manhattan Transfer, ...

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standard music, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum s ...

Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer, actress and businesswoman. LaBelle is referred to as the " Godmother of Soul". She began her career in the early 1960s as lead singe ...

Lou Rawls Louis Allen Rawls (December 1, 1933 – January 6, 2006) was an American record producer, singer, composer and actor. Rawls released more than 60 albums, sold more than 40 million records, and had numerous charting singles, most notably his s ...

Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick (; born December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest U.S. hit makers between 1955 and 1999, based on her chart history on ''Billboards Hot 100 pop singles ch ...

Alan Sorrenti Alan Sorrenti (born 9 December 1950) is an Italian singer and composer. Biography Sorrenti was born in Naples, but his mother was Welsh, and he spent much of his childhood in Aberystwyth, Wales. As a result, he is fluent in both Italian and ...

and the album '' They Don't Make Them Like They Used To'' by

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences but also charted mo ...

. He started his own record label, Sonic Thrust Records, in 2001 to give himself creative and artistic freedom in his songwriting and producing profession. The label features straight-ahead jazz, adult contemporary pop, AAA, AOR, classic R&B, smooth jazz, and genuine retro surf from the 1960s As a musician and recording engineer, he has often been a consultant and beta tester for new musical equipment and recording gear.

Songwriter

Graydon has written over 200 songs. His catalog includes the Grammy winners " Turn Your Love Around" (co-written with

Steve Lukather Steven Lee Lukather (born October 21, 1957) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer, best known as the sole continuous founding member of the rock band Toto. His reputation as a skilled guitarist led to a stea ...

and

Bill Champlin William Bradford Champlin (born May 21, 1947) is an American singer, musician, arranger, producer, and songwriter. He formed the band Sons of Champlin in 1965, which still performs today, and was a member of the band Chicago from 1981–2009. ...

) as performed by

and "

After the Love Has Gone "After the Love Has Gone" is a single by Earth, Wind & Fire released in 1979 on ARC/Columbia Records. The song reached No. 2 on both the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, behind The Knack's "My Sharona" and the US Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart, No. ...

" (co-written with

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and music executive who chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His music career spans mor ...

and Bill Champlin) as performed by

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million reco ...

, as well as "Who's Holding Donna Now" (

), "Friends in Love" (

and

), many songs written with and for Al Jarreau (including "Mornin'", "Breakin' Away", "High Crime", "After All", and "Roof Garden"), and several hits with Manhattan Transfer including "Twilight Zone", "On The Boulevard", "Smile Again" and "Spies in the Night". Many of his songs were co-written with David Foster

Writer and educator

Graydon has written numerous articles in music magazines, and has conducted seminars at Musician's Institute in Hollywood with guitarist Tommy Tedesco for over 15 years. He has been working on a series of books on recording techniques with

Craig Anderton PAiA Electronics, Inc. is an American synthesizer kit company that was started by John Simonton in 1967. It sells various musical electronics kits including analog synthesizers, theremins, mixers and various music production units designed by f ...

, a widely published and bestselling authority on recording technology. The books will discuss the subtleties of recording various instruments, as well as mixing.

Film scores

Graydon has participated as a musician and/or songwriter in over 50 film scores including '' The French Connection'', '' Grease'', ''

Ghostbusters ''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American supernatural comedy film directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler, thr ...

'', ''

St. Elmo's Fire St. Elmo's fire — also called Witchfire or Witch's Fire — is a weather phenomenon in which luminous plasma is created by a corona discharge from a rod-like object such as a mast, spire, chimney, or animal hornHeidorn, K., Weather Element ...

'', '' The Secret of My Success'', ''

Navy Seals The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main functions are conducting sm ...

'', '' Lady Sings the Blues'', '' The Greatest'', ''

Ghost Dad ''Ghost Dad'' is a 1990 American fantasy comedy film directed by Sidney Poitier (in his final directorial effort) and starring Bill Cosby, in which a widower's spirit is able to communicate with his children after his death. It was critically pa ...

,'' ''

Mahogany Mahogany is a straight- grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus '' Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: U ...

, and Thank God It's Friday.''

Television

Graydon has played on or written songs for ''

The Andy Williams Show ''The Andy Williams Show'' was an American television variety show that ran from 1962 to 1971 (alternating during the summer of 1970 with ''Andy Williams Presents Ray Stevens'')Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time N ...

'', ''

The Jackson 5 Show ''The Jackson 5ive'' is a Saturday morning cartoon series that aired on ABC from September 11, 1971 to October 14, 1972. Produced by Rankin/Bass and Motown Productions, it is a fictionalized portrayal of the careers of Motown recording group the ...

'', ''

The Alan Thicke Show ''The Alan Thicke Show'' was a Canadian daytime talk show hosted by Alan Thicke. A replacement for '' The Alan Hamel Show'', which ran from 1976 to 1980, it aired on CTV between 1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Car ...

'', ''

The David Steinberg Show ''The David Steinberg Show'' is the title of two separate shows which featured stand-up comedian David Steinberg. The David Steinberg Show (1972) The first iteration of ''The David Steinberg Show'' ran on CBS television in the United States for fi ...

'', ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in Septembe ...

'', ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...

'', ''

The Merv Griffin Show ''The Merv Griffin Show'' is an American television talk show starring Merv Griffin. The series ran from October 1, 1962 to March 29, 1963 on NBC, May 10, 1965 to July 4, 1969 in first-run syndication, from August 18, 1969 to February 11, 1972 ...

'', ''

The Soupy Sales Show Milton Supman (January 8, 1926 – October 22, 2009), known professionally as Soupy Sales, was an American comedian, actor, radio-television personality, and jazz aficionado. He was best known for his local and network children's television serie ...

'', '' The Smothers Brothers Show'', '' The Midnight Special'', ''

The First Rock and Roll Awards Show ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'', ''

Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann (director), Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo ...

'', and ''

Starsky and Hutch ''Starsky & Hutch'' is an American action television series, which consisted of a 72-minute pilot movie (originally aired as a '' Movie of the Week'' entry) and 92 episodes of 50 minutes each. The show was created by William Blinn (inspired by ...

''. With

Richard Page Richard Lewis Page (born 22 February 1941) is a former Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and from December 1979 to 2005. Early life Born the son of Victor Charles Page, he went to the independent Hu ...

, he also wrote the second theme song for '' Gimme a Break!'', which was used from its third through sixth seasons.

Key collaborations

Al Jarreau

Perhaps Graydon's most noted collaboration has been with

. Graydon was Jarreau's main songwriter/producer for in the early 1980s. Graydon produced Jarreau's albums '' This Time'', '' Breakin' Away'', '' Jarreau'' and ''High Crime,'' among others. Graydon also played guitar and synthesizer on these albums, as well as serving as songwriter, arranger and engineer.

David Foster

Foster and Graydon have worked together on several album projects, including the band

, a pop-rock group they formed in the late 1970s, and the JT Super Producer concert in Japan in 1994 with

René Angélil René Angélil (; January 16, 1942 – January 14, 2016) was a Canadian musical producer, talent manager and singer. He was the manager and husband of singer Celine Dion. Early life Angélil was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to a father of ...

and Céline Dion

Randy Goodrum

Graydon and Randy Goodrum formed a group named JaR. In 2008, they released an album titled ''Scene 29'', described as "

meets

and Pages".

Steely Dan

Graydon played the guitar solo on the song " Peg" on

's 1977 album '' Aja''.

David "Fathead" Newman David "Fathead" Newman (February 24, 1933 – January 20, 2009) was an American jazz and rhythm-and-blues saxophonist, who made numerous recordings as a session musician and leader, but is best known for his work as a sideman on seminal 1950s an ...

* He played on ''

Concrete Jungle Concrete jungle may refer to: Music Albums * ''Concrete Jungle'' (David "Fathead" Newman album), 1977 * ''Concrete Jungle'' (Dive album), or the title song, 1993 * ''Concrete Jungle'' (Nneka album), 2010 * ''Concrete Jungle'' (Scorcher album) ...

''.

Discography

Solo albums

Collaborations

Grammy Awards

References

External links

Artist's website

Artist's 2nd website

Artist's Myspace website

Graydon, Jay writing credits

Jay Graydon's Collaboration with Randy Goodrum as the group JaR

Jay Graydon – Artist – grammy.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graydon, Jay 1949 births Living people Record producers from California Songwriters from California Grammy Award winners Smooth jazz guitarists American session musicians