Daniel Smith "Danny" Chauncey (born June 19, 1956) is an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

. He is best known for being a member of the

Southern rock Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. History 1950s and 1960s: origin ...

band

38 Special 38 Special or 0.38 Special or .38 Special, may refer to: * .38 Special, a revolver cartridge Music * 38 Special (band), an American rock band ** ''38 Special'' (album), the 1977 debut album of the band 38 Special * .38 Special (song), a 2022 ...

Background

Chauncey was born in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and raised in

Alameda County Alameda County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,682,353, making it the 7th-most populous county in the state and 21st most populous nationally. The county seat is Oakland. A ...

, California. He attended

Alameda High School Alameda High School is a co-educational state high school serving grades 9–12. It is located in Alameda, California, United States, and is part of the Alameda Unified School District. History The suggestion to open a "Preparatory Department ...

. He grew up listening to classical music, but however, his musical interests changed when he heard the song "

Twist and Shout "Twist and Shout" is a 1961 song written by Phil Medley and Bert Berns (later credited as "Bert Russell"). It was originally recorded by The Top Notes, but it did not become a hit in the record charts until it was reworked by the Isley Broth ...

" by

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

. He was then interested in learning to play the guitar, getting his first guitar when he was eight years old. He also learned to play the French horn in high school. Also in high school, he played with several rock bands. His first instrument was a

Stella Stella or STELLA may refer to: Art, entertainment, and media Films * ''Stella'' (1921 film), directed by Edwin J. Collins * ''Stella'' (1943 film), with Zully Moreno * ''Stella'' (1950 film), with Ann Sheridan and Victor Mature * ''Stella'' (1955 ...

6-string cowboy guitar. His first electric was red

Gibson SG The Gibson SG is a solid-body electric guitar model introduced by Gibson in 1961, following on from the 1952 Gibson Les Paul. It remains in production today in many variations of the initial design. SG stands for "solid guitar". Origins The S ...

with a Fender 50w Super Reverb.

Career

In the early-mid-1970s, Chauncey was a member of the Bay Area rock group Mistress, where he plays lead and rhythm guitar. In 1977 the group recorded a self-titled album for

RSO Records RSO Records was a record label formed by rock and roll and musical theatre impresario Robert Stigwood and record executive Al Coury in 1973. The letters "RSO" stood for the Robert Stigwood Organisation. RSO managed the careers of several ma ...

. The album was released two years later, shortly before Mistress disbanded. He also played in a side band, the Alameda All-Stars with

Brad Gillis Bradley Frank Gillis (born June 15, 1957) is an American guitarist most famous for playing with the band Night Ranger. He grew up in Alameda, California. He was in the band Rubicon during the 1970s before Night Ranger. Since forming in 1979, Gi ...

and

Kelly Keagy Kelly Dean Keagy (born September 15, 1952) is an American drummer and vocalist, best known for his work with the hard rock band Night Ranger. Keagy sang lead vocals on several of their hits, such as "Sister Christian", "Sing Me Away", and " Se ...

who were both in the band

Night Ranger Night Ranger is an American hard rock band from San Francisco, California. The band formed in 1982 and experienced a surge of popularity during the 1980s with the release of several successful albums and hit singles. Guitarist Brad Gillis and ...

. Chauncey left Mistress to join

Billy Satellite Billy Satellite was an American rock band based in Oakland, California. They are perhaps best known for composing and performing "I Wanna Go Back," which would later become a hit for Eddie Money. It was also covered by Gregg Rolie on his 1985 se ...

. It was with this band that he co-wrote "

I Wanna Go Back "I Wanna Go Back" is a 1984 song by American rock band Billy Satellite, written by band members Monty Byrom, Danny Chauncey, and Ira Walker, that achieved major popularity when recorded by Eddie Money in 1986. Another version was recorded by ...

" which became a hit for

Eddie Money Edward Joseph Money ( Mahoney; March 21, 1949September 13, 2019) was an American singer and songwriter who, in the 1970s and 1980s, had eleven Top 40 songs, including " Baby Hold On", " Two Tickets to Paradise", " Think I'm in Love", " Shakin' ...

. Billy Satellite: Overviewat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

. Retrieved 15 July 2009. The band was together for several years and recorded an album, ''Billy Satellite'', for

Capital Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

. While in Billy Satellite, he was a studio musician for

Taxxi Taxxi were an English rock band best known for the song "I'm Leaving". The band formed in the late 1970s and first came to prominence in the early 1980s with a few minor AOR hit singles and some MTV airplay. The band received club play in Fra ...

, an English band that played Euro-tech music. He recorded three albums with Taxxi from 1982 to 1985, including ''States of Emergency'', ''Foreign Tongue'', and ''Expose''. In 1987 after the break up of Billy Satellite, Chauncey joined

, staying with them through 2019. Chauncey says, "We really hit it off so it felt natural. I was allowed to contribute songwriting from the beginning as 'I Wanna Go Back' was a hit on the charts for Eddie Money around the same time that I joined, so the guys knew I was a capable songwriter." He recorded many albums with 38 Special, providing vocals and keyboards in addition to guitar. He is also the engineer and producer for some of their albums. After he left 38 Special, he started playing live shows with

Gregg Allman Gregory LeNoir Allman (December 8, 1947 – May 27, 2017) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. He was known for performing in the Allman Brothers Band. Allman grew up with an interest in rhythm and blues music, and the Allman B ...

and Friends.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chauncey, Danny American rock guitarists American male guitarists American lead guitarists 38 Special (band) members Living people 1956 births 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians Alameda High School alumni