Douglas Brian Riley, CM (April 12, 1945 – August 27, 2007) was a Canadian musician, also known as Dr. Music. He spent two decades with the Famous People Players as its musical director, besides his participation on over 300 album projects in various genres. Riley died of a heart attack on August 27, 2007.

Biography

Riley was a graduate of the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institu ...

and studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music. Doug Riley was born and raised in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

. At the age of two he was diagnosed with polio. When he was three, as a way to help cope with his physical disability and to provide him with a means of self-expression, he began to study piano. In his teens, he played with R&B band

the Silhouettes The Silhouettes were an American doo wop/ R&B group, whose single " Get a Job" was a number 1 hit on the ''Billboard'' R&B singles chart and pop singles chart in 1958. The doo-wop revival group Sha Na Na derived their name from the song's l ...

. He attended the University of Toronto and, in 1965, graduated with a Bachelor of Music. He went on to do his postgraduate work on the music of the Iroquois. In 1969, Riley was the arranger and keyboardist on

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 ...

' album, ''Doing His Thing''. In a 2006 interview with the Toronto Star, Doug Riley said "Ray Charles was my first influence outside the boogie-woogie and stride pianists like Albert Ammons and Fats Waller". After the completion of the album, Ray Charles asked Doug Riley to join his band but Riley turned down the offer and decided to stay in Toronto to continue his musical career.

Career (groups)

The Silhouettes

;Background As a teenager, he was in the Silhouettes, playing r&b at the Blue Note, a night club in Toronto. Musicians also included Steve Kennedy and Dianne Brooks. One date they played at was The Blue Note on February 22, 1964. This is where William "Smitty" Smith first met Steve Kennedy. The Silhouettes were actually the house band there, replacing the original house band, The Regents and inheriting their saxophonist Kennedy in the process. They played at the Blue Note for three years. They recorded two singles with Hardin, "I'm Not Running After You (Anymore)" bw "I Will Never Turn My Back On You" (1966) and "She'll Be Back" bw "Love Is Wonderful" (1967). They were also the backing band on Eric Mercury's 1966 single, "I Wondered Why" / "Softly". ;Career In early 1965, the group was backing singers Jack Hardin and Dianne Brooks, appearing at The Hawk's Nest in Toronto as the opening attraction. A ad appeared in the May 30, 1966 edition of ''RPM Weekly'' predicting a guaranteed 100% Canadian and possible international smash hit for "I'm Not Running After You (Anymore)". Reviews in the June 20th edition of ''RPM Weekly'' were luke warm. Barry Sarazin of CJET didn't believe the song had the spice to be an instant hit but had merit to deserve airplay. Dave Charles of CJBQ said that it would at least deserve a chart rating. He also complemented Hardin's voice saying that the song was ideal for the singer's style. As Jack Hardin & The Silhouettes, they played at the Whitby Arena on May 13, 1967.

Dr. Music

;Background Riley formed the group Dr. Music in 1969. It began with Riley being asked to put together musicians for ''

The Ray Stevens Show ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...

'' on CTV. This was for the 1969 to 1970 season. The core of the ensemble stayed together after the show's cancellation and they recorded and toured together. The group had a run of Top 20 hits during the 1970s. ;Career Their single " One More Mountain to Climb bw "The Land" got a good review in the September 11, 1971 edition of ''Cash Box''. Spending 7 weeks on Vancouver's CKVN chart, it peaked at #15 in October that year.Their debut album was released on the GRT label in 1972. Self-titled, the album featured the tracks, "

Sun Goes By The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared ...

", "One More Mountain to Climb" and "Try a Little Harder". Riley produced the album as well as co-arranging it with Steve Kennedy. "Sun Goes By" which Kennedy wrote spent 9 weeks on Vancouver's CKVN chart, peaking at #12. Not long after the release of their album the group broke up. He later formed another version of the group.

Composer, producer

A prolific composer of jingles at the age of 20, he was working in collaboration with

Mort Ross Revolution Records was a Canadian Record company. It was also the parent company for the Revolver label. It had success with hits from artists such as Dianne Brooks and Motherlode. Background Incorporated in October 1968, the company was co-fo ...

, Tommy Ambrose and Larry Trudel. Trudel had the company Trudel Productions. He composed the song "Show Him (He's Not Alone)" which was Dianne Brooks' second single that was released on Revolver REVS 003 in 1969. It was produced by Mort Ross. With Ross, he produced " When I Die" which was a hit for the group, getting to No. 1 in Canada and Top 20 on the U.S. charts.Canadian songwriters Hall of Fame
When I Die
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Discography

Dr. Music

*''Dr. Music'' (1971) *''Dr. Music II'' (1973) *''Bedtime Story'' (1974) *''Doctor Music'' (1977) *''Circa '84'' (1984)

Solo

*''Dreams'' (1975) *''Freedom'' (1990) *''Con Alma'' (1994) *''A Lazy Afternoon'' (1997) *''Stride'' (2005) *''You Can't Make Peace'' (2007)

Awards and recognition

* 1981: nominee,

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall o ...

s, Best Jazz Album: ''Tommy Ambrose at Last'' ( Tommy Ambrose with the Doug Riley Band) * 1993-2000: Jazz Organist of the Year, Jazz Report Awards * 2003: member,

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the c ...

Biography

Career (groups)

The Silhouettes

Dr. Music

Composer, producer

Discography

Dr. Music

Solo

Awards and recognition

References

External links