Don Michael "Red" Young (born May 8, 1948) is an American

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

and

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

player.

Beginnings and early success

He grew up in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

, United States. He began playing piano at the age of three and did his first classical recital at eight years old. He toured with Clyde McCoy (Sugar Blues) in 1967, the Air Force Band 1968–72 and in 1974 joined

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for a brief tour returning to Ft Worth where he joined Warren and Bill Ham, Darryl Norris and formed the Ham Brothers Band. The band did much recording at Huey Meaux's Sugar Hill Studio in Houston and he recorded with

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and many others during that period. In 1976 he toured with

Tompall Glaser Thomas Paul "Tompall" Glaser (September 3, 1933 – August 12, 2013) was an American country singer who was a key figure in the 1970s outlaw country movement.Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

Waylon Jennings Waylon Arnold Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He is considered one of the pioneers of the Outlaw country, outlaw movement in country music. Jennings started playing ...

and

Jessi Colter Mirriam Johnson (born May 25, 1943), known professionally as Jessi Colter, is an American country singer who is best known for her collaborations with her second husband, country musician Waylon Jennings, and for her 1975 crossover hit " I'm Not ...

with ''

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'' being the first platinum country album. After the tour, he joined

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and moved to Los Angeles and subsequent tours and recordings with

Joan Armatrading Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading (, born 9 December 1950) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. Her first major commercial success came with her third and fourth albums, '' Joan Armatrading'' (1976) and '' Show Some Emotion'' (1977), a ...

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Eric Burdon Eric Victor Burdon (born 11 May 1941) is an English singer and songwriter. He was previously the lead vocalist of the rhythm and blues, R&B and Rock music, rock band The Animals and the funk band War (band), War. He is regarded as one of the Br ...

and

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is an American singer who has performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin music. Ronstadt has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three A ...

with the

Nelson Riddle Nelson Smock Riddle Jr. (June 1, 1921 – October 6, 1985) was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid-1980s. He worked with many vocalists at Capitol Records, including ...

Orchestra in addition to many television, movie and live shows throughout the world. He learned writing for orchestra along the way and studying

and

Victor Feldman Victor Stanley Feldman (7 April 1934 – 12 May 1987) was an English jazz musician who played mainly piano, vibraphone, and percussion. He began performing professionally during childhood, eventually earning acclaim in the UK jazz scene as ...

among others. In 1985–87 he returned to Ft Worth to form Red and the Red Hots, (originally named by Genny Schorr, Linda Ronstadt’s wardrobe stylist while on tour with Nelson Riddle), a 10-piece swing band as lead vocalist, arranger and musical director, performing more than 400 shows during the three-year period, including a concert with the Ft Worth Symphony. "The Redhots" included female vocalists Cassie Miller, Dina Bennet, Jennifer Griffith and Rebecca Kyler Downs. In 1988–2002 he returned to Los Angeles for more recording, producing, television and movie dates as a musician, tours with Juice Newton and four albums with Red & the Red Hots including more than a thousand shows with the band. This was in addition to albums with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Royal Crown Revue, Joey Altruda, Johnny Reno and many others. In 2000 he returned to playing the Hammond B3 organ more and with his trio (Brother Red) and others in the jazz field – the Jazz Jury,

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, Johnny Reno and many others. In addition he also did recording in the blues field –

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and Dan Hicks. He did his own recordings in addition to a blues organ trio album (''Brother Red'') and a jazz album (''The Organizer''). In 2002 he moved to Austin, Texas, and concentrated on jazz organ and did albums also with Stephen Bruton,

among others. From 2004–2005 he was involved in a nightclub in Dallas called Django On The Parkway, where he performed with many artists, including George Clinton, Mike Morgan, Janiva Magness, Teresa James. In 2006 he joined Eric Burdon again as keyboardist and musical director and still tours with Burdon, in addition to his own performances worldwide and with his wife Silvie Rider.

Solo career

After forming Red and the Red Hots which had its beginnings as a part of Linda Ronstadt and Nelson Riddle Orchestra Tour in 1983–84, Young worked the band steadily for 20 years which produced four albums: ''Red & The Red Hots'' (1987), ''Red Hot Jazz'' (1996), ''Boogie Man'' (1998) and ''Gettin' Around'' (1999). In addition to recording they were featured in ''

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'' and ''The Donny & Marie Show''. He released two Hammond organ albums; ''Brother Red'' (2000) and ''The Organizer'' (2003) He performs throughout the world in many different formats – both piano, organ, on vocals, conducting, producing and arranging. He also works many dates a month throughout Austin and the rest of Texas.

Eric Burdon

After touring with Burdon in 1982, Young went on to do other things. At Burdon's 60th birthday bash in Los Angeles which included many people throughout the music industry and many special guests, Young, as part of the 1982 band played with Terry Wilson (bass), Tony Braunagel (drums) and

Snuffy Walden William Garrett Walden, known as W. G. Snuffy Walden (born February 13, 1950), is an American musician and composer of film and television soundtracks. Walden is an Emmy Award winner for the theme music to ''The West Wing'' ( NBC), has been nomi ...

(guitar). After that Young played on Burdon's ''My Secret Life'' album (2004) produced by

Tony Braunagel Tony Braunagel is an American drummer, producer, and songwriter from Houston, Texas, United States, who is based in Los Angeles, California. Braunagel has played on many film scores and television shows as well as numerous albums as a musician, ...

, and joined Burdon in 2006 for a worldwide tour, an arrangement that persists to this day. The 2009 touring band consisted of Billy Watts (guitar), Terry Wilson (bass), Georgia Dagaki (

Cretan lyra The Cretan lyra () is a pear-shaped three-stringed Greece, Greek Violin, a traditional Greek musical instruments, musical instrument, central to the traditional music of Crete and other islands in the Dodecanese and the Aegean Islands, Aegean Ar ...

) and Brannen Temple (drums) and Young on Hammond organ and keyboards. Since 2013 the band was Billy Watts (guitar), Terry Wilson (bass), Wally Ingram (percussion), Tony Braunagel (drums) and Young on keyboards.

References

1948 births Living people Musicians from Fort Worth, Texas 21st-century American keyboardists Musicians from Austin, Texas 20th-century American keyboardists American rock keyboardists American session musicians {{US-keyboardist-stub