David Lindley (musician)
David Perry Lindley (born March 21, 1944) is an American musician who founded the band El Rayo-X, and has worked with many other performers including Jackson Browne, Ry Cooder, Bonnie Raitt, Warren Zevon, Curtis Mayfield and Dolly Parton. He has mastered such a wide variety of instruments that Acoustic Guitar magazine referred to Lindley not as a multi-instrumentalist, but instead as a "maxi-instrumentalist."[3]
David Lindley | |
|---|---|
David Lindley at Knuckleheads Saloon, Kansas City, Missouri, March 19, 2011 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | De Paris Letante, Mr. Dave |
| Born | March 21, 1944[1] San Marino, California, US[2] |
| Genres | Rock, country, world music |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, producer, composer |
| Instrument(s) | |
| Years active | 1962–present |
| Labels | Asylum, Atlantic, Epic, RCA Victor, Shanachie |
| Website | davidlindley |
The majority of the instruments that Lindley plays are string instruments, including the acoustic and electric guitar, upright and electric bass, banjo, lap steel guitar, mandolin, hardingfele, bouzouki, cittern, bağlama, gumbus, charango, cümbüş, oud, and zither.
Lindley was a founding member of the 1960s band Kaleidoscope, and has worked as musical director for several touring artists.[3] In addition, he has occasionally scored and composed music for film.[4]
Early life and career
When Lindley was growing up in Los Angeles, his father had an extensive collection of 78 rpm records that included Korean folk and Indian sitar music.[5] Lindley took up the violin at age 3, but broke the bridge. He then moved on to the baritone ukelele in his early teens.[5] Then Lindley took to playing the banjo and the fiddle. By his late teens, he was acknowledged as an award-winning player, having won the Topanga Banjo•Fiddle Contest five times.[1][6]
He began to frequent the folk music scene of the 60s, patronizing clubs like the Ash Grove and the Troubador, and encountering an eclectic assortment of music, including flamenco, Russian folk music, and Indian sitar music. He found that radio played a very open assortment of music.[5]
From 1966 to 1970, Lindley was a founding member of the all-styles psychedelic band Kaleidoscope which released four albums on Epic Records during that period.
After Kaleidoscope broke up, he went to England and played in Terry Reid's band for a couple of years. In 1972, he teamed up with Jackson Browne, and played in his band through 1980. During the 1970s, he also toured as a member of the bands of Crosby-Nash, Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor.
In 1981, Lindley formed his own band, El Rayo-X. Jackson Browne produced their first album. Their last show before breaking up was December 31, 1989. Since that time, he has toured as a solo artist, and as half of a duo, first with Hani Naser, then with Wally Ingram. He also played on a multitude of studio sessions. Between his work in the studio as a session musician or on tour as a sideman or bandleader, Lindley has worked on learning new instruments. He is famous for having written the only song glorifying (a brand of) male condoms, "Ram-a-Lamb-a-Man," from his album Win this Record![7][8]
Work with other artists
Lindley is known for his work as a session musician. He has contributed to recordings and live performances by Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon, Linda Ronstadt, Curtis Mayfield, James Taylor, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Terry Reid, Dolly Parton, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Toto, Rod Stewart and Joe Walsh. He has also collaborated with fellow guitarists Ry Cooder, Henry Kaiser and G. E. Smith.[9] Artist Ben Harper has credited Lindley's distinctive slide guitar style as a major influence on his own playing, and, in 2006, Lindley sat in on Harper's album Both Sides of the Gun. He is known in the guitar community for his use of "cheap" instruments sold at Sears department stores and intended for amateurs. He uses these for the unique sound they produce, especially with a slide. In the early 1990s, he toured and recorded with Hani Naser adding percussive instruments to his solo performances, and his instrumental repertoire which he uses in his session work. In recent years, Lindley has also toured extensively and recorded with reggae percussionist Wally Ingram. It is his touring around the world that has exposed him to part of his array of instruments that appear exotic to many Western audiences.
Lindley's voice is heard in the version of "Stay" performed by Jackson Browne. Browne's version is a continuation of "The Load Out", and its refrain is sung in progressively higher vocal ranges. The refrain of "Oh won't you stay, just a little bit longer" is sung first by Browne, then by Rosemary Butler, then by Lindley in falsetto.[10]
Lindley was a special guest artist on a 1994 jazz CD entitled Wheels of the Sun by the Japanese shakuhachi player Kazu Matsui. He played on each track of the CD.[citation needed]
Lindley joined Jackson Browne for a tour of Spain in 2006. Love Is Strange: En Vivo Con Tino, a 2-CD set of recordings from that tour, was released May 11, 2010, with Browne and Lindley touring together starting in June of that year.[11] The duo also won an Independent Music Award for Best Live Performance Album[12]
Instruments
Lindley has a large collection of rare and unusual guitars and other instruments from the Middle East and various parts of the world. Lindley has listed and categorized many of them on his website[13] but admits that he has "absolutely no idea" how many instruments he owns and plays, having gathered them since the 1960s.[3]
Selected discography
- Solo
- 1967 : Side Trips (Epic) with Kaleidoscope
- 1967 : A Beacon from Mars (Epic) with Kaleidoscope
- 1969 : Incredible! Kaleidoscope (Epic) with Kaleidoscope
- 1970 : Bernice (Epic) with Kaleidoscope
- 1981 : El Rayo-X (Asylum)
- 1982 : Win This Record! (Asylum)
- 1983 : El Rayo Live
- 1985 : Mr. Dave
- 1988 : Very Greasy (Elektra) #174 US
- 1991 : The Indian Runner original soundtrack with Jack Nitzsche
- 1991 : A World Out of Time (Shanachie) with Henry Kaiser in Madagascar
- 1994 : The Sweet Sunny North (Shanachie Records) with Henry Kaiser in Norway
- 1994 : Wheels of the Sun by Kazu Matsui (Hermans records) with Hani Naser
- 1994 : Official Bootleg #1: Live in Tokyo Playing Real Good with Hani Naser
- 1995 : Song of Sacajawea (Rabbit Ears)
- 1995 : Official Bootleg #2: Live All Over the Place Playing Even Better with Hani Naser
- 2000 : Twango Bango Deluxe (with Wally Ingram)
- 2001 : Twango Bango II (with Wally Ingram)
- 2003 : Twango Bango III (with Wally Ingram)
- 2004 : Live in Europe (with Wally Ingram)
- 2008 : David Lindley—Big Twang
With other musicians
- with Jackson Browne
- 1973 : For Everyman (Asylum)
- 1974 : Late for the Sky (Asylum)
- 1976 : The Pretender (Asylum)
- 1977 : Running on Empty (Asylum)
- 1980 : Hold Out (Asylum)
- 2010 : Love Is Strange: En Vivo Con Tino (Inside Recordings)
- with Ry Cooder
- 1978 : Jazz (Warner Bros.)
- 1979 : Bop Till You Drop (Warner Bros.)
- 1995 : Cooder-Lindley Family Live at the Vienna Opera House
- with Crosby & Nash
- 1975 : Wind on the Water (ABC)
- 1976 : Whistling Down the Wire (ABC)
- with Graham Nash
- 1971 : Songs for Beginners (Atlantic)
- 1974 : Wild Tales (Atlantic)
- 1980 : Earth & Sky (Capitol)
- with Terry Reid
- 1972 : River (Atlantic)
- 1976 : Seed of Memory (ABC)
- with Linda Ronstadt
- 1974 : Heart Like a Wheel (Capitol)
- 1975 : Prisoner in Disguise (Asylum)
- 1977 : Simple Dreams (Asylum)
- with Rod Stewart
- 1975 : Atlantic Crossing (Warner Bros.)
- 1976 : A Night on the Town (Warner Bros.)
- with Warren Zevon
- 1976 : Warren Zevon
- 1987 : Sentimental Hygiene (Virgin)
- 1989 : Transverse City (Virgin)
- 1994 : Mutineer (Giant)
- 2003 : The Wind (Artemis)
- with others
- 1967 : Songs of Leonard Cohen (Columbia) with Leonard Cohen
- 1969 : Elephant Mountain (RCA) with The Youngbloods
- 1971 : America (Warner Bros.) America
- 1977 : Here You Come Again (RCA) with Dolly Parton
- 1979 : Restless Nights (Karla Bonoff album) (Columbia) with Karla Bonoff
- 1981 : There Goes the Neighborhood (Asylum) with Joe Walsh
- 1987 : Freight Train Heart with Jimmy Barnes
- 1987 : Trio (Warner Bros.) with Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt and Dolly Parton
- 1988 : Ancient Heart (Reprise Records) with Tanita Tikaram
- 1989 : Good Evening (Warner Bros.) with Marshall Crenshaw
- 1990 : Under the Red Sky (Columbia) with Bob Dylan
- 1992 : Fat City (Columbia) with Shawn Colvin
- 2003 : Oil (Cosmo Sex School Records) with Jerry Joseph and Dzuiks Küche
- 2006 : Both Sides of the Gun (Virgin) with Ben Harper
- 2008 : Insides Out (New West Records) with Jordan Zevon
- 2010 : The Promise (Columbia) with Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band
- 2012 : The Devil You Know (Fantasy Records) with Rickie Lee Jones
- 2015 : Slide Guitar Summit with Arlen Roth (Aquinnah Records)
- 2017 : The Bucket List (Rocker Chick Media) with The Sound Field[14]
References
- ^ a b Craig Harris. "David Lindley | Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
- ^ Pete Prown, Harvey P. Newquist , Legends of Rock Guitar, H. Leonard, 1997
- ^ a b c Kotapish, Paul (2005). . Acoustic Guitar Magazine. pp. Cover Story. Archived from the original on June 14, 2009. Retrieved May 31, 2009.
- ^ "David Lindley". IMDb.com. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
- ^ a b c Oksenhorn, Stewart. "World PiecesFor David Lindley, the world is still flats (sharps)". www.aspentimes.com. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
- ^ "David Lindley". David Lindley. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
- ^ "POP MUSIC REVIEW : Lindley Keeps on His Toes During New Year's Kickoff". Los Angeles Times. January 2, 1990. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
- ^ . AllMusic. March 18, 2020. Archived from the original on March 18, 2020. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
- ^ Snow, Mat (March 5, 1991). "Q&A". Q Magazine. 55: 34.
- ^ Browne, Jackson (1978). . Jackson Browne in Concert Live at Shepherd's Bush Theatre, London 1978 distributed on YouTube, time mark 7:03. Archived from the original on January 12, 2009. Retrieved September 19, 2009.
- ^ . Jackson Browne. Archived from the original on March 17, 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-31.
- ^ "10th Annual Independent Music Awards Winners Announced. Independent Music Awards, March 29, 2011. Retrieved on September 9, 2013.
- ^ Lindley, David (2005). "The Official David Lindley Web Page". Official Website. Retrieved May 31, 2009.
- ^ "The Bucket List". Soundfieldband.com. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
External links
- The Official David Lindley Web Page
- David Lindley Interview NAMM Oral History Library (2021)