Brian Ray

Ace guitarist, collaborator, and rock & roll solo artist Brian Ray has amassed a wealth of high-profile credits throughout his multi-decade career which began in the mid-'70s as the musical director and guitarist for soul legend Etta James. His years of touring, doing session work, and writing his own songs eventually led to his best-known role as guitarist and bassist for Paul McCartney, a gig he took in the early 2000s and retained throughout the following decade. Ray launched a solo career with a pair of tuneful power pop albums including 2010's This Way Up, and later formed the garage rock band the Bayonets, who released an album in 2014. Growing up in Southern California, Ray began playing guitar at the age of nine, inspired by the rock & roll albums in his older sister Jean's collection. Along with her husband Jim Glover, Jean Ray found success during the folk boom as the duo Jim & Jean, and has been cited by Brian as being a great influence on him. By his late teens, Ray had landed a steady gig playing guitar for Bobby Pickett of "Monster Mash" fame and through this gig came into the orbit of Phil Kaufman, who in addition to his work as a producer had gained notoriety for stealing and burning the body of late country-rock musician Gram Parsons in the California desert. As part of Pickett's Crypt Kicker 5, Ray played at a 1973 benefit show to help offset the legal debts Kaufman had accrued for this deed and was soon taken under the producer's wing. Through Kaufman, Ray met soul singer Etta James, who at the time was mounting a comeback. Throughout the remainder of the '70s and '80s, Ray served as James' guitarist and musical director, touring the world and sharing the stage with heavy hitters like John Lee Hooker, the Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, and Bo Diddley. In the late '80s he formed a songwriting partnership with Steve LeGassick and the two landed a hit for Smokey Robinson, writing the title cut for the Motown legend's 1987 One Heartbeat album. In the '90s, Ray spent some time working in France with French-Canadian pop singer Mylène Farmer and French rock legend Johnny Hallyday. The next major phase of Ray's career began in 2002 when he heard that Paul McCartney was looking for a new guitarist who could also handle the bass. Ray had played some bass in the past and quickly brushed up on his skills. A one-song performance of McCartney's "Freedom" at a Super Bowl pre-game event in New Orleans served as his induction to the Beatles' live ensemble and he was promptly hired to join their Driving Rain tour. Over the next decade, Ray was a mainstay of Sir Paul's team, appearing on live albums like Paul McCartney in Red Square (2005) and Good Evening New York City (2009), as well as studio albums like Chaos and Creation in the Backyard (2005) and Memory Almost Full (2007). While the McCartney gig served as his primary job, he also appeared on mainstream pop albums by Shakira and Kelly Clarkson. After years of playing for others, Ray made his own solo debut with 2005's Mondo Magneto, a rousing power pop album which featured a guest spot from Etta James on the bluesy "Soft Machine." He followed up in 2010 with another solo outing, This Way Up. One of his collaborators on these albums was Oliver Leiber, son of songwriting legend Jerry Leiber. In 2011, the two formed a garage-driven power pop band called the Bayonets and released their debut full-length, Crash Boom Bang! in 2014. He remained active with McCartney while also managing more creative pursuits, returning to solo work with the 2017 single "Here for You" b/w "Cinnamon Girl/Mr. Soul," followed in 2018 by a pair of collaborations with Smokey Robinson.
© Timothy Monger /TiVo