Don Randi

Don Randi
Born (1937-02-25) February 25, 1937 (age 87)
New York City, U.S.
GenresPop, rock, jazz
OccupationMusician
InstrumentKeyboards
Years active1956–present

Don Randi (born February 25, 1937) is an American keyboard player, bandleader, and songwriter who was a member of the Wrecking Crew.

Career

Don was born February 25, 1937, in New York City.[1] He was raised in the Catskill Mountains and studied classical music.[2] In 1954, he moved to Los Angeles and became a studio musician.[2] During the next year, he began working at record distribution company where he was influenced by jazz musicians, particularly Horace Silver.[3]

He began his career as a pianist and keyboard player in 1956, gradually establishing a reputation as a leading session musician. In the early 1960s, he was musician and arranger for record producer Phil Spector's Wall of Sound. He played piano on "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" by Nancy Sinatra and on her albums, as well as being a member of her touring band for decades. He performed on the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" and "God Only Knows".[3] His piano can be heard on the Buffalo Springfield song "Broken Arrow". He claims to have played on over three hundred hit records, working with Linda Ronstadt (the harpsichord on "Different Drum"), Quincy Jones, Cannonball Adderley, Herb Alpert, Sarah Vaughan, Lee Hazlewood and Frank Zappa.[3] He recorded live albums of piano jazz as a solo performer and as the leader of the Don Randi Trio with Leroy Vinnegar and Mel Lewis.[2] Randi wrote film scores during the 1970s, including Bloody Mama (1970), Up in the Cellar (1970), J. W. Coop (1972), Stacey (1973), and Santee (1973).

In 1970, he opened The Baked Potato jazz club in Studio City, California, and formed Don Randi and Quest as the house band. The band recorded over 15 albums and was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1980 for the album New Baby.[3] In 2010, the Baked Potato was named Best Jazz Club by Los Angeles magazine.[4]

In 2008, as a member of the Wrecking Crew, Randi was inducted into the Hollywood RockWalk.[5][6]

Discography

As leader

  • Feelin' Like Blues (World Pacific, 1960)
  • Where Do We Go from Here? (Verve, 1962)
  • Last Night/with the Don Randi Trio (Verve, 1962)
  • Mexican Pearls (Palomar, 1965)
  • Revolver Jazz (Reprise, 1966)
  • Live On the Sunset Strip! (Reprise, 1967)
  • 3 in the Cellar (American International, 1970)
  • At the Baked Potato (Poppy, 1972)
  • Don Randi & the Baked Potato Band (JAS, 1975)
  • Bermuda Triangle (Dobre, 1978)
  • New Baby (Sheffield Lab, 1979)
  • California 84 (Bee Pee, 1983)
  • Baked Potato Shuffle (Baked Potato, 1988)
  • Don't Look Back (Headfirst, 1989)
  • Wind and Sea (Headfirst, 1990)

As sideman

With David Axelrod

  • Songs of Experience (Capitol, 1969)
  • Earth Rot (Capitol, 1970)
  • Strange Ladies (MCA, 1977)
  • David Axelrod (Mo Wax, 2001)

With others

Notable singles

Based on information from Randi’s book, You’ve Heard These Hands.[7]

Charting for singles is on the US singles charts.[8]

Artist Title Date & highest position
on US charts 		Miscellaneous
The Beach Boys “God Only Knows” #39, 9/17/66
The Beach Boys “Good Vibrations" #1, 10/29/66
The Beach Boys “Help Me Rhonda" # 1, 5/01/65
The Beach Boys “Wouldn't It Be Nice" #8, 8/20/65
Buffalo Springfield “Broken Arrow” Released 11/18/67 produced and arranged by Jack Nitzsche
Glen Campbell “I'm Not Gonna Miss You” released on September 30, 2014 for the soundtrack to the documentary Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me,
the last song Campbell recorded
The Crystals “He's a Rebel" #1, 10/06/62 produced by Phil Spector, #2 R&B[9]
The Crystals “Da Doo Ron Ron” #3, 5/11/63 # 5 R&B [citation needed]
The Crystals "Then He Kissed Me" #6, 8/31/63 #8 R&B [citation needed]
Sammy Davis Jr. “The Candy Man” #1, 10/6/72
Neil Diamond “Cracklin' Rosie” #1, 8/29/70
Lesley Gore “It’s My Party" #1, 5/18/63 #1 R&B,[citation needed] produced by Quincy Jones, arranged byJack Nietzsche
The Jackson 5 “ABC" #1, 3/21/70 #1 R&B[citation needed]
Jan and Dean “Popsicle” #21, 6/18/66
Ben E. King “Spanish Harlem“ #10, 1/30/61 #15 R&B[citation needed]
Dean Martin “Everybody Loves Somebody” #1, 7/11/64
Barry McGuire "Eve of Destruction"[10] #1, 8/28/65
Jack Nitzsche “The Lonely Surfer” #39, 9/7/63
Laura Nyro “Save the Country”
The Paris Sisters “I Love How You Love Me” #5, 10/2/61
Ray Peterson “Corinna, Corinna” #9, 12/19/60
Elvis Presley “A Little Less Conversation"
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap “Young Girl" #2, 3/16/68
Gary Puckettt and the Union Gap “Lady Willpower” #2, 6/22/68
The Righteous Brothers “You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" #1, 12/26/64 #2 R&B [citation needed]
The Righteous Brothers “Ebb Tide” #5, 12/11/65 #13 R&B[citation needed]
The Righteous Brothers “Unchained Melody” #4, 7/31/65 #6 R&B[citation needed]
The Ronettes Be My Baby #7, 4/30/66 #4[citation needed]
Diana Ross “Touch Me in the Morning” #1, 7/7/73 #5 R&B[citation needed]
Frank and Nancy Sinatra “Somethin' Stupid” #1, 3/25/67
Nancy Sinatra “These Boots Are Made for Walkin'” #1, 2/5/66
Nancy Sinatra "How Does That Grab You, Darlin'?" #7, 4/30/66
Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood “Jackson” # 14, 7/8/67
O.C. Smith “The Son of Hickory Holler's Tramp” #40, 4/20/68 #32 R&B[citation needed]
Sonny and Cher “I Got You Babe” #1, 7/31/65 #19 R&B [citation needed]
The Spiral Staircase “More Today Than Yesterday” #12, 5/3/69
Stone Poneys “Different Drum” #13, 12/9/67 lead vocals Linda Ronstadt
Hank Williams Jr. “Family Tradition”

Notable albums

A list of notable albums that Randi played on.[7][11]

Artist Title Date & highest position
on US charts 		Miscellaneous
The Association And Then... Along Comes the Association #5, 10/01/66
The Beach Boys Pet Sounds #10, 06/11/66
The Beach Boys The Smile Sessions
Buffalo Springfield Buffalo Springfield Again Released 11/18/67
Tim Buckley Goodbye and Hello Released September 1967
Leonard Cohen Death of a Ladies Man Released November 13, 1977 produced by Phil Spector
Neil Diamond Tap Root Manuscript #13, 11/21/70
The Electric Prunes Mass in F Minor arranged by David Axelrod
Cass Elliot The Road is No Place for a Lady
The Jackson 5 ABC #4, 6/6/70
Love The Best of Love
The Monkees The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees #3, 5/18/68
The Monkees More of the Monkees #1, 2/11/67
Michael Nesmith The Wichita Train Whistle Sings
Mickey Newbury An American Trilogy
Harry Nilsson The Point! #25, 4/10/71
Michelle Phillips Victim of Romance Produced by Jack Nitzsche
The Righteous Brothers You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' #4, 2/6/65
The Righteous Brothers Back to Back #16, 2/5/66
Tommy Roe Beginnings 1971
The Ronettes Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica #96 released November 1964
Nancy Sinatra Boots #5, 3/26/66
Nancy Sinatra How Does That Grab You?
Nancy Sinatra Country My Way
Nancy Sinatra Nancy
Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood Nancy and Lee # 13, 5/25/68
Sonny and Cher Look At Us #2, 9/4/65
Phil Spector Back to Mono (1958–1969)
Phil Spector A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector In 2019, it was ranked the greatest Christmas album of all time by Rolling Stone.[12]
The Spiral Staircase More Today Than Yesterday
The Tubes Young and Rich
Townes Van Zandt Our Mother the Mountain
Townes Van Zandt High, Low and In Between
Hank Williams Jr. Family Tradition

References

  1. ^ "Don Randi on Apple Music". Apple Music.
  2. ^ a b c Yanow. "Don Randi". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 October 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d "Biography at Baked Potato website". Archived from the original on 2016-08-03. Retrieved 2010-09-16.
  4. ^ "Best Jazz Club". Los Angeles. August 2010. Archived from the original on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  5. ^ Lynne Margolis, Glen Campbell, Don Randi and Hal Blaine Honored at RockWalk, 5 August 2008 Archived September 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ "The Wrecking Crew at Hollywood's RockWalk". Archived from the original on 2018-05-28. Retrieved 2010-09-16.
  7. ^ a b Randi, Don, with Karen "Nish" Nishimura, You’ve Heard These Hands: From the Wall of Sound to the Wrecking Crew and Other Incredible Stories, Hal Leonard Books 2015 pp.227-230
  8. ^ Whitburn, Joel The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, Billboard Books, New York, 1992
  9. ^ Whitburn, Joel, The Billboard Book of TOP 40 R&B and Hip Hop Hits, Billboard Books, New York 2006 p. 128
  10. ^ Hartman, Kent, The Wrecking Crew: The Inside Story of Rock and Roll’s Best-Kept Secret, Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 2012 p. 120
  11. ^ Whitburn, Joel, The Billboard Book of TOP 40 Albums, Billboard Books, New York 1991
  12. ^ "The 25 Greatest Christmas Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. 30 November 2019.