Monday, July 14, 2008

Yahoo LAUNCHCAST Song Of The Day-David Lindley & El Rayo-X


Artist:David Lindley & El Rayo-X

Song:Do Ya Wanna Dance?

Album:Very Greasy









Guitarist David Lindley has built a reputation as a consummate musician and session player. El Rayo-X was his one stab at commercial success but he generally doesn't care about that anymore. He was born Jan. 1, 1944 in San Marino, CA. He began playing banjo as a teen and soon added the fiddle. He won the Topanga Canyon banjo & fiddle festival five times and started playing with local bluegrass bands. In 1966 he formed Kaleidoscope with Chris Darrow. They recorded a few albums on Epic but split up in 1970. Lindley joined Jackson Browne's band in 1971 and remained there through the 70s. He would work on other projects when not touring and started playing sessions and was a major contributor to Ry Cooder's hit album Bop Til You Drop. He recorded his solo debut El Rayo-X in 1981 on Asylum Records and it did well enough that he formed a band with guitarist Bernie Larsen, bassist Jorge Calderon, drummer Ian Wallace and percussionist Ras "Baboo" Pierre. Though El Rayo-X was never really a commercial success, they were a big live draw. Very Greasy was their final album in 1988 and it was also their biggest seller and reached #179 on the Billboard Hot 200. Wallace had already left the band so Lindley ended it and toured for several years with percussionist Hani Naser. In recent years he has toured and recorded with percussionist Wally Ingram and continues to play sessions. He owns his own record label and is supposed to have a new CD Big Twang coming this year. Here's David Lindley & El Rayo-X performing Mercury Blues at the Roxy in Washington, DC 1988.

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