Kortchmar, Danny (6th April 1946-Present)

He is a guitarist, songwriter, producer and session musician born in New York City to a family where his father was a manufacturer, his mother was a novelist and his grandfather was a violist who played for the New York Philharmonic and the NBC Symphony Orchestra.

He started out playing with local bands that included The King Bees in the mid-1960s. Another was The Flying Machine whose members included his friend James Taylor, who had not yet become known but mentioned the band in his later hit “Fire and Rain”.

In 1966 he travelled to London, England to work as a session musician but returned to the United Stated in 1967 to become a member of The Fugs and recording Tenderness Junction before travelling to California with the band’s bassist Charles Larkey to make up the trio The City with Carole King. They recorded the album Now That Everything’s Been Said and then went their own ways but he continued to work with Carole King when she ventured out as a solo artist.

In 1970 he returned to working with James Taylor and the work he did with both James Taylor and Carole King set him up as one of the most sought after guitarists in Los Angeles during the 1970s and ’80s. He also worked with many other artists during that time as well as performing with Charles Larkey again from 1970 to 1971 in the band Jo Mama.

Working as a solo artist he released the albums Kootch in 1973 and Innuendo in 1980. His solo work was recognised but he was still best known and most successful for his work with other artists.

During the 1970s he became a member of The Section with Leland Sklar, Craig Doerge and Russ Kunkel. They released three albums during their time together. He went on to become a member of the band Attitudes which saw him writing several songs for their albums.

As a songwriter his “Shaky Town was recorded by Jackson Browne and “Honey Don’t Leave L.A.” was recorded by James Taylor. As a composer he wrote music for the film soundtrack of Cheech & Chong’s Up In Smoke and as a producer has worked on recordings by many popular artists.

During the 1980s he recorded and toured with Linda Ronstadt and appeared in her video for “Get Closer” and “What’s New?”. He was also with her on the telecast of the 25th Anniversary of the Grammy Awards.

In 1984 he appeared in the segment “Gimme Some Money” in This Is Spinal Tap where he had a cameo as the bass player Ronnie Pudding. That same year he co-produced, performed on and wrote/co-wrote several songs for Don Henley’s Building the Perfect Beast. He did the same for his The End of Innocence in 1989. In the 1990s he continued to produce, write for and perform on many more successful albums for other artists.

When the 2000s came around he started the band Midnight Eleven in 2004 and released its first album the following year. In 2006 he went back to production and co-produced The Walk by Hansen. That same year he toured Japan with The Verbs.

He formed the group Slo Leak which appeared on 2 CDs and in 2010 supported James Taylor and Carole King on the Troubadour Reunion Tour. In the 2020s he joined up with several of his studio musician friends from the ’70s and ’80s to co-found the band The Immediate Family which has toured and made recordings.

During his career he has worked with countless artists that include Tony Bennett, Joe Bonamassa, Eric Carmen, Kim Carnes, Marc Cohn, Robert Cray, Steve Cropper, Vic Damone, Jackie DeShannon, Yvonne Elliman, David Foster, Jan Hammer, Lee Hazlewood, Billy Joel, Jon Bon Jovi, Jim Keltner, Lang Lang, Henry Mancini, Bette Midler, Keith Moon, Rick Nelson, Tracy Nelson, Ivan Neville, Pointer Sisters, Lisa Marie Presley, Bonnie Raitt, Sam & Dave, David Sanborn, Nina Simone, Nancy Sinatra, Spin Doctors, Billy Squier, Kate Taylor, Jennifer Warnes and Andy Williams and hundreds of others.

The albums he has worked on as a guitarist, producer, songwriter or backing singer are far too numerous to mention but a select few of them include Ain’t Love Enough: The Best Of… and Good News by The Attitudes, Summer in Paradise by The Beach Boys, Running on Empty by Jackson Browne, Like a Fire by Solomon Burke, The Higher They Climb, The Harder They Fall by David Cassidy, Crossroads by Tracy Chapman, It’s A Man’s World by Cher, No Other by Gene Clark, Night Calls by Joe Cocker, Oh Yes I Can by David Crosby, Graham Nash/David Crosby and Whistling Down the Wire by Crosby & Nash, Essence to Essence by Donovan, Shout of Love and Down in The Groove by Bob Dylan, Hell Freezes Over by The Eagles, James Taylor & The Original Flying Machine by The Flying Machine, No Fun Aloud by Glenn Frey, What’s Wrong With This Picture? by Andrew Gold, Bring ‘Em In by Buddy Guy, Change of Season and Best of Times by Daryl Hall & John Oates, The New Standard by Herbie Hancock, The Very Best Of… by Mick Jagger, Come A Little Closer by Etta James, All About Soul and River of Dreams by Billy Joel, I Can’t Stand Still by Don Henley, J Is for Jump by Jo Mama, Writer, Music, Rhymes and Reasons, Fantasy and Tapestry by Carole King, Head and Music Box by The Monkees, Rock a Little by Stevie Nicks, Earth & Sky by Graham Nash, Pussy Cats by Harold Nilsson, Rainbow by Dolly Parton, Prisoner in Disguise, Mad Love and Get Closer by Linda Ronstadt, Dig by Boz Scaggs, Tell Me the Truth by Timothy B. Schmit, Forward Motion by The Section, Sedaka’s Back by Neil Sedaka, The Distance by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, Wish by Feargal Sharkey, Letters Never Sent by Carly Simon, Slo Leak, When the Clock Strikes 12 and New Century Blues by Slo Leak, Black Rose by J.D. Souther, Ringo’s Rotogravure by Ringo Starr, Human by Rod Stewart Curtis Stigers by Curtis Stigers, Thoroughfare Gap by Stephen Stills, James Taylor, Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon, One Man Dog, Sweet Baby James, Gorilla, In the Pocket, JT, Flag and Greatest Hits by James Taylor, Absolutely Live and Kingdom of Desire by Toto, The Essential by John Waite, The Best of.. by Paul Williams, Monkey Grip and Stone Alone by Bill Wyman, Landing on Water and Lucky Thirteen by Neil Young and Excitable Boy by Warren Zevon along with various film soundtracks such as The Bodyguard, Good Will Hunting, Half Baked and The Client.

Sources:

Kortchmar, Danny (6th April 1946-Present)

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