Chuck Rainey

Chuck Rainey, (born Charles Walter Rainey III, June 17, 1940, Cleveland, Ohio, United States) is an American bass guitar session musician, known for playing with many well-known American musicians and acts, including Donald Byrd, Steely Dan, Quincy Jones, and Aretha Franklin.

Biography
Rainey's youthful pursuits included violin, piano and trumpet. Later, while attending Lane College in Tennessee, Rainey switched to baritone horn to join the school's travelling brass ensemble. While on active military duty, Rainey learned rhythm guitar and began playing professionally with local bands. His lack of improvisational skills on guitar led him to pick up the bass, and soon Rainey found himself working steadily as a studio bassist in New York, recording or touring with many of the greatest acts of that time.

By the 1970s he had played with Jerome Richardson, Grady Tate, Mose Allison, Gato Barbieri, and Gene Ammons, as well as with Eddie Vinson at the 1971 Montreux Festival.

As a member of The King Curtis All-Stars, he toured with the Beatles on their second run across the U.S. By the beginning of the 1970s, Rainey had firmly established his place as New York City's first call session bass guitarists.

In 1972, he released his first solo album The Chuck Rainey Coalition on Skye Records. The coalition consists of notable session musicians Richard Tee, Warren Smith, Specs Powell, Eric Gale, Bernard Purdie, Herb Lovelle, Cornell Dupree and Billy Butler.

Moving to Los Angeles in 1972, his work with Quincy Jones continued as a member of Jones' big band, and Rainey continued to work as a studio musician on others albums like, Betty Davis' famously shelved session from 1976. About this time, he bumped into friend and Steely Dan producer Gary Katz, which led to performing on tracks for Pretzel Logic by Steely Dan. His relationship with Steely Dan continued through Katy Lied; The Royal Scam; their most famous album, Aja, on which he performs on every track except "Deacon Blues" (Walter Becker played bass for that track); and Gaucho.

Rainey's style has always been to provide a rhythmic and melodic bottom that works with the drummer for the benefit of the song. His books on bass study refer to a "sensitivity to music" and a dedication to studying the fundamentals of music theory. While his "sideman" philosophy of bass has not brought him the level of recognition of star players such as Jaco Pastorius, Rainey is by far more recorded than his more famous contemporaries.

As leader

 * The Chuck Rainey Coalition (1972, Skye Records)
 * Born Again (1981, Hammer 'N Nails)
 * Hangin Out Right (1996, CharWalt Records)
 * Sing and Dance (1998, CharWalt Records)

As session player

 * 1965: Red Holloway - Red Soul (Prestige)
 * 1968: David Newman - Bigger & Better
 * 1968: Hubert Laws - Laws' Cause (Atlantic)
 * 1968: Cal Tjader - Solar Heat
 * 1968: Laura Nyro - Eli and the Thirteenth Confession
 * 1968: J. J. Johnson and Kai Winding - Betwixt & Between (A&M/CTI)
 * 1968: Eddie Harris - Plug Me In (Atlantic)
 * 1969: The Rascals - Freedom Suite
 * 1969: Gary McFarland - America the Beautiful
 * 1969: Yusef Lateef - Yusef Lateef's Detroit (Atlantic)
 * 1969: Quincy Jones - Walking in Space (CTI)
 * 1969: Lena Horne and Gábor Szabó - Lena & Gabor (Skye)
 * 1969: Dizzy Gillespie - Cornucopia (Solid State)
 * 1969: Gary Burton - Good Vibes (Atlantic)
 * 1969: Al Kooper - You Never Know Who Your Friends Are
 * 1970: Johnny Pate - Outrageous
 * 1970: Shirley Scott - Something (Atlantic)
 * 1970: Billy Butler: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow (Prestige)
 * 1970: Yusef Lateef - Suite 16 (Atlantic)
 * 1970: Roberta Flack - Chapter Two
 * 1970: Laura Nyro - Christmas and the Beads of Sweat
 * 1970: Lonnie Smith - Drives
 * 1971: Donny Hathaway - Donny Hathaway
 * 1971: Yusef Lateef - The Gentle Giant (Atlantic)
 * 1971: Grant Green - Visions
 * 1971: Gene Ammons - My Way (Prestige), Free Again (Prestige)
 * 1971: Roberta Flack - Quiet Fire
 * 1972: The Crusaders - Hollywood
 * 1972: The Crusaders - 1
 * 1972: Joe Walsh - Barnstorm
 * 1972: Phil Upchurch - Darkness, Darkness
 * 1972: Delaney, Bonnie & Friends - D&B Together
 * 1972: Aretha Franklin - Amazing Grace
 * 1972: Tim Buckley - Greetings from L.A.
 * 1973: Donald Byrd - Black Byrd
 * 1973: Dave Mason - It's Like You Never Left''
 * 1973: Margie Joseph - Margie Joseph
 * 1973: Afrique - Soul Makossa
 * 1973: Mary McCreary - Butterflies In Heaven
 * 1973: Bobbi Humphrey - Blacks and Blues
 * 1973: David Clayton-Thomas - David Clayton-Thomas
 * 1973: Lightnin' Rod - Hustlers Convention
 * 1973: Donald Byrd - Street Lady
 * 1973: Aretha Franklin - With Everything I Feel in Me
 * 1973: Bette Midler - Bette Midler
 * 1973: Sammy Johns - Sammy Johns
 * 1974: Maggie Bell - Queen Of The Night
 * 1974: Donald Byrd - Stepping into Tomorrow
 * 1974: Bobbi Humphrey - Satin Doll
 * 1974: Marlena Shaw - Who Is This Bitch, Anyway?
 * 1974: Peggy Lee - Let's Love
 * 1974: Steely Dan - Pretzel Logic
 * 1975: Donald Byrd - Places and Spaces
 * 1975: Johnny Hammond - Gears
 * 1975: Bobby Hutcherson - Linger Lane
 * 1975: Gene Harris - Nexus
 * 1975: Bobbi Humphrey - Fancy Dancer
 * 1975: Steely Dan - Katy Lied
 * 1976: Robert Palmer - Some People Can Do What They Like
 * 1976: Nils Lofgren - Cry Tough
 * 1976: Patti Austin - End of a Rainbow (CTI)
 * 1976: Gene Harris - In a Special Way
 * 1976: Sérgio Mendes & Brasil '77 - Homecooking''
 * 1976: Steely Dan - The Royal Scam
 * 1976: David T. Walker - On Love
 * 1976: Jackson Browne - The Pretender
 * 1976: King Errisson - The Magic Man
 * 1976: Marvin Gaye - I Want You
 * 1976: Betty Davis - Hangin' Out In Hollywood / Crashin' From Passion
 * 1977: Minnie Riperton - Stay in Love
 * 1977: Lara Saint Paul - Saffo Music
 * 1977: Tom Scott - Blow It Out''
 * 1977: Steely Dan - Aja
 * 1978: Dusty Springfield - It Begins Again
 * 1978: Jiro Inagaki & Chuck Rainey Rhythm Section - Blockbuster
 * 1978: Leo Sayer - Leo Sayer
 * 1978: Tavares - Future Bound
 * 1978: D.C. LaRue - Confessions
 * 1978: Cheryl Lynn - Cheryl Lynn
 * 1979: Lowell George - Thanks, I'll Eat It Here
 * 1979: Leo Sayer - Here
 * 1979: Minnie Riperton - Minnie
 * 1980: Steely Dan - Gaucho
 * 1981: Rickie Lee Jones - Pirates
 * 1982: Larry Coryell - Fairyland
 * 1982: Ry Cooder - The Slide Area
 * 1982: Eye to Eye - Eye to Eye
 * 1982: Donald Fagen - The Nightfly
 * 1997: Andrés Calamaro - Alta suciedad