Jimmy Ryan has been Carly Simon\u2019s guitarist since the 1970s. He\u2019s an American artist, composer, producer, and author with a career that has spanned six decades. Beginning at seventeen, he and his college band, The Critters, had their first top forty hit, \u201cYounger Girl,\u201d which was followed by three charting albums and two more top forty hits, \u201cMr. Dieingly Sad\u201d and \u201cDon\u2019t Let The Rain Fall Down on Me.\u201d
In 1970, Jimmy\u2019s friend, Carly Simon, called him to put a band together for her. She was rising fast on the US and British top 40 charts with \u201cThat\u2019s The Way I\u2019ve Always Heard It Should Be,\u201d as well as her first album \u201cCarly Simon,\u201d on which Jimmy played guitar. Jimmy went on to perform with Carly on most of her future albums and continues to work off and on with her to this day.\xa0
He's the guitar soloist on many of Carly\u2019s hits, the most memorable being \u201cYou\u2019re So Vain,\u201d and the Academy Award winning song of the year, \u201cLet the River Run,\u201d from the movie, Working Girl.\xa0
Aside from Carly Simon, Jimmy\u2019s also recorded with numerous superstars including no less than: Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Luther Vandross, James Taylor, Cat Stevens, Jim Croce, John Entwistle, Elton John & Kiki Dee, The Doors, Rod Stewart, and many more, earning him six gold records and one platinum record.\xa0
As a studio musician Jimmy has recorded alongside legendary session players, like: Jim Gordon, Claus Voorman, Jim Keltner, Nicky Hopkins, Will Lee, Steve Gadd, Lowell George, Robbie Robertson, Paul Shaffer, David Sanborn and many more.\xa0
Along the way, he found time to perform in the original Broadway production of Hair. And he was a principal actor and musician in the Broadway production of \u201cPump Boys and Dinettes.\u201d
Jimmy has scored music for TV, creating themes and music for NBC News, CNBC, MSNBC, Lifetime, USA, and PBS. He\u2019s also composed, arranged, and produced music for over 500 radio and TV commercials for clients like: Doritos, McDonalds, IBM, Ford, Nikon, Pizza Hut, Budweiser, Chevy, Coke, Diet Coke, and more.
In April 2019, he and his touring band, The Hit Men, were honored with the first ever Road Warrior Award from the Nashville Musician\u2019s Hall of Fame.\xa0
In 2022, Jimmy published his memoir, Behind: Autobiography of a Musical Shapeshifter. It\u2019s a fascinating look at the life of a musician working at the highest levels of the music industry, especially the life of a working rock musician.
And please be sure to stick around at the end of the show for a real treat. Jimmy has generously loaned us an unreleased song that he wrote and produced, Slow Burn.