RAY MINHINNET


Biography

Bands/Discography:

Solo albums: Books (by Ray Minhinett & Bob Young): Exquisite guitarist, not only a marvellous player, but also an expert in guitar history.

ALAN PRICE 

He played in some local bands, but his first pro work was playing with Alan Price, from The Animals fame. This was 1973:

Prior to that, Alan Price had produced tracks in the studio for the band that became Highway.
 
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Alan Price
GEORGIE FAME & THE BLUE FLAMES 

Later, he joined mythical Georgie Fame and his band. Again, I don't have more data about it, except it was during 1974:

Ray didn't record any material while playing with Georgie Fame.
 
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Georgie Fame
HIGHWAY 

This was Ray's first own band, formed around 1973 with :

They released a couple of albums, Highway and Smoking at the edge. But they split when Ray and Jimmy Hall got a call from Frankie Miller to join his band.
 
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James Hall
Ian Byron
John Elstar
Johnny Gordon
FRANKIE MILLER'S FULL HOUSE 

Frankie Miller is a great Scottish singer. Ray joined his band early in 1976:

They started touring, and in the summer, they recorded the album, Full House, with help of some great guests: Chris Spedding (guitar), Gary Brooker (keyboards, vocals), John 'Rabbit' Bundrick (keyboards), as well as The Memphis Horns. Around 1977, Frankie changed his musicians, and Ray left.

A piece of good news was when a Frankie Miller live album recorded with this lineup, BBC Radio One Live in concert, was finally released.
 

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James Hall
Graham Deacon
Someday, these musicians will be fully covered here:
Chrissie Stewart
Someday, these musicians will have a short tribute here:
Frankie Miller
PHOENIX 

Phoenix was born when Argent broke up, with three of their members (Rodford, Verity and Henrit). But after some months, the lineup suffered some changes, when Jim Rodford left to join The Kinks. John Verity called Ray to help him with the recording of their 2nd album, In full view, initially in a session basis, but Ray finally joined the band. The album also contained appearances by Rod Argent (keyboards), Ronnie Lee Cunningham (keyboards), and backing vocals by Michael Des Barres, Bruce Turgon. Ray and John Verity co-wrote most of the songs.

After the album was released, they completed the lineup in order to play more gigs. Russ Ballard joins them full time. Personnel in 1980 comprised:

They recorded two tracks, 'Juliet' and 'I surrender' (yes, they recorded the original version of Ballard's 'I surrender', later a big hit for Rainbow). But the band never released it by themselves; the only recording available is the single 'Juliet / I'm in love'.

Sadly, they split while they were starting preparations for a new album.
 

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James Hall
Graham Deacon
Someday, these musicians will be fully covered here:
Chrissie Stewart
Someday, these musicians will have a short tribute here:
Frankie Miller
 
(Almost) THIN LIZZY 

When Ray was recording with Phoenix in 1980, Phil Lynott offered him to join Thin Lizzy, as Gary Moore had definitely departed. But Ray turned down the offer.

JOHN COGHLAN'S DIESEL BAND 

John Coghlan was the mighty first drummer in Status Quo. After leaving the band around 1982, he formed his own combo, with great musicians. Although they usually hadn't a stable lineup, Ray Minhinnet was the lead guitarist.

I don't know the exact lineups, but other musicians who have played with the band are: old mate John Verity (guitar, vocals), Jackie Lynton (vocals), Micky Moody (guitar), etc.
 
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John Coghlan
Someday, these musicians will be fully covered here:
Jackie Lynton
Someday, these musicians will have a short tribute here:
x
PANAMA LTD. 

This was a big blues band where Ray also played from time to time. I haven't been able to find info about their lineups, so any help would be very appreciated.

RAY MINHINNET'S BAND 

Ray assembled a superb blues band:

Ray Minhinnett (guitar, vocals)
Andy Pyle (bass)
Chris Parren (keyboards)
Graham Walker (drums)
+
The Q-Tips Horns (5 musicians) Later, Chris Parren was replaced by Don Airey: Ray Minhinnett (guitar, vocals)
Andy Pyle (bass)
Don Airey (keyboards)
Graham Walker (drums)
+
The Q-Tips Horns (5 musicians) But, this band was approached by Gary Moore, who took them with him, renaming the band as The Midnight Blues Band. Then, Ray was offered to act as musical director and co-presenter of Saturday Night show on Sky TV. It was a two-hour live weekly show. There, Ray invited a special guest onto the show to perform with him and his band. People such as Bobby Womack, Courtney Pine or Status Quo attended the show.

 

Someday, these musicians will be fully covered here:
Andy Pyle
Don Airey
Click for short, additional info on bandmates:
Chris Parren
Graham Walker
RAY MINHINNET'S UK BUSTERS 

In August 1989, Chris Parren also played with the great Ray Minhinnett in his band UK Busters:

Ray Minhinnett (guitar, vocals)
Chris Parren (keyboards)
Nick Payne (sax)
Andy Beer (sax)
Stuart Blandemeer (sax)
+ others unknown to me. Help! We can find one track ('Never had the blues like this before'), in the collective album UnAmerican Blues Activities Vol.1, assembled by mythical blues producer Mike Vernon. Other artists featured there: Mick Clarke Band, Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds, Blues'n'Trouble, Balham Alligators, The Mick Pini Band, Juice on the Loose, etc.

This track gave Ray the chance of winning the Award for Best British Blues Songwriter that year. He was also nominated for the Best British Blues Guitarist award, alongside Eric Clapton, Gary Moore and Rory Gallagher.
 

Someday, these musicians will be fully covered here:
Nick Payne
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Chris Parren
Andy Beer
Stuart Blandemeer
MINHINNET YOUNG & MOODY 
Ray Minhinnett teams with his friends and colleagues Bob Young and Micky Moody: They released a mini album called Minhinnet Young & Moody, with 3 tracks.
 
Someday, these musicians will be fully covered here:
Micky Moody
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Bob Young
CREAM'D 

After five years far from the road, due to working in his book as well as the TV documentary (see below), Ray Minhinnett is back with a vengeance. He pays tribute to Cream with this band. The lineup usually is: xxx.
 
Someday, these musicians will be fully covered here:
Ian Ellis
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Steve Dixon
RAY MINHINNETT'S BAND 

His current live band includes great, veteran musicians from the British scene: x
 
Someday, these musicians will be fully covered here:
Ian Ellis
Bob Henrit
Click for short, additional info on bandmates:
Gary Moberley
Mike Paice
SOLO ALBUMS 

Up to now, Ray has released only one album credited to his name, Don't get mad get even. But this soon will change, as a new, live album is scheduled to be released very soon, tentatively called A night to remember. So watch this space!

He has also been playing, writing and producing music for movies and radio, as well as TV themes, jingles, etc. He wrote the music for the movie The Fear Within. Together with Brian Bennett (drummer in The Shadows), he worked in the music for TV series The Ruth Rendell Mysteries.

BOOKS 

Yes, books!!

As I've said before, Ray is not only a great guitarist, but an expert in guitar history. He co-wrote a book with Bob Young, called The Story of the Fender Stratocaster "Curves, Contours and Body Horns": A Celebration of the World's Greatest Guitar. It's full of interviews with great performers (Jeff Beck, Rory Gallagher, Eric Clapton, Robin Trower, Nils Lofgren, and a long etcetera), as well as many photos.

The book gave birth to a cable TV special honoring the Stratocaster, titled Curves, Contours and Body Horns, in 1997. It also saw the light as a 3 documentaries for BBC Radio One (one hour each), based on the film, and narrated by Bob Harris.

Apart from the books, he has also given some lectures about Fender guitars.
 

*** QUESTIONS TO SOLVE: 

1. Was Charlie Harrison (bass) a member of Frankie Miller Band while Ray played with Frankie?
2. Bassist Neil Murray once told me he played in some sessions for Ray, back in 1983. Were they supposed to be included in an album?
3. Was the band with Airey-Pyle-Walker the same band as UK Busters, or a different outfit?


Sessions

x

Related links: From the always interesting Alex's Picks (by Alex Gitlin), we have: From the superb site Knights in Blue Denim: The British Blues Scene '68 - '70 (by Christer Fridhammar & Vanja), we have:
Musicians mentioned in this page that I have projected to cover in my site someday: And short tributes to:

Family tree

Coming soon (I hope so!).

Thanks section

Very special thanks to: Jacqui, for info.

Special thanks to: 

Thanks to: Alex Gitlin, for scans.


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Page created by Miguel Terol on: 10/August/2001. First published on: xx/xx/xx. Last modified on: 10/September/2001.