Elliott Randall

Elliott Randall (born 1947) is an American guitarist, most known for being a session musician with popular artists. Randall has played the well-known guitar solos from Steely Dan's hit Reelin' in the Years and Fame (film). Legendary Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page has said that Randall's solo on Reelin' in the Years is his favorite guitar solo of all-time [http://www.elliott-randall.com/clasrock.htm] . The solo was ranked as the 40th best guitar solo of all-time by the readers of Guitar World magazine [http://guitar.about.com/library/bl100greatestc.htm] and the 8th best guitar solo by Q4 Music [http://news.q4music.com/2007/07/the_20_greatest_guitar_solos.html] .

Career

Randall began taking piano lessons at age five. At nine, in 1956, he switched to guitar. In 1963, as a sixteen-year-old, Randall met Richie Havens in Greenwich Village and began gigging. Randall did some early work behind the Capris and the Ronnettes and by 1964 was recording "small-time" demos. Between 1966 and 1967 he was a music teacher in Ohio. Upon his return to New York, he began working as a staff musician for the Musicor record company. He began recording with some friends around 1968, including Tim Rose and demo recordings with Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, who at the time were with Jay and the Americans. In 1969 he joined the band Seatrain, opting for that band rather than joining Wilson Pickett in Muscle Shoals. In 1970, Randall was signed to the Robert Stigwood Organization, which managed Cream, The Bee Gees, John Mayall, and The Staples Singers. He formed a band called Randall's Island, who recorded a few albums on Polydor. In 1972 The Stigwood Organization bought the rights to Jesus Christ Superstar and produced the show on Broadway, and hired Randall's band to perform the music. It was there that Randall met guitarist Vinnie Bell, who was experimenting with various electronic effects. Randall began to dabble in electronics as well, and whenever Bell was unable to make a gig, he recommended Randall.

In 1972 Randall left New York for California in the hopes of doing something bigger. It was then that he reunited with Becker and Fagen, as well as childhood friend Jeff 'Skunk' Baxter, and recorded the first Steely Dan album, Can't Buy a Thrill. Randall's guitar work on Reelin' in the Years became popular as the song headed up the charts, and soon, as the solo gained fame and respect, Randall began getting calls from other artists.

Randall had a history of turning down permanent gigs, instead favoring being a session musician. Becker and Fagen asked Randall to become a permanent member of Steely Dan but Randall politely declined, as he felt that the band's dynamics would cause a dissolution of the band after the third album, which ultimately happened. Randall later played with Steely Dan on their fourth and fifth albums, Katy Lied and The Royal Scam. At one point Randall was approached by John Belushi and asked to be the musical director for The Blues Brothers, a position which he also turned down. Jeff Porcaro and David Paich offered Randall the chance to be a founding member of Toto, which he rejected.

As a session player, Randall played with artists such as The Doobie Brothers, Tom Rush, Elkie Brooks, Carly Simon, Carl Wilson, Peter Wolf, Peter Frampton, James Galway, The Rochester Philharmonic and The American Symphony Orchestra, among many others. He was also a music consultant for Saturday Night Live and Oliver Stone and did projects with producers Gary Katz, David Kershenbaum, Steve Lillywhite, Eddie Kramer and Jerry Wexler. A full list of artists and producers with whom Randall has recorded can be found [http://www.elliott-randall.com/artists.htm here] . In addition to artistic projects, Elliott has also played, produced and composed myriad advertisements (jingles) for television, radio and cinema, for clients including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Miller Beer, Budweiser, Cadillac, Ford, McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's, CitiBank, General Mills, Nabisco, Procter & Gamble, MTV, ESPN, CBS, ABC, BBC-TV and countless others. Since the advent of midi in the early 1980s, Randall has worked as independent consultant for a wide range of companies, including Akai, Roland, Korg and Yamaha, in the areas of musical instrument and amplifier development, recording & sampling technology, software design, and education. Current projects include recording and production, as well as consultancy on streaming Internet content. Randall is currently recording a new CD in London, New York, and Ireland which blends together Celtic, Afro-Cuban and other global musical influences. He recorded and plays with his London-based "Posse" and his NYC-based "Randall's Rangers".

Gear

Randall plays a 1963 Fender Stratocaster. The neck pickup is a 1969 Gibson Humbucker. He plays though a Fender Tweed Deluxe on many occasions.

In an article in Guitar Player Magazine (July 2007) Randall was asked what rig he used to record the solo on "Reelin In The Years." He states, "That was my '63 Fender Stratocaster with a PAF humbucker in the neck position, straight into an Ampeg SVT bass amp. The SVT wouldn't have ben my first choice for an amp--or even my "fifth" choice--but that Strat is still my go-to guitar that I use about 98 percent of the time."

Discography

CD

**Randall's Island 1970 Polydor (cat.number 2489 004)
**Rock 'n' Roll City 1973 Polydor
**Randall's New York 1977 Kirshner
** [http://www.elliott-randall.com/cd.htm Still Reelin'] 2007 Private Collection Records

oundtracks

**Blues Brothers 1980
**Fame 1980
**Heart of Dixie 1989
**Looking for an Echo 2000

Also appears on (partial list)

**Animals' Christmas (1986) - Art Garfunkel/Amy Grant
**Arena (1996) - Asia
**Can't Buy a Thrill (1972) - Steely Dan
**Connections (1980) - Richie Havens
**Gene Simmons (1978) - Gene Simmons
**Hello Big Man (1983) - Carly Simon
**It's Alright (I See Rainbows) (1982) - Yoko Ono
**Katy Lied (1975) - Steely Dan
**Live and Sleazy (1979) - Village People
**Milk and Honey (1984) - John Lennon
**Royal Scam (1976) - Steely Dan
**Walking on Thin Ice (1992) - Yoko Ono

Video

**On Guitar, Pt. 1 (1992)

External links

* [http://www.myspace.com/elliottrandall Official MySpace page]
* [http://www.elliott-randall.com Elliott Randall Homepage]
* [http://shopping.yahoo.com/p:Elliott%20Randall:1927016237:page=discography:subpage=all;_ylt=ArYWqlk3dDnSZqvyGsUx9KxUvQcF;_ylu=X3oDMTBudjZmdTkzBF9zAzg0MzkzMzAwBHNlYwNhcnR0b29s Elliott Randall discography]
* [http://www.accessrock.com/Interviews/Elliott-Randall-guitar-1.asp Elliott Randall interview with Access Rock]