John McCurry (born June 24, 1957) is an American musician and composer, a guitarist, songwriter and singer based in New York City. He has worked with many well-known musical artists, including
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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,
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album ''She's So Unusual'' (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achi ...
,
Billy Joel
William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...
,
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
,
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...
,
John Waite
John Charles Waite (born 4 July 1952) is an English musician. As a solo artist, he has released ten studio albums and is best known for the 1984 hit single " Missing You", which reached No. 1 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the top ten on ...
,
Belinda Carlisle
Belinda Jo Carlisle ( ; born August 17, 1958) is an American singer. She gained fame as the lead vocalist of the Go-Go's, the most successful all-female rock band of all time, and went on to have a prolific career as a solo artist.
Raised in ...
,
Julian Lennon
Julian Charles John Lennon (born John Charles Julian Lennon; 8 April 1963) is an English musician. He is the son of Beatles member John Lennon and his first wife, Cynthia, and he is named after his paternal grandmother, Julia Lennon. Julian in ...
,
Joss Stone
Joscelyn Eve Stoker (born 11 April 1987), known professionally as Joss Stone, is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to prominence in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, ''The Soul Sessions'', which made the 2004 Merc ...
,
Katy Perry
Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her Camp (style), campy style, she has been ...
,
The Jonas Brothers
The Jonas Brothers () are an American pop rock band. Formed in 2005, they gained popularity from their appearances on the Disney Channel television network. They consist of three brothers: Kevin Jonas, Joe Jonas, and Nick Jonas. Raised in Wyc ...
, and
Elliott Yamin
Efraym Elliott Yamin ( he, אפרים אליוט ימין; born July 20, 1978) is an American singer known for his hit single " Wait for You" and for placing third on the fifth season of ''American Idol''.
His self-titled album, released Marc ...
.
In 1983, McCurry played lead guitar in the band
Cool It Reba
Cool It Reba was an American band from New York City, that was part of the downtown post-punk/ no wave scene in the early 1980s. Their music combined elements of James Brown funk, Television's guitar interplay and David Byrne's lyrical paranoia t ...
. He was lead guitarist in Cyndi Lauper's touring band in the early 1980s. He has also performed in other bands on concert tours, including Anita Baker's
Rhythm of Love World Tour in 1994–1995, and John Waite's 1985 American tour. As a performer, McCurry was visually distinctive because of his naturally bright
red hair
Red hair (also known as orange hair and ginger hair) is a hair color found in one to two percent of the human population, appearing with greater frequency (two to six percent) among people of Northern or Northwestern European ancestry and ...
.
On the website allmusic.com, John McCurry is credited as composer on 119 music albums. His genres are described as pop/rock and classical, and his styles as vocal music and opera. He is credited with guitar on 67 albums, out of which ten specify electric guitar, nine specify acoustic guitar, and four specify bass guitar. He is credited with vocals on seven albums, lyricist on one, arranger on one, producer on one, and
text
Text may refer to:
Written word
* Text (literary theory), any object that can be read, including:
**Religious text, a writing that a religious tradition considers to be sacred
**Text, a verse or passage from scripture used in expository preachin ...
on one. He also has one credit each for
coral sitar
An electric sitar is a type of electric guitar designed to mimic the sound of the sitar, a traditional musical instrument of India. Depending on the manufacturer and model, these instruments bear varying degrees of resemblance to the traditional ...
,
banjo
The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...
and
accordion
Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...
. McCurry is listed as either main personnel, performer, primary artist, or guest artist on 10 albums.
McCurry has also written songs for film and television. He has songwriting credits for soundtrack songs: 11 on film soundtracks, 2 on a TV film soundtrack and one in a television series soundtrack. He has a performer credit for one soundtrack song, and has "music department" credits as vocalist on one film, and for electric guitar on one TV series.
Songwriter
Cowritten songs
Songs that were co-written by McCurry with other artists appear on the following albums:
* ''
Mr. Jordan'',
Julian Lennon
Julian Charles John Lennon (born John Charles Julian Lennon; 8 April 1963) is an English musician. He is the son of Beatles member John Lennon and his first wife, Cynthia, and he is named after his paternal grandmother, Julia Lennon. Julian in ...
, five songs co-written with McCurry
* ''
Trash
Trash may refer to:
Garbage
* Garbage, unwanted or undesired waste material
** Litter, material discarded in inappropriate places
** Municipal solid waste, unwanted or undesired waste material generated in a municipal environment
Arts, enter ...
'',
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...
, two songs
* ''
Mask of Smiles'',
John Waite
John Charles Waite (born 4 July 1952) is an English musician. As a solo artist, he has released ten studio albums and is best known for the 1984 hit single " Missing You", which reached No. 1 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the top ten on ...
, one song
* ''
Classicks
''Classicks'' is a compilation album by Alice Cooper, released by Epic Records in September, 1995. This release was to mark the end of Cooper's record contract with Epic Records, which had spanned three studio albums. Alice suggested its title.
A ...
'',
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...
, one song
*
''Help Yourself'',
Julian Lennon
Julian Charles John Lennon (born John Charles Julian Lennon; 8 April 1963) is an English musician. He is the son of Beatles member John Lennon and his first wife, Cynthia, and he is named after his paternal grandmother, Julia Lennon. Julian in ...
, one song
*''
BBC Sessions and Other Polished Turds
''BBC Sessions and Other Polished Turds'' is a compilation album by The Vandals, released August 12, 2008 by Kung Fu Records. It was released as a digital download through iTunes and the band's website, as well as on CD in Japan, and finally o ...
'',
The Vandals
The Vandals are an American punk rock band, established in 1980 in Orange County, California. They have released ten full-length studio albums, two live albums, and have toured the world extensively, including performances on the Vans Warped ...
, one song (the Alice Cooper song)
* ''
Mask of Smiles'',
John Waite
John Charles Waite (born 4 July 1952) is an English musician. As a solo artist, he has released ten studio albums and is best known for the 1984 hit single " Missing You", which reached No. 1 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the top ten on ...
, one song
* ''
Stone of Sisyphus
''Chicago XXXII: Stone of Sisyphus'' is the twenty-first studio album, and thirty-second overall, by Chicago. Often referred to as their "lost" album, it was recorded in 1993 and originally intended to be released as ''Stone of Sisyphus'' on March ...
'',
Robert Lamm
Robert William Lamm (born October 13, 1944) is an American keyboardist, guitarist, singer and songwriter best known as a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He wrote many of the band's biggest hits, including " Questions 67 & 68", " Does ...
''Sleeping in the Middle of the Bed
With Julian Lennon
In an interview on the website "Hey Jules",
[From heyjules.co]
Accessed March 19, 2013 about
Julian Lennon
Julian Charles John Lennon (born John Charles Julian Lennon; 8 April 1963) is an English musician. He is the son of Beatles member John Lennon and his first wife, Cynthia, and he is named after his paternal grandmother, Julia Lennon. Julian in ...
's 1991 album "Help Yourself", Lennon commented about McCurry's musicianship and the songwriting process:
"John McCurry, as usual, did some great stuff with me on this I felt. We didn't actually have that much time together to write this time 'cause he was working on other projects. But we did manage to come up with "Help Yourself."
Lennon also said, about writing the album's title track, "Help Yourself":
"John McCurry and I sat around thinking, 'Well, where are we going to go with this?' and I'd already had part of the music there and then John came in and said, 'Alright, try this' and it was a back and forth thing and we didn't have any lyrics and John again had to, like everybody else I write with, had to disappear back to New York. And I sat around writing and he'd sort of mentioned a couple of ideas and it came together in about two days."
Guitarist
In a review of John Waite's album ''Rovers Return'', about the track "Wild One", Brian McGowan commented that the spirit of the song was "defined in stark relief by John McCurry’s freewheeling, razor sharp axework".
Various others albums that McCurry has played guitar on are:
* ''
Cher (1987 album)
''Cher'' is the eighteenth studio album by American singer-actress Cher, released on November 10, 1987 by Geffen Records. The album has been certified Platinum in the US by the RIAA and Gold in Australia by ARIA and the UK by BPI.
Background
Fiv ...
'',
Cher
Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...
* ''
Heart of Stone'', Cher
* ''
Paintings in My Mind
''Paintings in My Mind'' is the second full-length studio release (third, if the "Republic of Idols" EP is counted) from pianist and singer-songwriter Tommy Page. Released in 1990, it features 10 tracks, all of which Page either wrote by himself ...
'',
Tommy Page
Thomas Alden Page (May 24, 1967 – March 3, 2017) was an American singer-songwriter, best known for his 1990 hit single " I'll Be Your Everything" and was later a music industry executive. Page collaborated with many artists, including Malaysi ...
* ''
The Bridge'',
Billy Joel
William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...
* ''
Hide Your Heart'',
Bonnie Tyler
Gaynor Sullivan (née Hopkins; born 8 June 1951), known professionally as Bonnie Tyler, is a Welsh singer who is known for her distinctive husky voice. Tyler came to prominence with the release of her 1977 album '' The World Starts Tonight'' a ...
* ''
Valotte
''Valotte'' is the debut studio album by singer-songwriter Julian Lennon. The album was produced by Phil Ramone and recorded at several studios from February to August 1984. It was released in October 1984 on Charisma and Atlantic. The album was f ...
'',
Julian Lennon
Julian Charles John Lennon (born John Charles Julian Lennon; 8 April 1963) is an English musician. He is the son of Beatles member John Lennon and his first wife, Cynthia, and he is named after his paternal grandmother, Julia Lennon. Julian in ...
* ''
The Secret Value of Daydreaming
''The Secret Value of Daydreaming'' is the second studio album by singer-songwriter Julian Lennon.
Background and recording
After going on tour the previous year to promote his previous album, ''Valotte'', Lennon took a break to write material f ...
'', Julian Lennon
* ''
Mr. Jordan'', Julian Lennon
* ''
Help Yourself
Help is a word meaning to give aid or signal distress.
Help may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films
* ''Help'' (2010 film), a Bollywood horror film
* ''Help'' (2021 theatrical film), a British psychological thriller film
* '' ...
'', Julian Lennon
* ''
Soul Provider
''Soul Provider'' is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Michael Bolton. The album was released on June 19, 1989 by Columbia Records/CBS. To date, the album has sold 12.5 million copies worldwide.
Containing five US top 40 hits ...
'',
Michael Bolton
Michael Bolotin
, The Jewish Historical Society of New Haven, 1998. (born February 26, 1953), known professio ...
* ''
Inside
Inside may refer to:
* Insider, a member of any group of people of limited number and generally restricted access
Film
* ''Inside'' (1996 film), an American television film directed by Arthur Penn and starring Eric Stoltz
* ''Inside'' (2002 f ...
'',
Matthew Sweet
Sidney Matthew Sweet (born October 6, 1964) is an American alternative rock/power pop singer-songwriter and musician who was part of the burgeoning music scene in Athens, Georgia, during the 1980s before gaining commercial success in the 1990 ...
* ''
No Sound But a Heart
''No Sound But a Heart'' is Sheena Easton's eighth studio album, released in 1987 on the EMI America label. The album was issued in the Canadian, Mexican and Asian markets. The album consists of midtempo and ballad songs, including the single and ...
'',
Sheena Easton
Sheena Shirley Easton (; born 27 April 1959) is a Scottish singer and actress. Easton came into the public eye in an episode of the first British musical reality television programme '' The Big Time: Pop Singer'', which recorded her attempts to ...
* ''
Saints and Sinners'',
Kane Roberts
Kane Roberts (born Robert William Athas; January 16, 1962) is an American heavy metal guitarist best known for his work with Alice Cooper. Additionally, he has performed as a solo act, and his cover of the unreleased Bon Jovi song "Does Anybody ...
* ''
Circle in the Sand
"Circle in the Sand" is a song by American singer Belinda Carlisle for her second studio album, ''Heaven on Earth (Belinda Carlisle album), Heaven on Earth'' (1987). It was written by Rick Nowels, who also produced it, and Ellen Shipley. "Circle i ...
'',
Belinda Carlisle
Belinda Jo Carlisle ( ; born August 17, 1958) is an American singer. She gained fame as the lead vocalist of the Go-Go's, the most successful all-female rock band of all time, and went on to have a prolific career as a solo artist.
Raised in ...
* ''
Heaven on Earth'', Belinda Carlisle
* ''
Some People's Lives
''Some People's Lives'' is the seventh studio album by American singer Bette Midler. It was released by Atlantic Records on September 4, 1990 in the United States. It contains one of her biggest hits, "From a Distance," which won songwriter Julie ...
'',
Bette Midler
Bette Midler (;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress, comedian and author. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Be ...
* ''Something Real'',
Phoebe Snow
Phoebe Snow (born Phoebe Ann Laub; July 17, 1950 – April 26, 2011) was an American roots music singer-songwriter and guitarist, known for her hit 1974 and 1975 songs "San Francisco Bay Blues", "Poetry Man", "Harpo's Blues", and her credited g ...
* ''
Maria Vidal
Maria Elena Vidal (born August 1, 1960) is an American singer songwriter. She is known for her hit single "Body Rock", which reached No. 8 on the US Dance Charts, No. 48 on the Hot 100, No. 5 on the Springbok Charts in South Africa, and No. 11 i ...
'',
Maria Vidal
Maria Elena Vidal (born August 1, 1960) is an American singer songwriter. She is known for her hit single "Body Rock", which reached No. 8 on the US Dance Charts, No. 48 on the Hot 100, No. 5 on the Springbok Charts in South Africa, and No. 11 i ...
* ''
Rhythm of Love'',
Anita Baker
Anita Denise Baker (born January 26, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. She is one of the most popular singers of soulful ballads, especially renowned for her work during the height of the quiet storm period in the 1980s. Starting her career ...
* ''
Over My Heart
''Over My Heart'' is the seventh and final studio album by American singer Laura Branigan. Released in August 1993, it was Branigan's most personal album and saw her again try her hand at producing, alongside successful producer Phil Ramone. Whil ...
'',
Laura Branigan
Laura Ann Branigan (July 3, 1952 – August 26, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her signature song, the platinum-certified 1982 single " Gloria", stayed on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for 36 weeks, then a record for ...
* ''
True Colors'',
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album ''She's So Unusual'' (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achi ...
* ''
A Night to Remember'', Cyndi Lauper
* ''
Spoiled Girl
''Spoiled Girl'' is the 12th studio album by American singer-songwriter Carly Simon, released by Epic Records, in June 1985.
Recorded with a variety of producers in New York, this was Simon's only album for Epic. It was commercially unsuccessful ...
'',
Carly Simon
Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, memoirist, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Top 40 U.S. hits include "Anticipation" (No. 13), " The Right Thin ...
* ''
Have You Seen Me Lately
''Have You Seen Me Lately'' is the 15th studio album by American singer-songwriter Carly Simon, released by Arista Records, on September 25, 1990.
The album spent 32 weeks on the US ''Billboard'' 200, peaking at No. 60. The first single, " Bet ...
'', Carly Simon
* ''
Discipline
Discipline refers to rule following behavior, to regulate, order, control and authority. It may also refer to punishment. Discipline is used to create habits, routines, and automatic mechanisms such as blind obedience. It may be inflicted on ot ...
'',
Desmond Child
John Charles Barrett (born October 28, 1953), known professionally as Desmond Child, is an American songwriter and producer. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2008.
His hits as a songwriter include Kiss's "I Was Made for Lovi ...
* ''
Save the Last Dance for Me'',
Ben E. King
Benjamin Earl King (né Nelson; September 28, 1938 – April 30, 2015) was an American soul and R&B singer and record producer. He is best known as the singer and co-composer of " Stand by Me"—a US Top 10 hit, both in 1961 and later i ...
* ''
Satisfied'',
Taylor Dayne
Taylor Dayne (born Leslie Wunderman; March 7, 1962) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She rose to fame in 1987 after her debut single " Tell It to My Heart". Dayne achieved six additional U.S. top-10 singles, including "Love Will ...
References
External links
* More info a
UFO, Underground For Overground* And a
Sweet Lorrainne* One Sweet Lorraine track a
* Kill Lizzie a
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCurry, John
American male composers
20th-century American composers
Living people
Lead guitarists
American rock guitarists
American male guitarists
American pop guitarists
American session musicians
American male songwriters
1952 births
Songwriters from New York (state)
Guitarists from New York City
20th-century American guitarists
20th-century American male musicians