Johnny Lee Schell is an American guitarist and songwriter. In the late 1960s, he first recorded with producer

Norman Petty Norman Petty (May 25, 1927 – August 15, 1984) was an American musician, record producer, publisher, radio station owner, and considered to be one of the founding fathers of early rock & roll. Biography Petty was born in the small town of Clo ...

in Group Axis. In the 1970s, he joined Amarillo TX southern rock band,

Baby An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used to ...

. Since his professional debut, he has played with dozens of well-known recording artists. His inclusion on albums such as

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer and guitarist. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporated ...

's '' Green Light'' (1982) and '' Nick of Time'' (1989) has lent him his bearing in American pop music culture. Yet, Schell's works had already journeyed from North America to Australia, when he worked with Australian soul singer

Renée Geyer Renée Rebecca Geyer (born 11 September 1953) is an Australian singer who has long been regarded as one of the finest exponents of jazz, soul and R&B idioms. She had commercial success as a solo artist in Australia, with "It's a Man's Man's Worl ...

on her album '' So Lucky'' (1981). As a member of Bonnie Raitt's road band, Schell backed the Australian Geyer while recording ''So Lucky'' (renamed ''Renee Geyer'' for international market) at Shangri La studios in

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its strip of the Malibu ...

. Other members included

Ian McLagan Ian Patrick McLagan (; 12 May 1945 – 3 December 2014) was an English keyboardist, best known as a member of the rock bands Small Faces and Faces. He also collaborated with the Rolling Stones and led his own band from the late 1970s. He was in ...

(formerly of

The Faces Faces are an English rock band formed in 1969 by members of Small Faces after lead singer and guitarist Steve Marriott left to form Humble Pie. The remaining Small Faces—Ian McLagan (keyboards), Ronnie Lane (electric bass, vocals), and Kenne ...

) and drummer/producer extraordinaire

Ricky Fataar Ricky Fataar (born 5 September 1952) is a South African-English multi-instrumentalist of Cape Malay descent, who has performed as both a drummer and a guitarist. He gained fame as an actor in ''The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash'', a spoof on ...

. Some of Schell's 21st century interests have included working with

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

-based Barbara Blue on her album, ''Memphis 3rd and Beale'' (2004), and recording

Eric Burdon Eric Victor Burdon (born 11 May 1941) is an English singer. He was previously the lead vocalist of R&B and rock band the Animals and funk band War. He is regarded as one of the British Invasion's most distinctive singers with his deep, pow ...

's albums '' My Secret Life'' (2004), '' Soul of a Man'' (2006), and co-producing ''

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

s Season One semi-finalist,

Nakia Nakia Reynoso (born February 20, 1975), known professionally as Nakia, is an American musician, singer-songwriter and actor living in Austin, Texas. He is a native of Fort Payne, Alabama. Professional background Nakia moved to Austin in 200 ...

's EP with

Barry Goldberg Barry Joseph Goldberg (born December 25, 1942) is an American blues and rock keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. Goldberg has co-produced albums by Percy Sledge, Charlie Musselwhite, James Cotton, and the Textones, plus Bob Dylan's ve ...

in his own Ultratone Studios in

Studio City, California Studio City is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, in the southeast San Fernando Valley, just west of the Cahuenga Pass. It is named after the studio lot that was established in the area by film producer Mack Sennett in 1927, ...

. Schell was integral to ''Freight Train Love,'' the 2014 album of American singer-songwriter Hilary Scott, playing guitar as well as engineering and mixing. A collaborator with American actor/musician

James Belushi James Adam Belushi (; born June 15, 1954) is an American actor. He is best known for the role of Jim on the sitcom ''According to Jim'' (2001–2009). His other television roles include ''Saturday Night Live'' (1983–1985), '' Total Security'' ...

, Schell worked as a music coordinator for the American TV sitcom ''

According to Jim ''According to Jim'' is an American sitcom television series starring Jim Belushi in the title role as a suburban father of three children (and then five children, starting with the seventh season finale). It originally ran on ABC from October ...

'' from 2005 to 2009. In 2015, Schell played guitar on Karen Lovely's album ''Ten Miles of Bad Road''. In 2016, Schell played guitar on

Annika Chambers Annika Shattrelle Chambers (born August 7, 1985) is an American soul blues singer and songwriter. Chambers has released three albums, and she won a Blues Music Award in 2019 in the 'Soul Blues Female Artist of the Year' category. Her sophomore ...

album, ''Wild & Free''.

References

American male songwriters American session musicians Living people 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American guitarists Guitarists from Texas American male guitarists 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians Year of birth missing (living people) Lyle Lovett and His Large Band members {{US-songwriter-stub