Raymond John Fenwick (18 July 1946 – 30 April 2022) was an English guitarist and

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

, best known for his work in

The Syndicats The Syndicats were an English beat band formed in 1963 with Thomas Ladd on vocals, Steve Howe on guitar and backing vocals, Kevin Driscoll on bass and backing vocals, Jeff Williams on organ and piano, and John "Truelove" Melton on drums. The la ...

and in

The Spencer Davis Group The Spencer Davis Group were a British band formed in Birmingham in 1963 by Spencer Davis (guitar), brothers Steve Winwood (keyboards, guitar) and Muff Winwood (bass guitar), and Pete York (drums). Their best known songs include the UK numbe ...

in the 1960s, and as the lead guitarist of

Ian Gillan Ian Gillan (born 19 August 1945) is a British singer who is best known as the lead singer and lyricist for the rock band Deep Purple. He is known for his powerful and wide-ranging singing voice. Initially influenced by Elvis Presley, Gillan ...

's post-

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

solo project, the

Ian Gillan Band The Ian Gillan Band were an English progressive jazz-rock band formed by singer Ian Gillan of Deep Purple in 1975. History After leaving Deep Purple in June 1973, Ian Gillan had retired from the music business to pursue other business ventures ...

Career

Fenwick's first professional group was a ska and bluebeat group called Ray and the Red Devils. In 1964, he joined

, replacing

Steve Howe Stephen James Howe (born 8 April 1947) is an English musician, best known as the guitarist in the progressive rock band Yes across three stints since 1970. Born in Holloway, North London, Howe developed an interest in the guitar and began to l ...

, and in turn being replaced by

Peter Banks Peter William Brockbanks (15 July 1947 – 7 March 2013), known professionally as Peter Banks, was a British guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and producer. He was the original guitarist in the rock band Yes, and also the Syn, Flash, and Empire. ...

. In 1965, he joined the Dutch group

Tee-Set Tee-Set was a pop rock band formed in 1965 by singer Peter Tetteroo in Delft, Netherlands. The band is best-known for their single " Ma Belle Amie", which was a No. 5 hit in the United States. The band had a number of other hit songs in the Ne ...

, from which developed another group After Tea. He was with

from 1967 to 1969. He also co-wrote the

theme music Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

to the 1970s television series ''

Magpie Magpies are birds of the Corvidae family. Like other members of their family, they are widely considered to be intelligent creatures. The Eurasian magpie, for instance, is thought to rank among the world's most intelligent creatures, and is one ...

'', which was credited to "The Murgatroyd Band", which was basically The Spencer Davis Group at the time. Fenwick wrote all songs on the group's 1969 album ''Funky'' (briefly released in the US in 1970; full release only in 1997) and recorded his own album ''Keep America Beautiful, Get a Haircut'' in 1971 with a similar line-up, albeit minus Davis. In July 1972, he played guitar on a number of the tracks for

Bo Diddley Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, incl ...

Chess Records Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and roll ...

album ''The London Bo Diddley Sessions''. During the 1970s, he was part of the

. He participated in

Jon Lord John Douglas Lord (9 June 194116 July 2012) was an English orchestral and rock composer, pianist, and Hammond organ player known for his pioneering work in fusing rock with classical or baroque forms, especially with the British rock band Deep ...

's live album

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

(1974). He was also in the group

Fancy Fancy may refer to: Places * Fancy, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, a settlement * Fancy River, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Music Albums * ''Fancy'' (Bobbie Gentry album), 1970 * ''Fancy'' (Idiot Flesh album), 1997 * ''Fancy'' (video ...

, who had the hits "Touch Me" and a cover of

Chip Taylor Chip Taylor (born James Wesley Voight; March 21, 1940) is an American songwriter and singer noted for writing "Angel of the Morning" and " Wild Thing". Early life Taylor was born on March 21, 1940, in Yonkers, New York. He is the brother of a ...

's " Wild Thing". He also was a member of the studio project Forcefield (1987–1989) along with Tony Martin (

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

Cozy Powell Cozy Powell (born Colin Trevor Flooks; 29 December 1947 – 5 April 1998) was an English rock drummer who made his name with major rock bands and artists such as The Jeff Beck Group, Rainbow, Michael Schenker Group, Gary Moore, Robert Plant, ...

(

Rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...

, Black Sabbath, Emerson, Lake and Powell),

Jan Akkerman Jan Akkerman (born 24 December 1946) is a Dutch guitarist. He first found international commercial success with the band Focus (band), Focus, which he co-founded with Thijs van Leer. After leaving Focus, he continued as a solo musician, adding ja ...

and Neil Murray (

Whitesnake Whitesnake are an English hard rock band formed in London in 1978. The group was originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their own entit ...

, Black Sabbath). He returned to sessions and then featured on former

vocalist

Graham Bonnet Graham Bonnet (born 23 December 1947) is an English rock singer. He has recorded and performed as a solo artist and as a member of several hard rock and heavy metal bands including Rainbow, Michael Schenker Group, Alcatrazz, and Impellitteri.Pr ...

's album ''

Here Comes the Night "Here Comes the Night" is a 1964 song, written by Bert Berns. It became a hit for Northern Irish band Them, fronted by Van Morrison, in March 1965, charting at No. 2 in the UK and No. 24 in the US. Them's single is listed at either No. 33 or No. ...

'' (1991). In 2003, Fenwick toured with

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * YES (Your Extraordinary Saturday), a learning program from the Minnesota Institute for Talente ...

guitarist

as part of his band Steve Howe's Remedy, appearing on the live concert DVD of Steve Howe's Remedy ''Live'' released in 2005. He appears on Steve Howe's compilation ''Anthology 2: Groups and Collaborations'', released 2016. The two guitarists play together on the track "Slim Pickings", recorded 2002, which closes the album. Fenwick produced

Jo Jo Laine Jo Jo Laine (born Joanne LaPatrie, Danvers, Massachusetts, July 13, 1952 – London, October 29, 2006)

's girl group single "When the Boy's Happy" on

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

under the name Jo Jo Laine & The Firm.

Personal life

Fenwick taught guitar and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

grades at various colleges and schools in Britain, including Boston College, Lincolnshire. He died at home on 30 April 2022.

Discography

;Solo * 1971 ''Keep America Beautiful, Get a Haircut'' * 1979 ''Queen of the Night / Between the Devil and Me'' (SP) * 1997 ''Groups and Sessions 1962–1978'' (anthology) ;with Ian Gillan Band * 1976 ''

Child in Time "Child in Time" is a song by English rock band Deep Purple, taken from their fourth studio album, ''Deep Purple in Rock'', released in 1970. The track is loosely inspired by the Cold War and runs over ten minutes. History and characteristic ...

'' * 1977 ''

Clear Air Turbulence In meteorology, clear-air turbulence (CAT) is the turbulent movement of air masses in the absence of any visual clues, such as clouds, and is caused when bodies of air moving at widely different speeds meet. The atmospheric region most suscepti ...

'' * 1977 ''

Scarabus ''Scarabus'' is the third and the last studio album by British jazz rock band Ian Gillan Band, released in October 1977. The album was reissued in 1982 by Virgin Records in the height of popularity of Ian Gillan's group Gillan (a CD edition f ...

'' * 1977 '' Live at the Budokan'' (1983, European release) ;Other projects * 1967 ''National Disaster'' (After Tea) * 1968 ''

With Their New Face On ''With Their New Face On'' is the fourth studio album by the Spencer Davis Group, the first to be released after the departure of Steve Winwood (to form the group Traffic), and his brother Muff Winwood. The album was released in 1968 in both the ...

'' (Spencer Davis Group) * 1969 ''

Funky Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the mid ...

'' (Spencer Davis Group) * 1971 ''Magpie (Theme From Thames Television Programme)'' (The Murgatroyd Band) * 1972 ''Hector and other Peccadillos'' (

Mike Absalom Mike Absalom (born 9 November 1940) is an English pop, folk and celtic music musician, poet and children's entertainer. ''The Province'' newspaper once described Absalom's musical work as "innocence with a macabre twist". His recording and perf ...

) * 1973 ''Gluggo'' (Spencer Davis Group) * 1973 '' The London Bo Diddley Sessions'' (Bo Diddley) * 1973 ''Living in a Back Street'' (Spencer Davis Group) * 1974 ''

The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast ''The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast'' is a concept album and subsequent live rock opera appearing in 1974 and 1975 respectively, based on the children's poem of a similar title. The album cover design is from Alan Aldridge's desig ...

'' (Roger Glover) * 1974 ''

'' (

) * 1974 ''Wild Thing'' (Fancy) * 1976 ''Turns You On'' (Fancy) * 1976 ''Wizard's Convention'' (Eddie Hardin) * 1982 ''Circumstantial Evidence'' (Eddie Hardin) * 1981 ''Finardi'' (Eugenio Finardi) * 1982 ''Secret Streets'' (Eugenio Finardi) * 1984 ''Life on Mars'' (

Johnny Mars Johnny Mars (born December 7, 1942) is an American electric blues harmonica player, singer, and songwriter. Over a long career, he has worked with Magic Sam, Earl Hooker, B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix, Jesse Fuller, Spencer Davis, Ian Gillan, Do-Re- ...

) * 1985 ''Wind in the Willows'' (Eddie Hardin) * 1987 ''Long Hot Night'' (Minute By Minute) * 1989 ''Timewatch'' (Minute By Minute) * 1991 ''Wind in the Willows – A Rock Concert'' (Eddie Hardin) * 1993 ''First of the Big Band – BBC1 Live in Concert '74'' (Ashton & Lord) * 1995 ''Wizard's Convention 2'' (Eddie Hardin) * 1995 ''Still a Few Pages Left'' (Hardin & York) * 1997 ''Musicians Union Band'' (recorded in 1971) * 1997 ''24 Carat'' (Tee Set) * 1997 ''Guitar Orchestra'' (recorded in 1971) * 2003 ''The Fabulous Summer Wine'' (Summer Wine) (recorded in 1972) * 2005 ''Live'' (Steve Howe's Remedy) - DVD * 2016 ''Anthology 2: Groups and Collaborations'' (Steve Howe) - Fenwick and Howe play together on "Slim Pickings"

References

External links

website

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fenwick, Ray 1946 births 2022 deaths People from Romford English rock guitarists The Spencer Davis Group members Ian Gillan Band members