Richard Bennett (born July 22, 1951) is an American guitarist and record producer. As a touring sideman, he performed with Neil Diamond for seventeen years and

Mark Knopfler Mark Freuder Knopfler (born 12 August 1949) is a British singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Born in Scotland and raised in England, he was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits. He pursued a s ...

since 1994. As a session musician, he has worked with Billy Joel,

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

Rodney Crowell Rodney Crowell (born August 7, 1950) is an American musician, known primarily for his work as a singer and songwriter in country music. Crowell has had five number one singles on Hot Country Songs, all from his 1988 album '' Diamonds & Dirt''. ...

, and

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist ...

. He has produced albums for Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, Marty Stuart, and

Kim Richey Kimberly Richey (born December 1, 1956) is an American singer and songwriter. Career Kim Richey came onto the music scene in the 1990s and entered her first recording contract at the age of 37. Kim signed with Mercury Nashville. She spent the n ...

Career

Bennett began his career playing clubs in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...

, in the late 1960s, until he was discovered by Al Casey, which took him to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

where he had a lengthy career as a studio musician. He played on a few tracks on Neil Diamond's 1971 album '' Stones''; ''Moods'' was his first full album with him, and he played on every Diamond album until 1987 and toured with him for 17 years. He also co-wrote with Diamond, including the up-tempo " Forever in Blue Jeans" from the 1978 album ''

You Don't Bring Me Flowers "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" is a song written by Neil Diamond with Alan and Marilyn Bergman for the daily TV sitcom ''All That Glitters''. The song was intended to be the theme song, but Norman Lear, the show's creator, changed the concept of the ...

'', which reached the Top 20. On 1975's " Let Your Love Flow" by

The Bellamy Brothers The Bellamy Brothers are an American pop and country music duo consisting of brothers David Milton Bellamy (born September 16, 1950) and Homer Howard Bellamy (born February 2, 1946), from Dade City, Florida. The duo had considerable musical succ ...

, Bennett plays lead guitars. It also features in a UK

Barclay's Bank Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

commercial. The song was written by Larry Williams, a member of Neil Diamond's road crew. Formed in the late 1970s as

's road band,

The Notorious Cherry Bombs The Notorious Cherry Bombs, originally called The Cherry Bombs, was an American country music supergroup founded by singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell in 1980. A former member of Emmylou Harris's Hot Band, Crowell picked several former Hot Band membe ...

' original members include guitarists

and Richard Bennett, keyboardist Tony Brown, steel guitarist Hank DeVito, drummer

Larrie Londin Ralph Gallant (October 15, 1943 − August 24, 1992), better known by the stage name Larrie Londin, was an American drummer and session musician. According to journalist James Byron Fox, "If not the best known, Larrie is one of the most liste ...

and bassist Emory Gordy, Jr. With a modified lineup the musicians went to the studio in early 2004 to record ''

'', their first album as a band. From the liner notes of Bennett's solo album, ''Themes From A Rainy Decade'', Mark Knopfler writes, "For almost ten years now I've felt very lucky having Richard Bennett as a pal and as a member of the band. His quiet, self-effacing manner hides an encyclopedic knowledge of all kinds of roots and rock music, from Hillbilly to Hawaiian, played effortlessly on a variety of instruments which appear out of a flight case as big as an Airstream trailer... May his cracking guitar playing find a place in your life as it has in mine." Bennett's electric guitar intro to Emmylou Harris' "Heaven Only Knows" (from her Bennett-produced ''

Bluebird The bluebirds are a North American group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the order of Passerines in the genus ''Sialia'' of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas. ...

'' album) was the first sound heard on the 2004 season-opening episode of

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster, portraying his difficulties as he tries to balance ...

.Tennessean
/ref> Bennett contributes electric sitar to the 2007 album ''American Standard'' by

Thelonious Moog Thelonious is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Fred Thelonious Baker (born 1960) English guitarist * Thelonious Bernard (born 1964) French actor * Thelonious Martin (born 1992) or King Thelonious, American Hip Hop record produce ...

Personal life

Bennett's brother is

Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz (born August 18, 1956) is a drummer best known for working with the singer-songwriter "Weird Al" Yankovic. The two met while recording " Another One Rides the Bus" at the Dr. Demento show on September 14, 1980. Shortly a ...

, drummer for "Weird Al" Yankovic since 1980.

Discography

References

External links

Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Richard 1951 births American country guitarists American male guitarists American session musicians Record producers from Illinois Living people The Notorious Cherry Bombs members Guitarists from Chicago American ukulele players Pedal steel guitarists American rock guitarists Lead guitarists 20th-century American guitarists Country musicians from Illinois 20th-century American male musicians Lyle Lovett and His Large Band members