Anthony F. Peluso (March 28, 1950 – June 5, 2010) was an American

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

and

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

. He was

lead guitarist Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featured ...

for pop duo

Carpenters Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenters trad ...

from 1972 to 1983. Peluso played the

fuzz guitar Distortion and overdrive are forms of audio signal processing used to alter the sound of amplified electric musical instruments, usually by increasing their gain, producing a "fuzzy", "growling", or "gritty" tone. Distortion is most commonly ...

solo on the Carpenters' song "

Goodbye to Love "Goodbye to Love" is a song composed by Richard Carpenter and John Bettis. It was released by the Carpenters in 1972. On the '' Close to You: Remembering The Carpenters'' documentary, guest guitarist Tony Peluso stated that this was one of the ...

". He also contributed a

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...

impersonation that opens the duo's cover of " Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" and was the deejay who links the medley of oldies tracks on Side 2 of the Carpenters album '' Now & Then''.

Career

Peluso came from a musical family, his mother being a successful opera singer and his father being the music director for NBC radio on the west coast. His mother was Emily Hardy (1908-1983), a soprano who performed most notably with The San Francisco Opera Company (debut 1933, Musetta, La Bohème) and the Metropolitan Opera (debut 1936, Gilda, Rigoletto). Tony's father was Thomas A. Peluso, composer and conductor (1899-1963). He began his own musical career in 1968, when he formed a band called The Abstracts with three college friends. The band recorded one album for the small

Pompeii Pompeii ( ; ) was a city in what is now the municipality of Pompei, near Naples, in the Campania region of Italy. Along with Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Villa Boscoreale, many surrounding villas, the city was buried under of volcanic ash and p ...

label, on which he sang, played guitar and wrote most of the songs. However, the album was not a commercial success, mainly due to poor distribution, and the group disbanded shortly after its release Peluso later played alongside

Bobby Sherman Robert Cabot Sherman Jr. (born July 22, 1943) is an American singer and actor who was a teen idol in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He had a series of successful singles, notably the million-seller " Little Woman" (1969). Sherman left show bus ...

and

Paul Revere & the Raiders Paul Revere & the Raiders (also known as Raiders) were an American rock band formed in Boise, Idaho, in 1958. They saw considerable U.S. mainstream success in the second half of the 1960s and early 1970s. The band was known for including Revolu ...

as well as leading the backing band Instant Joy for

Mark Lindsay Mark Lindsay (born March 9, 1942) is an American musician, best known as the lead singer of the rock band Paul Revere & the Raiders. Early life Lindsay was born in Eugene, Oregon, and was the second of eight children of George and Esther Ell ...

when Lindsay took a break from Paul Revere & the Raiders.

The Carpenters

In 1972, Richard Carpenter and

John Bettis John Gregory Bettis (born October 24, 1946) is an American lyricist and songwriter whose songs have sold more than 250 million records worldwide, recorded by some of the most prominent artists of the late twentieth century. His work crosses man ...

had written a new song, "

", for the Carpenters. While the Carpenters were working on the song, Richard decided that there should be a fuzz guitar solo on it. He recalled Tony Peluso from a time when Mark Lindsay and Instant Joy opened for the Carpenters.

Karen Carpenter Karen Anne Carpenter (March 2, 1950 – February 4, 1983) was an American musician who was the lead vocalist and early drummer of the highly successful duo the Carpenters, formed with her older brother Richard Carpenter (musician), Richard. Wi ...

called Tony Peluso and asked him to play a guitar solo. On the DVD '' Close to You: Remembering The Carpenters'' Peluso recalled: "At first I didn't believe that it was actually Karen Carpenter on the phone but she repeated her name again. ...It was at this point that I realized it was really her and that I was speaking to one of my idols." She told him that she and Richard were working on a song called "

" and they were both familiar with his work with another band, and that he'd be perfect for the sound they were looking for. In the studio, Peluso first played something soft and sweet, but then Richard said "No, no, no! Play the melody for five bars and then burn it up! Soar off into the stratosphere! Go ahead! It'll be great!" The solo was played from the electric guitar through a fuzz box straight into the mixing console onto the tape. Peluso subsequently joined the Carpenters recording and touring band as lead guitarist.

Later career

Following the death of Karen Carpenter on February 4, 1983, Peluso moved on to record producing. He worked for the next decade at

Motown Records Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

where he recorded artists such as

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. He was the founder and frontman of the pioneering Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he ...

The Temptations The Temptations is an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1961 as The Elgins, known for their string of successful singles and albums with Motown from the 1960s to the mid-1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield ...

, the

Four Tops The Four Tops are an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1953 as the Four Aims. They were one of the most commercially successful American pop music groups of the 1960s and helped propel Motown Records to international fame. The ...

and

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

. Peluso went on to produce and/or engineer for artists such as

Kenny Loggins Kenneth Clark "Kenny" Loggins (born January 7, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His early songs were recorded with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1970, which led to seven albums recorded with Jim Messina (musician), Jim Mess ...

Seals and Crofts Seals and Crofts were an American soft rock duo formed in Los Angeles, California in 1969 by James Eugene Seals (October 17, 1942 – June 6, 2022) and Darrell George "Dash" Crofts (born August 14, 1938). They are best known for their hits " Su ...

Apollonia Kotero Patricia Apollonia Kotero (born August 2, 1959) is an American actress, songwriter, singer, producer, director, podcast host and former model. She is known for co-starring in Prince's 1984 film '' Purple Rain'' and for having been the lead sing ...

Player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

Animotion Animotion is an American synth-pop band from Los Angeles, California, best known for the songs "Obsession (Animotion song), Obsession", "Let Him Go (song), Let him go", "I Engineer, I engineer", and "Room to Move, Room to move". Formed in 1983 ...

Stephanie Mills Stephanie Dorthea Mills (born March 22, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to stardom as Dorothy Gale in the original seven-time Tony Awards, Tony Award winning Broadway theatre, Broadway run of the musical ''The Wiz'' ...

, The Triplets, Bloc,

The Fixx The Fixx are a rock band from London, England, founded in 1979. The band's hits include " One Thing Leads to Another", " Saved by Zero", " Are We Ourselves?", and " Secret Separation", each of which charted in the top 20 of the ''Billboard'' ...

New Monkees ''New Monkees'' is the name of both an American pop rock music group and a 1987 syndicated television show featuring the group. Overview Background The 20th anniversary of ''The Monkees'' TV series in 1986 generated enough interest that ''Ne ...

Dave Koz David Stephen Koz (born March 27, 1963) is an American saxophonist, composer, record producer, and radio personality based in Los Angeles, California. Early life Dave Koz was born in Encino, California, to Jewish parents: Norman, a dermatologis ...

and

Boyz II Men Boyz II Men ( ) is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. Formed in 1985, they have been a trio composed of baritone Nathan Morris, tenor Wanya Morris, Wanyá Mo ...

. In 1992, Peluso began working with

Gustavo Santaolalla Gustavo Alfredo Santaolalla (; born 19 August 1951) is an Argentine composer, record producer and musician. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Gustavo Santaolalla, numerous accolades for List of works by Gustavo S ...

. They pioneered the

Rock en Español Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

genre. Peluso worked with Latin pop musicians such as

Ricky Martin Enrique Martin Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his Ricky Martin albums discography, discography incorporati ...

, and Mexican rock bands such as Molotov and

Cafe Tacuba A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, Caffè americano, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually ...

. In 2005, Santaolalla and Peluso produced the soundtrack to the motion picture ''

Brokeback Mountain ''Brokeback Mountain'' is a 2005 American neo-Western romantic drama film directed by Ang Lee and produced by Diana Ossana and James Schamus. Adapted from Brokeback Mountain (short story), the 1997 short story by Annie Proulx, the screenplay ...

''. Peluso won four

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

s during his career, and was awarded numerous gold and platinum records representing sales in excess of 150 million units during his diverse music career. He died at age 60 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

on June 5, 2010, from

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina pectoris, angina, myocardial infarction, heart attack), heart failure, ...

. He is survived by two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peluso, Tony 1950 births 2010 deaths Lead guitarists Grammy Award winners Record producers from California Guitarists from Los Angeles American rock guitarists American pop guitarists American session musicians The Carpenters 20th-century American guitarists American people of Italian descent