Jerry Donahue
Encyclopedia
Jerry Donahue is an American
guitarist
and producer
primarily known for his work in the British folk rock
scene as a member of Fotheringay
and Fairport Convention
as well as being a member of the rock guitar trio The Hellecasters.
and actress Patricia Donahue and grew up in Los Angeles. Encouraged by his parents, Donahue took classical guitar lessons as a child, but it was Gerry McGee (who later joined The Ventures
) who made the biggest impression on him, when the 14-year-old Donahue winessed him playing a behind-the-nut bend(!) at a performance at the Sea Witch, emulating Earl Scruggs'
banjo technique. Donahue then took lessons from McGee. Regarding regular bends on the fretboard, Donahue cites Amos Garrett
as a major influence. Other influences in his formative years were Chet Atkins
, Duane Eddy
, The Shadows
and The Ventures
; later influences were Clarence White
, Danny Gatton
, Albert Lee
, Tommy Emmanuel
and Robben Ford
.
After moving to England
, Donahue soon became a respected member of the developing British folk rock scene. As a band member, he played with Poet And The One Man Band, Fotheringay
and Fairport Convention
. Later he recorded and/or toured with artists such as Joan Armatrading
, Gerry Rafferty
, Robert Plant
, Elton John
, The Proclaimers
, Johnny Hallyday
, George Harrison
, Cliff Richard
, Chris Rea
, Warren Zevon
, Bonnie Raitt
, Hank Marvin
, Roy Orbison
, Nanci Griffith
, The Beach Boys
and The Yardbirds
. In 1990 he founded the guitar trio The Hellecasters
with Will Ray
and John Jorgenson
. They recorded several instrumental albums and frequently toured in the 1990s and early 2000s. Donahue has released instructional videotapes and more recently has produced solo projects including Sandy Denny's
Gold Dust (1998) and The Animals'
Instinct (2004) as well as finishing the second album by his short-lived Folk rock band Fotheringay in 2008.
Recently, Donahue formed the band Gathering - Legends of Folk Rock with Clive Bunker
, Rick Kemp
, Ray Jackson
, Doug Morter
and daughter Kristina Donahue.
2011 sees The Electric Revelators
duo Gordon Wride & Simon Gregory teaming up with Jerry, for a UK tour of The Songs Of Robert Johnson
in celebration of the king of delta blues birth in 1911.
or hybrid picking
style with his right hand. However, his left hand technique made him famous among guitar players: Since his first encounter with guitarists Gerry McGee and Amos Garrett as a teenager, Donahue was fascinated by and eventually mastered the technique of string "bending". Telecaster player Danny Gatton
praised him as "the string-bending king of the planet".
site and Jerry Donahue at Allmusic.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
and producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
primarily known for his work in the British folk rock
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
scene as a member of Fotheringay
Fotheringay
Fotheringay was a short-lived British folk rock group, formed in 1970 by singer Sandy Denny on her departure from Fairport Convention. The band drew its name from her 1968 composition "Fotheringay" about Fotheringhay Castle, in which Mary, Queen of Scots had been imprisoned...
and Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...
as well as being a member of the rock guitar trio The Hellecasters.
Biography
Donahue was born in New York, the son of big band saxophonist Sam DonahueSam Donahue
Sam Donahue was an American swing music jazz tenor saxophonist, trumpeter and musical arranger. Born in Detroit, Michigan, he is probably best known for his work with Gene Krupa, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Billy May, Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, and many others.He is the father of guitarist Jerry...
and actress Patricia Donahue and grew up in Los Angeles. Encouraged by his parents, Donahue took classical guitar lessons as a child, but it was Gerry McGee (who later joined The Ventures
The Ventures
The Ventures is an American instrumental rock band formed in 1958 in Tacoma, Washington. Founded by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle, the group in its various incarnations has had an enduring impact on the development of music worldwide. With over 100 million records sold, the group is the best-selling...
) who made the biggest impression on him, when the 14-year-old Donahue winessed him playing a behind-the-nut bend(!) at a performance at the Sea Witch, emulating Earl Scruggs'
Earl Scruggs
Earl Eugene Scruggs is an American musician noted for perfecting and popularizing a 3-finger banjo-picking style that is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music...
banjo technique. Donahue then took lessons from McGee. Regarding regular bends on the fretboard, Donahue cites Amos Garrett
Amos Garrett
Amos Garrett is a Juno Award-winning American-Canadian musician, performer, and author. He holds dual citizenship and was raised in Toronto and Montreal...
as a major influence. Other influences in his formative years were Chet Atkins
Chet Atkins
Chester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...
, Duane Eddy
Duane Eddy
Duane Eddy is a Grammy Award-winning American guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s he had a string of hit records, produced by Lee Hazlewood, which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" sound, including "Rebel Rouser", "Peter Gunn", and "Because They're Young"...
, The Shadows
The Shadows
The Shadows are a British pop group with a total of 69 UK hit-charted singles: 35 as 'The Shadows' and 34 as 'Cliff Richard and the Shadows', from the 1950s to the 2000s. Cliff Richard in casual conversation with the British rock press frequently refers to the Shadows by their nickname: 'The Shads'...
and The Ventures
The Ventures
The Ventures is an American instrumental rock band formed in 1958 in Tacoma, Washington. Founded by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle, the group in its various incarnations has had an enduring impact on the development of music worldwide. With over 100 million records sold, the group is the best-selling...
; later influences were Clarence White
Clarence White
Clarence White was a guitar player for Nashville West, The Byrds, Muleskinner, and the Kentucky Colonels. His parents were Acadians from New Brunswick, Canada...
, Danny Gatton
Danny Gatton
Danny Gatton was an American guitarist who fused rockabilly, jazz, and country styles to create his own distinctive style of playing. A biography, Unfinished Business: The Life and Times of Danny Gatton by Ralph Heibutzki, was published in 2003. It has a voluminous discography...
, Albert Lee
Albert Lee
Albert William Lee, born 21 December 1943 in Leominster, Herefordshire, England, is an English guitarist known for his fingerstyle and hybrid picking technique. Lee has worked both in the studio and on tour with some of the most famous musicians which stretch through a very wide of genres...
, Tommy Emmanuel
Tommy Emmanuel
William Thomas "Tommy" Emmanuel AM is an Australian guitarist, best known for his complex fingerpicking style, energetic performances and the use of percussive effects on the guitar. In the May 2008 and 2010 issues of Guitar Player Magazine, he was named as "Best Acoustic Guitarist" in their...
and Robben Ford
Robben Ford
Robben Ford is an American blues, jazz and rock guitarist.-Biography:Ford was born in Woodlake, California, United States, but raised in Ukiah, California, and began playing the saxophone at age 10, picking up the guitar at age 13...
.
After moving to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Donahue soon became a respected member of the developing British folk rock scene. As a band member, he played with Poet And The One Man Band, Fotheringay
Fotheringay
Fotheringay was a short-lived British folk rock group, formed in 1970 by singer Sandy Denny on her departure from Fairport Convention. The band drew its name from her 1968 composition "Fotheringay" about Fotheringhay Castle, in which Mary, Queen of Scots had been imprisoned...
and Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...
. Later he recorded and/or toured with artists such as Joan Armatrading
Joan Armatrading
Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading, MBE is a British singer, songwriter and guitarist. Armatrading is a three-time Grammy Award-nominee and has been nominated twice for BRIT Awards as Best Female Artist...
, Gerry Rafferty
Gerry Rafferty
Gerald "Gerry" Rafferty was a Scottish singer songwriter best known for his solo hits "Baker Street", "Right Down the Line", "Days Gone Down", "Night Owl", "Get It Right Next Time", and with the band Stealers Wheel, "Stuck in the Middle with You". Rafferty was born into a working-class family in...
, Robert Plant
Robert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
, Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
, The Proclaimers
The Proclaimers
The Proclaimers are a Scottish band composed of identical twin brothers, Charlie and Craig Reid . They are probably best known for the songs "Letter from America", "I'm On My Way" and "I'm Gonna Be ". The band tours extensively throughout Europe and other continents...
, Johnny Hallyday
Johnny Hallyday
Johnny Hallyday is a French singer and actor. An icon in the French-speaking world since the beginning of his career, he was considered by some to have been the French Elvis Presley. He was married for 15 years to one of the most popular French female singers: Sylvie Vartan...
, George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
, Cliff Richard
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....
, Chris Rea
Chris Rea
Chris Rea is an English singer-songwriter, recognisable for his distinctive, husky voice and slide guitar playing. The British Hit Singles & Albums stated that Rea was "one of the most popular UK singer-songwriters of the late 1980s. He was already a major European star by the time he finally...
, Warren Zevon
Warren Zevon
Warren William Zevon was an American rock singer-songwriter and musician noted for including his sometimes sardonic opinions of life in his musical lyrics, composing songs that were sometimes humorous and often had political or historical themes.Zevon's work has often been praised by well-known...
, Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...
, Hank Marvin
Hank Marvin
Hank Brian Marvin is an English guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist for The Shadows. The group, which primarily performed instrumentals, was formed as a backing band for vocalist Cliff Richard...
, Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison
Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...
, Nanci Griffith
Nanci Griffith
Nanci Griffith, is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter from Austin, Texas.-Biography:...
, The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
and The Yardbirds
The Yardbirds
- Current :* Chris Dreja - rhythm guitar, backing vocals * Jim McCarty - drums, backing vocals * Ben King - lead guitar * David Smale - bass, backing vocals...
. In 1990 he founded the guitar trio The Hellecasters
Hellecasters
The Hellecasters are an American guitar group. Composed of Nashville session players Will Ray, John Jorgenson , and Jerry Donahue , they all play modified versions of the Fender Telecaster as their main instruments...
with Will Ray
Will Ray
CRAIG is a long-time American session guitarist and current member of the Hellecasters. CRAIG has also released a number of solo albums. He is considered an influential player of the Fender Telecaster line of guitars. Fender made two CRAIG signature models in the late 1990s: the Jazz-a-Caster...
and John Jorgenson
John Jorgenson
John Jorgenson is a US musician. Although best known for his guitar work with bands such as the Desert Rose Band and The Hellecasters, Jorgenson is also proficient in the mandolin, mandocello, Dobro, pedal steel, piano, upright bass, clarinet, bassoon and saxophone...
. They recorded several instrumental albums and frequently toured in the 1990s and early 2000s. Donahue has released instructional videotapes and more recently has produced solo projects including Sandy Denny's
Sandy Denny
Sandy Denny , born Alexandra Elene Maclean Denny, was an English singer and songwriter, perhaps best known as the lead singer for the folk rock band Fairport Convention...
Gold Dust (1998) and The Animals'
The Animals
The Animals were an English music group of the 1960s formed in Newcastle upon Tyne during the early part of the decade, and later relocated to London...
Instinct (2004) as well as finishing the second album by his short-lived Folk rock band Fotheringay in 2008.
Recently, Donahue formed the band Gathering - Legends of Folk Rock with Clive Bunker
Clive Bunker
Clive William Bunker is a British rock drummer. He was the original drummer in the British band Jethro Tull....
, Rick Kemp
Rick Kemp
Rick Kemp is an English bass player, songwriter, vocalist and record producer, best known for his work with the pioneering electric folk band, Steeleye Span.-Projects:...
, Ray Jackson
Lindsay Raymond Jackson
Ray Jackson was a mandolin and harmonica player, and joint lead vocalist with Alan Hull, of the folk-rock group Lindisfarne from their original formation in 1970 until his departure in 1990...
, Doug Morter
Hunter Muskett
-Beginnings:The group was formed at Avery Hill College in South London when Terry Hiscock and Chris George were joined by fellow student Doug Morter. The band’s name was taken from an anecdote about an eccentric Cornishman....
and daughter Kristina Donahue.
2011 sees The Electric Revelators
The Electric Revelators
The Electric Revelators were formed in Swansea, South Wales in 2004.Since 2011 have added Jerry Donahue to the line - upOriginally called The Revelators added Electric to the name in 2009 toured with The Animals and David Honeyboy Edwards in 2009....
duo Gordon Wride & Simon Gregory teaming up with Jerry, for a UK tour of The Songs Of Robert Johnson
Robert Johnson
Robert Leroy Johnson was an American blues singer and musician. His landmark recordings from 1936–37 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that have influenced later generations of musicians. Johnson's shadowy, poorly documented life and death at age 27 have given...
in celebration of the king of delta blues birth in 1911.
Style and techniques
Feeling at home in the US as well as in the UK, Donahue musically draws from influences of both countries like Celtic music, rock, blues and country. Technically, Donahue mostly plays in fingerpickingFingerstyle guitar
Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking ....
or hybrid picking
Hybrid picking
Hybrid picking is a guitar-playing technique that involves picking with a pick and one or more fingers alternately or simultaneously. Hybrid picking allows guitar players who use a pick to perform music which would normally require fingerstyle playing. It also facilitates wide string leaps Hybrid...
style with his right hand. However, his left hand technique made him famous among guitar players: Since his first encounter with guitarists Gerry McGee and Amos Garrett as a teenager, Donahue was fascinated by and eventually mastered the technique of string "bending". Telecaster player Danny Gatton
Danny Gatton
Danny Gatton was an American guitarist who fused rockabilly, jazz, and country styles to create his own distinctive style of playing. A biography, Unfinished Business: The Life and Times of Danny Gatton by Ralph Heibutzki, was published in 2003. It has a voluminous discography...
praised him as "the string-bending king of the planet".
Equipment
Around 1997, Fender made a Jerry Donahue signature Stratocaster in Japan, but Donahue's style and technique are closely associated with his signature Fender Telecaster (from Japan) and the Telecaster in general. His signature Stratocaster was even modified with a metal plate under the bridge pickup to more closely emulate the Telecaster sound. The JD Telecaster is noticeable for replacing the chrome Tele neck pickup with a Strat pickup and the addition of a 5-way switch with custom wiring. More recently (2005) Peavey released the Omniac JD signature guitar.The current guitar bearing the Jerry Donahue name is the Fret King Black Label Jerry Donahue model, designed by Jerry and the world renowned guitar designer, Trev Wilkinson. Guitarist magazine in the UK have given this guitar the coveted Guitarist's Choice award with 4.5 stars out of 5.
Discography
Partial discography only, for a fuller list, refer to the HellecastersHellecasters
The Hellecasters are an American guitar group. Composed of Nashville session players Will Ray, John Jorgenson , and Jerry Donahue , they all play modified versions of the Fender Telecaster as their main instruments...
site and Jerry Donahue at Allmusic.
- Fotheringay: FotheringayFotheringay (album)Fotheringay is the self-titled album by the group formed by Sandy Denny after she left Fairport Convention in 1969, and was the group's only release until 2008. It was recorded in 1970 with former Eclection member and Denny's future husband Trevor Lucas, with Gerry Conway, Jerry Donahue, and Pat...
(IslandIsland RecordsIsland Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
1970)***. - Fairport Convention: NineNine (Fairport Convention album)Nine is the ninth album by the British folk rock group Fairport Convention and, according to Allmusic, is their most uneven.-Side one:#"The Hexhamshire Lass" – 2:31...
(Island, October 1973) - Fairport Convention: RosieRosie (album)Rosie is the eighth studio album by folk-rock outfit Fairport Convention, released in 1973.The album was the first to feature Australian singer-songwriter guitarist Trevor Lucas and American lead guitarist Jerry Donahue. Both had previously played with ex-Fairport Sandy Denny, to whom Lucas was...
(Island, March 1973) - Fairport Convention: A Moveable FeastFairport Live ConventionFairport Live Convention is a folk rock album by Fairport Convention originally released in 1974 by Island Records. It was recorded live at the Sydney Opera House, the London Rainbow and the Fairfield Halls, Croydon by John Wood and mixed down at Sound Techniques, London...
(Island, October 1974) - Fairport Convention: Rising for the MoonRising for the MoonRising for the Moon is a Fairport Convention album. It reached number 52 in the UK albums charts. This was the last Fairport album to feature Sandy Denny....
(Island, July 1975) - Jerry Donahue: Telecasting (Spindrift, 1986)
- Jerry Donahue: Meetings (Fun, 1988)
- Jerry Donahue: Neck of the Wood (Cross Three, Road Goes on... 1992)
- Jerry Donahue: Country Tech (CPP, Warner Bros., 1992)
- Jerry Donahue: Telecasting Recast (Pharaoh, 1999)
- Fotheringay: 2Fotheringay 2Fotheringay 2 is the second album by the group formed by Sandy Denny after she left Fairport Convention in 1969, and consists of previously unreleased tracks. The band was short-lived, and this album collects those remaining performances.-Track listing:...
(Fledg'lingFledg'ling RecordsFledg'ling Records is a British independent record label founded in 1991. The label has re-released some albums previously issued by Hokey Pokey Records which was also run by the Fledg'ling founder - David Suff. David Suff having been half of the team running the Richard Thompson fanzine - "Hokey...
, 2008)