Jimmy Crespo | |
|---|---|
| Born | James Crespo Jr. (1954-07-05)July 5, 1954 (age 71) |
| Genres | Hard rock,blues rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician,songwriter |
| Instrument | Guitar |
| Years active | 1968–present |
| Website | www.jimmycrespo.com |
Jimmy Crespo (born July 5, 1954) is an American guitarist. He was the lead guitarist forAerosmith from 1979 until 1984.[1][2] He co-wrote "Rock in a Hard Place" with Steven Tyler, and has performed or recorded withRod Stewart,Billy Squier,Meat Loaf,Stevie Nicks,Robert Fleischman,Rough Cutt, Renegade, Flame and others.[1]
Jimmy Crespo was born in Brooklyn and raised byPuerto Rican-American parents (Jaime and Carmen) within a musical family. He has one brother, John Crespo. Crespo first took up the guitar at age 14. He joined his first band, The Knomes, shortly afterward. During his teenage years he became an accomplished guitarist, influenced by the stylings of such artists asThe Yardbirds,Cream,The Beatles andJimi Hendrix.[1] Forming the New York club band Anaconda, Crespo drew the attention of industry figures, leading to session work with a number of high-profile artists such asMeat Loaf andStevie Nicks, before he was recruited as lead guitarist and songwriter by producerJimmy Iovine for theRCA-signed band Flame, which was fronted by powerful lead vocalist Marge Raymond. Flame released two albums:Queen of the Neighborhood in 1977 andFlame in 1978.
Returning to session work following the breakup of Flame, Crespo attracted the attention of Aerosmith's management following the departure ofJoe Perry from the band in 1979. Invited to audition for the vacant lead guitarist position, Crespo was asked to join Aerosmith in October 1979. Contributing a guitar solo to the song "Three Mile Smile" for the already recordedNight in the Ruts album, Crespo commenced touring with the band soon after joining. The tour was hampered by the increasingly erratic state of the band's singer,Steven Tyler, at this stage heavily beset by drug addiction and suffering several on-stage collapses. DrummerJoey Kramer formed a band called Renegade during this time, and he recruited Marge Raymond to sing lead and front the band. Jimmy Crespo,Tom Hamilton andBob Mayo completed the line-up. An album was recorded at the Power Station in New York and was produced byTony Bongiovi, but it has never been released. Renegade is somewhat of a legend in the music industry and the tapes are much sought after by fans. Tyler, after realizing that Renegade was buzzing the industry and about to take off, came back to fulfill his contractual obligation to CBS. Renegade is referred to in several Aerosmith autobiographies.[1] Crespo and Tyler soon forged a songwriting partnership. Crespo co-wrote Aerosmith's 1982 albumRock in a Hard Place with Tyler.
Charting at number 37 on the USBillboard chart,Rock in a Hard Place reportedly cost over $1 million in production costs, featuring a plethora of production and engineering staff amongst its credits. Xavier Russell said of it inSounds: "As soon as the needle hit the wax, it melted and the speaker covers blew across the living room floor." Commercial difficulties during pre-production of the band's next album coupled with Tyler's new manager’s desire for him to reconvene with Perry led Crespo to exit the band in mid-1984, as the "classic" 1971–1979 Aerosmith lineup re-formed. Crespo is credited by Aerosmith and fans for keeping Aerosmith together. Crespo went on to join bandAdam Bomb through the remainder of 1984 and into 1985.
Following his time in Aerosmith, Crespo was a member of Adam Bomb, aGeffen Records-signed band: Crespo contributed guitar to the Adam Bomb albumFatal Attraction (Geffen 1985) before settling in Los Angeles with new wife Cynthia, whom he married in 1985.
Crespo joined bassistDanny Sheridan and Bonnie Bramlett in their new bandBandaloo Doctors from 1987 to 1992 and returned to session work, as well as touring and recording withBilly Squier for several years. From 1994 to 1996, Crespo toured withRod Stewart as lead guitarist.
Crespo was part ofPaul Shortino's The Cutt (a revamped new formation of Shortino'sRough Cutt) who released the LPSacred Place in 2002 before disbanding.
Continuing to play as a studio musician, Crespo has also performed at some ofLas Vegas's biggest casinos, whilst also engineering a rock amplifier simulator ("Rock Amp Legends by Jimmy Crespo") for Nomad Factory.[3] He is working on a new album,The Jimmy Crespo Project.[4] Crespo performed with the HitMen All Stars featuring former members of Boston,Dire Straits, Journey,Fleetwood Mac andNight Ranger.[5] He also is part of The Rod Experience, a project with the drummer Carmine Appice.[6] There was also reported news of a solo project.[7]
