 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Tommy Eyre" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(February 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Tommy Eyre (5 June 1949 – 23 May 2001) was an English session keyboardist fromSheffield, England, who appeared on records byJoe Cocker,John Martyn,Gary Moore,Michael Schenker,the Sensational Alex Harvey Band,Greg Lake,B.B. King,John Mayall,Ian Gillan,Gerry Rafferty,Tracy Chapman andWham! He played onJoe Cocker's UKchart-topper "With a Little Help from My Friends", on which he arranged the distinctive organ introduction, andGerry Rafferty's "Baker Street" and "Right Down the Line".
Eyre began piano lessons at the age of four and started playing guitar when he was in his teens.[1] In 1968, he joinedJoe Cocker'sGrease Band where he played the organ on "With a Little Help from My Friends".[2] In the same year, Eyre moved to London to work with theAynsley Dunbar Retaliation and later with Dunbar's next rock band called Blue Whale.[3]After a short period with the bandJuicy Lucy, Eyre joined the duoMark-Almond and played on two of their albums. After that, in 1972, Eyre and bassist Roger Sutton resumed their own project Strabismus which they had started in 1969, and which was now calledRiff Raff.[4]With Riff Raff Eyre recorded three albums, one of them not being released until 2001.
Together with singer Alan Marshall from Riff Raff, Eyre joined the bandZZebra in 1974 for their first album, replacing keyboardist and singer Gus Yeadon.[5]Eyre played on some of the tracks but is not credited on the album. With Zzebra he recorded a second album in 1975. In August 1977, Eyre became a member ofThe Sensational Alex Harvey Band, with whom he stayed until 1979.[6]After that, Eyre recorded an album withJohn Martyn and did a promotion tour with him in 1980.[7]In June 1981, he joinedGreg Lake for his solo project,[8] and in 1982 became a member ofGary Moore's studio and touring band.
One of Eyre's longest and most successful associations was with the duoWham!, for whom he became musical director.[9] His works with Wham! include the successful albumMake It Big in 1984 with the singles "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", "Freedom", "Everything She Wants", andGeorge Michael's solo record "Careless Whisper". A massiveworld tour included China in April 1985, which generated a great deal of media coverage as it was the first visit to China by a Western popular music act.
Eyre, who had done studio work for many artists before, started working predominantly as a session musician from the late 1980s. His studio work included recordings withIan Gillan,BBM, and several recordings with Gary Moore in 1982 and throughout the nineties. Another musician for whom Eyre contributed session work wasGerry Rafferty. Rafferty's 1978 albumCity to City included the hit "Baker Street" on which Eyre played synthesizer and keyboards. The track "Whatever's Written in Your Heart" was recorded with Eyre playing piano and Rafferty singing beside him.
During the 1990s, Eyre recorded several albums with his wife the American violinist Scarlet Rivera, many of them influenced by traditional Irish or Scottish music. Later in the nineties he also produced some solo albums with instrumental piano music.Tommy played keyboard on theAlex Harvey recording ofThe Poet and I Written by Frank Mills and Ray Conn.
Eyre lived most of his life in England up until the mid-1980s with his first wife Lorraine Eyre. They divorced in 1988 but remained close until his death. From the late 1980s, he lived in the US with his American wife, the violinistScarlet Rivera. He died ofesophageal cancer inLos Angeles on 23 May 2001, aged 51.[10][11]
Eyre's younger brother is session guitarist Simon Eyre, who has worked with artists such asPaul Weller,the Lighthouse Family,Robert Palmer,Sister Sledge andRandy Crawford.
| Studio albums | |
|---|---|
| Compilations | |
| Singles | |
| Concerts and tours | |
| Filmography | |
| Related articles | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
