JIMMY RYAN’S “THE HEROES BEHIND THE HITS”
ABOUT the show…
Go behind the scenes of rock music hit-making in an exciting, energetic, and informative multimedia show and book reading from a hall-of-fame musician with decades of working with some of the biggest stars in recording history. Jimmy Ryan has recorded and/or toured with the likes of Carly Simon, Cat Stevens, Jim Croce, Paul McCartney, Rod Stewart, Elton John & Kiki Dee, Judy Collins, James Taylor, Luther Vandross, The Doors, Irene Cara, Loudon Wainwright III, Michael Johnson, Jimmy Webb, Andy Williams, Mickey Thomas and many more.
The Heroes Behind The Hits is a fast-paced, entertaining and educational presentation, that will change your perspective forever when you hear your favorite songs. The show opens with a few brief video clips of Jimmy performing with hit artists. Then he picks up his guitar and showcases a series of popular hits, telling stories behind their creation and demonstrating step by step how raw songs get refined, perfected and turned into classics by studio musicians. Jimmy also includes a fascinating and often hilarious reading from his critically acclaimed book, “The Superstar Chronicles - Tales of Life Among Rock Royalty,” about his adventures with many of the above A-list recording artists. The show closes with a Q&A session and an opportunity to purchase a signed copy of the book.
About jimmy ryan…
Jimmy Ryan is an American artist, composer, producer, and author with a career that has spanned six decades. Beginning at seventeen, he and his college band, The Critters, had their first top forty hit, “Younger Girl” and in the next few years landed three charting albums and two more top forty hits, “Mr. Dieingly Sad” and “Don’t Let The Rain Fall Down on Me.”
In 1970, Jimmy’s friend, Carly Simon, called him to put a band together for her. She was breaking fast on the US and British Top 40 with “That’s The Way I’ve Always Heard It Should Be,” as well as her first album “Carly Simon,” on which Jimmy played guitar. Jimmy went on to perform with Carly on most of her future albums and continues to work off and on with her to this day. Jimmy is featured in the 2018, BBC Special “Classic Albums – Carly Simon: No Secrets.” He was the guitar soloist on many of Carly’s hits, the most memorable being “You’re So Vain,” and the Academy Award-winning song of the year from the movie, Working Girl, “Let The River Run.” Jimmy also appeared in the video of the song. He performed in two HBO specials with Carly, Live From Martha’s Vineyard, and My Romance, as well as playing on the studio recording of the My Romance CD with the legendary conductor and arranger, Marty Paich (father of David Paich of Toto fame).
Also of note is that along with the above, Jimmy found time to perform in the original Broadway production of Hair from 1968 to 1972. He was also a principal actor and musician in the Broadway production of “Pump Boys and Dinettes”.
During his time working with Carly, he moved to London and recorded with numerous artists including Cat Stevens, Jim Croce, John Entwistle of the Who, Elton John & Kiki Dee, Tommy James, Jimmy Webb, The Doors, Loudon Wainwright, Andy Williams, Martha Reeves, Rod Stewart and many more. Jimmy played guitar on Andy Williams’ #1 Neil Sedaka penned hit, “Solitaire.”
On Carly Simon studio sessions, Jimmy has recorded/collaborated with major artists including Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Luther Vandross, James Taylor and many more, earning him seven platinum records/CDs.
In April 2019, Jimmy and his touring band, The Hit Men were honored with the first ever Road Warrior Award from the Nashville Musician’s Hall of Fame, “In recognition of their live performances and countless miles traveled sharing their talent and musical genius with music fans worldwide.”
As an author, in 2020 Jimmy created a memoir, The Superstar Chronicles – Tales of Life Among Rock Royalty, an in-depth look at life with superstars from a very personal perspective. The Superstar Chronicles is intimate, frank and does not hold back on the personal issues that confronted him and those with whom he had the honor to perform on stage and in the studio. He includes previously unpublished pictures from his private collection and tells intriguing stories that have never been in print. The Superstar Chronicles was released on March 27, 2023 and is available worldwide at all major booksellers.
On Nov 5, 2022, the Rock & Roll Hall of fame requested that Jimmy help induct Carly Simon, and he and Olivia Rodrigo performed “You’re So Vain” for the 7,100 fans and rock stars at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. The show is currently running on HBO. The RRHOF subsequently requested Jimmy’s book for a permanent residency in their library.
On Sep 3, 2023, Jimmy will be inducted into the Iowa Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and given their Lifetime Achievement Award.