elliott ranney
smooth jazz, tropical pop, folk pop, instrumental jazz.
14
songs
317
plays
11 Tom Waits For No One_Too Beat To 11 Tom Waits For No One_Too Beat To
12 Island Breeze 12 Island Breeze
09 The Way I Feel Tonight 09 The Way I Feel Tonight
07 Walter, Donald & The Steely Sedan 07 Walter, Donald & The Steely Sedan
15 My Time To Fly 15 My Time To Fly
Show all (14)
"Acoustic music that feels like an Island Breeze," describes the vibe of Elliott Ranney's musical direction. His unique finger style on classical guitar and vocals similar to Michael Franks/James Taylor/Chet Baker, set him apart from most singer/songwriters.Band/artist history
“Acoustic Music That Feels like an Island Breeze,” best describes the direction of Elliott Ranney. Born in 1953 to Ralph & Faye, Elliott was drawn to music early, listening to whatever was on the radio. He grew up with classical music, Gershwin, Cole Porter, and the crooners of late 1940’s 50’s. Kindergarten in 1959 was where he first heard Rock ‘N Roll; all the hip girls in poodle skirts and bobby socks; the guys in ducktails and tight jeans.
In 1966 Elliott got his first guitar from Montgomery Ward, a sunburst dreadnought which gathered dust in his closet until he was invited by his next door neighbor, Steve Marlowe to join with fellow musician, Tim Wells to get together and write songs. Both Steve and Tim were advanced musicians and seemed to have great ideas for songs. The three organized under the name, The Up Tights, and changed it later to Dear Friend. Early gigs were at Eliot Unitarian Chapel in Kirkwood, Mo., where the three attended. The audience was very kind. A member of the church youth group, LRY (Liberal Religious Youth), Elliott attended a group function at a local cinema where the now classic film, The Graduate was being shown. Viewing the film with the soundtrack by Simon & Garfunkle altered this young teen’s musical state. He began learning S&G songs and to write simple progressions based on his heroes’.
Some time passed, and during a brief tour in the US Navy (1971 Aug. ’75), Elliott began writing what was to be the title track to his debut CD, “An Aging Sailor’s Dream,” released May 2001 on the Wildstone Audio label in St. Louis, MO. One of his favorite lines conjures an image of the Caribbean: “An amber sun glowing ripe is swallowed by the sea.”
Post Navy, Elliott studied music in Florida where he started to play jazz in a college guitar ensemble. Moving back to St. Louis in the late 1970’s, Elliott began to incorporate jazz figures into his music in order to widen his vocabulary and to explore a more interesting way to melodically structure his music. During his ten year high school reunion, Elliott and fellow classmate, Pat Rodriguez met and soon after formed Panacea and is still performing at coffee houses, concerts and wineries. Pat is a dynamic Latin percussionist and is one of the featured performers on Aging Sailor’s Dream.
The most important person in Elliott’s life is his wife of twenty five years, Ellen Claire. Along with their three sons, they are a family of talented musicians and songwriters. With the support of his family, Elliott is performing throughout Missouri and Illinois. Elliott has given concert performances with Brewer & Shipley, Shawn Phillips and Jonatha Brooke. The cd, An Aging Sailor’s Dream has been featured in web/radio broadcast from far flung places in Brazil, Germany, and Japan as well as USA.
In October, ’03, the song, “Sailing Through,” was selected to be part of the sound track of Neo Pangea’s Indie film, “Townies.”Have you performed in front of an audience?I live in a suburb of St. Louis, Mo. - Richmond Heights located in the middle corridor, close to everything.
Your musical influences
I listened to classical music on the radio that my mom had on during the day and really got into the melodic structure, was drawn into the music, daydreaming about where the music took me. I was caught breathless by the soundtrack of "The Graduate." Simon and Garfunkle upended me and I breathed in their music through high school and beyond. When I was in the Navy, I listened to CSN, Led Zeppelin, Captain Beyond, James Gang, lots of r&r. Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon was fairly psychaelic to my ears and I wrote a three part song based on Lord Of The Rings trilogy. I have a copy of that on an old cassette tape I recorded years ago. I got into Michael Franks and Kenny Rankin in college at St. Petersburg Jr college. I realized my voice and music style was very much like these guys and began writing more jazz oriented themes. Then I became enamored with Steely Dan. Either you like them or hate them. These two guys - Walter Becker and Donald Fagen are brilliant beings and are light years beyond most song writers today. I have not touched on the jazz side, just a few names: Thelonius Monk, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Paul Desmond/Dave Brubeck, Bill Evans to name a few. Other notables: Tony Rice, David Grissman, Jerry Douglas. I know I'm missing many. Oh yeah, leaving some of the best for last, my good friends, Michael Brewer & Tom Shipley. These guys are still gigging and making great music.What equipment do you use?
I have a vintage Martin d-18 for my rock and roll guitar'dana bourgois pick up, bought new in 1971; an alvarez-yari classical with an lr baggs pick up. I use a six channel Peavey head with impulse 200 main speakers and a tasty wedge speaker from cmi. Sm 58 mics. There are better out there, but these are so reliable, been working for years, why fix what ain't broke?Anything else?
if you want to see me live, go to www.elliottranney.com for monthly updated tour schedule. There's links to my record label and other places.
richmond heights, MO
USA
ID
609549
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