Jeff’s Playlist: El Rayo‑X

El Rayo‑X — David Lindley

I found out about David Lindley through lin­er notes from Jackson Browne’s live album Running on Empty. He sang the cho­rus on “Stay” in a very inter­est­ing falset­to and played many instruments.

Lindley worked as a stu­dio musi­cian for Browne and oth­ers quite a bit in the Los Angeles area.

A fine musi­cian and a fine record. Give it a lis­ten, I think you’ll agree.

Album Information

Track list­ing

Side 1

“She Took Off My Romeos” (Bob “Frizz” Fuller) – 3:00
“Bye Bye Love” (Boudleaux Bryant, Felice Bryant) – 2:50
“Mercury Blues” (K. C. Douglas, Bob Geddins) – 3:33
“Quarter of a Man” (Bob “Frizz” Fuller) – 3:45
“Ain’t No Way” (Bob “Frizz” Fuller) – 3:42
“Twist and Shout” (Phil Medley, Bert Russell) – 2:44

Side 2

“El Rayo‑X” (Jorge Calderón, David Lindley) – 2:53
“Your Old Lady” (Elmo Glick, O’Kelly Isley, King Curtis) – 4:14
“Don’t Look Back” (Smokey Robinson, Ronald White) – 3:55
“Petit Fleur” (Solomon Feldthouse, Nancy Lindley) – 3:11
“Tu-Ber-Cu-Lucas and the Sinus Blues” (Huey “Piano” Smith) – 2:14
“Pay the Man” (David Lindley, George “Baboo” Pierre) – 3:30

Personnel

Musicians

David Lindley – bass (track 8), fid­dle, gui­tar, vio­lin, gui­tar (elec­tric), vocals, whis­tle (human), slide gui­tar, ban­dur­ria, divan saz
Bob Glaub – bass (all tracks except 6, 8, 10–11)
George “Ras Baboo” Pierre – per­cus­sion, tim­bales, vocals, (all tracks), accor­dion on “Pay the Man“
William D. “Smitty” Smith – organ, key­boards (tracks 1, 5–7, 11–12)
Ian Wallace – drums
Reggie McBride – bass (tracks 6, 10–11)
Curt Bouterse – ham­mer dul­cimer on “Petit Fleur“
Jackson Browne – vocals on “Bye Bye Love”, “Twist and Shout” and “Don’t Look Back“
Jorge Calderón – vocals on “Twist and Shout“
Garth Hudson – horn, key­boards on “El Rayo‑X“
Bill Payne – organ, key­boards on “Bye Bye Love”

Technical

Greg Ladanyi – engi­neer, pro­duc­er
Jackson Browne – pro­duc­er
George Ybara, Jamie Ledner – assis­tant engi­neers
Doug Sax, Mike Reese – mas­ter­ing
Jimmy Wachtel – art direc­tion, design
Gloria Von Jansky – let­ter­ing
Kaz Sakamoto – photography

Released  April 1981
Recorded 1981
Studio       Record One, Los Angeles
Length      39:31
Label        Asylum
Producer  Jackson Browne and Greg Ladanyi