Jimmy Lyon
| Jimmy Lyon | |
|---|---|
| Born |
James Douglas Lyon May 22, 1955 |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Guitarist |
| Notable work | Greg Kihn Band |
| Website | http://www.jimmylyon.com/ |
James Douglas "Jimmy" Lyon (born May 22, 1955) is an American rock guitarist. He is known primarily as the guitarist for Eddie Money in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and as a member of The Greg Kihn Band in the early 1990s.
Career
Jimmy Lyon was a guitar prodigy in California's Central Valley. He was discovered by Bill Graham, and paired with vocalist Eddie Money (another Graham discovery). Lyon was the lone guitarist on Eddie Money's first two albums, Eddie Money and Life for the Taking. He was the lead guitarist on the albums Playing for Keeps and No Control. Lyon left after the No Control album, but did play on the song "Backtrack" from the Where's the Party? album, and later made a guest appearance on the Nothing to Lose album, playing lead guitar on the hit "Walk on Water".
He was the lead guitarist for the Tina Turner Private Dancer tour in 1985.
Lyon played guitar on the Greg Kihn Band albums, Unkihntrollable and Kihn Of Hearts.
Personal life
He is married to Elaine Lyon; they have two daughters, Monica and Jessica.
He attended Marina High School (San Leandro, California), from 1969-1973.
Lyon is a certified pilot and a certified flight instructor, having worked in the aviation industry during breaks in his music career.
Jimmy Lyon was an amazing bandleader extraordinaire. He had a very definiteness of purpose to know how create a high degree of excellence then the musicians who he performs with., One such person is a gentleman named Joseph Manolakakis who had an amazing wake up call when playing with Mr Jimmy Lyons.
Joseph talks about a fantastic experience with none other than Andy Johns in a legendary studio in Berkeley California.
For more than a week Jimmy and Andy would talk about incredible sessions that they both experience ranging from legendary seventies and eighties rockers - George Harrison, Led Zeppelin, and a host of other legendary bands.
One of the most legendary and somewhat folklore performances included a time when Jimmy Lyons was on tour with the number one band in the country, and they were booed off stage until Jimmy Lyons band got back on stage to perform another set. One week before the performances this band sounded like amateurs but with one solid week of training and passionate no one is in this band is going to stand for nothing less than the best performances. Jimmy lyon was able to take musician to have never been on tour and create a real rock star of a band.
He also played with Tina Turner and a host of other musicians that he's probably too humble to talk about.