Tony Drake's professional career began at age fourteen with a list of party/club dates and a permission slip from his mother.

Accepted to the Dawkins Conservatory of Music at age sixteen, Tony studied classical guitar for two years.  For three years hence, Tony was under the private tutelage of the acclaimed guitarist, John Blaylock.

The 60's took Tony on the road with Johnny Taylor, Ronnie Dyson, T. Bone Walker and a host of others.

The early 70's opened another genre as a staff musician for 20th Century Fox recording tracks for television shows ( i.e., "Julia"; Diahann Carroll, "The Lucille Ball Show", "The Nielsson Show").

Sought after in the late 70's, Tony was signed to A & M records as a staff musician and recorded for most of the artists on the label including Herb Albert, Merry Clayton, Cheech and Chong and many others.

1981 was the beginning of four years of extensive travel as lead guitarist for the Checkmates.  When they disbanded, Tony freelanced in and around Los Angeles, playing as well as traveling with groups such as The Fifth Dimension and later Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr., when they left the group, Gloria Lynn, Aretha Franklin, The Crusaders, Cher, Tina Turner, Marvin Gaye, Esther Phillips, Count Basie's Big Band, H. B. Barnum Big Band, Jimmy Witherspoon, Nancy Wilson, Joe Williams, The Supremes, Leon Haywood, and En Vogue.

Most recently, Tony has been the personal guitarist for Miss Della Reese, toured with Barry White, Lou Rawls and produced and recorded with Lisa Gay.

With credits of movies, television, recordings, (“Mr. Big Stuff”, “Bad Mamma Jamma”, “Want Ads”, “Half-Breed”, Marvin Gaye’s “Here My Dear”, Tina Turner, “Mountain High, River Deep”, Leon Haywood, “Don’t Push It, Don’t Force It”, the former KJLH newsbreak song, “Choo Choo”, “Black Pearl”, Checkmates, Little Johnny Taylor, “Part Time Love”, Papa John Creach, “The Fiddler Man”, and many other tracks) touring, shows, (American Music Awards, Black Achievement Awards, Ace Awards, Lou Rawls Parade of Stars) and   record producer, Tony has carved a niche in the entertainment industry that many hope to yet attain.

 

From The Seattle Times: July 12, 2003

Lou Rawls was one of the first singers to straddle the musical worlds of gospel, blues, soul and supper-club pop and make it all look easy. The discography of the Chicago-bred Rawls, who is appearing at Dimitriou's Jazz Alley through Sunday, tells the story. He has recorded more than 60 albums, from his gospel days with The Pilgrim Travelers, to his ace backup work on the classic soul tunes of Sam Cooke, and on to Grammy-winning pop hits with a few detours into jazz, including a memorable disc matching him up with Les McCann and a DVD of a performance with Duke Ellington. And then there are Rawls' other high-visibility gigs — hosting telethons for the United Negro College Fund, hawking beer and playing cameos in such films as "Anger Management."


Now in his late 60s, Rawls remains a suave entertainer with a robust, agile baritone. And he's still something of a musical chameleon. On Thursday's opening night first set of his debut gig at Jazz Alley, Rawls worked the room with ease, informing the full house he was there to put "some hip in your dip, some pep in your step, and some glide in your stride." That he did, roaming almost without pause through various phases of his career. You could get an earful of the Rawls you like the best, which for many in the audience was the crooner of '70s romantic R&B hits, many of them concocted in the Philadelphia sound factory of producers Gamble & Huff.
Rawls' unruffled cruise through his slick chart hits from that period ("You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine," "Groovy People," "Lady Love") didn't disappoint fans of such fare.

But to my ears, those hits sound synthetic and dated compared to Rawls' compelling treatments of classic R&B and blues tunes. It's in the blues that this veteran showman reveals the grit underneath the polish, and the full range of a voice that can still dip, shout, rumble, wail and testify when heeded.
Rawls put some bona fide Chicago stomp into Thursday night's renditions of "St. James Infirmary" and "Kansas City," and he got down with Jimmy Reed's rolling "Baby, What You Want Me to Do?"
His salty-sweet delivery of the ballad "At Last," and sensual stroll through "Since I Lost My Baby" (for the latter, Rawls instructed couples to "tighten up and touch") were the sexiest numbers of the set. And he spread joy with a heartfelt Sam Cooke medley that included "You Send Me" and "Bring it on Home."
To span all his musical styles, Rawls has with him at the Alley a versatile five-piece combo that includes Tony Drake, a terrific blues guitarist who has backed up many R&B greats. Drake can make his instrument sing and weep like B.B. King's Lucille, and his contributions add some welcome passion to the proceedings.
Misha Berson: mberson@seattletimes.com


Copyright © 2003 The Seattle Times Company

Watch for  "TONY DRAKE SESSIONS" coming soon!