Robbie McIntosh (guitarist)

Robbie McIntosh 2009

Robbie McIntosh (born October 25, 1957 in Sutton (formerly Surrey now London )) is a British rock guitarist who was best known for his work with The Pretenders .

Life

At the age of 10 he began to play the respective parts of various rock recordings on the guitar , and at the age of 13 he received lessons in classical guitar. Many of the bands he heard then later influenced the way he played, including the Beatles , the Rolling Stones , the Kinks and the Jimi Hendrix Experience . Thanks to his father, he also got to hear jazz , for example Django Reinhardt .

After his first band, 70% Proof, he joined the Foster Brothers in 1977, until they split up a year later. After that he worked as a truck driver and turned his back on music. A few months later, he received an offer from Chris Thompson to play lead guitar in a band called Filthy McNasty. He agreed and moved with the band to Los Angeles in November 1978 to help Richard Perry with some studio recordings. After being renamed Night, the band toured with the Doobie Brothers in 1979 . During this time, McIntosh also met the Pretenders guitarist James Honeyman-Scott .

In 1980, Night split and McIntosh formed the band Chris Thompson & The Islands with Thompson. Since the band was not successful, McIntosh said goodbye at the end of 1981. A short time later he founded a new band: Dean Martin's Dog. The band played mostly in pubs and had little success.

In 1982 Honeyman-Scott McIntosh offered a place with the Pretenders, initially only as a studio musician. In June of the same year, Honeyman-Scott died a drug death , and McIntosh became a permanent member of the Pretenders in September. He can be heard on two of their albums ( Learning to Crawl and Get Close ). In September 1987 he turned his back on the Pretenders.

In 1988 McIntosh worked primarily as a session musician. He also got to know Paul McCartney , whose accompanying band he joined a short time later. By 1993 he played on two world tours, two studio and three live albums McCartney and on Linda McCartney's solo work Wide Prairie .

Afterwards he worked again as a session musician until he formed his own band in 1998. Together with Paul Beavis , Pino Palladino , Mark Feltham and Melvin Duffy , the Robbie McIntosh Band and their debut album Emotional Bends were created .

Some time earlier, on the advice of Douglas Adams , he had recorded various instrumental pieces that he had composed to just play a little guitar at home. These pieces can be heard on the album Unsung . In June 2001, another Robbie McIntosh Band album called Wide Screen was released.

In 2004 and 2005 Robbie McIntosh was a member of the Norah Jones Band, before touring with singer / songwriter John Mayer from 2006 and recording the EP The Village Sessions with him . He is also active as a session musician for various artists.

Robbie McIntosh has four children and lives in Dorset with his wife .