Danny Kortchmar

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Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar (born April 6, 1946) is a guitarist, session musician, and songwriter. Kortchmar's work with singer-songwriters such as David Crosby, Carole King, Graham Nash, Carly Simon and James Taylor, helped define the signature sound of the singer-songwriter era of the 1970s. Jackson Browne and Don Henley have recorded many songs written or co-written by Kortchmar. Kortchmar is credited as Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar, Danny Kortchmar, Dan Kortchmar and even Danny Kootch on different recordings.

Kortchmar first came to prominence in the mid-1960s playing with bands in his native New York City, such as The Kingbees and the Flying Machine, fronted by then-unknown Taylor. In 1967 Kortchmar joined The Fugs, appearing on their 1968 Tenderness Junction album before following bassist Charles Larkey to California, where they joined Carole King in forming a trio named The City. The group produced an album in 1969, Now That Everything's Been Said, which was not a success. The group subsequently broke up, but Kortchmar continued backing King on her more successful solo career, including the groundbreaking Tapestry. In 1970, Kortchmar reunited with Taylor on his breakthrough album Sweet Baby James. Kortchmar's work with Taylor and King made him one of the top session guitarists in the 1970s.

Kortchmar worked on his own, reuniting with Larkey in the band Jo Mama in 1970 and 1971 and recording solo albums Kootch (1973) and Innuendo (1980), but he experienced his greatest success backing other artists such as Linda Ronstadt, Warren Zevon, Harry Nilsson and Jackson Browne. In the 1970s he made three albums with Leland Sklar, Russ Kunkel, and Craig Doerge, as The Section. He has also produced recordings by Don Henley, Neil Young, Jon Bon Jovi, Billy Joel, Hanson, Tracy Chapman and others. He is featured on guitar on Carole King's 1975 album, Thoroughbred.

[edit] Trivia

He had a cameo as Ronnie Pudding (Spinal Tap's bass player in their early years) in the "Gimme Some Money" video segment of the 1984 mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap.