remembering Great artist, Ralph Carney (January 23, 1956 – December 17, 2017) was an American multi-instrumentalist, singer and composer.
While his primary instruments were various saxophones and clarinets, Carney also collected and played many instruments, often unusual or obscure ones.
He is best known for his long association with Tom Waits and for his collaboration on the theme song for BoJack Horseman, along with his nephew Patrick Carney.
Carney grew up in Akron, Ohio, and listened to music on a windup record player. He was the youngest of three siblings.
Carney got his start as a professional musician as a founding member of the experimental rock and new wave band Tin Huey. In addition to work with Tin Huey in the 1970s and Tom Waits from the 1980s onwards, Carney also recorded or performed with Dieselhed, Marc Ribot, the B-52's, Elvis Costello, Jonathan Richman, Les Claypool, St. Vincent, Stan Ridgway, Medeski Martin & Wood, Jed Davis, Bill Laswell, Griddle, and HowellDevine, among others.
In 1981, Carney was one of the lead members of the Swollen Monkeys, along with Mars Williams later of the Psychedelic Furs : the group released an album that year Afterbirth of the Cool produced by Hal Willner.
Carney released several solo albums and was a member of the Oranj Symphonette with fellow Waits alumni Joe Gore and Matt Brubeck.
He also headed up San Francisco's Carneyball Johnson, playing on saxophones, Turkish clarinet, piccolo, trumpet, percussion and vocals.
Carney collaborated with the Black Keys on their studio album Attack & Release (2008). He occasionally joined them on stage when they toured that record. In 2014, he collaborated with his nephew Patrick for the BoJack Horseman theme song.
He toured with They Might Be Giants in the fall of 2009. He recorded and performed with Black Francis in 2008 a score for the silent film Der Golem (1920), he guested with Yo La Tengo and Medeski Martin & Wood for live shows in 2010 and 2011.
He recorded on a T Bone Burnett-produced project the Ghost Brothers of Darkland County with Marc Ribot and Elvis Costello, as yet unreleased.
He performed on many Hal Willner-produced shows at UCLA's Royce Hall including a Tribute to Harry Smith in 2001, with a huge number of performers including Todd Rundgren, Philip Glass, and David Johansen
LIKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE RALPH CARNEY
