Don Randi

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American keyboard player, bandleader, and songwriter

title: "Don Randi" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1937-births", "living-people", "jazz-musicians-from-new-york-(state)", "songwriters-from-new-york-(state)", "musicians-from-new-york-city", "20th-century-american-male-musicians", "20th-century-american-pianists", "21st-century-american-male-musicians", "21st-century-american-pianists", "american-jazz-pianists", "american-male-jazz-pianists", "american-pop-pianists", "american-session-musicians", "the-wrecking-crew-(music)-members", "american-male-songwriters"] description: "American keyboard player, bandleader, and songwriter" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Randi" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American keyboard player, bandleader, and songwriter ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist"]

FieldValue
nameDon Randi
birth_date
birth_placeNew York City, U.S.
genrePop, rock, jazz
occupationMusician
instrumentKeyboards
years_active1956–present
past_member_ofThe Wrecking Crew
::

| name = Don Randi | image = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = New York City, U.S. | genre = Pop, rock, jazz | occupation = Musician | instrument = Keyboards | years_active = 1956–present | past_member_of = The Wrecking Crew

Don Randi (born February 25, 1937) is an American keyboard player, bandleader, and songwriter who was a member of the Wrecking Crew. He is the father of bassist and singer Leah Randi.

Career

Don was born February 25, 1937, in New York City. He was raised in the Catskill Mountains and studied classical music. In 1954, he moved to Los Angeles and became a studio musician. During the next year, he began working at record distribution company where he was influenced by jazz musicians, particularly Horace Silver.

He began his career as a pianist and keyboard player in 1956, gradually establishing a reputation as a leading session musician. In the early 1960s, he was musician and arranger for record producer Phil Spector's Wall of Sound. He played piano on "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" by Nancy Sinatra and on her albums, as well as being a member of her touring band for decades. He performed on the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" and "God Only Knows". He recorded live albums of piano jazz as a solo performer and as the leader of the Don Randi Trio with Leroy Vinnegar and Mel Lewis. Randi wrote film scores during the 1970s, including Bloody Mama (1970), Up in the Cellar (1970), J. W. Coop (1972), Stacey (1973), and Santee (1973).

In 1970, he opened The Baked Potato jazz club in Studio City, California, and formed Don Randi and Quest as the house band. The band recorded over 15 albums and was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1980 for the album New Baby.

In 2008, as a member of the Wrecking Crew, Randi was inducted into the Hollywood RockWalk.

Discography

As leader

  • Feelin' Like Blues (World Pacific, 1960)
  • Where Do We Go from Here? (Verve, 1962)
  • Last Night/with the Don Randi Trio (Verve, 1962)
  • Mexican Pearls (Palomar, 1965)
  • Revolver Jazz (Reprise, 1966)
  • Live On the Sunset Strip! (Reprise, 1967)
  • 3 in the Cellar (American International, 1970)
  • At the Baked Potato (Poppy, 1972)
  • Don Randi & the Baked Potato Band (JAS, 1975)
  • Bermuda Triangle (Dobre, 1978)
  • New Baby (Sheffield Lab, 1979)
  • California 84 (Bee Pee, 1983)
  • Baked Potato Shuffle (Baked Potato, 1988)
  • Don't Look Back (Headfirst, 1989)
  • Wind and Sea (Headfirst, 1990)

As sideman

With David Axelrod

Notable singles

Based on information from Randi’s book, You’ve Heard These Hands.

Charting for singles is on the US singles charts. ::data[format=table] | Artist | Title | Date & highest position on US charts | Miscellaneous | |---|---|---|---| | The Beach Boys | “God Only Knows” | #39, 9/17/66 | | | The Beach Boys | “Good Vibrations" | #1, 10/29/66 | | | The Beach Boys | “Help Me Rhonda" | # 1, 5/01/65 | | | The Beach Boys | “Wouldn't It Be Nice" | #8, 8/20/65 | | | Buffalo Springfield | “Broken Arrow” | Released 11/18/67 | produced and arranged by Jack Nitzsche | | Glen Campbell | “I'm Not Gonna Miss You” | released on September 30, 2014 | for the soundtrack to the documentary Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me, the last song Campbell recorded | | The Crystals | “He's a Rebel" | #1, 10/06/62 | produced by Phil Spector, #2 R&B | | The Crystals | “Da Doo Ron Ron” | #3, 5/11/63 | # 5 R&B | | The Crystals | "Then He Kissed Me" | #6, 8/31/63 | #8 R&B | | Sammy Davis Jr. | "The Candy Man" | #1, 10/6/72 | | | Neil Diamond | "Cracklin' Rosie" | #1, 8/29/70 | | | Lesley Gore | "It's My Party" | #1, 5/18/63 | #1 R&B, produced by Quincy Jones, arranged byJack Nietzsche | | The Jackson 5 | "ABC" | #1, 3/21/70 | #1 R&B | | Jan and Dean | "Popsicle" | #21, 6/18/66 | | | Ben E. King | "Spanish Harlem" | #10, 1/30/61 | #15 R&B | | Dean Martin | "Everybody Loves Somebody" | #1, 7/11/64 | | | Barry McGuire | "Eve of Destruction" | #1, 8/28/65 | | | Jack Nitzsche | "The Lonely Surfer" | #39, 9/7/63 | | | Laura Nyro | "Save the Country" | | | | The Paris Sisters | "I Love How You Love Me" | #5, 10/2/61 | | | Ray Peterson | "Corinna, Corinna" | #9, 12/19/60 | | | Elvis Presley | "A Little Less Conversation" | | | | Gary Puckett & The Union Gap | "Young Girl" | #2, 3/16/68 | | | Gary Puckettt and the Union Gap | "Lady Willpower" | #2, 6/22/68 | | | The Righteous Brothers | "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" | #1, 12/26/64 | #2 R&B | | The Righteous Brothers | "Ebb Tide" | #5, 12/11/65 | #13 R&B | | The Righteous Brothers | "Unchained Melody" | #4, 7/31/65 | #6 R&B | | The Ronettes | "Be My Baby" | #7, 4/30/66 | #4 | | Diana Ross | "Touch Me in the Morning" | #1, 7/7/73 | #5 R&B | | Frank and Nancy Sinatra | "Somethin' Stupid" | #1, 3/25/67 | | | Nancy Sinatra | "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" | #1, 2/5/66 | | | Nancy Sinatra | "How Does That Grab You, Darlin'?" | #7, 4/30/66 | | | Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood | "Jackson" | # 14, 7/8/67 | | | O.C. Smith | "The Son of Hickory Holler's Tramp" | #40, 4/20/68 | #32 R&B | | Sonny and Cher | "I Got You Babe" | #1, 7/31/65 | #19 R&B | | The Spiral Staircase | "More Today Than Yesterday" | #12, 5/3/69 | | | Stone Poneys | "Different Drum" | #13, 12/9/67 | lead vocals Linda Ronstadt | | Hank Williams Jr. | "Family Tradition" | | | ::

Notable albums

A list of notable albums that Randi played on.

::data[format=table] | Artist | Title | Date & highest position on US charts | Miscellaneous | |---|---|---|---| | The Association | And Then... Along Comes the Association | #5, 10/01/66 | | | The Beach Boys | Pet Sounds | #10, 06/11/66 | | | The Beach Boys | The Smile Sessions | | | | Buffalo Springfield | Buffalo Springfield Again | Released 11/18/67 | | | Tim Buckley | Goodbye and Hello | Released September 1967 | | | Leonard Cohen | Death of a Ladies Man | Released November 13, 1977 | produced by Phil Spector | | Neil Diamond | * Tap Root Manuscript* | #13, 11/21/70 | | | The Electric Prunes | Mass in F Minor | | arranged by David Axelrod | | Cass Elliot | The Road is No Place for a Lady | | | | The Jackson 5 | ABC | #4, 6/6/70 | | | Love | The Best of Love | | | | The Monkees | The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees | #3, 5/18/68 | | | The Monkees | More of the Monkees | #1, 2/11/67 | | | Michael Nesmith | The Wichita Train Whistle Sings | | | | Mickey Newbury | * An American Trilogy* | | | | Harry Nilsson | The Point! | #25, 4/10/71 | | | Michelle Phillips | Victim of Romance | | Produced by Jack Nitzsche | | The Righteous Brothers | ''You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin''' | #4, 2/6/65 | | | The Righteous Brothers | * Back to Back* | #16, 2/5/66 | | | Tommy Roe | * Beginnings* | 1971 | | | The Ronettes | Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica | #96 | released November 1964 | | Nancy Sinatra | * Boots* | #5, 3/26/66 | | | Nancy Sinatra | How Does That Grab You? | | | | Nancy Sinatra | Country My Way | | | | Nancy Sinatra | * Nancy* | | | | Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood | Nancy and Lee | # 13, 5/25/68 | | | Sonny and Cher | * Look At Us* | #2, 9/4/65 | | | Phil Spector | * Back to Mono (1958–1969)* | | | | Phil Spector | * A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector* | | In 2019, it was ranked the greatest Christmas album of all time by Rolling Stone. | | The Spiral Staircase | More Today Than Yesterday | | | | Jim Sullivan | U.F.O. | | | | The Tubes | Young and Rich | | | | Townes Van Zandt | * Our Mother the Mountain* | | | | Townes Van Zandt | High, Low and In Between | | | | Hank Williams Jr. | Family Tradition | | | ::

References

References

  1. "Don Randi on Apple Music".
  2. "Don Randi".
  3. "Biography at Baked Potato website".
  4. (August 2010). "Best Jazz Club".
  5. [http://www.modernguitars.com/archives/004559.html Lynne Margolis, Glen Campbell, Don Randi and Hal Blaine Honored at RockWalk, 5 August 2008] {{webarchive. link. (September 19, 2008)
  6. "The Wrecking Crew at Hollywood's RockWalk".
  7. Randi, Don, with Karen "Nish" Nishimura, You’ve Heard These Hands: From the Wall of Sound to the Wrecking Crew and Other Incredible Stories, Hal Leonard Books 2015 pp.227-230
  8. Whitburn, Joel The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, Billboard Books, New York, 1992
  9. Whitburn, Joel, The Billboard Book of TOP 40 R&B and Hip Hop Hits, Billboard Books, New York 2006 p. 128
  10. Hartman, Kent, The Wrecking Crew: The Inside Story of Rock and Roll’s Best-Kept Secret, Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 2012 p. 120
  11. Whitburn, Joel, The Billboard Book of TOP 40 Albums, Billboard Books, New York 1991
  12. (30 November 2019). "The 25 Greatest Christmas Albums of All Time".

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1937-birthsliving-peoplejazz-musicians-from-new-york-(state)songwriters-from-new-york-(state)musicians-from-new-york-city20th-century-american-male-musicians20th-century-american-pianists21st-century-american-male-musicians21st-century-american-pianistsamerican-jazz-pianistsamerican-male-jazz-pianistsamerican-pop-pianistsamerican-session-musiciansthe-wrecking-crew-(music)-membersamerican-male-songwriters