In 1973, shortly after graduating from high school, Ray began his musical career as part of
Bobby Pickett and the Crypt Kicker Five, playing "
Monster Mash" at a fundraising benefit hosted by and for
Phil Kaufman. Kaufman took Ray in and would later introduce him to singer
Etta James at a rehearsal for the world-famous
Troubadour, just as James was on the brink of a career comeback. That brief introduction would eventually lead to Ray's 14-year career as Etta James'
musical director and
guitarist. which has received over 2,000,000 airplays. Prior to working with
Paul McCartney in 2002, Ray was working on tour in France with two different French artists,
Mylène Farmer and
Johnny Hallyday.
Abe Laboriel Jr., a drummer who had previously worked with Brian Ray, mentioned that Paul McCartney was in search of a guitarist who could switch between
guitar and
bass guitar (for songs on which McCartney plays piano or guitar). After meeting with McCartney's producer for
Driving Rain,
David Kahne, Ray joined Paul McCartney for the pre-game performance of
"Freedom" at the
NFL's
Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002. Ray joined the rest of Paul McCartney's band for the
Driving Rain tour in promotion of the album. As of then, he has appeared on McCartney's solo albums, such as
Back in the World,
Back in the U.S.,
Memory Almost Full,
New and
Egypt Station In addition to being a session musician, Brian Ray has also contributed to film scores such as the soundtrack to the film
Heartbreakers in 1984. In 2002, Ray and
Abe Laboriel Jr. composed the score for the independent film
The Failures. In 2011, Ray joined with Oliver Leiber to form
The Bayonets.
Solo career After decades of performing, writing, and recording with musical artists, Brian Ray released his first solo album,
Mondo Magneto, on October 16, 2006, through his record label
Whooray Records. "People have always asked me when I was going to do my own thing", Ray said, "I guess I was just busy." Mondo Magneto's record release party was held at The Mint in Los Angeles, California, on January 21, 2006. Ray's live band,
Black Unicorn, includes musicians Peter Thorn on guitar, John Button on bass, and Matt Laug on drums. The band performs their music in Los Angeles clubs, such as
The Viper Room and The Mint. In 2008, Larry Graves and Brian Ray made a video for Ray's song "Coming Up Roses". In 2010, Ray released a second album, entitled
This Way Up. == Discography ==