Tony Carey
| Tony Carey | |
|---|---|
| Born |
October 16, 1953 Watsonville, CA, USA |
| Origin | Turlock, California, United States |
| Genres | Instrumental, rock, space rock, progressive rock, hard rock, heavy metal |
| Instruments | Keyboards, piano, guitar, bass, vocals |
| Years active | 1972–present |
| Labels | ABC, Rocshire, MCA, X-Records, Geffen, Metronome, Teldec, East West, BMG Ariola, Happy Street, Babyboomer, Progrock Records, Renaissance, T-Toone |
| Associated acts | Blessings, Rainbow, Planet P Project, Evil Masquerade, Zed Yago, Over the Rainbow, E.B.C. ROXX, Peter Maffay |
| Website | Official site |
Anthony Lawrence Carey (born October 16, 1953, Watsonville, California) is an American-born, European-based musician, composer, producer, and singer/songwriter. One of his earliest musical experiences was in a band called Blessings, in which he played until 1975 when Ritchie Blackmore hired him as keyboardist for Rainbow. He played with Rainbow on two world tours, until 1977. After his departure from Rainbow, he began a solo career, releasing albums under his own name as well under the pseudonym Planet P Project, and producing for and performing with other artists.
Carey had been playing his church's piano during off hours since he was very young, and he was permitted to play the pipe organ as well. He was fascinated by the sound. His family acquired a piano when he was seven, and he "lived at that piano" until, at age eleven, he got his first acoustic guitar and formed his first group, which played music by The Mamas and the Papas and others. His father gave him a Lowrey organ for his 14th birthday, and he started a rock band with other neighborhood kids, playing music by The Doors. He also played contrabass in his school's orchestra.
At age 17, Carey moved to New Hampshire to start a new band called Blessings with a singer he knew, and soon the band had a major recording contract with ABC Dunhill. Unfortunately, after two years of working on the project, the band was unable to complete its first album. In a 2013 interview, Carey listed his own involvement with girls, the producer's drug use, and "too much bullshit" from Dunhill as the reasons the album was never completed.
While Carey and his band Blessings were in S. I. R. Rehearsal Studios in Hollywood working on material for their unfinished album, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple was in another room, with bassist Jimmy Bain, auditioning musicians for his new band Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. Carey said Blackmore liked what he was hearing in the other room and asked Bain to invite Carey to audition. Out of frustration with his own band's inability to complete their first album, Carey accepted the position with Rainbow when it was offered. He recorded one studio album with Rainbow, the highly acclaimed Rising (1976, #48 on The Billboard 200). Carey's more notable work on the album included the keyboard introduction to "Tarot Woman", the first track on the Rainbow Rising album and the keyboard solo on "A Light in the Black", the last cut on the album. During Carey's two world tours with Rainbow, live material was recorded and subsequently released as two double LPs, On Stage (1977, #65 on The Billboard 200) and Live in Germany (1994). In addition to the two double LPs, a six-disc CD box set containing music from those tours, Deutschland Tournee 1976, was released in 2006.
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