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Pat Thrall

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Genres
  
Name
  
Pat Thrall

Occupation(s)
  
Guitarist

Role
  
Guitarist


Instruments
  
Guitar, percussion

Movies
  
Asia: Live in Nottingham

Years active
  
1972-present

Music group
  
Asia (1990 – 1991)


Origin
  
San Francisco, California, United States

Associated acts
  
Hughes/Thrall, Asia, Meat Loaf

Albums
  
Then & Now, Live! Go for What You Know, Alive in Hallowed Halls, Live in Osaka, Live in Moscow

Heat in the street live pat thrall guitar solo


Pat Thrall is an American rock guitarist. A native of the San Francisco area, he began his recording career in 1972. He played guitar, vocals, and percussion with the group Cookin Mama, which had his brother, Preston Thrall, on percussion. They released the album New Day in 1972.

Contents

Pat Thrall HughesThrallcom

Thrall was born and raised in Alameda, California. Starting as a drummer at 11, then moving to guitar at 13, by age 15 he joined the Alameda band “Cookin’ Mama”. The band had some success in the San Francisco Bay Area and released the album “New Day” in 1972. At age 18 Thrall was involved in the first ever instructional book for rock guitar titled “Improvising Rock Guitar Vol 1”.

John Payne & Pat Thrall - Superstition


Career

Pat Thrall Pat Thrall

Thrall has worked with former Deep Purple bassist Glenn Hughes on the Hughes/Thrall project, and was a member of the Pat Travers Band during the peak of their success. He co-wrote one of Pat Travers' biggest hits, a hard-driving tune entitled Snortin' Whiskey, which became one of the most requested songs on American radio in 1980. Thrall later joined Asia, and played lead guitar for Meat Loaf during that artist's major comeback in the 1990s.

Pat Thrall Heat In The Street Live Pat Thrall guitar solo YouTube

He began attracting attention as a guitarist in 1976 after the release of "Automatic Man" (signed by Chris Blackwell-Island Records), a band that was put together by former Santana drummer, Michael Shrieve. The band recorded their first album in London with Keith Harwood producing (Led Zeppelin "Presence", Rolling Stones "Black and Blue"). In 1978, Thrall was chosen for the co-lead spot with Pat Travers. He recorded on three LP's with Travers: Heat In The Street, Go For What You Know and Crash And Burn. Their first hit was "Boom Boom Out Goes The Lights". The latter LP featured the FM hit, "Snortin' Whiskey", which Thrall co-wrote with Travers.

Pat Thrall Pat Thrall 1973 Improvising Rock Guitar Vol 1 Glenn Hughes Fan Forum

Thrall came to the attention of Glenn Hughes; the chemistry between the two clicked immediately when they formed Hughes/Thrall in 1981 in Los Angeles. The album was co-produced by Andy Johns and Rob Fraboni. The record was not a commercial success but furthered Thrall's reputation with many musicians at the time citing the Hughes/Thrall record as a major inspiration. Gary Moore gave Thrall a nod crediting him for "inspiration" on the Gary Moore & G-Force album.

After the demise of Hughes/Thrall he moved to New York and worked as a studio musician and as a sideman touring with major artists. He recorded two albums with the Jamaican rhythm section Sly and Robbie. He played on the Tina Turner album "Foreign Affair" and was featured on the classic "Simply The Best".

In 1988 Thrall toured and recorded with the legendary Jack Bruce of Cream fame. The performance at The Bitter End in NYC was historic as it reunited Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton for the first time since the last Cream concert at the Royal Albert Hall. He recorded and toured with Meat Loaf on his 1993 comeback record "Bat Out Of Hell II" which was one of the biggest albums of the year with the hit "I Would Do Anything for Love".

After recording two more albums and after several tours Thrall left Meat Loaf in 1996 and opened one of the first Pro Tools based production suites at Avatar studios in New York City. The technology was in its infancy but Thrall saw the incredible possibilities and put together a mobile system that could be taken to the other studios at Avatar. Thrall found his niche and success as producer and engineer, becoming a technology leader, pioneering the use of Pro Tools for studio recordings. He has also lent his talent and support to initiatives such as Nelson Mandela's foundation to fight AIDS in Africa. The 46664 concert was a major success raising millions of dollars to fight AIDS in South Africa.

Between 2007-11, he worked with producers Tricky Stewart and The-Dream, who were responsible for Rihanna's "Umbrella", Justin Bieber's "Baby", Beyonce's "Single Ladies", Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body", and Jay Z's "Holy Grail". Since 2014, he has continued to work on such projects as Demi Lovato's version of "Let It Go"; Celine Dion and Stevie Wonder's duet of "Overjoyed", and many songs with Jessie J, including the duet with Tom Jones, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling".

Cookin Mama

  • New Day (guitar, vocals, percussion; 1972)
  • Stomu Yamashta

  • Go (guitar; 1976)
  • Delroy Washington - I-Sus

  • "Generation Game", "Freedom Fighters" (lead guitar; 1976)
  • Automatic Man

  • Automatic man (guitar, vocals; 1976)
  • Visitors (guitar; 1977)
  • Alphonso Johnson

  • Spellbound (guitar; 1977)
  • Pat Travers Band

  • Heat in the Street (guitar; 1978)
  • Live! Go for What You Know (guitar; 1979)
  • Crash and Burn (guitar; 1980)
  • Radio Active (guitar; 1981)
  • Live in Concert (guitar; 1980)
  • Hughes/Thrall

  • Hughes/Thrall (guitar, guitar synthesizer; 1982)
  • Sly and Robbie

  • Rhythm Killers (guitar; 1987)
  • Asia

  • Live in Moscow (guitar; 1990)
  • Now Nottingham Live (guitar; )
  • Meat Loaf

  • Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell (guitar, percussion; 1992)
  • Welcome to the Neighborhood (guitar; 1995)
  • Live Around the World (guitar; 1996)
  • Glenn Hughes

  • Feel (guitar, co-producer; 1995)
  • Praxis

  • Mold (guitar; 1998)
  • Joe Satriani

  • Engines of Creation (bass; 2000)
  • MTV's Wuthering Heights

  • MTV's Wuthering Heights (guitar, co-producer; 2003)
  • References

    Pat Thrall Wikipedia