Brian Robert Setzer (born April 10, 1959) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He found widespread success in the early 1980s with the 1950s-style
rockabilly group
Stray Cats, and returned to the music scene in the early 1990s with his
swing revival band,
the Brian Setzer Orchestra. In 1987, he made a cameo appearance as
Eddie Cochran in the film La Bamba.
Career
Stray Cats
Setzer was born April 1959 in
Massapequa, New York. He started on the
euphonium and played in jazz bands when he was in school. He found a way to hear jazz at the
Village Vanguard, though as he got older he became more interested in rock, punk, and rockabilly. He was a member of the Bloodless Pharaohs and
the Tomcats, which he began with his brother, Gary. The Tomcats became the
Stray Cats when double bassist
Lee Rocker and drummer
Slim Jim Phantom joined and Gary left the band. In 1980, thinking they might have more success in England than in America, they sold their instruments to pay for airplane tickets and flew to London.[1]
After performing in London for a few months, they met
Dave Edmunds, a guitarist and record producer who shared their love of rockabilly and 1950s' rock and roll. Edmunds produced their debut album, Stray Cats (
Arista, 1981), which yielded two hit singles, "
Stray Cat Strut" and "
Rock This Town". The second album, Gonna Ball (Arista, 1982), was less successful. The band returned to America and released Built for Speed (
EMI, 1982), produced again by Dave Edmunds, with songs collected from their first two albums. Helped by their music videos on MTV, the Stray Cats became popular in America. Their next album, Rant n' Rave with the Stray Cats (EMI, 1983) produced the hit "
(She's) Sexy + 17".[1]
The Stray Cats disbanded in 1984, though they occasionally reunited, recorded, and toured. After recording three albums with different producers, they returned to Dave Edmunds for Choo Choo Hot Fish (1992).[1]
After the Stray Cats disbanded in 1984, Setzer began a solo career that included working as a sideman for other acts, such as
the Honeydrippers led by
Robert Plant.[1] On his first solo album, The Knife Feels Like Justice (EMI, 1986), he turned away from rockabilly and moved toward rhythm and blues (
R&B) and the
heartland rock of
John Mellencamp. The album was produced by
Don Gehman and featured
Kenny Aronoff on drums. Both men had worked on albums by Mellencamp.[2] His second studio album Live Nude Guitars followed in 1988. While this album retained some heartland rock elements, it found Setzer moving in more of a straight-ahead
blues rock direction, comparable to
George Thorogood's style; Setzer served as co-producer along with Larson Paine,
Chris Thomas and
David A. Stewart. He went on tour with Thorogood later that year.[3]
Brian Setzer Orchestra Live: Christmas Extravaganza (2005)
One Rockin' Night ('95) (2007)
Live in Montreal Jazz Festival (2010)
Rockabilly Riot! Osaka Rocka Live in Japan (2016)
Brian Setzer Orchestra Live: Christmas Rocks! (2018)
Musical equipment
Brian Setzer has a very large guitar collection which spans many decades and brands. He favours vintage equipment[18] and hollow body guitars,[19] and currently endorses
Gretsch guitars.[20]