Lyle Ritz

Trackimage Playbut Trackname Playbut Trackname
Lulu's Back In Town 04:17 Tools
Don't Get Around Much Anymore 03:15 Tools
Moonlight In Vermont 03:44 Tools
I'm Beginning To See The Light 02:53 Tools
Have You Met Miss Jones 03:06 Tools
Little Girl Blue 02:51 Tools
Playmates 02:32 Tools
Ritz Cracker 02:15 Tools
Solamente Una Vez (You Belong To My Heart) 02:50 Tools
Sunday 02:08 Tools
Tangerine 03:23 Tools
Sweet Joan 02:29 Tools
How About You 02:49 Tools
Where Or When 04:03 Tools
Triste 04:33 Tools
Bluesette 01:22 Tools
Satin Doll 03:37 Tools
The Girl from Ipanema 04:12 Tools
Beginner's Luck 03:18 Tools
A Felicidade 04:02 Tools
No Moon At All 03:20 Tools
Besame Mucho 03:29 Tools
Blue Monk 03:49 Tools
Lil' Darlin' 03:52 Tools
Emily 03:39 Tools
Old In New Mexico 02:45 Tools
How About You? 01:49 Tools
Tonight You Belong To Me 01:31 Tools
Rainforest Waltz 03:07 Tools
I'm Old Fashioned 03:58 Tools
Blue Hawaii 02:35 Tools
Polka Dots And Moonbeams 03:36 Tools
Rose Room 04:09 Tools
Clean From Porterville 02:51 Tools
Leis Of Jazz 02:51 Tools
The Song Is You 03:35 Tools
Stompin' At The Savoy 02:52 Tools
Pick-A-Lili 02:27 Tools
On The Beach At Waikiki 02:52 Tools
Blue Lou 03:35 Tools
Perjazz 02:52 Tools
Skylark 03:23 Tools
Hana Maui 02:52 Tools
Blues On A Ukulele 03:35 Tools
Fly Me To The Moon 01:49 Tools
Solamente Una Vez 02:52 Tools
Don't Get Around Much Any More 03:15 Tools
Autumn Leaves 03:15 Tools
Joy Spring 05:48 Tools
Just The Way You Are 02:39 Tools
As Time Goes By 02:39 Tools
Dream 02:39 Tools
Lulu 04:18 Tools
Honeysuckle Rose 02:39 Tools
Lover 01:34 Tools
Unforgettable 04:18 Tools
For Sentimental Reasons 00:57 Tools
Embraceable You 04:18 Tools
How High The Moon 00:57 Tools
I Will Wait For You 00:57 Tools
St. Thomas 00:57 Tools
My Romance 00:57 Tools
I'll Never Smile Again 00:57 Tools
All The Things You Are 00:57 Tools
In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning 00:57 Tools
All The Thing You Are 00:57 Tools
Laura 02:13 Tools
Lulu's Back In Town - Ian Whitcomb & His Bungalow Boys 00:57 Tools
I Love Ukulele 03:24 Tools
Aren't You Glad You're You 03:18 Tools
Make Somebody Happy 03:48 Tools
Cracker 03:48 Tools
September Song 03:24 Tools
At The Magic Laundromat 04:18 Tools
Time ( Must Have Done A Funny Thing To Me) 03:18 Tools
Charade 03:08 Tools
Sway 03:48 Tools
Lulu"s Back in Town 04:41 Tools
Hana 04:18 Tools
Quiet Nichts Of Quiet Stars 02:13 Tools
Have You Seen Miss Jones 02:13 Tools
Runnin' Wild 02:02 Tools
That Old Gang of Mine 03:10 Tools
Honolulu 03:10 Tools
Fly Me To The Moom 03:10 Tools
Give Me the Simple Life 04:41 Tools
Song For Anna 04:41 Tools
Redemption Song (Instrumental) 04:41 Tools
I Ain't Got Nothin' But the Blues 04:18 Tools
Here's That Rainy Day 04:18 Tools
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Lyle Ritz (January 10, 1930 — March 3, 2017) was an American jazz ukulele musician, who was a key part of the Hawaii ukulele genre. As part of the Wrecking Crew, Ritz contributed to many American pop hits from the mid 1960s to the early 1980s. He was inducted to the Ukulele Hall of Fame Museum in 2007 and the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2007. Lyle Ritz began his music career as a college student working at the Southern California Music Company in Los Angeles, CA. Responsible for the small goods department, he demonstrated instruments including the ukulele, which was being popularized by Arthur Godfrey at the time. He purchased a Gibson tenor ukulele for his own use. Drafted into the US Army during the Korean War, Ritz played tuba in the United States Army Band. Stationed at Fort Ord, Ritz learned to play the acoustic bass. While on leave, Ritz visited the Music Company and played a few tunes on the ukulele at the urging of his colleagues. Unbeknownst to him, Guitarist Barney Kessel, a talent scout for Verve Records, was standing there. After hearing Ritz play, Kessel approached him and made the connection that resulted in his first commercial records. Verve released Ritz's first ukulele record, How About Uke?, in 1957. 50th State Jazz was released in 1959. Both records became very popular in Hawaii and started a wave of new ukulele players. However, the records had only limited popularity on the mainland. To support himself, Ritz abandoned the ukulele and became a session musician on the bass guitar. He joined the Wrecking Crew, a popular group of studio musicians in the Los Angeles recording industry. Ritz compiled over 5,000 credits including such notable tracks as Herb Alpert's "Taste of Honey", The Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling", and the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations". Other notable recording artists he backed up include Sonny & Cher, The Monkees, Herb Ohta, Dean Martin, and Linda Ronstadt. He also played bass on television soundtracks including The Rockford Files, Name That Tune, and Kojak. In 1979 Ritz was hired to play the ukulele in place of Steve Martin when Martin was shown playing in The Jerk. In 1980, Ritz was a musician playing bass on Face the Music a game show centered on musical puzzles. Roy Sakuma, a fellow ukulele player and record producer, looked up Ritz in 1985 and brought him to Hawaii for the Annual Ukulele Festival. Ritz had no idea how popular his Verve records still were in Hawaii, but he participated at the festival during the next three years. In 1988 he decided it was time to retire from the circuit, but he continued to play; his third album, Time, was released by Roy Sakuma Records the same year. In 1999, Jim Beloff, founder of Flea Market Music, put together the annual UKEtopia concert in California. Among the notable events was Bill Tapia and Ritz trading jazz licks in an impromptu cutting contest. In 2005, Ritz purchased an Apple laptop and a copy of GarageBand, software used to make home recordings. After a half year's work, he completed a new solo album, No Frills, released in 2006. He recorded the bass track using a synthesizer so he could concentrate on the jazz ukulele. Ritz was inducted to the Ukulele Hall of Fame in 2007. His citation reads in part: "Ritz will always be known as the brilliant pioneer in the area of ukulele jazz." Discography 1957 How About Uke? - Verve Records 1959 50th State Jazz - Universal Distribution 1998 Time - MVM 2001 Ukulele Duo - JVC Victor 2004 How About Uke? (Re-Release) -Verve Records 2005 A Night of Ukulele Jazz Live at McCabe's - Flea Market Music 2006 No Frills - Flea Market Music 2007 I Wish You Love - CD Baby / PDX Uke 2007 Becky & Lyle Bossa Style - CD Baby Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.