Lyle Ritz obit

Lyle Ritz Obituary

 

He was not on the list.

Fritz, Lyle 87 Jan. 10, 1930 Mar. 03, 2017 Lyle Ritz, 87, Los Angeles Studio Bassist and Ukulele Legend, a resident of Portland, died peacefully, March 3, 2017. He was best known as an acoustic bass player for the legendary Los Angeles studio group, the Wrecking Crew. He was also known for his groundbreaking recordings and passion for a much smaller instrument, the ukulele. Lyle is survived by his wife of 40 years, Geri Ritz; his daughter, Emily Ritz Miyasato; and adoptive son, Thomas Ritz. Thomas Ritz has two daughters, Lauren and Jenna Ritz. Lyle was predeceased by his beloved son-in-law, Jared Miyasato. A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m., Saturday, March 18, 2017 at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovahs Witnesses, 1285 N.W. Saltzman Rd.

Lyle Ritz, a revered bass player, who was also known as the “Father of Jazz Ukulele,” died last week in Portland, Oregon. Since the late 1950s, Ritz has had a huge impact on musicians in Hawaii and he also once lived in the Islands. HPR contributing reporter Heidi Chang has this remembrance.

Lyle Ritz taught himself how to play the ukulele when he worked in a music store in Los Angeles in the 1950s and had to sell the instrument.

“And one day, I picked up, somebody wanted to see this beautiful, nice big tenor uke. And I picked it up and played a few chords on it, and I was gone. I just loved it so much. I loved the sound of it. I loved the size and just the way it felt it my hands.”

Eventually Ritz signed with Verve Records, but when he released “How About Uke?” in 1958, it didn’t generate much interest on the Mainland.  After a second album, he hung up his ukulele and took up the bass.

Ritz became part of the legendary Wrecking Crew, a group of Hollywood musicians who played on most of the pop hit’s that came out of Los Angeles in the mid-60s to early 80s. Songs likethe Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" by The Righteous Brothers.

In 1984, Hawaii’s foremost ukulele teacher Roy Sakuma tracked him down in L.A.  Until then, Ritz had no idea his first album had made such an impact in Hawaii, says Sakuma.

We would all try to learn ‘Lulu's Back in Town.’ We used to just play C, F, G7 back then, and then all of a sudden here comes Lyle with all these fantastic chord harmonies that just, you know, took music to a whole new level on the ukulele.”

After Sakuma invited Ritz to perform at the annual Ukulele Festival in Honolulu, Ritz and his family moved to Oahu, where he lived for 15 years. Many in Hawaii will always remember Lyle Ritz as a humble guy with a sense of humor, who paved the way as the Father of Jazz Ukulele.

Byron Yasui, plays bass and ukulele, and is a retired professor of music at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.  He says Lyle Ritz will always remain a great inspiration for ukulele players and generations to come.

“He was my big idol, you know like how Elvis Presley was to a lot of kids,  Lyle Ritz was like that for me, like a god, that’s how big an impact he made on, not just me, but a bunch of us.  Nobody played jazz like that on the ukulele before. And he played jazz standards with top-notch studio jazz musicians. He opened up our ears and eyes to a new style of playing.”

Discography

How About Uke? (Verve, 1958)

50th State Jazz (Verve, 1959)

Time (Roy Sakuma, 1995)

A Night of Ukulele Jazz (Flea Market Music 2001)

Ukulele Duo (JVC, 2001)

No Frills (Flea Market Music, 2006)

In collaboration

With Rebecca Kilgore

 

I Wish You Love with Lyle Ritz (PDX Uke, 2007)

Bossa Style with Lyle Ritz (PDX Uke, 2009)

As sideman

With The Beach Boys

 

Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) (Capitol, 1965)

Pet Sounds (Capitol, 1966)

Smiley Smile (Capitol, 1967)

Friends (Capitol, 1968)

20/20 (Capitol, 1970)

15 Big Ones (Reprise, 1976)

L.A. (Light Album) (CBS, 1979)

Keepin' the Summer Alive (CBS, 1980)

With Cher

 

All I Really Want to Do (Imperial, 1965)

Cher (Imperial, 1966)

With Randy Edelman

 

The Laughter and the Tears (Lion, 1972)

You're the One (Arista, 1979)

With The Everly Brothers

 

Gone Gone Gone (Warner Bros., 1964)

In Our Image (Warner Bros., 1966)

With The Monkees

 

The Birds, the Bees & the Monkees (Colgems, 1968)

With Randy Newman

 

Randy Newman (Reprise, 1968)

12 Songs (Reprise, 1970)

With Harry Nilsson

 

Pandemonium Shadow Show (RCA Victor, 1967)

Aerial Ballet (RCA Victor, 1968)

Harry (RCA Victor, 1969)

Duit on Mon Dei (RCA Victor, 1975)

With Mike Post

 

Fused (Warner Bros., 1969)

Railhead Overture (MGM, 1975)

With Sonny & Cher

 

Look at Us (Atco, 1965)

In Case You're in Love (Atlantic, 1967)

With Sammy Walker

 

Sammy Walker (Warner Bros., 1976)

Blue Ridge Mountain Skyline (Warner Bros., 1977)

With Mason Williams

 

The Mason Williams Ear Show (Warner Bros., 1968)

The Mason Williams Phonograph Record (Warner Bros., 1968)

With others

 

Les Baxter, Moog Rock (GNP Crescendo, 1969)

Martin Bell, Songs from the Way of the Wolf (Seabury Press, 1970)

Theodore Bikel, A Folksinger's Choice (Elektra, 1964)

Lisa Hartman Black, Lisa Hartman Black (Kirshner, 1976)

Brewer & Shipley, Down in L.A. (A&M, 1968)

Teresa Brewer, Music, Music, Music (Amsterdam, 1973)

Toni Brown, Toni Brown (Fantasy, 1979)

Les Brown, Swingin' the Masters! (Columbia, 1963)

Dennis Budimir, The Creeper (Mainstream, 1965)

Bobby Darin, From Hello Dolly to Goodbye Charlie (Capitol, 1964)

Ron Elliott, The Candlestickmaker (Warner Bros., 1969)

Phil Everly, Star Spangled Springer (RCA, 1973)

Bob Florence, Bongos/Reeds/Brass (HiFi, 1960)

Roosevelt Grier, Soul City (Recording Industries, 1964)

James William Guercio, Electra Glide in Blue (United Artists, 1973)

Hager Twins, The Hagers (Elektra, 1974)

Screamin' Jay Hawkins, What That Is! (Philips, 1969)

Dan Hicks, It Happened One Bite (Warner Bros., 1978)

Paul Horn, Impressions! (World Pacific, 1958)

Sarah Kernochan, Beat Around the Bush (RCA, 1974)

Al Kooper, Easy Does It (Columbia, 1970)

Claudine Longet, Colours (A&M, 1968)

Barry Mann, Survivor (RCA Victor, 1975)

Bob Morrison, Friends of Mine (Capitol, 1971)

Mystic Moods Orchestra, Extensions (Philips, 1969)

Van Dyke Parks, Song Cycle (Warner Bros., 1967)

Dory Previn, Dory Previn (Warner Bros., 1974)

Emitt Rhodes, The American Dreams (A&M, 1970)

Ann Richards, Live at the Losers (Vee Jay, 1963)

Nelson Riddle, Contemporary Sound of Nelson Riddle (United Artists, 1968)

The Righteous Brothers, Back to Back (Philles, 1965)

Jerry Riopelle, Saving Grace (ABC, 1974)

Austin Roberts, The Last Thing On My Mind (Chelsea, 1973)

Linda Ronstadt, Linda Ronstadt (Capitol, 1971)

Evie Sands, Any Way That You Want Me (Rev-Ola, 1970)

Ike & Tina Turner, River Deep – Mountain High (A&M, 1966)

Townes Van Zandt, Our Mother the Mountain (Poppy, 1969)

Loudon Wainwright III, Unrequited (Columbia, 1975)

Ian Whitcomb, Yellow Underground (Tower, 1967)

Andy Williams, Solitaire (Columbia, 1973)

Stan Wilson, Stan Wilson at the Ash Grove (Verve, 1959)

 

Music Department

Ron Ely in Face the Music (1980)

Face the Music

7.6

TV Series

music arranger

1980–1981

 

Isabelle Adjani, Bruce Dern, and Ryan O'Neal in The Driver (1978)

The Driver

7.1

musician: bass (uncredited)

1978

 

The Fury (1978)

The Fury

6.3

musician: electric bass (uncredited)

1978

 

Carl Betz and Dina Merrill in The Meal (1975)

The Meal

3.9

musician: bass (uncredited)

1975

 

Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby (1968)

Rosemary's Baby

8.0

musician: guitar (uncredited)

1968

 

James Garner, Toshirō Mifune, Eva Marie Saint, Antonio Sabato, Françoise Hardy, and Yves Montand in Grand Prix (1966)

Grand Prix

7.2

musician: guitar (uncredited)

1966

 

John Goldfarb, Please Come Home! (1965)

John Goldfarb, Please Come Home!

5.0

musician: bass (uncredited)

1965

 

Actor

Ron Ely in Face the Music (1980)

Face the Music

7.6

TV Series

Musician

1980–1981

 

Bound for Glory (1976)

Bound for Glory

7.2

Musician

1976

 

Martin Sheen, Davey Davison, and Beverly Washburn in When the Line Goes Through (1972)

When the Line Goes Through

4.7

Pilot

1972

 

Composer

Martin Sheen, Davey Davison, and Beverly Washburn in When the Line Goes Through (1972)

When the Line Goes Through

4.7

Composer

1972

 

No Drums, No Bugles (1972)

No Drums, No Bugles

6.0

Composer

1972

 

Soundtrack

Joe Scarborough, Willie Geist, and Mika Brzezinski in Morning Joe (2007)

Morning Joe

4.0

TV Series

performer: "Sloop John B"

2026

1 episode

 

Thanks

The Wrecking Crew! (2008)

The Wrecking Crew!

7.7

thanks

2008

 

Self

Chuck Berry, Marvin Gaye, Lesley Gore, The Supremes, The Barbarians, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Gerry and the Pacemakers, James Brown and The Famous Flames, Jan & Dean, and Smokey Robinson & The Miracles in The T.A.M.I. Show (1964)

The T.A.M.I. Show

8.3

Self - Electric Bass Player in House Band (uncredited)

1964

 

Archive Footage

The Wrecking Crew! (2008)

The Wrecking Crew!

7.7

Self (archive footage)

2008