Jimmy Lyon Bio

[Jimmy Lyon]

James Douglas "Jimmy" Lyon was born on May 22, 1955, in Tampa, Fla. The youngest of three children, Jimmy moved from Tampa to Virginia at age 2. In 1963, the family moved to the East Bay area near San Francisco, where Jimmy would begin his musical career.

He witnessed The Beatles first performance on the Ed Sullivan Show, which inspired a generation. Jimmy's first instrument of choice was the drums, but being an apartment dweller, an acoustic guitar made more practical sense. Jimmy played guitar backing the fifth grade choir, but eventually hooked up with a band of schoolmates sporting electric instruments and a full drum set. School dances, community functions, and an occasional battle of the bands would serve as the vehicle, and by age thirteen, he was tearing up everything on the charts, from Creedence to Mayall to Zep to Cream and whatever else.

Right out of high school, Jimmy moved to the San Joaquin Valley to form a steady working unit. Jimmy got a call from some of his former schoolmates, saying they knew of a singer looking for a guitarist to form a band in Oakland. This singers name was Eddie Mahoney.

Jimmy and Eddie (Money) began to carve out their own niche in the bay area club scene. Jimmy recruited Gene Pardue (from the valley era) to man the drum set. The main focus was to write original material and sign a recording deal. But nightclub (and wherever else) work would give them sustenance and a vehicle to test the original material on a public audience.

The band was eventually noticed by Jerry Pompili of the Bill Graham Organization. The band had been making tapes of their original songs, and now came the time to ink a deal. After much deliberation, Columbia Records became the label of choice.

With producer Bruce Botnick (The Doors) and record engineer Andy Johns (Led Zeppelin), the debut album spawned two original top 40 hit singles, Baby Hold On, and Two Tickets To Paradise, now considered radio standards. The next few years would involve 250+ concerts per year, as well as recording subsequent album projects. The band would make numerous television appearances, Saturday Night Live, Midnight Special, and the like. In 1979, Jimmy bought a small airplane and gained his FAA Pilot Certification.

With the constant tour schedule wearing him thin, the fourth album "No Control" would be Jimmy's last project with the group for a while.

In 1985, Jimmy joined forces with Tina Turner for a world tour. Returning home to the bay area, Jimmy teamed with Greg Kihn, who he had first met in the bay area club scene. In the early eighties, Greg Kihn had his first chart success with "Jeopardy" and "The Breakup Song", and was now an established national act. Jimmy enjoyed a lighter touring schedule, allowing him to think about starting a family.

In 1987, Jimmy played some solos on The Eddie Money album "Nothing To Lose". Jimmy also toured in support of the album. This band included bassist Don Cromwell, with whom Jimmy had played with as a mid teen. Jimmy's wife, Elaine, gave birth to their first child, Monica, shortly thereafter.

In 1989, Jimmy gained his FAA flight instructor certification, and enjoyed 4 years of civilian flight instruction. With a flexible schedule, Jimmy was able to continue doing numerous dates with the Greg Kihn Band. Flying and playing music for a living. Doesn't get much better.

After a year of experience at a local air ambulance outfit, Jimmy was hired by a commuter airline in mid 1994. Jimmy and family, now four strong (Jessica was born in 1993) moved to Salinas, CA, as Monterey was the origin of his assigned flight schedule.

In early 2000, he moved to Georgia and was chief pilot for a corporate flight company. That company failed two years later.

Jimmy then began work writing a set of blues based material. He has a small studio in his home, where writing and pre production for his upcoming release is in progress.