Ray Fenwick

Ray Fenwick earned recognition as a quintessential British rock guitarist whose career spanned countless high-profile ensembles, even if his name rarely registered with avid record collectors. In the mid-'60s he stepped into the Syndicates to fill the spot vacated by Steve Howe, later of Yes, and delivered an unbridled freakbeat solo on the group’s single “Crawdaddy Simone,” an effort that ranked among the most daring guitar statements of the British Invasion period. Subsequent years found him performing with the Dutch outfits After Tea and the Tee Set, the latter eventually reaching the U.S. Top Five with “Ma Belle Amie.” By the close of the decade he had entered the post-Stevie Winwood edition of the Spencer Davis Group. Additional affiliations included the Guitar Orchestra alongside Mick Grabham, soon to become lead guitarist for Procol Harum; the band Fancy, which scored two U.S. Top 20 singles in 1974; the Ian Gillan Band; and Forcefield during the 1980s, a project that also featured Jan Akkerman and Cozy Powell. Throughout these associations Fenwick maintained an active parallel career as a session musician and producer. His sole solo release, the 1971 album Keep America Beautiful, Get a Haircut, offered a straightforward blend of the hard-rock and progressive-rock approaches then in vogue. Ray Fenwick died on April 30, 2022 at the age of 75.