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"Musical Director Extraordinaire! Simply stated, Chuck is the best." - Alan Beck, Pacific Concert Group; ITP Records
"I called Chuck from Monaco and told him I'd lost all of my music. Over the next three days and nights he wrote my entire show. When I arrived for rehearsal in Vienna, the charts were there, waiting. Chuck saved my life." - Gloria Gaynor
"I wouldn't do a show without him." - Art Laboe, internationally acclaimed DJ, producer, concert promoter
"I love working with Chuck. He has a real feel for my music, and he always makes me shine!" - Percy Sledge
"Sir Charles is the Music Designer to the stars." - GQ
"An extraordinary guitarist, Chuck's talent as an arranger and producer are on par with the best in the business." - John Claude Gummoe, the Cascades
"Chuck is the best. I've known him for a dozen years, and I'll know him for a dozen more. When I come to town, Chuck is the man I'll be funkin' with." - Keith Wilder, Heatwave"Charles is magnificent!" - Barbara Mason
"Chief among Cummings' group was guitarist Charles Crews, a long-time associate from Los Angeles. Crews' hot-hot solos gave the songs a stainless steel finish." - The Windsor Star
"Charles Crews was modestly but truly guitar-heroic, offering toothsome solos with dangerous bite." - The London Free Press
"When you hear what Charles can do, you'll see why I consider myself even more of a rhythm guitarist." - Richie Furay, from International Musician magazine
"Noteworthy was Skylark's young, new lead guitarist, fast-fingered Charles Crews, whose competent solos blended stylishly with David Foster's solid keyboards." - Billboard Magazine
"'Mrs. Jones' never sounded so good. Chuck is the best!" - Billy Paul
"I asked who the band was in L.A. They said it was Chuck Crews. 'Thank God', I said." - Barbara Lewis
"We had the same band for nine years, but they never sounded as good as Chuck's band did on the very first night." - Herb Feemster, Peaches and Herb
"Chuck is THE only lead guitar player who ever cared to even attempt our 'Mr. Blue' introduction. Roy Lanham was the man who improvised it on the session, and we were sorry to hear he passed away earlier this year. Every time Chuck played it he made me smile, and I know Roy was smiling too." - Gary Troxel, the Fleetwoods
"There is a God! We just want Chuck to know he is absolutely the best!" - Glenn Montgomery, the Intruders
"We'd like to bottle him up and take him wherever we go. Chuck has the hottest band in the world!" - Ron Carter and Vince Ballard, the Persuaders
"I used to drive 200 miles to rehearse with Chuck. To this day, when we hit the stage, it's always right." - Al Wilson
"Chuck's arrangements have made my show a joy to do each night.
Thanks for being the best in the business." - Ron Dante
"For sixteen years Chuck has been with us through thick and thin - playing, arranging, conducting, producing. He is truly our fifth member." - Harry Elston, the Friends of Distinction
"Chuck Crews is one of the best band leader/conductors I've ever had the pleasure to work with. I've worked with this talented musician since 1995." - Eddie Holman
"Guitarist Charles Crews is well adept at fiery leads that spice up Furay's strong melodies. And as backing vocalists, Crews and Batstone have perfected the Poco hoot." - The Toronto Sun"
"Thanks to Charlie Crews, who added his own unique brand of magic to my touring band and to this album." - Lacy J. Dalton
"His guitar is a simple block of wood. But the sounds he draws from it are amazing." - Juan Garcia Esquivel
The first time I heard the Ventures play "Walk Don't Run",
I knew I just had to have a guitar. When I'm asked, "Have you been playing all your life?", my standard reply is, "Not yet." But early in my career it became much more than just the guitar.I was encouraged to arrange music by the wonderful pianist from Mexico City, maestro Juan Garcia Esquivel (RCA). Esquivel patiently corrected my early mistakes as I arranged for his fiery orchestra. Through Esquivel, I met and worked with Ann-Margret and Diahann Carroll, and later with artists such as Paul Anka and the original Tony Orlando and Dawn. But by my early twenties, I was just itching to play some rock and roll. Soon, I was doing just that (check out the pictures page). By the age of twenty-five I was becoming a studio veteran. I learned the art of studio production working with the best in the business, to include the legendary Don Costa, Gene Page, David Foster, Jack Nitzsche, Booker T. Jones and others. I also learned what not to do in the studio from a handful of wanna-be producers whose names I would mention if I could remember any of them. There have also been some great engineers and some real turkeys. All of this - good and bad - amounted to a wonderful studio education, on both sides of the board. Still, I was one of those guys who would trade sessions any day for a rocking tour with stars I favored. To me, even after all these years, there's nothing quite like that rush you get when the lights go down and the crowd thunders to its feet. Artists I have worked with in the studio and the concert stage include Burton Cummings (Guess Who), Richie Furay (Buffalo Springfield, Poco), Peter Rivera (Rare Earth), Skylark, Del Shannon, John and Michelle Phillips (Mamas and Papas), Carl Perkins, Spencer Davis, Chad and Jeremy and others . . . Artists I have produced include the Cascades, Tommy Roe, Chris Montez, Gene Chandler, Bloodstone, Barbara Lynn, Barbara Lewis, Carl Carlton, GQ, Garland Green, the Escorts, Sly, Slick and Wicked and others . . . I have also appeared on recordings by Spencer Davis, Mark Lindsay, Brenda Russell, Don Ho, Sarah Miles, Mary Kay Place, Tommy Sands, Ron Dante, Lou Christie, Kenny Nolan, Chad and Jeremy, Ian Whitcomb, Jewel Aken, J.J. Jackson, Joe Bataan and others . . . My work has appeared in feature films and TV productions including Fame, Happy Days, The Late Show, Merv Griffin, Solid Gold, Soul Train, Hee-Haw, The BET Gospel/Soul Festival, The Tom Joyner Show, The Alan Thicke Show, An Evening at the Improv, Beethoven, Take This Job and Shove It, Shout, Melanie and more, along with dozens of TV and radio commercials. I have also been arranger and conductor for Soul/R&B artists The Manhattans, Deniece Williams, Gloria Gaynor, Billy Paul, The Gap Band, Blue Magic, Peaches and Herb, Heatwave, The Delfonics, The Emotions, Carl Carlton, The Friends of Distinction, Rose Royce, The Three Degrees, Ray Goodman and Brown (The Moments), Major Harris, Al Wilson, Barbara Mason, Harold Melvin's Blue Notes, McFadden and Whitehead, The Originals, The Intruders, Honey Cone, The Dazz Band, William DeVaughn, James and Bobby Purify, Dorothy Moore, Anita Ward, Brenton Wood, Howard Tate, Dr. Mable John, One Way, The Floaters, The Temprees and others . . . . . . and arranger and conductor for Pop/Top Forty artists
A Taste of Honey, Malo, Mel Carter, Wild Cherry, Eddie Holman, Lou Christie, Lenny Welch . . . and some of these go a long way back . . . The Tymes, Brian Hyland, Dodie Stevens, Fabian, Terry Stafford, The Fleetwoods, Little Eva, Sam (the Sham) Samudio, Chuck Rio and the Champs, Dick and Dee Dee, The Tokens, Dee Dee Sharp, Jimmy Beaumont and the Skyliners, Sunny and the Sunliners, Paul and Paula, Kathy Young and the Innocents, Rosie and the Originals, Jimmy "Handyman" Jones, Bruce Channel, Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs, The Four Preps and more . . . I have also performed with Country artists Lacy J. Dalton, Freddy Fender, Bobby Bare, Sammi Smith, Rose Maddox, Jerry Wallace and more. I was twice nominated for Guitarist of the Year by the Academy of Country Music.
Enjoy the pictures, the videos, and the music. And please drop by and say hello.
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