| Birth Name: | Robert T. Wachtel |
| Birth Date: | 24 May 1947 |
| Birth Place: | Jackson Heights, New York, U.S. |
| Years Active: | 1970–present |
Robert "Waddy" Wachtel (born May 24, 1947) is an American musician, composer and record producer, most notable for his guitar work. Wachtel has worked as session musician for other artists such as Linda Ronstadt, Beth Hart, Stevie Nicks, Kim Carnes, Randy Newman, Keith Richards, The Rolling Stones (lead guitar on "Saint of Me"), Jon Bon Jovi, James Taylor, Iggy Pop, Warren Zevon, Bryan Ferry, Michael Sweet, Jackson Browne, Karla Bonoff, and Andrew Gold, both in the studio and live.[1]
Wachtel was born May 24, 1947, in Jackson Heights to a Jewish family in the New York City borough of Queens. At about age 9–10,[1] Wachtel began to learn to play the guitar, taking lessons with teacher Gene Dell (who insisted that he learn to play right-handed despite being naturally left-handed) until about age 14. At that age, he says, he began writing songs.[2]
Wachtel also studied with Rudolph Schramm, who was the head of the NBC staff orchestra and went on to teach music at Carnegie Hall. Schramm tried to get Wachtel to take piano lessons, but Wachtel was intent on playing guitar so Schramm agreed to give him guitar lessons three times a week on rhythm, melody and harmony.
After performing with local bands in the New York area, Wachtel formed his own band, The Orphans, who played in Connecticut and New Hampshire. Eventually the band settled into a regular bar band routine, playing in Newport, Rhode Island, where Wachtel took lessons from Sal Salvador.[3] When the Orphans disbanded, he formed another band, Twice Nicely. At the suggestion of Bud Cowsill (of The Cowsills), he brought Twice Nicely to Los Angeles in 1968 where they recorded a few demos, but after two years, Wachtel decided to work as a session player.[2]
In 1972, he made an appearance in the film The Poseidon Adventure as the acoustic guitar player in a fictitious band on stage in the dining room when the ship capsizes. He also played in the Oscar-winning short film, "Session Man" in 1991.Wachtel has composed and played instruments for film scores including Joe Dirt, Up in Smoke, Nice Guys Sleep Alone, The Longest Yard, The Benchwarmers, Grandma's Boy, , Strange Wilderness, The House Bunny, and . He has also composed, produced, or performed in songs with Warren Zevon, Joe Walsh, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt and others.
In 1972, he was hired by Warren Zevon to play guitar on The Everly Brothers' Stories We Could Tell album and join them in a subsequent tour.
By 1973, he played with Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks on their first album Buckingham Nicks (credited as 'Waddy', no surname), and on tour. Later, when Nicks and Buckingham joined Fleetwood Mac, he played rhythm guitar on their 1975 album Fleetwood Mac on the track "Sugar Daddy".
In 1980, he wrote, recorded and sang lead vocals on an album for producer Peter Asher with members of Linda Ronstadt's band, including musicians Don Grolnick, Dan Dugmore, Stanley Sheldon and Rick Marotta. Both the group and the album were titled Ronin. Released on the Mercury label, the record never charted.
In 1984, he played on Steve Perry's (Journey) solo album Street Talk.
He has appeared on hundreds of albums with many different artists and bands.
Production credits include albums by Stevie Nicks, Keith Richards, Jackson Browne, Bryan Ferry, The Church, Sand Rubies, George Thorogood and the Destroyers and Warren Zevon. Wachtel co-wrote several songs with Zevon including "Werewolves of London".[4] He also co-wrote the Warren Zevon song "Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead" from the album Mr. Bad Example. He performed on all seven Warren Zevon albums from 1976 through 1992, producing or co-producing three.
Wachtel also shares co-writing credits with Stevie Nicks on a few tracks such as "Annabel Lee", and "I Don't Care".
Wachtel has been credited on some albums as Bob Wachtel, but some online sources have incorrectly credited him as Richard Wachtel on albums on which he was credited as having played guitar.[5]
Wachtel was arrested in 1998 on suspicion of possession of child pornography after images were found on a computer he had at home.[6] [7] [8] Wachtel pleaded no contest and was placed on probation for three years.[9]
Musician Brett Tuggle defended Wachtel saying "there is no way that Stevie would have him in her band if she thought he was guilty of any wrongdoing."[10] A detective of the Los Angeles juvenile sex crimes division reported that Wachtel produced copies of the computer-stored images which he kept in his bedroom.[11]
Wachtel plays a 1960 Gibson Les Paul and 1957 Fender Stratocaster.[12] He said in a 1980 interview that the newest made guitar he owned was a 1964 Fender Stratocaster. Wachtel purchased the Les Paul guitar from Stephen Stills for $350.[13] In September 2014 the Gibson Custom Shop chose the 1960 Les Paul Waddy Wachtel guitar for their new Collector's Choice series.[14]
Wachtel performs regularly with the Waddy Wachtel Band in the Los Angeles area, notably at The Joint from 2000 through 2013. The band at that time included Phil Jones, Rick Rosas, Bernard Fowler and Blondie Chaplin, among others.[15] He continues to gig with his band, with some personnel changes, while retaining Fowler and Chaplin.[16] Many famous artists have performed with the band as special guests.[17]
Wachtel appeared on the 2010 Grammy Award television show backing Taylor Swift's live presentation. In Swift's duet with Nicks on the song "Rhiannon", Wachtel was featured on lead guitar.
As of 2020, Wachtel is performing with a group of other Southern California classic rock veterans in a group called "The Immediate Family"[18] along with Danny Kortchmar, Leland Sklar, Russ Kunkel, and Steve Postell.
With Bill Cowsill
With The Everly Brothers
With Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks
With Sarah Kernochan
With Jackie DeShannon
With Fleetwood Mac
With John Stewart
With Splinter
With Dianne Brooks
With Barbi Benton
With Jackson Browne
With Andrew Gold
With Arlo Guthrie
With Carole King
With Tom Pacheco
With Tom Snow
With Maria Muldaur
With Linda Ronstadt
With J. D. Souther
With James Taylor
With Wendy Waldman
With Sammy Walker
With Nickey Barclay
With Rusty Wier
With Warren Zevon
With Karla Bonoff
With Nancy Shanks
With Attitudes
With Randy Newman
With Bryan Ferry
With Bob Weir
With Leo Sayer
With Debby Boone
With Richie Furay
With Adam Mitchell
With Ronnie Hawkins
With Louise Goffin
With Bonnie Raitt
With America
With Kim Carnes
With Rita Coolidge
With Stevie Nicks
With Helen Reddy
With Phoebe Snow
With Ronnie Wood
With Don Henley
With Kenny Rogers
With Bill Medley
With Bob Seger
With Bette Midler
With Marty Balin
With Ringo Starr
With Joe Walsh
With Dolly Parton
With Steve Perry
With Eric Martin
With Jimmy Barnes
With Rosanne Cash
With Graham Nash
With Karla DeVito
With Van Stephenson
With Dwight Twilley
With Cher
With Lisa Hartman Black
With Melissa Etheridge
With Ivan Neville
With Keith Richards
With Feargal Sharkey
With The Graces
With Jon Bon Jovi
With Steve Louw
With Bob Dylan
With Iggy Pop
With Hall & Oates
With Diana Ross
With Rod Stewart
With Troy Newman
With Bonnie Tyler
With Tracy Chapman
With Neil Diamond
With Hanne Boel
With Delbert McClinton
With Tom Waits
With Andrew Strong
With Gilby Clarke
With A. J. Croce
With Colin James
With Brian Wilson
With Aaron Neville
With John Prine
With Michael Sweet
With Bee Gees
With The Wilsons
With Johnny Rivers
With Amanda Marshall
With Janice Robinson
With Kim Richey
With Shannon McNally
With Robbie Williams
With Keith Gattis
With Bernard Fowler
With Radney Foster
With Miranda Lambert
With John Mayer
With David Nail
With Michael Grimm
With Jessie Baylin
With LeAnn Rimes
With Edie Brickell and Steve Martin
With Judith Owen
With Neil Young
With Mindi Abair
With Pat McGee
With Beth Hart
With Sheryl Crow
With Anders Osborne
With Kate Taylor
With Edgar Winter
With Ian Hunter
| Year | Title | Director(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | The Poseidon Adventure | Uncredited guitarist | ||
| 1978 | Up in Smoke | with Danny Kortchmar and Lee Oskar (member of Yesca) | ||
| 2001 | Joe Dirt | |||
| 2003 | with Christophe Beck | |||
| 2006 | Grandma's Boy | |||
| The Benchwarmers | ||||
| Last Request | ||||
| 2008 | Strange Wilderness | |||
| The House Bunny | ||||
| 2009 | ||||
| 2011 | ||||
| Jack and Jill | with Rupert Gregson-Williams | |||
| 2013 | with Danny Bramson | |||
| 2015 | Digital film |
Wachtel is married. He has an estranged son named Waddy who lives in Hilton Head Island, SC.[19]