Russell DaShiell

Russell DaShiell (born July 23, 1947) is an American guitarist who has recorded as a solo artist as well as playing in bands such as Crowfoot and the Don Harrison Band, and with Harvey Mandel, Phil Everly and Norman Greenbaum. Russell was also one of the first people to have a Les Paul humbucker bridge pickup in a strat in 1970.

Career Born in Philadelphia, DaShiell lived on Oahu, Hawaii between the ages of three and fifteen, taking up guitar at the age of fourteen. He moved with his parents to Florida in 1963, where he formed a band that played cover songs in the local beach clubs. He then joined Doug Killmer's band The Sonics, which after the addition of drummer Rick Jaeger became The Beau Gentry in 1965. The Beau Gentry spent the next year in Florida developing a following, and in 1966 they were booked for a summer tour of Wisconsin by Ken Adamany (who would later manage Cheap Trick). The tour went so well they decided to stay in the area. After two years of gigging in the midwest, the band evolved into Crowfoot and relocated to San Francisco in December, 1968.

DaShiell relocated to Hollywood in the early 1970s and continued his session work, recording with artists such as Phil Everly, Danny O'Keefe, Bo Diddley, John Sebastian, and former Creedence Clearwater Revival member Tom Fogerty, recording his album Myopia with Stu Cook and Doug Clifford, also former Creedence members.

DaShiell finally released solo material after signing with Epic Records. The Elevator album, featuring his collaborations with Cook and Clifford, was released in 1978.

Although his solo career was initially short-lived, he continued to work on various projects, including a single and album with new band 'I Spy' in the 1980s with Doug Clifford on drums, signing with Sonet in Sweden. He also worked on a solo album by Doug Clifford. By the end of the 1980s he had moved into television soundtrack and editing work, notably on In Living Color.

In the early 1990s he and his former Crowfoot bandmates Doug Killmer and Rick Jaeger were reunited to record the EP Mesenger in 1994. In the late 1990s DaShiell moved to Lake Tahoe and composed for advertising while continuing to record solo material. In 2000 he moved to Maui, writing and recording the album Island Life, which he is currently updating for a 2024 release via his website spiritguitar.com. He’s also been developing a project called Foreverland Forest, initially intended as a children’s book with music, expanded to be an animated film featuring 10 original songs from his upcoming solo album Foreverland.

Discography

Albums Crowfoot (1970), Paramount Find the Sun (1971), ABC Dunhill Elevator (1978), Epic Island Life (2024), Aerial View Foreverland (2024), Aerial View

Singles, EPs In the Fire (1978), Epic Fool For Your Love (1984), Sonet Mesenger (1994), Aerial View