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Dave Amato | |
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 Amato with REO Speedwagon in 2007. | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | David Paul Amato |
| Born | March 3, 1953 |
| Genres | Rock |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1974–present |
| Website | daveamato |
David Paul Amato (born March 3, 1953) is an American musician, the lead guitarist of the rock band REO Speedwagon since May 1989 [1] and a rhythm guitarist/singer for Ted Nugent in the mid-1980s. [2]
Amato was born and raised near Framingham, Massachusetts. At age 11, his first band was called The Sandstones. The lineup included Steve Bremner (guitar), Gino Bonvini (bass), and Gary Pegararo (drums). His later bands were named The Aftermath, Dave and the Essex, One Way Out, Sledge-Hamma, Ice, and August.
While fronting Sledge-Hamma, Amato turned down a recording contract and an opening spot with Aerosmith because he felt he wouldn't achieve success on the East Coast. In 1980, Amato moved to Los Angeles, California. He played a short stint with Black Oak Arkansas, did session work for La Toya Jackson, and sang backing vocals for the likes of David Lee Roth, Rick Springfield, Kim Carnes, and Mötley Crüe.
In 1985, Amato joined Ted Nugent's band, providing both guitar and vocals. His most memorable tour was in 1986 when he sang lead vocals and played guitar with Nugent. They shared the tour bill with Aerosmith. Amato stayed with Nugent for three years and appeared on Little Miss Dangerous and If You Can't Lick 'Em...Lick 'Em . Due to a conflict of schedules, Amato left Nugent in December 1988 when Nugent accepted an unplanned tour and Amato had other obligations. Amato and Nugent remain good friends and have even shared the stage when Nugent has opened for REO Speedwagon.
After leaving Ted Nugent's band, Dave traveled to Australia to tour with Jimmy Barnes. He played guitar on Barnes' double live album Barnestorming . His playing and vocals are also featured on Barnes' earlier albums For The Working Class Man and Freight Train Heart . Amato also played lead guitar and sang some lead vocals with John Elefante (formerly of Kansas) and brother Dino Elefante for their Christian rock group Mastedon, but Amato never officially joined the group. They cut two CDs; It's a Jungle Out There (1988) and Lofcaudio (1990).
When lead guitarist Gary Richrath left REO Speedwagon in 1989, Amato joined the band in July. He said the "REO songs are great because there is a guitar solo in every song."
Amato also toured extensively as the lead guitarist for Cher, and in 1991 he toured for Richie Sambora's Stranger in This Town as well as select performances when Richie was promoting his Undiscovered Soul album. In 1990 he appeared in the video for Michael Bolton's hit How Can We Be Lovers and briefly toured with Player in 1998.
with Ted Nugent
with Jimmy Barnes
with Richie Sambora
with REO Speedwagon
with Mastedon
REO Speedwagon, or simply REO, is an American rock band from Champaign, Illinois. Formed in 1967, the band cultivated a following during the 1970s and achieved significant commercial success throughout the 1980s. Their best-selling album, Hi Infidelity (1980), contained four US Top 40 hits and sold more than 10 million copies.
Richard Stephen Sambora is an American musician, singer, and songwriter, best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Bon Jovi from 1983 to 2013. He and lead singer Jon Bon Jovi formed the main songwriting unit for the band. He has also released three solo albums: Stranger in This Town in 1991, Undiscovered Soul in 1998, and Aftermath of the Lowdown released in September 2012.
John Elefante is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. From 1981-1984, he was lead vocalist of the rock group Kansas and is currently touring with several groups that have featured members from classic rock bands. His credits include writing and singing lead vocals on three multi-platinum albums. He produced albums that have earned numerous GMA Dove Awards, four Grammy Awards, and ten Grammy nominations. He has maintained a close working relationship with his brother, Dino, co-writer of several Kansas songs.
The Storm was an American supergroup rock band, formed in the Bay Area of San Francisco during the early 1990s. The band's first single, power ballad "I've Got a Lot to Learn About Love", peaked at #6 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and #26 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The Ballads is a 1999 compilation album by REO Speedwagon. It features some of the band's previously recorded hit ballads as well as two new songs, Just For You and Til The Rivers Run Dry.
707 was an American rock band of the early 1980s, best known for the rock radio hits "I Could Be Good For You" and "Mega Force".
Arch Allies is a live album recorded by REO Speedwagon and Styx at Riverport Amphitheatre in Maryland Heights, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. It was released on September 26, 2000, by Sanctuary Records, and a single DVD was also released on November 7, 2000.
The Earth, a Small Man, His Dog and a Chicken is the thirteenth studio album by REO Speedwagon, and was released in 1990.
It's a Jungle Out There is the first album by Mastedon, the studio project formed by brothers John & Dino Elefante. It was released in 1989 on Regency Records, while they were setting up their own label "Pakaderm Records". Long out-of-print, it was re-issued by Deep Music Distribution in 2006 in the form of digital downloads, available from iTunes and eMusic, and in 2022, a remastered CD-only release from Girder Music.
Derek St. Holmes is an American rock musician, best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitar player for Ted Nugent's early solo career. After splitting from Nugent in 1978, St. Holmes worked with various artists, most notably the Whitford/St. Holmes project with Brad Whitford, who had then recently parted ways with Aerosmith. He has also reunited with Nugent on several occasions.
Richard "Richie" Supa is an American songwriter and guitarist best known for his work with Aerosmith, The Rascals and Richie Sambora.
Undiscovered Soul is the second solo studio album from Richie Sambora the guitarist from New Jersey band Bon Jovi. The album was released on February 23, 1998, and is more experimental than his earlier release Stranger in This Town. The album was produced by Don Was.
If You Can't Lick 'Em... Lick 'Em is the tenth studio album by American hard rock guitarist Ted Nugent. The album was released in February 1988, by Atlantic Records and reached No. 112 in the Billboard 200 US chart. It also marks the first album to feature Nugent as the sole lead vocalist after only providing secondary lead vocals on previous albums.
Gary Dean Richrath was an American guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist and a songwriter for the band REO Speedwagon from 1970 until 1989.
Jesse Harms is an American musician and songwriter. He has worked with Sammy Hagar, David Lee Roth, Eddie Money, REO Speedwagon, Bad English, Guitar Shorty, Patty Smyth, and McAuley Schenker Group.
"157 Riverside Avenue" is a song by REO Speedwagon from their first album, REO Speedwagon, released in 1971. It was written by all five band members at the time, Terry Luttrell, Gary Richrath, Gregg Philbin, Neal Doughty, and Alan Gratzer. The title refers to the Westport, Connecticut address where the band stayed while recording that album. On March 29, 2012 the house the band stayed in was torn down to make way for a new house.
Whitford/St. Holmes is the first album by the hard rock collaboration of the American musicians Brad Whitford and Derek St. Holmes, released in 1981.
Dean Fasano was the lead singer of the bands Message and Prophet.
Not So Silent Night ... Christmas with REO Speedwagon is the sixteenth and final studio album by REO Speedwagon. It was released on November 3, 2009 by Sony Music, two years after the band's previous studio album, Find Your Own Way Home.
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