1944-
Chris Stainton
1944-
Chris Stainton
Chris Stainton is an English session musician, keyboard player, bassist, and songwriter, who first gained recognition with Joe Cocker in the late 1960s. In addition to his collaboration with Cocker, Stainton is best known for his work with Eric Clapton, The Who, Andy Fairweather Low, and Bryan Ferry. Stainton was born Christopher Robert Stainton on March 22, 1944, in Woodseats, Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. Stainton attended Rowlinson Technical School, Norton, Sheffield, and began playing bass in the late '50s. His musical career didn’t begin until 1960 however when he played bass guitar with a local Sheffield band, 'Johnny Tempest and the Mariners', who later became 'The Cadillacs'.
In 1966 Stainton hit it big when he joined Joe Cocker in The Grease Band, where he co-wrote "Marjorine", Cocker's first UK Singles Chart hit in 1968. Stainton also played bass guitar on Joe Cocker's subsequent number 1 hit “With a Little Help from My Friends.” Stainton contributed to the group both as a songwriter, as well as a bass player. The group did go through several sound transitions between 1966 and 1969, evolving from a jazz-oriented sound to a hard R&B sound, and Stainton eventually relinquished his bassist spot to Alan Spenner and switched to keyboards. Stainton also worked as a backing musician during Cocker’s Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour, in the United States and Canada in 1970, and was part of The Grease Band lineup that toured the U.S. in 1969 and played a renowned set at Woodstock that August.
ChrisStainton bw
Stainton continued his work with Joe Cocker until 1972, his longtime association with Cocker made him very high in demand as a player, by that time, Stainton had established himself as a top session musician, and had appeared on albums and singles by Spooky Tooth, the Who, Leon Russell, and more! Stainton also played piano on three songs of the Who’s Quadrophenia album in 1973, "The Dirty Jobs", "5:15", and "Drowned". Stainton left The Grease Band to form his own group, The Chris Stainton Band in the early 70s. Stainton eventually moved on to continue his session work with bands like the Tundra (1974), Bryn Haworth Band (1976–77), Boxer (1977), Maddy Prior Band (1978), Rocks (1978), and Elkie Brooks (1978).
In 1979 Stainton teamed up with Eric Clapton on Roger Waters's The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking tour, and also toured with Joe Cocker on and off from 1988 until 2000. In 1985 Stainton and Clapton both appeared in the George Harrison-produced film Water, Stainton has been a member of the Eric Clapton band full-time since 2002 and is currently touring worldwide with the group. In July 2012, Stainton was announced as a keyboardist for The Who's 2012–2013 Quadrophenia & More Tour, he performed with the band at the closing ceremony of the London Olympics. However, Stainton chose to withdraw from the Who’s tour to join Clapton on his tour of the US and Europe.
Stainton toured with Clapton in Japan, the Middle East, and Europe in 2014. On September 11, 2015, he was honored and performed with the Tedeschi Trucks Band in a tribute/reunion concert for Joe Cocker. Chris Stainton also played on Eric Clapton's 2016 album I Still Do and joined Clapton for a brief tour of Japan in April 2016. As of June 2022, he is currently on tour with Eric Clapton.
