Carmine d'Amico

by Steve Huey
Carmine D'Amico carved out a niche in the music business primarily as a session guitarist, beginning his career by playing on the Royal Teens' hit "Short Shorts" at the tender age of nine. After several sessions with Brill Building teen idols like Connie Francis and Frankie Avalon, D'Amico returned to his schoolwork, eventually becoming a music major at Queens College in New York. D'Amico and his bass-playing younger brother Chris became two of the top studio musicians in the city, which also led to several touring engagements. After graduating, D'Amico was drafted into the Army, where he worked with Bob Hope and other USO performers in Vietnam and Guam. Upon his return, D'Amico became the staff guitarist on The Mike Douglas Show, and also worked at the Westbury Music Fair. In 1976, D'Amico received one of his highest profile gigs, the soundtrack to the legendary disco film Saturday Night Fever. This helped lead to additional work with a variety of R&B and urban contemporary artists over the next several years. From there, D'Amico began concentrating on TV and commercial work, also recording with several traditional pop performers. In 2000, D'Amico issued the first album under his own name; The Carmine D'Amico Ensemble featured D'Amico's wife Ronee on vocals and delved into blues-flavored jazz-rock.